Anyone running solar powered stuff at home?

[MannDude]

Looks good... Need LED lighting  No reason not to use it these days unless you need something really bright on the cheap from retail location.


What are you tuning on the RTL-SDR?   Using Linux for that too?

No local chatter at this hour unless I want to listen to the bus drivers for the school corporation so I just dialed in a nearby radio station instead. And yep, Linux of course. Using GQRX and the RTL-SDR.com USB dongle.


The floor in this house is so comically uneven that massive antenna I have attached to the dongle won't stay standing up so I have it leaning over for support... I need to fix the desk so at least it's level... (Even though my chair keeps rolling backwards)

 

[drmike]

No local chatter at this hour unless I want to listen to the bus drivers for the school corporation so I just dialed in a nearby radio station instead. And yep, Linux of course. Using GQRX and the RTL-SDR.com USB dongle.


The floor in this house is so comically uneven that massive antenna I have attached to the dongle won't stay standing up so I have it leaning over for support... I need to fix the desk so at least it's level... (Even though my chair keeps rolling backwards)

That's pretty cool on the SDR.  What sort of dongle is it and what is the tuning range you achieve with?  Antenna is internal ehh?  Thinking about an outdoor one?


I was contemplating a SDR setup and being an optimizer I thought something similar to what you have there.  But the USB would be tossed on a 50ft USB repeater cable and put outside and up high.  Mandatory here with RF interference.  How is your interference there with computers and all?


Floors do that  Basement steel floor jacks and adjustment help.   Desk is simple with some self made shims.

 

[MannDude]

That's pretty cool on the SDR.  What sort of dongle is it and what is the tuning range you achieve with?  Antenna is internal ehh?  Thinking about an outdoor one?


I was contemplating a SDR setup and being an optimizer I thought something similar to what you have there.  But the USB would be tossed on a 50ft USB repeater cable and put outside and up high.  Mandatory here with RF interference.  How is your interference there with computers and all?


Floors do that  Basement steel floor jacks and adjustment help.   Desk is simple with some self made shims.

I got the dongle on Amazon, but you can find alternate sources here since I know you don't like Amazon: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/ ( That site also has a ton of resources / software / tips and what not )


I'll mount an antenna outside for it eventually. Before I do that I'm installing a 30' antenna mast I have access to on my back porch behind the solar panels and installing something like a x50a Diamond base antenna to it for a ground station antenna for my radio. That'll give me access to most of the county. Unfortunately I live in a river valley so my range is shit and the only thing I could do to combat that is basically have my antenna above the average terrain height that surrounds me... which isn't possible since that's several hundred feet...


Inside there is a lot of RFI. That can be expected. Radio waves bounce around and I can get a clear signal sitting here, but may move three feet and get nothing but static. I forget what it's called. Once I'm outside, crystal clear on most things actually.


I also got a mag mount antenna for my car. Keep in mind I'm still not licensed (yet) so just scan and listen and take note of active frequencies... Went grocery shopping the other day and was out of the valley and was scanning, got chatter from god knows where. Took note of the frequency, and went home and looked at a couple different repeater maps but was unable to figure out where exactly it was coming from. Not many repeaters around here... most are 30+ miles away. I'm also pretty much smack dab in between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, both of which have a shit ton of repeaters... but it's hard telling what I was hearing. It's also possible it was just simplex communication going radio to radio on a random frequency which would explain why I couldn't find a repeater operating at that frequency. <shrugs>


Regarding the desk... I've got cardboard under it now to level it out. The front end literally need to be about 2 or 3" higher than the back. I wish I was kidding. This house is over 140 years old so I'm used to things not being square or level... haha!


For the radio talk we can move over to:

 

[MannDude]

Updated. 78.7~ watts used running laptop, second monitor, speaker and sub and charging my handheld radio. Just plugging stuff in for shits-n-gigs but everything works fine. I still need to get the DVR for the surveillance system hooked up in here, that's an important one.

