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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Which solar kit to buy?
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abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2019 14:34
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Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and could use some help. I have a small cabin that. Currently has no power or internet. I'd like to use solar power. I need it to power, 40in TV, laptop, cell phone. I also need wifi(I work from my computer). My sisters house is 1 mile down and she says I can use her wifi. How do I connect to hers? A wifi extender/antenna? How does all this work and how do I set it up?

I have found this for solar power (would this work for my needs?
https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100w-12v/starter-kit/

And this for a wifi antenna(again would this work for getting wifi?)
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Outdoor-Directional-connector-TL-ANT2414A/dp/B003CFATO C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=smacab-20&linkId=828b30e5e7a85a7a8b0f 28f1a0217584

Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!

justinbowser
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2019 15:09
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That would probably work for charging a couple of cell phones ONCE you added a battery. You need to come up with a list of what you want to run, when you want to run it, and then figure out how much juice it's going to take.

abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2019 15:11 - Edited by: abbrownie
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Okay so with a battery, I could charge. I need to power my laptop for 5 hrs a day. For more power what would I need?

abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2019 15:12
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Okay so with a battery, I could charge. I need to power my laptop for 5 hrs a day. For more power what would I need?

spoofer
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2019 18:56
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Brownie

I have a similar situation, without the wifi. That 40inch tv will suck lots of juice compared to a 20inch led. Search for the most efficient tv. The wattage is listed on the back of most. I have a Renogy 100 watt system at my shack. It is hooked up to two six volt golf cart batteries that make it a 12 volt system. I have four 12 volt lights and a boombox/radio. I would go with 200 watts if I was to do it again. I don't see much sun in NNY. This is a weekend only setup. (TV,Radio,Lights and an iPod stereo).

slgerber
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2019 19:52
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I think that the type of device you will need to connect to your sister's internet is a two dish wireless bridge like the one in the link below.

[PBE-M5-400 PowerBeam

Ideally you want a perfectly clear line of site between the two dishes although I noticed in the comments that someone said it still worked for them with a few trees in the path.

abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 07:33
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Spoofer


Thanks for that info. I would be living there so I may have to upgrade.

abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 07:35
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Slgerber
Do I have to use a two dish system? Is there another cheaper way?

Wilbour
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 10:35
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I didn't see an inverter for 110 so your tv is 12v?

Maybe I'm just not as big of a tv watcher but I don't even have a 40" tv at home.

In my case I didn't research my fridge well enough and was shocked how much power it needed (at start up) . I had to adapt my little system to accommodate the larger than expected load. It's the small things that can mess with your calculations.

abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 10:55
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I don't have an inverter. Didn't know I needed one. I'm new to this and have no idea what I need!
The only reason I'm not using a smaller TV is because I already have a 40in and I'm trying to not have to buy a new one lol.

Atlincabin
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 11:07 - Edited by: Atlincabin
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1. Figure out how much power you will need per day. That means taking the wattage of each thing you use multiplied by the hours of use/day
2. Add 50% because you will undoubtedly use more than you think
3. Count how many days in a row you are likely to be without sunshine. Multiply the use/day figure by the number of days.
4. Find a battery/batteries that have that many watt-hours of storage. If using lead-acid, remember that you want to only use half of the storage capacity (at most, better to only use 1/4). Otherwise you shorten the battery life significantly. Lithium is better, though more expensive initially.
5. Buy sufficient solar panels to add your average usage/day of power to the batteries.
6. Buy an inverter/charger that is sufficient for your solar panel output.

Basically, you plug the panels into the charger/inverter; plug the batteries into the charger/inverter; and plug your load (TV etc.) into the inverter/charger. I'm assuming you are using 110V for the TV etc. just like normal house current.

That's it in a nutshell, though the details may be slightly more complicated. Depending on where you are, there are a lot of solar companies out there that can sell you the appropriate kit/components and provide guidance in setting up. Creeky on this forum is a solar guy with interest in lithium systems. I've used his stuff (and advice) and am very satisfied. I've also used Wholesale Solar out of California for kits in the past and have been very satisfied with their stuff and support. (I have no financial connection to either other than I sent them money for parts). There are undoubtedly other good vendors as well.

I'm not able to comment on the internet solutions other than to say I have looked at similar small radio-link systems and from what I've read, they seem to work reasonably well. I do use a dish-based radio-link system at my cabin, but it's through a commercial provider and they maintain the system. It has worked well. Generally does require line-of-sight or close to that.

