Portable Solar Generator - DIY - Image Heavy

I'm not sure if this would peak anyone's interest but I put together a solar generator (as the preppers call it in YouTube world). If you have an off-grid cabin, go camping a lot, or want something to provide power during a power outage without needing gas or a noisy generator I have a fun little project that might interest you.

Components:
MightyMax 12v 18Ah AGM Deep Cycle Battery - $34.99 - Amazon
12-18 watt solar panel brief case with charge controller - approx guess $125 - Harbor Freight (I got mine free from a friend)
14 gauge wire, in-line fuses, rocker switch, eye ring connectors - $20 - AutoZone
SAE (2-flat connector) port for solar panels - $18 - Amazon
Kobalt hard plastic ammo can with water resistant seal - $25 - Lowes (you can go cheaper here if you want)
AC Inverter - $ depends on wattage - just about any auto parts store or appliance store

So my first step was just to wire it all together and make sure it worked. The charge controller is grand central station on this thing, there's positive and negative terminals for a battery and positive and negative terminals for a solar panel. Quite simple. I put in-line fuses between the battery and the charge controller and another one between the solar panels and the charge controller. This is just to make sure nothing gets zapped from anything producing power. I also installed a master kill switch between the battery and the charge controller. After making sure everything worked (I charged my cell phone and tested a DC LED light which will be turned into a lamp and put in my off-grid cabin), I dry fit everything into the ammo can. After the dry fit it was time to cut some holes in the ammo can for the master kill switch and the solar panel connection port. Then I cut a bigger hole for the face of the charge controller and screwed the corners of the charge controller into place through the ammo can (it sits on the battery in the ammo can). I made a very unprofessional piece of trim, considering the lack of proper woodworking tools, to go around the faceplate of the charge controller which cleaned up the look of it.

Just for reference, the battery typically dropped from 12.9v to 12.6v when under load but the solar panels charge the battery right back up within minutes after the load is removed. In a more practical situation for powering all the essential items in a house or cabin during a power outage you'd probably want about 4 batteries wired in parallel and two 45 watt solar panels on the roof (at minimum), and a quality high wattage AC inverter. Of course it would take up a lot more room and be a lot less mobile at that point but you'd still have a quiet source of power (maybe use a spare closet to put it all in). So this one I built is more of a mobile option and is perfect for charging cell phones and having a lamp on at an off grid cabin or for a refrigerator and a lamp by themselves, or a heater fan by itself during a power outage (provided you hook up an AC inverter with enough wattage to support the load).

 

Hey that is pretty cool! I would have no clue how to wire something up like this!

 

It looks intimidating, but only at first. It's really not bad at all and ended up being extremely simple. I added some to it but there's only 2 main lines throughout the entire project, a positive line and a negative line. That's it. I got all the answers to all my questions from YouTube videos.

 

I'm building a portable nuclear generator right now in my garage and have used nothing more than youtube vids for inspiration. I can't wait to fire it up and see how much power it generates.



Seriously though, that looks like a cool project and looks like you did a good job on it. I'm actually trying to work out a portable solar powered livestock watering station for the ranch but not having very good progress with it. Should work okay but it doesn't look plausible to pump as far as I need it to. Supposed to meet with an "expert" this week to look over some improvements.

 

Pretty cool stuff

 

That's so old-school, the cool kids have moved on to fusion.

 

I'd think this should be rather straight forward unless your pumping from a say 500'. Submersible DC pump and panels?

There is a website/pub called homepower you may want to check out of your running into challenges.

 

That's the problem, many of the runs through the pastures exceed 1400' and the system needs to be frost free. At long runs the friction inside the pipe cuts the volume down too much for most pumps that can be powered from solar. Larger pipe is not cost efficient so I'm looking at alternative means and expert livestock system designers. KS rock is a real biotch or I'd just build extra ponds.

 

Mostly limestone isn't it? Seems like that was what I recalled around KC.

How much topsoil do you have? Also, if you have good water, what's your water table depth?

 

Limestone and sandstone. The worst farm has about an average of 24" of soil which is why it's pasture and not farmed. Water table I have no idea as I've never had a well drilled. I assumed well drilling would be cost prohibitive but didn't look into it. I already have the equipment to lay HDPE pipe so was trying to find a way to make that work and stay under 2" pipe.

 

And with 24" soil you're probably not deep enough for the frost line...you'd need some serious trencher to bury it and drive through the rock you'll inevitably run into.

I can appreciate the dilemma.

Have any friends at Whiteman AFB? Maybe they can help 'install' some ponds...

 

Pretty cool. I like it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

Very cool. That would be perfect in an ice shanty!

 

Yes it would! Just need to make sure to have an inverter over 1500 watts continuous since that's the standard wattage required for a heater fan. Dang, now I want to ice fishing, I've never been!!

 

Breaking News: Muslim teen Ahmed Spear Mohamed creates generator, shows teacher, gets arrested...

 

LOL! I guess I should stop saying I am part of a brotherhood (bowhunters), they might mistake it for Muslim Brotherhood.