This is my Solar / Wind Power setup. The vid is a little long, but I had to cover a lot of important information.
25 thoughts on “My Solar Power Setup”
ditmar11
a mix and match, all the acid type, like 4 from wallmart, 3 more from the automotive store, all deep cycle, but some are 4 years old. ps. u have a very nice system and good and tight wiring too.. ike never mind the fire ins. lol
ditmar11
uhh i wish i had just 4 of those at a reasonable price. any suggeston for in need in northern pa?
MrRchitty
@FUNNYTOM10 I am an automotive guy, for the most part with an interest in learning other things mechanical. Car batteries, depending on temperature, need to be charged between 13.5 (warm temps) to 14.5 (cold temps). For 24 volt setups, 28 volts is double the voltage of the 12 volt system and seems logical. I am not knowlegeable in the time to charge batteries. I would do some research on line, I am sure, you can get something that is reasonable. Nice job here.
Randall
FUNNYTOM10
@MrRchitty Hello! I do have a 24 Volt 400 Amp-hours battery bank! Now the thing is.. I charge them with 24 volt 30 Amp-Charge-Controller meaning it takes 13,3 hours to charge them… Now some guys said i ll never get thoss batteries fully charged. Do you agree or disagree that 14 hours of charging would be fine or should i go back to 200 Amp-hours. Is it trua that i should charge the 24 volt system up to 28,8 volts? Wouldn´t that be overcharging? Please reply! Thanks! Greetings Tom
sharonpheonix
Wow…. How many amp hours are those batteries?
mokancouple1
contact OBXSOLWIND ,, he is very good at solar & wind set up very knowledgeable and will give great advice…
RCvolunteer1978
Hurray for you … aww Remember that friend of mine in Colhoun Ga The trailer that she is living at this winter She fell thro the floor and broke the pipes going to the bathroom. Please prey for a over weight Ga. hill-billy….. back in the 1970s She was oh so thin and a good friend Now I wish I could help but I am out of any money until the third again
frankie2234
thanks for sharing; realllllllly nice.
BexarPrepper
Engineer775 would be a great person to ask about well pumps he has been installing solar well pumps. Blessings!
texasprepper2
@MrRchitty
When Ike came through a few years ago, we were without power for about 5 days. I did not have the solard up, but did have a gen.
The 4000w Lincoln welder/generator ran 2 freezers, lights, fans, fridge, big screenTV, and other incidentials, just fine. When the well pmp would kick on I could hear it grunt a little… but not much.
I was impressed with the gen. That is why I would like to get an inverter that is about 4000w… because I think it would do the essentials in my home.
MrRchitty
Not sure if it is covered in the comments, (first, nice job, thank you for showing). When Hurricane Irene came through, I had to fall back on generator power. I rewired my generator to do 220 volt and attached directly to well pump set up. 4000 watt max, 3500 watt running generator by Champion would almost stall when “starting” the well pump, otherwise, once started would run just fine. I purposely put a larger water tank for power situations. Nice job, again. Just to give you ideas on needs.
rhandsom
Nice battery bank setup, I would recommend grounding the equipment at a minimum. A good idea is to also have DC disconnects, etc.  Just to add a bit more safety to your system.
jeremyloveslinux
If you keep them charged up most of the time, they should last you more then 10 years. I’ve got 2 of the same size from a different manufacture that are ~6 years old (I got them a few months ago) and they are doing great! I have a 600 watt inverter that powers everything in my room. Like you said, you don’t need much power in an emergency. A cfl is 23 watts after all!
leamyelectricinc1
Correction on my math.
170ah x 10 batteries= 1,700ah x 12v = 20,400w hrs. -50% depletion
10,200 watt hours of use. So you could run 400 watts for 25 hrs.straight, on paper anyway. LOL
Great vid.
leamyelectricinc1
@texasprepper2 Thanks for the replie. Have you thought of dumping any excess power to the grid to slow your meter down a bit or heating water?
texasprepper2
@leamyelectricinc1
BTW… it is a good idea to keep the panels charging the batteries, even when I am not using the power? I don’t think I am overcharging them, but I don’t have a dump load to divert any excess power. Thanks again.
texasprepper2
@leamyelectricinc1
Thanks for the info…!
leamyelectricinc1
Nice set and great information.
FYI 1700 amp hrs converts to about 40,800 watt hrs at a 50% depletion. Good amount of power. You could run 1,100 watts for about 35 hrs continuos. AGM is also good for outdoor use in low temps..
Hey from PA
Larry
texasprepper2
@Theidiotsearcher
What kind of batts do you have now?
Theidiotsearcher
That is a really nice battery bank, those are big honkin batteries. I had roughly the same bank for awhile in a 12 volt setup.It will definetly run your frig, freezer, lights etc. Mine were also about a year old from a cell company.
texasprepper2
@MarshmallowVogt
One step at a time, sweetie… you can do it…!
🙂
texasprepper2
@MarshmallowVogt
Not necessarily… most dog days of summer are still and hot.
There may be an updraft due to heat, but it does not seem to effect the turbine.
