This project shows you how to generate Off-grid AC Power using a simple Solar power station with 2 batteries. This system can provide enough off-the-grid power to run your appliances around the house. You can easily run light,a laptop computer, small tv, and a fan for several hours.
STEP 1 : CALCULATING THE COST
Most of the items required can be bought from your local store or Amazon. The rough cost of building this system is as follows :
$150 for 100W Solar Panel
$75 each for 2 batteries.
$20 for 400w Inverter
$40 for the charge controller.
The whole system comprises four things, a couple of batteries, an inverter, and a charge controller. The inverter is purchased from Harbor freight, the charge controller is from fry electronics. The deep cycle batteries are from Walmart.
STEP 2 : WIRING THE SOLAR PANELS
So you start by setting up your panels outside. In this case, I have six one amp panels set up, 15 watts a panel, so that’s 90 watts coming in.
I lead them straight down to the main connection, it’s just the six black wires all connected together and twisted tightly to that extension cord wire and the six red ones connected. Feed the line into your house, and goes straight to the charge controller.
The output wire from the charge controller goes into the battery. So solar panels to charge controller, charge controller to lead battery in your bank. And as you want to expand this to two, three, or more batteries, just use some automotive cables and go from the positive terminal of one to the positive of the other. And with a black wire, negative terminal to negative terminal, the other one.
STEP 3 : CONNECTING THE INVERTER
When you want to run something, just get your inverter that converts the power from DC to AC, take the clamps, and clamp them onto that same lead battery in the system. So again, red to the positive side, black to the negative side and flip it on.
So remember, when you hook things up like an inverter, or the charge controller or voltmeter, anything you’re going to hook up on here, make sure you always pick one of the batteries to be the lead battery and hook everything to that. Whether you parallel one extra battery with it, or five or six, or however many you want to put on there.
Also added here is a lighted voltmeter which gives you a constant reading on your battery bank so you know exactly what’s going on with it at all time.
Image Credits : desertsun02
