Advice for building a solar generator?

We are moving to a remote location without any electricity, and would like to produce our own. We have read that it is pretty easy to set up solar power, and there are ready-made solar generators for sale. If we build our own, how many solar panels would we need to comfortably power a small cabin, and what other materials will we need to set it up? About how much will this all cost?

A solar electric system consist of in simplest terms a panel, charge controller, battery, and a load "lights, radio, etc". This system can be expanded on.
The first item you need to consider is the loads, what do you want them to be. How much energy do they consume per hour and how many hours a day are they used. The next is the voltage of the items 12volt dc, 24 volts dc, 120 volts ac. In general 120 volt ac itmes are easier to obtain but in general less effeciant but also have longer life spans then the 12 and 24 volt dc versions.
Example we use 1 light bulb that consumes 20 watts at 12 volt for 4 hours a day. This buld would need 20*4=80 watts of energy per day. Next lets say you had 5 of these light bulbs and they were all used the same amount every day, you would need 80*5=400 watts to run these lights. Next lets say you want 2 days of reserve enegy incase it rains or something 400 *2=800 watts.
These 2 figures help give us the panel and battery size. Lets look at the panels first. we determind we needed 400 watts per day. Look around on the interent and you will find a chart with hours a day of sun light for your area. Lets say your area get 2.5 hours of direct sun per day in the worst time of year you would need 400/2.5=160 watts of panels.
The next figure is the 800 watts of battery. You never want to discharge your battery more than 40% this will reduce your battery life. So lets do the math again. (800/40)*100=2000
Now lets assume your battery back is 12 volts 2000/12=167 amp hour back.
So your system would consist now of 160 watts of solar panels 167 amp 12 volt battery bank a charge controller mounting system for the panels, box for the batteries, and an small fuse or breaker panel to protect all the equipment.
This would be a very simple system but if you wanted to add tv’s radios computer etc. you need to do the load calcs on them add them all together and do the math. Don’t just go out and buy a system someone off the internet sales you it may not be right for what you need.
Something else you will need to see the sun most of the day no shading of the panels. Good luck solar is great.

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what would i need to to make a circut that has a solar pannel and uses capacitors so it saves energy untill it has 120v so it basicly a solar wall socket and how would you make it

Capacitors are probably not what you need. You need three items:

- A battery charger/charge controller
- A 12V deep cycle battery
- An inverter

The solar panel is connected to the battery charger, which controls the charge in the battery. This needs to be a deep cycle type battery, which can stand frequent discharge. The battery is then connected to an inverter which provides you with the 120VAC you need.

Hey you guys, other providing the community with job opportunities, wealth creation and fuelling economies, do you have any other ideas??

I am trying to write a good paragraph on the 3 points( job oppurtunites, wealth creation and fuelling economies), but i seem having nothing to say, or not much info..

do you guys have any other ideas how solar power contributes to our commnity.. if not… do you have any info or facts to help begin my paragraph on the 3 facts. THNKX . !! =) greatly appreciated..

Please help =P
correction***: Do you have any info or facts to help begin my paragraph on the 3 points.??

In my area we often have rolling black outs on very hot days. Basically we can’t produce enough energy to meet peak demand and parts of the grid overload and shut down. Since my city has strongly encouraged solar over the last few years we have been spared the rolling blackouts. During peak demand my home and the over 200 other homes with solar panels are creating more energy than we use, so we are helping reduce overall demand for the neighborhood.

I’m not sure how it would work if we had a failure in service, I would be producing my own energy. I’m not sure if my neighbors would be able to draw from my excess or not.

wanna hear your voices…
opinions please !

best answer gets 10*

The only advantage of fossil fuels is that we are tooled for it all over the globe,and there is no new additional costs by continuing to use them,save for increase in production and cost factors.The advantages of alternative energies are too numerous to list.Those you can list on your own.The disadvantages are the immense costs of tooling up factories for a whole new breed of vehicles and heating and cooling devices for cars,homes,and businesses.The problem of fighting Big Oil lobbies that have put out negative propaganda on these energies and kill programs in their infancy.Educating people that the added cost is worth the effort to clean-up the environment and be lees dependant on Foreign oil.