Edit: and what was said about fridges and such. Make sure your inverter has sufficient capacity to handle any surge from electric motors. Generally surge current is about twice the running current, so if you have a 500W motor, figure you need 1000W (or more) of surge capacity. Many inverters (good ones anyway) will have surge capacity greater than the labeled running capacity.

beachman
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 13:29
Reply 


Kits can be very good. Sometimes, a kit will dump a cheap component in with the mix, like a small charge controller (cc) that will never charge your batteries properly. I was never an electrician and had to research this solar stuff for several years to start understanding the set ups. I have a bit larger system that provides for about 750 watt hours per day. Figure a 60 watt light bulb for an hour is one watt hour.

The distance from the panels to the cc, and from the batteries to the inverter will determine the wire sizes. There is a natural resistance in wires that causes a loss of voltage over distance and there are calculators on-line to assist with this.

Atlincabin gives a pretty good summary to the process. I have my panels going to my cc (MPPT), the cc to the batteries (2 - 6vt in series for 12v), then from the batteries to my 12 v stuff (water pump) and to the inverter (1,000 watt pure sine) which converts DC to AC, then to a distribution box (fuse box like in a home with breakers) then to the plugs and lights (110v) around the house.

I have my panels grounded and the ground is tied to my system as well. All plugs and lights in cabin are grounded through this. Creeky makes excellent points about having enough panels to charge the batteries sufficiently - about 1 watt of solar panel for 1amp of battery capacity as a "rule". I have followed this with great results.

Figure on about 3 days without sun and you should be good to go - any more you might be on genny time. Again - someone who really knows this process could likely pick holes in my system - but it has worked great for us for several years - summer seasons only - no winter use.

beachman
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 13:40
Reply 


I knew I would get it wrong - a 60 watt bulb for one hour is 60 watt hours!

silverwaterlady
Member
# Posted: 8 Jan 2019 22:26
Reply 


Our solar system worked great in the summer. By Oct it was impossible to keep our batteries charged over 50%.
So we used our generator more.
IDK where your cabin is so you might have more sun.
The sun at our place in Oct didn't make it over the trees until about 1100. It was cloudy most of the time after the sun made its way above the trees.
So keep this in mind.
You might have a solar system that works great in the summer but when fall comes you are going to have to look into other ways to keep your batteries charged.

FishHog
Member
# Posted: 9 Jan 2019 08:00 - Edited by: FishHog
Reply 


I would suggest buying a kilo-watt. Small plug in device that will tell you how much power your item is using.
Atlincabin has it right, if you don't figure out what you need first, your going to be disappointed.

But the kit you linked will not be large enough for you. You need to be thinking more in the few thousand dollar range, not a few hundred dollars.

I have a small system, but am away for a month or so between trips. So I'm all charged up when I return. This fall with no sunshine being there for a couple weeks was making it pretty difficult, so clearly I need a larger setup if I was there full time.

abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 9 Jan 2019 10:09
Reply 


Wow awesome info everybody! Thank you so so much. The info is super helpful! Okay back to the drawing board for me to figure out how much power I need first and then go from there. Thanks again everyone!!

meloj
Member
# Posted: 9 Jan 2019 10:23
Reply 


I bought this kit but I also added fuses/breaks, 120 amp hr AGM battery, 1500W inverter (probably more like 750/750), fuse panel and some output which lives in a solar box. Its made to be portable but I will soon give it a fixed location.

However I use mine on the weekends for very limited usage. Charging batteries for tools, phones, air pumps and camping related uses. It works great from me for this, next year I will be adding lighting in the cabin, water pump and a few other things.

You are in a good place, but start to do some research by reading through topics on this forum, there are endless conversations on solar around here. Watch some youtube videos, there are some good guys on here that have channels. Calculate what you need as others have suggested and go much bigger than you likely thought was necessary.

If you are going to be there full time, have a system that will allow charging through the use of a generator. Solar is awesome but its not great if you under build.

When I build by full size cottage/cabin I will need something like a 1-2 KW system. I have a 108 sq ft bunk which we use a few days at a time, that is what a 100W system works for.
The box
The box


abbrownie
Member
# Posted: 9 Jan 2019 10:30
Reply 


Okay thanks for the extra info. My cabin is about the same size. I have already started looking through this forum at topics and you're right, a lot of helpful info in here. Thanks!

Wilbour
Member
# Posted: 9 Jan 2019 22:56
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meloj
Very nice build. Also like the Canadian Tire Gift Bag full of leaves!

Wilbour
Member
# Posted: 9 Jan 2019 23:13
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Quoting: silverwaterlady
Our solar system worked great in the summer. By Oct it was impossible to keep our batteries charged over 50%


I would have the same issue if I used my fridge in the winter. Lucky for me, I just keep stuff outside for the few days that I am there when the sun is not at it's peak.

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