This may be of interest to some... Solar-Powered Light, Charging & Radio The BioLite SolarHome 620 brings modern lighting, energy, and entertainment to transform any structure into an off-grid home. The easy-to-install 6 watt solar panel captures daily sun to charge up a central 20 Wh control box which powers 3 hanging lights, USB charge-out, and an MP3/FM radio system. BioLite's first-crossover product, the SolarHome 620 is currently in use in over 5,000 homes across western Kenya is ready for your home, wherever it may be. Perfect for vans, sheds, or the next power outage, the system comes packed in a kit the size of a shoebox. SolarHome 620
A whole six Watts of Solar, a Charge Controller, a 20WH Recharable Battery, and Three Lights, for $150US.... Nah, Not on my watch...
Good one Seepalaces and well worth reading. Still think myself that the sweet spot for me is as he said a 100 W panel for a little over $100, a charge controller for about $50, and a 100 ah marine battery for about $100 for the last one I bought, That and 12 V LED, 12 V chargers for power tools, 12V battery converter, may be on the charger, for USB power, covers most cell phones, etc and some computers. Get a controller with a low charge level disconnect, and you have about 50 AH of 12 V power with out sun, and about 7 A of 12 V power while the sun shines. Is it worth it in Alaska in the winter, no, is it whole house, no, will it power a refrig, no, but it will give you LED lighting for several years, recharge your radios, small battery power tools, game cameras, night vision devices, etc, uses no fuel, makes no noise, and the footprint is so small that it is hard to spot and can be mounted on a small landscape type wagon and kept in the greenhouse at night or when there are storms, or be mounted at the end of a structure. Batteries are as he said good for about 5 years for standard lead acid ones. With a power inverter you will have limited AC, I didn't bother, the cheap ones put out such dirty power that you don't want to use it on most things, and a good one would cost almost as much as the rest of the system combined. Have had a 200 W system, my son gave me a used panel, for my greenhouse, with a 100 AH battery for about 5 years, battery near change point now, and that gives me about 7 amps usable during the day for load, and 7 amps for charger, 15 amps usable once battery is charged, handles small water pumps, intermittent load for hydroponics, night time lighting, small computer type fan for air inflation in emergency, tool recharge, air vent openers, etc.
"Kit systems" are seldom a good deal. You get slick packaging and everything matches, but that's about it. If you don't care so much about looks or having a name brand, you can put something together yourself for a lot less $$
Long before LED lighting, economical controllers , I was paying $100. an amp for used ARCO panels, or any thing I could find. Most of those old panels are still in service . Anticipate building your system much larger then you currently expect and determine it to grow as you learn how to build it. Kits are good to start with ,but remember your also paying for an education in the process . As you grow and add panels and charge controllers and batteries, down the line you eventually up date the equipment . if you've done your part on the panel installation , chances are you never have to touch it again except for occasional washing . Don't be chincy on wiring or switching and you will get the optimum service. Do not for get fuses in the system , several small fuses function better than one big one . I have switching on all my components . 3 position switch. up is a test. down in on line and center is off . I have 3 amp and 30 amp meters and volt meters both for the load end and for testing. All the batteries are independently testable through this switching as well as the wind mill and other charging sources .
A 6 watt panel is good for stand by or emergency use only. It probably can't' be used daily with out running the battery dead.
If you stop and think about raw numbers, a 6 watt panel is less than a usb 2 port can supply...for $150, there are many better options out there. ETA: this looks like it could be valuable to someone with limited electronic knowledge and knows it Thanks for bringing this up, @OldDude49 !
I know you can get a 25w foldable panel with usb for $60; at least I know I got one in the spring. The prices are going up because of the China thing. If you're going to jump, now's the time.
That is a nice product and a nice story. At first I thought 6 watts was sure skimpy, but when you have nothing, it's huge. $150 would buy a lot more, but never would if you were in Kenya just trying to feed yourself. Might be a good prepper Christmas gift for my daughter this year. If you had nothing else, it would be something. The "out-of-the-box" aspect is important. Most people would not go to the trouble to design their own, buy it and put it together.
Good articular & close for a starter. But you have already limited yourself with the choices he picked. Myself for a starter system , pick a high voltage panel 72 cell and a VOC of 44Vdc so working voltage would be in the 36 Vdc range . That way you can harvest more with a 24Vdc system & use a PWM converter (Buck Converter) down to 12Vdc or 20Vdc for computers etc. I run this type of system in the back woods storm cabins . I get 4 hrs of daylight in storm days & I get charged. To start with a Brat from Midnite 12 or 24 volt , and the correct panel wattage of your $$ , then you Haven't limited the setup from the start & this can be added or changed. Sloth
