# Cheap Solar



## mack0369 (Jul 22, 2014)

For anyone familiar with Harbor Freight they know its impossible to walk in there and not spend money. I was there over the weekend and in-store they are running a huge sale on a basic solar setp. $130 for:

Three 15 watt solar panels produce clean, quiet energy
Lightweight, weatherproof construction
Amorphous silicon solar cells for maximum output in both bright and cloudy conditions
Voltage regulator has easy-to-read LED display, 12V cigarette lighter socket, 5V USB, 3-6-9V DC outlets and two 12V sockets for the included Light Kit
Includes mounting hardware, 12V Light Kit, battery terminal clamps and universal DC power adapter
Requires 12 volt storage battery and 300 watt power inverter (sold separately).

Thoughts?


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

I am a total rookie for this, but I think it sounds good, IDK, but once you have it Forkin A its in


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Have to start somewhere.


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## mack0369 (Jul 22, 2014)

I didn't pick any up as I have no place to store larger items right now (wife is getting sick of large boxes), and I can't spend the money right now, but they retail at $270/kit. I've got 4 large deep cycle batteries and an intverter already, but $$$ is always an issue.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

You can buy solar for about $1 per watt. You can get it cheaper if you buy surplus PV panels. These are panels that only produce about 80% of their rated output because they are ten years old or so. The nice thing is that they will produce that 80% until they quit all together. $130 for 45 watts is about three times the "best" buy rate. It shouldn't cost more than $50 for 45 watt panels.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Agree with Paul on this one.
Harbor Freight and Northern Tool and just about every other similar shop all overcharge for solar.
I'm jaded on these kinds of prices.
I got a 75watt and a 20watt for $40 total on Craigslist from a guy who worked for a gas drilling company.
They were tearing down a site and the head guy told his crew they could take the panels.
He didn't need them, but figured easy cash.
He had no idea, I'm sure.


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## mack0369 (Jul 22, 2014)

Any suggestions on the best websites to pick up cheap solar setups?


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Very large part of what is sold by HF is JUNK. Sold by a company that is Anit 2ND amendment.


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

I saw panels on e-bay for 120-130 dollars that looked good to me, if you build an array, but the batteries I found were high priced


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## Lifer Prepper (Jun 1, 2014)

Yeah, that's a good price for those when you consider what they were selling them for. But it is HF, Chinese and probably will crap out sooner than expected.
I like the CraigsList idea. Commercial solar works fine for people that need the "kit" variety, and don't want to hunt down components.


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

The Rolls Surrette Batteries are what I was looking at, 340.00 a piece. IDK how much we really need to run or want to. I guess if I blacked out the windows I would want lights, the fridge and freezers, the well, that would be it. Maybe to recharge my tool batteries when needed, still so oblivious about it all. I have seen DiY stuff but I am no good with electricity and soldering irons


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I know why some people buy the cheap kits. There afraid to put a kit together because they think they don't know enough to
buy the parts and do it themselves. Solar can be confusing if you have never messed with it before.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

And there is significant money you'd have to spend on things like those inverter and the rest of the control equipment. On the other hand, if you hurry, I think you can still get tax breaks to cover part of the cost. In my book, the best setup will always be hydro, if you have the right stream.


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## Stick (Sep 29, 2014)

Hmmm...I have two 100 watt panels, cable to charge controllers, and three deep cycle marine batteries. First panel (kit w/panel, cc, cable, mounting hardware) was about $200 on Ebay. Second panel kit a year later was $130. This year they are even cheaper...there are much better deals than Harbor Freight out there. And the whole thing was a lot easier to set up than I would have thought...I agonized for years over it before finally buying in. It's all the power I need for now as I don't try to run a refrigerator, just lights, radio, phone, laptop. No power bill for over two years now...I think they've paid for themselves. I will get more as the funds for it become available.


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

I want to eventually tell my supplier to go away, we pay as much for delivery as we use. So the sooner I can "Get it up" the better.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

If you have a $130 to spend look at eBay and you can find a 100 watt panel instead of a 15 watt panel for about $100, and you'll have $30 left over for an inverter which you can get in that low watt range for under $20. Like the Harbor Frieght package you still need a battery but you are 85 watts better off.



mack0369 said:


> For anyone familiar with Harbor Freight they know its impossible to walk in there and not spend money. I was there over the weekend and in-store they are running a huge sale on a basic solar setp. $130 for:
> 
> Three 15 watt solar panels produce clean, quiet energy
> Lightweight, weatherproof construction
> ...


