solar for my small cabin to charge my batterys

[adamant]

i have a shed in the woods(PA.)that we stay in on the weekends and i week or two out of the yr.

see link of the camping shed..

 http://community.webshots.com/user/adamant117

it is not in full sun.(few hrs. per day max)

i have 2 Trojan t-105's that are in series.

i charge them with a new sears 10/2 amp trickle charger.

soon we will be adding 12 volts lights.( 5 or six  of 12 volt few amps each).

i have a generator that i use to run the microwave, hot plate, coffee maker and a/c when needed.

i am looking for a solar panel kit that will charge  the battery's during the week when we are there and not there.(120 watt panel i feel should do it)

what do you recommend..?  it needs to be a expandable system...i am looking for a complete system...that i can install

anthony grelli

[whatsnext]

First, why do you charge the Trojans if you run the gen whenever you need power? Are you keeping them charged while waiting to install the lighting or do you use the power somewhere else? Small 12VDC fluorescents draw perhaps 1.5 amps. Each is about the same as a 40 watt bulb. How many would you need if you are in your rather small cabin? If you want to operate an inverter that's big enough to power your microwave and hotplate you'll need more storage capacity. If all you want is lighting for a few hours once or twice a week you won't need a 120 watt PV cell. Likely, if all you want is lighting, you could charge a deep cycle battery on the drive up to the cabin and then run it down on the weekend with your new low draw fluorescents. This would save the costs, and risk of theft, of a PV system.

My 2 cents, John......

[ghurd]

A 75 w set up should do fine.

You won't be using it too often, by the pics. And surely not much in the winter. 150w of PV is probably overkill.

Go for the 12v CFLs at least. They won't take anything noticable from the batteries if you are running a microwave sometimes. An 11w CFL replaces a 50w regular bulb, but saves 80% of the power. I mean 12v to 12v. A decent 11w CFL uses less than half of a #1156 tail light bulb. Big differance. LEDs may be a good choice for areas like the kitchen during the evening cook outs (only going in for mustard), or in the bathroom all night long.

Get a propane or white gas (coleman) for the hot plate. Maybe even a Coleman coffee maker for the stove (works like a Mr. Coffee but on the stove). Its new, works good, don't know a part number or anything to help you find what I mean. A gallon of gas goes way farther in a stove than a generator.

You could get by with a medium size inverter for the micowave, and maybe... maybe the coffee pot. But only if you drink it fast. And never use both at once

The A/C has got to be gas powered. The TV could go either way, but solar could work.

Looks like you are near Cooks Forest or Clarion area. I have the stuff to do it right here, near Youngstown, OH. and can set it up before you get it. My user name at noi dot net. Just in case.

G-

PS- Never underestimate the power draw of TVs or game stations if anyone under 20 is involved.  I can't focus on a TV as long as they can play on one.

[ghurd]

Just slipped by.

I don't mean a/c and such can't be inverter powered, just that it wouldn't be economically viable in your situation. I surely wouldn't spend 10 grand on parts to save $20 a year on gas, if you know what I mean. (I didn't do the math)

You can power anything with solar/wind/water. If you have enough money.

If it was easy and cheap we would not have this forum.

Your situation needs solar CFLs and/or LEDs.

[tecker]

  There's too much shade for a larger pv to help much

[FishbonzWV]

adamant,

I think a 50w panel should do it. I put a 50w panel up to trickle charge 4 100Ahr 6v's and it over charges the batteries with about 4 hours of sun/day. Just ordered a battery-minder controller to add to the system.

I've got the same type camp and running a gen all the time really sucks. I put in a Trace Voyager 1012 & 200Ahr battery bank. You can run the gen during dinner hour to charge the bank. Changed all the lights to 110v CFL's so I didn't have to run a separate 12v wiring system.

Sure is sweet not having to fire up that noisy gen in the morning and go shut it down at bed time!

Bonz

[Opera House]

I run my upstate NY camp off my car battery since the vehicle is driven quite often to recharge it.  Just have a connector in the grill and plug it into the house. Never had any problem in over 5 years.  Sufficient to run a couple lights and the TV.  I recently bought two 75 watt panels and 100AH battery to run ONLY a 12V 5A RV refrigerator at 48 degrees.  It was a total failure since I can go for days without sun and less than 1A charge from a system that can supply 8A on a good day.  I should have bought a propane fridge instead!  Don't undersize your panels.

[RatOmeter]

I have to agree with Tecker.

That looks like a really beautiful place to stay, but those nice, tall ol' trees look like they're taking the lion's share of the solar energy for their own.

[tecker]

   Get a bike put a generator on it and put those kids to work .

[adamant]

thank you all for your replys.....

after all the reading i have been doing the last few weeks it seems like that my site is not a candidate for solar ....to much shade..i hate to invest the money into a system that i am only getting 20% out of.....

BUT MAYBE I AM WRONG.... my heart was set on solar.....

i think one of my problems is the charger that i use to charge my batt. bank. it's a sears charger and it seems to take a long time to  charge them.

i was looking at a IOTA DLS 55 to charge my 2 t-105's . any of you have any input on that charger?

any other suggestions ?

thanks again..

ant