I would like to know how do you build a solar panel?

There are several types of solar panels. If you mean photovoltaic panels for generating electricity, that is a really advanced project that few amateurs are equipped to do. In the long run, it will be a lot cheaper and easier to buy factory made PV panels.

You can try building one by sandwiching an array of photovoltaic cells between a sheet of glass or plexiglass and a sheet of aluminum. Remember that this assembly must be able to withstand great heat, and it must be sealed to make absolutely sure it does not leak.

So basically, you need to lay out the PV cells and wire them together to get the desired voltage and current, with some arrangement to allow the wires to extend outside without leaking. Then you enclose the panel around all four edges with aluminum channel and seal with silicone sealer. Lay it on thick and test thoroughly with water hoses to eliminate all leaks.

As mentioned, it’s easier and cheaper to buy them factory made.

If you mean a heat collector for a solar house heating system or hot water system, that is just a matter of building a thin, flat aluminum box with a glass lid. For hot air, you just need to circulate the air through the box when the sun is shining. For water, you need to have some arrangement to pass the water through the compartment in thin walled metal tubing. You won’t be surprised when I say it’s cheaper to buy one factory made.

Good luck.

I know basically next to nothing about electronics, as im sure this is a fairly easy thing to construct if I had the faintest idea.

I know I need a solar panel (duh)

I know I need a power inverter to make the current ac

I know the batteries i need need to be deep cycle batteries…..is it possible to link these together? So that once one battery was full the solar panel would keep on filling the adjacent batteries? Is there a limit on how many batteries?

Also I have no idea how i would wire any of this up……

I know this is a very big question to answer, but any help is appreciated

Thanks
Also linking several panels together

The first question to ask is how much power will be required. Sunlight has an average of 2 watts per cubic centemeter. Solar cells are only 10% efficient, so the cells will only generate 200 milliwatts per cubic centemeter. Roughly speaking, a pair of solar cells capable of running the average toaster would be about 2 by 4 feet.

Of course, this is why batteries are always a part of a solar array because it is easier to store electrical power and use it later. Batteries can either be connected in series or parallel. A series conncetion links the negative terminal of one battery to the positive terminal of the other. It is like a group of elephants marching along holding each other’s tail. The circuit is tapped by holding the trunk of the lead elephant and the tail of the last elephant. This circuit maximizes voltage. The other connection is a parallel connection. All the elephants hold trunks and their tails are tied together. This circuit is tapped by holding any elephant’s trunk and any elephant’s tail. Electrical engineers refer to the terminals as "rails". The DC circuit will have a positive rail and a negative rail.

Next comes something loosely referred to as an inverter circuit. It changes the DC output from the batteries to 60 hertz AC current needed by most appliances. The AC output voltage is also fixed around 120 volts. Because of this, a parallel battery circuit might be the best choice of an input to the AC/DC inverter/converter. A parallel circuit has a voltage fixed at the maximum output of any single battery on the rail; the advantage is this circuit stores lots of current. It’s like pouring water out of a bucket connected to 10 other buckets. The bucket won’t drain until one has the equivalent of 10 bucket’s worth of water.

Therefore the trick is going to be finding an inverter which will produce 120 volt AC around 60 hertz. Just such a circuit is available in automotive shops. These are the sorts of things which allow campers to run AC appliances off their car battery. Inverters are very easy to get and also cheap. They are designed to run off a 12 volt source (current is not an issue here). Depending on your power requirements, 12 volt car batteries can be used, or smaller motorcycle batteries if space and weight are conciderations. Remember, the input voltage is going to have to be 12 V DC.

