# Portable Solar Power Panel & Renewable Power Bank



## Ragnarök (Aug 4, 2014)

I decided to dabble in solar energy, starting off with a small set up. I have been using this set up for the past week.

The portable solar panel is a Anker Powerport Solar 21 Watt with two USB ports.









In addition I got an external battery from Anker. This battery charged my smart phone 3 times and an IPad once and retained 1/2 charge. I chose the mAh 20,000 with two USB ports.

To diversify the types of battery and devices I can utilize in a emergency I bought a AAA AA battery charger that hooks up to the solar panel as well.

Next step is to get a 100 Watt solar panel and connect it to a deep cycle battery bank. Maybe 200 Watts and see what I can get going with that.

The main hurtle is my place is an apartment so energy output through windows is a concern that I'm looking into.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Very nice, that's a good setup to learn the techniques of using solar power. Let us know how it works through the glass.


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## Ragnarök (Aug 4, 2014)

sideKahr said:


> Very nice, that's a good setup to learn the techniques of using solar power. Let us know how it works through the glass.


Questionable for a bigger setup imo. The big thing that has my attention now since we moved to a new place is one side on my apartment faces the sun most of the day...so we will see I guess.

Do you use solar?


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Ragnarök said:


> Questionable for a bigger setup imo. The big thing that has my attention now since we moved to a new place is one side on my apartment faces the sun most of the day...so we will see I guess.
> 
> Do you use solar?


Yes. I have 100 watts of panels, and a 2-battery bank of 160 amp hours with a 1000 watt inverter. It's an interesting and useful device. I've used it to wash clothes since last April.


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## Ragnarök (Aug 4, 2014)

sideKahr said:


> Yes. I have 100 watts of panels, and a 2-battery bank of 160 amp hours with a 1000 watt inverter. It's an interesting and useful device. I've used it to wash clothes since last April.


What batteries did you pick for the bank? And what inverter?


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Ragnarök said:


> What batteries did you pick for the bank? And what inverter?


Duracell 80 amp hour deep cycle AGM's. They are sealed, so there is no acid to play with; good for an indoor installation.

Xantrex 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter. Will run my chest freezer and washing machine.


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## Ragnarök (Aug 4, 2014)

sideKahr said:


> Duracell 80 amp hour deep cycle AGM's. They are sealed, so there is no acid to play with; good for an indoor installation.
> 
> Xantrex 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter. Will run my chest freezer and washing machine.


The bigger set up I want is to run a freezer. I don't think 100 Watts panel indoor would be enough. Not sure if 200 is enough either but it's worth a shot. My freezer is full of bacon that was going out of date that my work gave to me. If I can run a freezer off of solar that would be a big addition to my preps. Free meat and renewable energy.

You run the freezer 100% off of solar non stop?


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Ragnarök said:


> ...You run the freezer 100% off of solar non stop?


No. It was a test for a SHTF. The batteries ran it for 5 1/2 days without solar input down to a 50% state of charge.

My 100 watts of panels take 2 days of good summer sun to recharge a bank this big. At this point it's just for emergencies. I will probably get more panels this summer and see what I can do with it. When I first built the setup, I oversized the DC cables with such an expansion in mind.


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## Ragnarök (Aug 4, 2014)

sideKahr said:


> No. It was a test for a SHTF. The batteries ran it for 5 1/2 days without solar input down to a 50% state of charge.
> 
> My 100 watts of panels take 2 days of good summer sun to recharge a bank this big. At this point it's just for emergencies. I will probably get more panels this summer and see what I can do with it. When I first built the setup, I oversized the DC cables with such an expansion in mind.


That is impressive amount of time still. Worth the investment. Gonna look at batteries now


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