 

[drmike]

I got the dongle on Amazon, but you can find alternate sources here since I know you don't like Amazon: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/ ( That site also has a ton of resources / software / tips and what not )

Any idea of which dongle / chipset? Amazon is fine  I just personally am not a fan of Bezos nor the churn and burn of Amazon employees.

 

[drmike]

Updated. 78.7~ watts used running laptop, second monitor, speaker and sub and charging my handheld radio. Just plugging stuff in for shits-n-gigs but everything works fine. I still need to get the DVR for the surveillance system hooked up in here, that's an important one.

78 watts is a ton of juice for a small solar setup.  You have more watts lost on DC-AC-DC conversions too.


Have you got a meter to measure your solar inbound watts?  Or do you have a controller that measures that data?

 

[Jonathan]

Must have been @KnownHost-Jonathan then?


I'll keep tagging people until I get it right.

Not I

 

[MannDude]

Solar stuff is still going strong. Even when the panels were covered in snow and the sun hadn't shined in days, I kept powering some small stuff with them until the batteries started to deplete. My inverter powers off automatically when the battery bank voltage hits 11.4 volts which I like, keeps you from running them too low.


I've really only been using the system to charge my laptop, phone, run a Raspberry Pi and a LED light 24/7. Also the docking station for my radio stuff that I don't use yet, but will eventually.


I'm going to work on the battery bank next and rebuild it with a few of these 100AH batteries: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S1RT58C


I've got one on the way right now but won't hook it into the system probably until I get at least one more. I'll keep the batteries upstairs where I can access them, and move the inverter and charge controller upstairs too and build a little control station with some LED panels that displays info about the system.

 

[drmike]

Solar stuff is still going strong. Even when the panels were covered in snow and the sun hadn't shined in days, I kept powering some small stuff with them until the batteries started to deplete. My inverter powers off automatically when the battery bank voltage hits 11.4 volts which I like, keeps you from running them too low.


I've really only been using the system to charge my laptop, phone, run a Raspberry Pi and a LED light 24/7. Also the docking station for my radio stuff that I don't use yet, but will eventually.


I'm going to work on the battery bank next and rebuild it with a few of these 100AH batteries: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S1RT58C


I've got one on the way right now but won't hook it into the system probably until I get at least one more. I'll keep the batteries upstairs where I can access them, and move the inverter and charge controller upstairs too and build a little control station with some LED panels that displays info about the system.

Gear with low power set point is mega good.  Adjustable is even better.  Helps prevent deep discharges which really reduce total battery longevity.


Those 100AH batteries look alright. $10 shipping is great.  Batteries that size aren't light.  I remember buying like 6 batteries and lugging them from store, to car, out of car, down flight of stairs.   Like lugging more dense and less forgiving bags of concrete or sand.  Ones I had included top breathing holes for topping fluid off, meaning oopsie splashes while lugging them too.


Be sure to get batteries up and off earth - a wooden box does wonders.   Needs to be ventilated too as all cells off gas.  SLAs they try to say otherwise about, meh.


How much usable time have you achieved on solar so far with your setup?  LED light 24/7 is quite a bit of draw.

 

[MannDude]

Gear with low power set point is mega good.  Adjustable is even better.  Helps prevent deep discharges which really reduce total battery longevity.


Those 100AH batteries look alright. $10 shipping is great.  Batteries that size aren't light.  I remember buying like 6 batteries and lugging them from store, to car, out of car, down flight of stairs.   Like lugging more dense and less forgiving bags of concrete or sand.  Ones I had included top breathing holes for topping fluid off, meaning oopsie splashes while lugging them too.


Be sure to get batteries up and off earth - a wooden box does wonders.   Needs to be ventilated too as all cells off gas.  SLAs they try to say otherwise about, meh.


How much usable time have you achieved on solar so far with your setup?  LED light 24/7 is quite a bit of draw.