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

I have saved up the money to buy a small solar system to run my greenhouse and fodder area (my neighbor says it looks like the tardis). I have some questions I am hoping someone can answer. Do you size an inverter based off the solar panel wattage or do you size it off the output power required? Can I run two solar charge controllers be in series or parallel?


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

Auntie said:


> I have saved up the money to buy a small solar system to run my greenhouse and fodder area (my neighbor says it looks like the tardis). I have some questions I am hoping someone can answer. Do you size an inverter based off the solar panel wattage or do you size it off the output power required? Can I run two solar charge controllers be in series or parallel?


Looking like the tardis... Could be worse . To answer you, no, what you do is add up the wattage of the biggest loads you're going to hang on there. Then buy an inverter that can handle it. There's more. Some appliances use a lot more power as they start up than they do when running. Examples are things like vacuum cleaners and freezers... Anything with a motor. Then you need the starting current off the item's builder's plate or manual. And you do NOT run more than one charge controller. Ever. On the same circuit. When you get a controller, you'll find instructions there for hooking it up. Also, realize that you need batteries in your setup. They do several jobs: thet store power you can't use until you do need it, they act as the connection points for your inverter(s), and they even out loads on the inverter(s). Someone can size the whole thing for you, I'm sure. You start out knowing the wattage of your panels and how much power you want to draw through the inverter. That's about all you need. Given that it's 12 volt, you should stick to cables no smaller than #6 to #8. That's probably being generous, but you're only going to do this once if you're lucky. In fact, you really want the 12 volt cabling as short as possible. The 120 volt wiring can be longer because the higher the voltage, the lower the amps it has to carry. It's why we send power across the country at tens of thousands of volts.

If you need more info, please ask.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

Thank you so much for the information. I wish I had paid more attention to hubby when he talked about power/amps/watts, and power generation. 

I am going to be running a couple of pumps, a heater for the fish tank, a blower and two heat mats for my seedlings in the greenhouse. I will be using solar lights that will run on their own panels not on the solar system. 

The tardis is made out of double pane windows and 2x4s I got for free. It does look like a phone booth. but it works great for growing fodder for the animals. That will have a pump to circulate water and a small back up heater for the reserve tank just in case the manure/straw natural heater I am trying this year doesn't work. I did listen to hubby when he said always have a plan b and c.

I will have to add all of those up and see what exactly what I need. Your advice is very much appreciated.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

You're welcome! Some of your stuff is high-usage equipment, so I hope you can afford enough panels to take care of it. One idea may be to run your water heater on gas. That doesn't use much power. I'm guessing that the two pumps are for circulating water and not well pumps?

One ray of hope for us all is that they are working on a home-size generator that turns heat directly into electricity, which would be great.

To be able to get an idea of how much battery you need, it goes like this: a watt at any voltage = volts x amps. So, 12 volt power x a 10 amp appliance =120 watts at 12 volts. It works simply any way you work the equation. If your appliance says it uses 1500 watts at 120 volts, then you're looking at 1500 ÷ 120 = 12.5 amps.


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## TommieKelley (Oct 10, 2014)

mack0369 said:


> For anyone familiar with Harbor Freight they know its impossible to walk in there and not spend money. I was there over the weekend and in-store they are running a huge sale on a basic solar setp. $130 for:
> 
> Three 15 watt solar panels produce clean, quiet energy
> Lightweight, weatherproof construction
> ...


I am not sure these cheap panels are efficient enough to generate good amount of power..Will search a bit and share exact review soon..


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

thepeartree said:


> You're welcome! Some of your stuff is high-usage equipment, so I hope you can afford enough panels to take care of it. One idea may be to run your water heater on gas. That doesn't use much power. I'm guessing that the two pumps are for circulating water and not well pumps?
> 
> One ray of hope for us all is that they are working on a home-size generator that turns heat directly into electricity, which would be great.
> 
> To be able to get an idea of how much battery you need, it goes like this: a watt at any voltage = volts x amps. So, 12 volt power x a 10 amp appliance =120 watts at 12 volts. It works simply any way you work the equation. If your appliance says it uses 1500 watts at 120 volts, then you're looking at 1500 ÷ 120 = 12.5 amps.


Yes they are for circulating water. Thanks for the additional info.


