Gaining momentum...



Peter Raven has been tinkering with the off grid solar rig on and off for a few weeks now. Here we have 2x batteries in parallel that passed reconditioning and testing (thanks Nick, Richelle, Travis who donated). The panel is currently wired into the little charge controller in the back which outputs 12VDC.
The black inverter arrived on Friday and does a more efficient solar charge conversion (97% vs 70%)... or would do if it wasn’t DOA (RMA pending). It does a solid job of pumping out 900W at 220VAC tho. He’s been using the DC output to charge portables so far, and today tested out running AC devices. It happily ran his laptop, a couple of chargers and this desk fan today. He tried the vacuum cleaner but that pushed things a bit too far and the inverter said “yeah, no”.
The system coped pretty well, although that much draw was more than the panel and converter could keep up with so it drained the batteries gradually over the ~4 hours he ran it. Still, as a POC it’s doing the job pretty damn well.
Today’s amusement used roughly 0.5kWh of power based on the readout, so he saved about 13c. Absolutely a sound investment!




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Peter Raven Next steps: * Tomorrow I’ll run an extension into the house and try running my work equipment off it. It’ll be interesting to see how long I get with normal use. 
* Some better quality USB converters are on their way, so I’ll be able to charge phones and portables more effectively. 
* Also inbound are some power bank shells with circuitry and space for 24Ah of lithium-polymer cells that will swallow most of my stockpile salvaged from old laptop batteries. That will give me some more flexibility with when I recharge things and space my load out. The cells have all been tested and charged using power from the rig. 
* I’m in the process of finding the right controller and regulator parts for a homebrew 12V power bank using the same LiPo batteries that would give me a nice UPS for my internet router and NAS. At that point I’m definitely going to need more panels to keep up with the load...

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Ronald Underwood You could find a normal IT UPS that has dead batteries and just hook it up to car batteries. That should give you a nice 240v output you can just plug anything you want into without having to play with 12v controllers.

Peter Raven I could, but I wouldn't learn anything from it.
Mana
Sandra Jalkanen You need a holiday! Now go to bed!
Mana
Peter Raven But today was a public holiday! 
Anyway, I was having fun making electrons dance...
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Richelle Angers You have done an awesome job. Love it ♡
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Joshua Pantera Davidson Change the angle of the panel to 31 deg from flat to get better solar efficiency.
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Peter Raven Panel was moved so I could fit it in the photo. I shift it during the day if I'm around.

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Joshua Pantera Davidson Motor, photo sensor and logic board.
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Peter Raven A little further down the line I think, but solid idea.

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Joshua Pantera Davidson Just need to make it wind resistant so it doesn't blow over.
Mana
Peter Raven Update: today's load test went swimmingly. 3 hours 30 minutes running everything on his desk off the grid. Batteries were a little more hammered than he'd like, but he only had to disconnect because he needed the extension cable for something else. He'll give them a recondition tomorrow (disconnect them both individually and run the charger off the other battery, naturally) in an attempt to keep them healthy, but it's pretty much a question of improving efficiency now
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Joshua Pantera Davidson Running your batteries below 50% shortens their life span.
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Peter Raven The charge controllers take that into account. These batteries aren't designed for what I'm doing with them, and they weren't new to start with so I'm expecting them to need some TLC.

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Joshua Pantera Davidson Deep cycle are the best.
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Peter Raven I'll happily come collect if you have some to donate...

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