Solar Power?

[Philpug]

We are installing a 10x12 shed and were thinking about how to run power to it and the idea of solor power came on like a light bulb above my head. In doing some research, Harbor Freight seems like it has a nice little kit that can be put together for abotu what it would cost to run power from the house (plus an inverter & battery which we have already) Any thought on this? Has anyone done one of these and maybe what are the alternatives to Harbor Freights' kit HERE.

 

[KingGrump]

How far is your shed from the closest point of your basement foundation with good interior access?

 

[Philpug]

It is not so much the distance but have to go under stamped concrete patio and/or other barriers and don't want wires running from the roof.

 

[ScotsSkier]

It really depends how much power you need there Phil. If it is just for a light it should be sufficient, particularly if you use LEDs. If you need anything serious, then run power from the house. That will also avoid degradation and eventual need for replacement of the battery and/or solar panel. (Disclaimer: I have not stayed at a Holiday Inn but my original degree was actually in Electrical Engineering

 

[Philpug]

The reviews and DYI videos of this sound like it will fit our needs, It will be just a couple of lights that we need to see at night, charging of the weedwacker and jsut the access to power occasionally through a couple of outlets.

 

[ScotsSkier]

It is the "power occasionally through a couple of outlets" that will be the issue, unless it is pretty minimal. The HF solar panels are rated at 45w IIRC, so unless you are going to install a large capacity battery and inverter you are going to be pretty limited in what you can power. Put in perspective, even at the full rated 45W you are only going to get ~ 0.3A at 120v.....

 

[Philpug]

We will be hooking a car battery to it for sure with an inverter. It takes about 3 days to initally charge the battery. I watched one video where a guy was running a circular saw amongst other things.

 

[Tricia]

@ScotsSkier You should come over for a nice steak on the grill and see what we have and perhaps share some of your wealth of knowledge. ....and eat an incredible steak.

 

[KingGrump]

It is not so much the distance but have to go under stamped concrete patio and/or other barriers and don't want wires running from the roof.

That's what I was afraid of. Going under concrete. No good way to patch it up afterward and not leave an ugly scar. Especially stamped concrete.

As ScotsSkier said, the panel doesn't give much juice but it will work with a large enough battery and inverter. Check the capacity of the inverter vs the tool you plan to utilize. Not enough amps can burn out a tool.

If you decide to run a permanent line out to the shed, there are couple of options.
To get under the concrete slab, you can rent a small horizontal boring machine for the tunneling.
Here are couple video on their usage.

 

[Philpug]

That's what I was afraid of. Going under concrete. No good way to patch it up afterward and not leave an ugly scar. Especially stamped concrete.

As ScotsSkier said, the panel doesn't give much juice but it will work with a large enough battery and inverter. Check the capacity of the inverter vs the tool you plan to utilize. Not enough amps can burn out a tool.

If you decide to run a permanent line out to the shed, there are couple of options.
To get under the concrete slab, you can rent a small horizontal boring machine for the tunneling.
Here are couple video on their usage.

@Tricia knows all about them being in the septic business. Harbor Freight had 20% off this weekend so we picked up the kit. When the shed gets here, we will install it, in the meantime if we change out mind, we can always return it. We really don't plan on running much in tools, just lights and little stuff.

 

[Tricia]

Thanks for the information @KingGrump .

I used to own a couple larger versions of the boring machines that you posted in videos. That is an option if we absolutely have to go that route.
The smaller of the two missiles we owned was similar to this one.
We don't need to go that big but if we had to install a line, I'd rather install a conduit line under the concrete so we can pull different line through in the future if we ever had an issue.

 

[ScotsSkier]

Hmm, steak is good! i can bring dessert and

 

[Muleski]

We have a number of friends who are spending big blocks of time cruising bigger sailboats, or seeing the country in a variety of RV's. Most have upgraded their solar power generation. One friend now has three 2' by 4' panels, a house bank of 600 AmhH batteries, and a new inverter. When they have good sun {which would seem like all the time in Reno!}, they are have plenty of power for their refrigeration, to use a microwave, power laptops and charge devices. Also run a lot of 12V boat instruments, radios, GPS, fans, a ton of LED lights. Works well.
It was not cheap. The panels were the cheapest part. The batteries, and inverter, ran the total parts cost to $2K plus. We have another friend who goes farther, for 6-8 months at time and his battery bank is 1000 AmpH. The things weigh a TON as well.

