Comments on: Cheap Solar Panels For Sale Online

By: mo anthony

mo anthony — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:25:25 +0000

Hi, This is a very interesting article and I wonder if you can help an illiterate no idea person like myself. We live on a Community in Spain, (the sun is beautiful and warm at the moment 31/1/2012) the gates into our Community have 4 large Halogen lights two on the outside and two on the inside, Halogen is expensive, would a small solar panel run these from 7pm to 2am every night? what else besides the solar panel will I need to make this a viable proposition? Any help gratefully appreciated.
Regards,
Mo

By: ToyCollector

ToyCollector — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:22:33 +0000

We RVers have been working on this problem for some time. We still don’t have all the answers.
For your cart, the heating equipment will cost a lot in watt/amps. In the RV world, we have limited space for solar panels. I assume you will have the same problem.
We use solar for many things. The first thing would be to keep the batteries charged when sitting. The next step is to use solar for lighting and sight TV use. When you consider heat, the furnace is propane and more and more are considering infra red or blue flame heaters, with no motor which sucks the battery power down in a day. Refriges come in propane models that use very little dc for control power. Stoves are propane.
You need to play with numbers to see what you will need. I am afraid you do not have the roof for the needed solar panels nor the space for the battery storage. but if you put the heavy stuff on propane, or as much as you can you might be able to design a size that would work for you. Even if you had to carry a small back up generator, usually for cloudy or rainy days, you’d be covered.
A 12vdc system will need to supply 10 times the amps you need at 120vac.
So if your coffee machine requires 14.1 amp then you need 141 amps at the 12v level, running through the inverter and to the coffee machine.
A 24 volt system ( 24vdc supplied to a inverter to produce 120vac ) would be half that or 70 amps at 24v dc. Still a sizeable amount but a workable number. Adding a frig and grinder will increase the load but your coffee machine is the watt eater. If you could use a coffee machine that used propane, most of that load would be gone.
I’m afraid you may find that the business world of today use equipment that are power pigs and they roll that cost over to the customers with little concern about environment. You are finding that now in a round about way.
In the beginning artical they are talking about 4 80 watt panels storing power to a 12 volt battery storage system that give 560 amp hours of storage. from there they feed a inverter that can supply 1100 watts of power if the batteries hold up.
Do notice that the load that is in use is 2 or 3 energy efficient light bulbs all day and 1 on all night. We can use a laptop for 7 or 8 hours. We can watch a small 50 watt tv for 4 or 5 hours. We can do a load of washing on a cold economy wash, make some toast in a high energy using toaster in the summer and a few other bits and pieces.
This is far from what you are planning to do but it is a start.
Learn how to manipulate the numbers and find the amount of panels you need and the amount of batteries you need to supply your needs. Then figure out what you can actually build onto your coffee cart to figure if it is, indeed feasible.
Good luck
TC

By: Walter

Walter — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:18:06 +0000

I am absolutely amazed.

A 24v system gives you double the power?

Just curious, have the laws of physics changed lately?

To produce the power to light a 12W bulb from a 12 V system will require 1A of current.

If you had a bulb designed for 24V to give you the same lumens as the 12V bulb you would require 0.5 amps if you had a panel of 24V. But the area of the solar panel would roughly the same size as for the 12V panel and at slightly more cost.

The perpetum mobile has not been invented yet. Sounds like you did. Man, thats incredible…

By: Mr.Dirty Boots

Mr.Dirty Boots — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:14:57 +0000

peter,

For a single panel you are probably looking at $400 plus, but this is not going to run your home. The sad truth is that what your neighbors pay for a whole install, including panels, batteries and an Inverter plus fitting is about right. This is why it is best to shop around and buy the items yourself. Installation is actually very easy and will save a lot of money.

By: peter robison

peter robison — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:59:00 +0000

Thank you so much for this. It is one of the most informative and useful sites I have read. I currenly live in Phoenix Arizona, Via England and Canada. I still have a concern about the cost of solar panels. What is the price range for a reliable panel, either one I can make myself or buy prepackaged. Some of my neighbours have paid as much as $15,000 to have a system installed

By: Self Sufficient Living

Self Sufficient Living — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:53:48 +0000

Building your own solar panels is quite easy. And the older solar cell types are getting a lot cheaper. A soldering iron a bit of time each day and you will be amazed how quickly you can assemble one.

Retail panels have such a high profit margin it’s a joke.

By: kim

kim — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 11:16:04 +0000

thanks for the info.can i ask a question how many panels and batteries will be need if i use a t.v ,and aircondition?

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:48:37 +0000

Thanks, i enjoyed reading that, although forgot to make the coffee first
I am further inspired to not only have solar panels, but maybe actually make them as well. Great idea to get kids interested, especially in the summer holidays, better than expensive “days out”.

Will add you to my favourites to read further, as now off to make that coffee!

By: Mr.Dirty Boots

Mr.Dirty Boots — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:15:52 +0000

Thomas,

That is a pretty heavy duty setup that you will require, you will be spending quite a bit I am afraid. You will need a good and powerful inverter and plenty of panels. Please use the resources in the posts to check on prices.

By: thomas

thomas — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:55:37 +0000

Hi there,

I have a coffee cart that i run in a CBD mon-fri and are very interested in converting to 100% solar.
The cart operates 6.5hrs per day.

Coffee machine requires 14.1amp power and puts out 3400w to my knowledge..

I also run a little fridge for milk, light and a grinder.

What kind of panels and inverters will I be needing to run these on a daily basis?

Any information would be very helpful.

Regards