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## ___ (Oct 15, 2014)

Most of it is junk but thats all my wallet can afford haha


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## StarPD45 (Nov 13, 2012)

___ said:


> Most of it is junk but thats all my wallet can afford haha


Mr. No Name ?


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## ___ (Oct 15, 2014)

StarPD45 said:


> Mr. No Name ?


I have been going by Junior by most, some call me other things.


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## Ken_Wolff (Oct 25, 2014)

HARBOR FREIGHT solar items are 2nd rate Chinese junk. Do all the reviews and all I see is experts that know solar say never buy HF solar power stuff. So, Goalzero.com has the easiest plug n play type items but find what you want there but buy it on amazon.com. Second best company is Renogy. The customer service rep for GZ told me to call her back and she will walk me through how to use the 2-100 watt solar panels into my GZ Yeti400's. I bought 2 of those amongst other great deals now that I am educated on brands and prices. Also, YouTube is good source to watch.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

$130 might be all right to learn, but I'd rather see you spend $100 on a single 100 watt panel (search it's easy to find), a small inverter $15/20, and learn how to turn that into a serious battery / device charger.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

I highly recommend the uniSolar laminants.

134 a basic setup s not that bad

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HO...200_QL40&qid=1414274941&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

And I highly recommend you figure in the cost of a deep-cycle marine battery to that outfit Ripon mentioned, as well as a solar charging controller.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

A solar charge controller is around $100
I recommend Sunforce. it's a Chinese charge controller but it's quite good for what it is.

you can also use mobile devices you know for those scooters used by old people but can't even get them used if you don't want to charge them up big time but overall you're looking at around $200 per battery I recommend four
however one will probably be sufficient as a backup I'd suggest buying one every year and just build up a supply. overall you're looking at around $500 plus tax

the most expensive item is actually the inverter which will probably run you a couple hundred dollarsunless you just want it for some basic stuff in that case you could probably pick one up for $50

look at it this way you're getting 10 times the power for about four times the cost15 watt charger isn't going to do you much but a hundred watch so you are in a much better position for emergency useideally though you're going to be looking at around 4 times this setup for something you can run all your household needs on such as computers radios so on so forth for you know X number of hours per day sunny conditions

I suggest that the more expensive caps if you can get ahold of them for a small set up. I'd like to eventually get an emergency bank of capacitors super caps as they're called to supplement the batteries which aren't as good in cold weather they can't charge


personally I wouldn't really feel like I could do much with 15 watts that's something I'd probably just go to USB cable for and get one of them 15 what USB chargers and I would cost me about $40 well but less than 250 actually have a small little Mini charger

This thing is about 4 watts for $25 and it comes with a small battery bank and you know you just need to plug it into your electronic devices bear in mind this is for small electronics but my prepping personally has gotten down to pretty much just small electronics I'm really not sure what big stuff you'd really be looking to use side from long distance communications with ham radios I really don't know what you need what what are you using that consumes electricity
Opteka BP-SC4000 Ultra Thin Solar Powered High Capacity (4000mAh) Backup Battery and Charger for Cell Phones, iPhone, iPod, and Most USB Powered Devices
3.5 out of 5 stars(13)Reviews

List Price:	CDN$ 99.95
Price:	CDN$ 24.95
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since I lost the rest of the post bottom line isyou probably don't even need a small set up as you can probably get stuff geared towards small electronics for a much lower cost. power tools and stuff can drain small banks pretty quickly and that's one of the few uses other than the speaker systems and running laptops. you know simplification of technology through smartphone is pretty good and what I found is there's really not much of a need for electricity other than for starting system such as propane furnace is that require electric starters or gas furnaces that require fans and so on and so forth but with a 15 watt single battery system its not going to do much remember this is 12 and 24 volt the needs to be up converted 220 volts in some cases 240 volts I'm not case you're getting 110 the amount of energy and then if you're converting dates you. 8... They are you looking at you know 112 the amount of energy so you have a hundred amp hour battery now you're down to 10 or 8if your device requires 5 amps that means you have an hour of use perhaps. I would definitely get a strategy for building up a good off grid system if you plan on it and basically that means investing about $500 a year over 45 years you'll have a solid system that is going to be good enough for you after 10 years you're going to be laughing and then you can splurge on 1000 or 1500 dollar pure sine wave inverterthat allows you to back feed into the grid. personally there's way cheaper options for a 15 watt system than $150 of $10 per lot it's ridiculous


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