The major cost of this system is going to be the solar pannels. Solar technology is still rather crude and uncommon (READ: inefficient and expensive). Some distributors manufacture blanket style cells which lay on top of a a dashboard and charge a car battery. These would be perfect to use with an automotive inverter circuit. Just hook the solar pannel to the battery and the battery to the inverter. Sunlight will go in one end and AC current will emerge from the other. A DC voltmeter is going to be very helpful in determining the polarity of the DC hookup. This is going to be between the output of the solar cells and the input and output to/from the battery (batteries) and the input to the inverter. In fact the whole section up to this point is going to be a parallel connection. The positive terminal from the solar cell(s) will run directly to the positive terminal on the batteries and then on to the positive input terminal on the inverter. This is going to be the positive rail. All positive terminals of solar cells and batteries will be connected directly to this rail. The rail will then run to the positive input terminal of the inverter. Likewise, the negative rail will be connected exactly the same for all the negative terminals.

This is going to look somewhat like a ladder design, each rail will be opposetly charged (positive or negative) and all solar cells and batteries will be connected like the rungs on the ladder. The important thing is to get the polarity right. If the negative terminal of a barrety or solar cell is accidently connected to the positive rail, a short circuit will result. Depending on the power generated, it can be anything from a nusciance to a disaster. Always remember, electrical engineering is very much like chemistry – each is not something to get involved with if one does not know what they are doing!

Finally, I’m sure there are a number of formulas available which will allow one to calculate things such as how much power can be generated, how long the batteries will need to be charged and how long AC power can be tapped. If this circuit is hooked up correctly and works successfully, perhaps just taking notes on the preformance might be more entertaining – and accurate as well. Most scientific formulas are based on incredibly simple situations. As more elements are added to a design, the less reliable an approach based on pure calculations becomes.

Hope this helps. have fun and remember to be careful!

In Bright and intense sunlight, maximum voltage and current is developed and battery gets charged faster.
The panel heats up to 70 degrees centigrade, and this causes lower voltage and lower current. So, it must be cooled with water. The water gets warmed up at the same time, and can be stored in an insulated storage tank for bath water, shaving, etc.
The life of the solar panel can more than double if these precautions are followed and can last 15 to 30 years.

Please? Best answer WILL be rewarded.
NOT on my homework. Its for girl scouts,thankyou very much. on google i cant find anything, otherwise i wouldn’t be asking here smart one. Durr.
Can anyone please give me a REAL answer?

Hydro power is the best for baseload power- can be used 98% of the time and is easy to increase/decrease the amount of power produced when needed. Most of the prime hydro sites have already been harnessed though.
Wind energy is much better now than the bird chopper machines of the 1980′s. 1000 times as many birds are killed each year by pet cats than windmills in the US. The very best locations for wind power (near power lines, places that need lots of electricity and very steady winds) have already been built up. The locations left are missing at least one of the above criteria that make wind a cheap power source.
Solar energy is good for many locations. When you think of solar, DON’t just think of making electricity- that is only 10-22% efficient and very expensive. Much better and cheaper is lighting (windows, skylights), water heating, heat storage for overnight use in objects like walls and floors and finally making electricity.

Thanks but Nuclear Energy is not a sustainable energy source. There is a finite amount of Uranium, it will run out quickly.

Environmental issues are important and sustainable energy is high on that list.
However, for it to move from a philosophical discussion to practical mass applications every one needs to be involved. The masses talk the talk but do not walk the walk in many areas.
So from a purely consumer point of view, they worry about their own pocket book.
Advantage:
1) One time cost of the system. (Engineer your solar system correctly and you may have no power bills.)
2) No worry about rising power cost.
Disadvantage:
1) High initial startup cost. ($40K of solar panels on your roof hurts the pocket book)
2) Uncertainty of new technologies. (I know many of them have been out for years but just not implemented greatly – so some people still worry needlessly)
3) Wind turbines make noise – I kind of think is sounds cool but some people complainabout the looks and sound of them.
4) Wind turbines can kill birds. – Sad but true- Solutions may be fourth coming to negate this.
5) Water turbines need rain. – Good companion with Solar Cells

I want to build a solar panel

Here are some links

http://www.thesolarplan.com/articles/your-own-solar-panel-collector.html (small like kids project)

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/how-to-make-diy-cheap-inexpensive-solar-panels-ebay.php (large homemade project)

http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/article17solar.htm (on the side of a house homemade project)

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/PV/pv.htm (professional project kit)