Anybody ever use solar power??

[MUDRUNNER]

At the farm I hunt we have an old single wide trailer that we stay in when we hunt for for a few days at a time. It has no electricity, and in the past we've used a generator to light it up, but have decided to stop using it during deer season. Last year we went through about 20 of those little gas lantern bottles during deer season. I was thinking about getting a 15W solar battery charger, a deep cycle battery, and a few 12 volt lights. We really spend most of the time at night in the "poker room" playing cards, so this is really the main room we need lit. I was wandering if anybody else had tried this for you shacks that are in the boonies.

[Orion_70]

I haven't tried it myself, but if you have a harbor freight close by, they have solar panels you can purchase pretty cheap. I have used the solar ground lights for light during hurricanes though when out of power.

[Muff]

we had solar at our camp until we put in hydro....it was ok but the hydro is so much better....I also see lots of duck camps here putting up windmills....they seem to work ok.

[Strut10]

Never tried it. What's the use, here??

We averageless than 60 sunny days per year.

I've been kicking around building my own nuke plant, though.

[WHISKEYSWAMP]

we use solar in our cabin addition up in the UP... We have 2 solar panels, can't remember the output on them, hooked up to two deep cell batteries connected in parallel to give extra run time. the batteries are then hooked to an inverter, then electrical wire to the light fixtures. We currently use the low wattage florescent bulbs in our fixtures. In the old part of the cabin, we have propane lines ran to wall fixtures and use about a 100 pound tank to run those and our cooking stove.

[TBow]

A 15 watt solar panel is pretty much useless for the use you described. All it will do is keep a charged battery topped up as long as there is a minimal load, or a significant load for a very short period (ie: starting a motor).

For instance, a 15 watt solar panel will only provide 1.0 amp charging during optimum daylight conditions. On average, there is only 2 or 3 total prime sun hours during a bright day. If you use 1 x 25 watt (drawing 2.0 amps @ 12 volts) bulb for 2 hours, it will utilize 4 x amp hous of power in theory. A 15 watt solar panel at optimal output during a bright day will only replenish about 3 amp hours of power. If you use a deep cyle battery rated at 100 amp hours, eventually your battery will go dead at that constant usage.

My suggestion would be to get a larger solar panel of 60 to 100 watts.

The trick is to calculate your power usage over a period of time and factor in your battery capacity in conjunction with the solar panel capacity to replenish it.

I worked as a marine aids technician for the Canadian Coast Guard for 35 years. We specialized in calculating and installing photovoltaic systems at remote navigation sites.

I have a 60 watt solar panel when I go moose hunting, but use 2 x 100 amp hour 12 volt batteries. I have 4 x 25 watt 12 volt light bulbs, but there are not all used at one time and not for extensive prolonged periods. Over a week's time frame those batteries will handle the loads, but for a longer period I would have to be restrictive in using the lights.

Don't forget to also use a voltage regulator between the solar panel and the battery. It not only regulates the charging to prevent overcharging, but also prevents the solar panel from being a load at night time and draining down the battery.

A 15 watt solar panel in my opinion is a waste of money for the use you described. You'd be better off just using an extra battery or two and recharging them every so often.

TBow

[redkneck]

I'd look into propane wall mounted fixtures. Very bright and always reliable.

[MUDRUNNER]

Thanks TBow! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Our stays up there are generally only three or four days at the most, and we would need about 4 or 5 hours of light in the evenings for our card games and dinner. I beleive two 12V lights would give us enough light do what we need them to. Your set up actually sounds just about what I'm looking for, although at this point in time it may be a little out of my price range. For the time being, would it be feasible to run 2 12V lights for our poker room just off the battery, and hook it to my truck once a day with jumper cables to charge it back up? If I'm figuring this right, 2- 25watt bulbs drawing 2 amps each for 5 hours is 20 amp hours. So theoretically, with a 100 amp hour 12V battery I should be able to run 5 days before the battery is completely dead without any charging at all. Naturally I would charge the battery somehow before it gets to that point, but you can kinda see where I'm going with it.

[TBow]

If I'm figuring this right, 2- 25watt bulbs drawing 2 amps each for 5 hours is 20 amp hours.

That's right, but you have to keep in mind that the battery(ies) have to be a 100% SoC (State of Charge) at the start for everything to work out right. Few batteries will ever be at 100% SoC, especially if they're older. Something in the range of 80% is better for calculation purposes for battery capacity, plus you will find that depleteing the battery to 0% rarely gives you usable power at the lower end of the scale.

Batteries will also maintain a better storage capacity if they're cycled (ie: discharge, charge, discharge, charge, etc.). The batteries that we used with the coast guard were mostly 100 amp hour 12 volt batteries. Physically they were about 60 to 70 lbs and approximately 14" x 9" x 7", if that gives you an indication of the size of battery(ies) you'll need to provide 100 amp hours each. Most car type batteries are designed for heavy loads for short periods of time such as starting a motor and are rated in cold cranking amps (ie: 800 cca). Don't use those numbers for figuring amp hour capacity. I would estimate that most vehicle batteries are in the range of 50 to 60 amp hours, but are not designed for deep cycled long term light loads and will not hold up as well as deep cycle batteries for the conditions you mentioned, but they are cheaper and more readily available.

When using solar panels to charge batteries, you also have to factor in low ambient light conditions / days, such as overcast, cloudy days, rain, smog, etc. which obviously will not provide the charging levels as a bright sunny day. And even on bright sunny days, there is only about 1-1/2 hours of peak sun hours in which the solar panel is at optimum output conditions. Pre noon and post noon hour conditions will still see an output from the solar panel, but at reduced levels due to the angle of the sun not being at right angles to the solar panel surface.

The 60 watt solar panel that I use when I go moose hunting would not even keep my 2 x 100 amp hour batteries up if I used all four of my lights if I used them for 4 or 5 hours each night. But I'm only there for 7 or 8 days, so the solar panel output in conjunction with the battery capacity provides me with enough usable energy for the week without depleting the batteries to a non-usable state.

And just that guy says on the commercials for Tipton Gun cleaning and maintenance tools, when it comes to solar panels and batteries, "My name is TBow, and I love this stuff!".

TBow

[MUDRUNNER]

I'd look into propane wall mounted fixtures. Very bright and always reliable.

That's a good suggestion. I was not even aware that they were made anymore, it has been so long since I've seen one. They are a bit pricey...I've found them for around $50 a piece, but would also need to buy an extra regulator and some gas line.