Yeah, trying to be more efficient with gear I buy and gear I already have in regards to how I use it. I turn things off when not at home (gasp) and try to be reasonable even when I am home (Hey, why is the kitchen light still on?)


The same company has the same battery with free shipping, but it's like $15 more per battery... so I saved $5 by choosing the cheaper battery with $10 shipping. Weird. People can't do math I guess. Reviews on them are good so I suspect they'll do me well. I'm going to have to run around the house with the Kill-o-watt meter over the next week or so and figure out again what I may actually need in terms of battery storage for the stuff I want to actually power by solar.


The battery array I have now works and I'm not sure what will come of it. May be used for backup, backup power, haha... or to power other things with low and constant loads like some LED lights and some infrared flood lights I have for the surveillance system. That bank can be charged with the couple 20watt harborfreight panels that I have that aren't being used right now for anything. Could just tie those into that old battery bank when I switch to the new one for the big panels... (Also want to experiment with some wind stuff too..... just because)


As far as usable time, what do you mean? The LED light draws about 6 or 7 watts and I run it all night. Laptop when dead and on the charger draws about 40 watts by itself for an hour or so until it's fully charged again. Phone, I forget. I usually don't let it get very low anyhow and toss it on the charger every day after work and I turn my phone off while I'm at work since I have to keep it in my car. No use in keeping it turned on when I can't use it. So it's usually never past 50-60% when I do charge it.

 

[drmike]

As far as usable time, what do you mean? The LED light draws about 6 or 7 watts and I run it all night. Laptop when dead and on the charger draws about 40 watts by itself for an hour or so until it's fully charged again. Phone, I forget. I usually don't let it get very low anyhow and toss it on the charger every day after work and I turn my phone off while I'm at work since I have to keep it in my car. No use in keeping it turned on when I can't use it. So it's usually never past 50-60% when I do charge it.

So with the LED light + laptop recharging plus the phone, are you able to keep your system topped off / keeping up with use?  Realizing it's cloudy winter and sub optimal mounting surely...

 

[drmike]

The battery array I have now works and I'm not sure what will come of it. May be used for backup, backup power, haha... or to power other things with low and constant loads like some LED lights and some infrared flood lights I have for the surveillance system. That bank can be charged with the couple 20watt harborfreight panels that I have that aren't being used right now for anything. Could just tie those into that old battery bank when I switch to the new one for the big panels... (Also want to experiment with some wind stuff too..... just because)

Wind is pretty bad and brutal.  The windmills produce little usable power and have to be blade locked in any real wind.  It's something wind power is, that I wish someone would have beat into my thick skull before I went there.  I feel my investments into wind were totally a waste.  Mounting wind is a PITA.  Need to have an engineered build with rebar and concrete and guy wires.   It's a nightmare.


I bought a Savonius wind turbine since it's ground mountable without all the craziness.  Even worse on performance and literally I have a piece of twisted mess hanging out in storage that I need to debug and repair sometime.


Wind might work charging AA's or something, really.  Only size things are safe and can write the loss off.


Lots of new wind stuff out there which is vibration based and no spinnies, but the stuff is really expensive and unproven yet.


Your existing battery bank - I'd try using it as a segmented system.  Those Harbor Freight panels are meh, but they work.  Tie those to that bank and maybe run it as a backup for lighting.   It would be great for lighting and what the HF kits were sold as.  You should try to find one of the HF controllers - they are junk - but came with various voltage plugs on them which was great to wiring things. As I vaguely recall like 6~ ports - 3v, 6v, 9v and 2+ 12V ports.   They use literally headphone jacks for ends.   Easy to work with even toolless.  But yeah other than that, the controller is shit for a charge controller.  Alright for power distribution though.

 

[Neo]

Some weeks ago, dam snow





2x 50Watt, 1x 80Watt.

