Harbor Freight Solar Panels: How Many?
There is no point in having Harbor Fright solar panels if you don’t know how many you need. If you don’t know what you want to run on your solar panel/battery bank and you don’t know how many watts it will take you will probably be in for a really big disappointment when you go to power your full size side-by-side refrigerator/freezer and window air conditioner. One Harbor Freight Solar Panel Kit produces 45 watts/hr. Five hours of full sun is the amount used as the standard in calculating how much power you can generate. 5 hrs x 45 watts = 225 watts (total power for 24 hours.) With line loss and DC to AC power loss that isn’t enough wattage to run two 100 watt bulbs for two hours. Use a Kill-A-Watt meter to measure the watts used in 24 hours for each appliance, then add up the usage. Then you know how many Harbor Freight solar panel kits you will needs. Then you need the batteries to store the power. Kill-A-Watt on Amazon: www.amazon.com
The clip is made very professionally and very interesting. Good job.
@11gdh12 great comment. I totally agree. Some try to “justify” the purchase by saying they will save money on electricity. If saving money is the goal PV is not cost savings in the near future. As far as a hobby it totally works.
@LDSPrepper First off you don’t use crtappy Harbor Fright solar panels. You will egt nowhere fast. You build your own 1000 watt panles for about $250.00 Now there will be a good cost in Batteries unless you go with Grid Tie inverters. But you can save money if you do it the right way.
@11gdh12
couldnt agree more.
*** Rookie Question ***
Granted, I know that there is an initial cost of building a solar system… that goes without saying. But, after the initial cost – doesn’t it pay for itself in the long run??? Whether you make your own solar panels or you by pre-made ones, eventually you could start small and then eventually be off the grid completely. Couldn’t you?
No way that AC takes 1000 watts over a 24 hr span, more like 19,200
As for running the refrigerator have you considered a chest refrigerator and a chest freezer? htt p : / / w ww . energyconservationinfo . org / chestfridge . htm having both takes up a bit of space but it uses a lot less energy. =]
OBXSOLWIND made a good suggestion to save additional power when running off batteries. His suggestion was to use a timer to control the cycle length and frequency. I think he mentioned 1.5 hrs off, .5hr on. I imagine that would keep the stuff cold AND reduce the amount of energy you’re using. You could also super insulate the refrigerator using hard foam to keep it colder longer.
@GeorgiaJunkman I have purchased times for all my major appliances that cycle on. I plan on setting them so they don’t all run at the same time and to reduce the amount of power consumption.
@mjakersusmc I believe with my new non-HF solar panel system I could be off the grid right now. If I did, that would in a sense start paying for the system. My new system is 1/2 the cost of my previous HF system so it would pay for itself 2x faster.
@LDSPrepper timers not times.
@GeorgiaJunkman I have 5 days worth of backup power in my batteries.
I think that what you’re missing in this video is the losses of your inverter(s). Typically, you’ll want to use a true sin inverter for anything temperamental (computer, pda, etc.) as for the grinders and other B.S. a modified sin wave inverter will do fine and has less loss (typically).
@myclem6674 Thanks for commenting. Very true.
can you please tell me approximately how many panels and batteries i would need to run a standard full size refrigerator on a full time basis… sorry, i know that you explained the whole process of figuring all this out but my math is terrible and i was wondering if you can estimate this for me.. thanks
@deputy1040 If your refrigerator uses 2,500 watts in a 24 hour period you would need about 10 kits. If you bought 100 amp hour batteries to store electricity you would need 25. That is too expensive for me. That is why I have changed to more powerful solar panels and higher capacity batteries. I use four 220 watts panels and twelve six volt 215 amp hour batteries. I can generate 4,400 watts and store 15,000 watts.
i was brainstorming on how you could make a homemade air conditioner of the type you have in your car. cuz it runs off the 12 volts of your battery and alternator its just tricky how to hook up a car compresser and all the stuff thats in your car in your room at home. cuz you can imagine it would cool your room pretty good a car ac is pretty nice. whats your thoughts? you up for trying it? you seem pretty smart
@bubber25 Great idea. I don’t think I’ll try to figure it out right now but let me know if you do. Thanks for your comment.
@bubber25 The AC in your car doesn’t run at all from your battery. The fan runs off the electrical system but the car’s motor and belt system turn the compressor unit that does most of the work.
Electrical Contractor here… You need to determine what your fridge requires on start up and meet that demand with your panels – for example my fridge pulls 1850 watts on start up and 1375 continuious while it runs. (Just like pushing a big rock – it takes more energy to start the motor than it does to keep it going) So I’d need panels that exceed 1850 watts. You’ll only need to cycle your fridge 3 – 4 times a day to maintain its temperature, it doesn’t have to run all the time!
@MyPrepperNetwork You are on the right track. You need your DC/AC inverter to be able to handle the startup power requirements not the solar panels. I now have a battery bank that holds 15,000 watts. If I use my power wisely I will get 3-5 days of power from that. You definitely want as much solar power as possible but storage space, batteries, are more important. If money it tight buy more batteries before you buy more panels.
great info glade i did not just go and buy one kit u just saved me 170 bucks
@LDSPrepper Of course you need an inverter… I was just making the point that you need enough panels, (or stored battery power) to cover the power requirements for the appliances you intend to run. Batteries are usually rated in Amp Hours or Watt Hours. Sounds like you’re getting set up, but more importantly you’re learning what you need to know to make the whole thing work.
whoo whoo whoo bud u can power ur hole house off of a solar set up cheaper then buyn it off the gride u just have to get the right set up ppl are doin this all over the world u might wanna rethink that
@bigbuzz27 Sounds great. Please give me a link to someone who is doing it and their costs. I’d love to see how they do it.