So I guess my point is that you could use this type of setup to generate quite a bit of power. No doubt plenty of Googling to do to find the right mix. All of our friends have made the point that it's a lot better/easier to generate a bit more power that you think you might need, rather than worrying about running down the battery{ies}.

I wonder what the cost of putting a conduit in would be? I'm often surprised at how reasonable some of this stuff can be. I had a "concrete cutter" cut through out foundation to install a big egress window, and a separate opening for a door. Was about a third of what I'd expected. I understand that you don't want to touch the concrete.

The conduit with access at both ends would give you more flexibility in how you use the shed..in terms of what projects! But not so green. Or so it seems to me.

If you Google "sailboat cruising solar power", you'll see more content that you want. I would assume there's at least as much in the RV world!

 

[Philpug]

@Muleski, Harbor Freight had the kit on sale for $139 so that is all I am out at this point. I have an extra car battery and a 400W inverter so there is no outlay there and any internal wiring and outlets I choose to do will be used if I decide to do traditional electric. Yes, we get a good amount of sun in Reno, example, it hasn't rained in almost 3 months and bluebird every day. Like I said early on, all we will be using this for is for lights, charging the weedwacker and maybe a home meth lab, when Harbor Freight puts them on sale too.

 

[Muleski]

I'd go for it, and get the professional power consultant, SS, on it! Sounds like for what your "current" plan is, you'll be fine!
Having lived on the ocean all of my life, I've seen a bit of project creep on these things!
Have fun!

 

[cantunamunch]

I'd go for it, and get the professional power consultant, SS, on it! Sounds like for what your "current" plan is, you'll be fine!
Having lived on the ocean all of my life, I've seen a bit of project creep on these things!
Have fun!

Project creep in a boat electrical system? Nevah!

The way I see it, he doesn't need accurate state of charge reading (i.e. he doesn't need a charge/discharge current integrator with modeling of battery incl. battery temp.) This is mosdef not true of a boat's house bank. He doesn't need equalization or balancing.

He's not going LiFePO4 or any other weight-saving battery technology; I do, however, foresee an upgrade to 6V or 12V golf cart batteries just because they're the most affordable per Ah (20hr) with a reasonable cycle life to 50% depth of discharge.

Hopefully that kit includes a charge controller (no, not a voltage regulator) ; if not he will want one by the time he's ready to replace the first batteries

Question: does Nevada have a "120 V inverters connected to permanently installed solar MUST be connected to the grid and have an anti-islanding circuit" law?

 

[Philpug]

Project creep in a boat electrical system? Nevah!

The way I see it, he doesn't need accurate state of charge reading (i.e. he doesn't need a charge/discharge current integrator with modeling of battery incl. battery temp.) This is mosdef not true of a boat's house bank. He doesn't need equalization or balancing.

He's not going LiFePO4 or any other weight-saving battery technology; I do, however, foresee an upgrade to 6V or 12V golf cart batteries just because they're the most affordable per Ah (20hr) with a reasonable cycle life to 50% depth of discharge.

Hopefully that kit includes a charge controller (no, not a voltage regulator) ; if not he will want one by the time he's ready to replace the first batteries

Question: does Nevada have a "120 V inverters connected to permanently installed solar MUST be connected to the grid and have an anti-islanding circuit" law?

I will start with the car battery then get the golf cart ones if I see it is going to work.

 

[Philpug]

Well the shed has been installed and just today @Andy Mink helped me...err..I helped him install the system. So far so good!

Shed:

Roof Panel facing Southeast:

Convertor (which needs a couple of days of charging) and Invertor:

Lights (included in Harbor Freight kit):

 

[pete]

nice, @Philpug.

I'd toss out the idea if like Tool Time .. you need "more power" then maybe a portable generator would be a useful option. These can be pretty inexpensive for the occasional need but powerful enough to run some basic tools. With all the boats running on dry lakes these days, maybe a good marine battery or two exist at a fair price.

 

[Philpug]

nice, @Philpug.

I'd toss out the idea if like Tool Time .. you need "more power" then maybe a portable generator would be a useful option. These can be pretty inexpensive for the occasional need but powerful enough to run some basic tools. With all the boats running on dry lakes these days, maybe a good marine battery or two exist at a fair price.

The batteries are on the radar if we do need more power but this is jsut for lights and the occasional charging of a weed wacker battery.