Like I said in the vid… I think solar is a much better solution for evergency power… not wind… unless you are in a very windy place.
thanks for the comments…
MarshmallowVogt
Really cool setup wish we all were as prepared as you
MarshmallowVogt
When it’s sunny it should be windy due to hot air rising?
a mix and match, all the acid type, like 4 from wallmart, 3 more from the automotive store, all deep cycle, but some are 4 years old. ps. u have a very nice system and good and tight wiring too.. ike never mind the fire ins. lol
uhh i wish i had just 4 of those at a reasonable price. any suggeston for in need in northern pa?
@FUNNYTOM10 I am an automotive guy, for the most part with an interest in learning other things mechanical. Car batteries, depending on temperature, need to be charged between 13.5 (warm temps) to 14.5 (cold temps). For 24 volt setups, 28 volts is double the voltage of the 12 volt system and seems logical. I am not knowlegeable in the time to charge batteries. I would do some research on line, I am sure, you can get something that is reasonable. Nice job here.
Randall
@MrRchitty Hello! I do have a 24 Volt 400 Amp-hours battery bank! Now the thing is.. I charge them with 24 volt 30 Amp-Charge-Controller meaning it takes 13,3 hours to charge them… Now some guys said i ll never get thoss batteries fully charged. Do you agree or disagree that 14 hours of charging would be fine or should i go back to 200 Amp-hours. Is it trua that i should charge the 24 volt system up to 28,8 volts? Wouldn´t that be overcharging? Please reply! Thanks! Greetings Tom
Wow…. How many amp hours are those batteries?
contact OBXSOLWIND ,, he is very good at solar & wind set up very knowledgeable and will give great advice…
Hurray for you … aww Remember that friend of mine in Colhoun Ga The trailer that she is living at this winter She fell thro the floor and broke the pipes going to the bathroom. Please prey for a over weight Ga. hill-billy….. back in the 1970s She was oh so thin and a good friend Now I wish I could help but I am out of any money until the third again
thanks for sharing; realllllllly nice.
Engineer775 would be a great person to ask about well pumps he has been installing solar well pumps. Blessings!
@MrRchitty
When Ike came through a few years ago, we were without power for about 5 days. I did not have the solard up, but did have a gen.
The 4000w Lincoln welder/generator ran 2 freezers, lights, fans, fridge, big screenTV, and other incidentials, just fine. When the well pmp would kick on I could hear it grunt a little… but not much.
I was impressed with the gen. That is why I would like to get an inverter that is about 4000w… because I think it would do the essentials in my home.
Not sure if it is covered in the comments, (first, nice job, thank you for showing). When Hurricane Irene came through, I had to fall back on generator power. I rewired my generator to do 220 volt and attached directly to well pump set up. 4000 watt max, 3500 watt running generator by Champion would almost stall when “starting” the well pump, otherwise, once started would run just fine. I purposely put a larger water tank for power situations. Nice job, again. Just to give you ideas on needs.
Nice battery bank setup, I would recommend grounding the equipment at a minimum. A good idea is to also have DC disconnects, etc.  Just to add a bit more safety to your system.
If you keep them charged up most of the time, they should last you more then 10 years. I’ve got 2 of the same size from a different manufacture that are ~6 years old (I got them a few months ago) and they are doing great! I have a 600 watt inverter that powers everything in my room. Like you said, you don’t need much power in an emergency. A cfl is 23 watts after all!
Correction on my math.
170ah x 10 batteries= 1,700ah x 12v = 20,400w hrs. -50% depletion
10,200 watt hours of use. So you could run 400 watts for 25 hrs.straight, on paper anyway. LOL
Great vid.
@texasprepper2 Thanks for the replie. Have you thought of dumping any excess power to the grid to slow your meter down a bit or heating water?
@leamyelectricinc1
BTW… it is a good idea to keep the panels charging the batteries, even when I am not using the power? I don’t think I am overcharging them, but I don’t have a dump load to divert any excess power. Thanks again.
@leamyelectricinc1
Thanks for the info…!
Nice set and great information.
FYI 1700 amp hrs converts to about 40,800 watt hrs at a 50% depletion. Good amount of power. You could run 1,100 watts for about 35 hrs continuos. AGM is also good for outdoor use in low temps..
Hey from PA
Larry
@Theidiotsearcher
What kind of batts do you have now?
That is a really nice battery bank, those are big honkin batteries. I had roughly the same bank for awhile in a 12 volt setup.It will definetly run your frig, freezer, lights etc. Mine were also about a year old from a cell company.
@MarshmallowVogt
One step at a time, sweetie… you can do it…!
🙂
@MarshmallowVogt
Not necessarily… most dog days of summer are still and hot.
There may be an updraft due to heat, but it does not seem to effect the turbine.
Like I said in the vid… I think solar is a much better solution for evergency power… not wind… unless you are in a very windy place.
thanks for the comments…
Really cool setup wish we all were as prepared as you
When it’s sunny it should be windy due to hot air rising?
Really cool setup