 

[MannDude]

So with the LED light + laptop recharging plus the phone, are you able to keep your system topped off / keeping up with use?  Realizing it's cloudy winter and sub optimal mounting surely...

Yeah, it seems that way. Keep in mind everything is in the basement and I have to go outside and enter the basement from my backyard... old house, built in the 1870's... so it's not something I do or check on daily.

Wind is pretty bad and brutal.  The windmills produce little usable power and have to be blade locked in any real wind.  It's something wind power is, that I wish someone would have beat into my thick skull before I went there.  I feel my investments into wind were totally a waste.  Mounting wind is a PITA.  Need to have an engineered build with rebar and concrete and guy wires.   It's a nightmare.


I bought a Savonius wind turbine since it's ground mountable without all the craziness.  Even worse on performance and literally I have a piece of twisted mess hanging out in storage that I need to debug and repair sometime.


Wind might work charging AA's or something, really.  Only size things are safe and can write the loss off.


Lots of new wind stuff out there which is vibration based and no spinnies, but the stuff is really expensive and unproven yet.


Your existing battery bank - I'd try using it as a segmented system.  Those Harbor Freight panels are meh, but they work.  Tie those to that bank and maybe run it as a backup for lighting.   It would be great for lighting and what the HF kits were sold as.  You should try to find one of the HF controllers - they are junk - but came with various voltage plugs on them which was great to wiring things. As I vaguely recall like 6~ ports - 3v, 6v, 9v and 2+ 12V ports.   They use literally headphone jacks for ends.   Easy to work with even toolless.  But yeah other than that, the controller is shit for a charge controller.  Alright for power distribution though.

Well the wind idea was more for shits and gigs than it was for anything serious. My area isn't even good for wind, hell it's not even great for solar due to trees around. Wind, large scale and off grid for the average person seems too costly and a PITA. Only real advantage to it I see is being able to generate power at night.

 

[MannDude]

Some weeks ago, dam snow





2x 50Watt, 1x 80Watt.

Looks nice and quiet there. Curious though, are you in an apartment? (Was wondering about mounting options)


I had to go and take the snow brush to my panels the other day. Luckily it's that time of year where it's in the 70's one day, and the next week we get 4" of snow that melts a few days later. Almost Spring!

 

[drmike]

Well the wind idea was more for shits and gigs than it was for anything serious. My area isn't even good for wind, hell it's not even great for solar due to trees around. Wind, large scale and off grid for the average person seems too costly and a PITA. Only real advantage to it I see is being able to generate power at night.

Yeah wind won't have you laughing.  It was same concept with me, dark winter days, overnights, etc.  Me I think just converting to the daytime schedule and building a little bigger is the best solution.


Makes me want to pull gear out of storage and get tinkering again

 

[Neo]

Costs like 6EUR or so, just need to drill some holes for it on the panels:





http://imgur.com/a/pnx18

 

[drmike]

Costs like 6EUR or so, just need to drill some holes for it on the panels:





http://imgur.com/a/pnx18

Interesting - look like pipe mounts we use for metal conduit.


I did an improvised mount with the single panel I have installed at current.  No photos sadly.  We cut up a vinyl window and scavenged the track the window slides in.  Cut it into a bunch of usable chunks.


Then took 5 or 6 of those chunks and drilled them into roof decking.  


It's a nice clean sliding release the panel is sandwiched in.   Probably ~ 3+ years into it and flawless.  No wind issue and we get nasty wind here.   No deck leaking (we hit the penetrations top side with some good silicone).

 

[Neo]

NIce, this is my Setup i started with:





1x 20WP with 9AH AGM Battery, had older charger before not efficent enought. Got replaced with Steca Solsum 6A. It seems like 20WP Panel wasn't enought and killed the 9AH before, i need to replace it.


But now it works fine also.

 

[MannDude]

What were you running on that 20watt panel / 9AH battery setup?


Haven't crunched the numbers but I'd reckon that'd power a raspberry Pi or such without issue.