A home made solar generator

[I am B]

Imma avoid the doom and gloom for once and post about some neat alternative this time.

This month I managed to have some spare cash, so I went on a small journey in the search of *thunder crackles* WISDOM AND (/of) POWER

And to my own surprise, I actually built myself a small solar generator.

It rings a bell that something similar was posted here about the topic but couldn't manage to find it.

The first and foremost thing I have to point out is that IT IS SO EASY. At least here, a lot has been "romanticised" about how technologically complicated it is to set up a home solar system, having companies market nauseating amounts of technicalities just for the sake of looking pro. But the truth is that it couldn't be further from the truth! Of course you can dig into kinds of solar panels (monocrystaline, poli, cadmium... sick yet?) But with an average knowledge of rough electricity, and/or a small will to learn, it can easily be done.

The complexity varies according to size, but for starters, and most of the way up, It consists in barely 4 components connected in order:

-The solar panel: Big magic Box that generates energy from sun rays
-The solar charge controller: Magic box that recieves the solar panel energy and safely charges your battery
-The battery: a 12v battery lol, car one (ideally a truck one, the bigger the better)
-A "pure-sine inverter": Magical box to make battery energy usable on household items

Of course there are some small concerns to be had (Amps and Power mainly) before aquiring each thing, but the quick big picture is this.

I half blindedly dumped around 500€ to put it up together, trying to get scalable items usable for bigger installations (which I'll definetly build), and it worked, and the feeling is amazing. Being able to power a big chest freezer the whole day (which includes the night!) just with the sun, and plenty of other valuable household items that would become scrap (or luxuries) if the power grid goes down.

Of course the system is not producing infinite ammounts of power (I wish Wade was able to teach us that), rather limited actually compared to what many use in their daily lifes, but still worth the effort of learning and making it yourself (which is unvaluable), a HUGE prepping supply, that is not only for the sake of "what if", but also a scalable thing that can slowly grow whenever you can afford it until you can turn completely self sufficient energetically.

I highly recommend to any avalon member (specially european at this moment) to not be afraid and jump into it! Its worth it!

And for sure I'll gladly help with whatever, in my still limited knowledge, can!

[onevoice]

Posted by I am B (here)
Imma avoid the doom and gloom for once and post about some neat alternative this time.

This month I managed to have some spare cash, so I went on a small journey in the search of *thunder crackles* WISDOM AND (/of) POWER

And to my own surprise, I actually built myself a small solar generator.

It rings a bell that something similar was posted here about the topic but couldn't manage to find it.

The first and foremost thing I have to point out is that IT IS SO EASY. At least here, a lot has been "romanticised" about how technologically complicated it is to set up a home solar system, having companies market nauseating amounts of technicalities just for the sake of looking pro. But the truth is that it couldn't be further from the truth! Of course you can dig into kinds of solar panels (monocrystaline, poli, cadmium... sick yet?) But with an average knowledge of rough electricity, and/or a small will to learn, it can easily be done.

The complexity varies according to size, but for starters, and most of the way up, It consists in barely 4 components connected in order:

-The solar panel: Big magic Box that generates energy from sun rays
-The solar charge controller: Magic box that recieves the solar panel energy and safely charges your battery
-The battery: a 12v battery lol, car one (ideally a truck one, the bigger the better)
-A "pure-sine inverter": Magical box to make battery energy usable on household items

Of course there are some small concerns to be had (Amps and Power mainly) before aquiring each thing, but the quick big picture is this.

I half blindedly dumped around 500€ to put it up together, trying to get scalable items usable for bigger installations (which I'll definetly build), and it worked, and the feeling is amazing. Being able to power a big chest freezer the whole day (which includes the night!) just with the sun, and plenty of other valuable household items that would become scrap (or luxuries) if the power grid goes down.

Of course the system is not producing infinite ammounts of power (I wish Wade was able to teach us that), rather limited actually compared to what many use in their daily lifes, but still worth the effort of learning and making it yourself (which is unvaluable), a HUGE prepping supply, that is not only for the sake of "what if", but also a scalable thing that can slowly grow whenever you can afford it until you can turn completely self sufficient energetically.

I highly recommend to any avalon member (specially european at this moment) to not be afraid and jump into it! Its worth it!

And for sure I'll gladly help with whatever, in my still limited knowledge, can!

I'm very handy with wiring electrical stuff; I directly wired a 240V EV charging port into our Main power panel as well as installing a 240V generator port. I also installed a whole house surge suppressor

My concern for wiring solar panel is installing it onto my roof and risk damaging my roof. I live in a hurricane prone area. I could install it on my backyard, but if I do, I won't be able to use the area under the solar panels unless I installed it on a strong framework of posts and roof structure like they often do in a parking lot.

So where did you install your solar panels?

[I am B]

Thats nice! As a small trick, in case of a power shutdown, you can get (or do yourself) a Male-male plug, then turn off the general house switch (or the magnetothermical switch), plug the male-male to from any of your house plugs to a generator, and itll spread the power all around your house ^^

I personally put my panel on the roof of my place. Specifically in a small wooden construction we have for shade on the top balcony. We used to put cloth for shade in summer, now we have the panel ^^

Luckily I live on the side of a mountain facing south, so its easy to get good sun hours. My panel is preety big ~200x130cm , but so far I have only one. I'm planning on putting some more, even making a small structure to hold em, bolted to the rest of the ceiling to not ruin the tiles. We don't have hurricanes here at all though

Tbh, I am all aganist EVs (although specially because of the privacy and digital settings, not the electrical aspect itself). But having a small solar sistem, with a reliable non progammed obsolescence EV, sounds SUPER neat. Freedom of energy and freedom of movement.

[onevoice]

Posted by I am B (here)
Thats nice! As a small trick, in case of a power shutdown, you can get (or do yourself) a Male-male plug, then turn off the general house switch (or the magnetothermical switch), plug the male-male to from any of your house plugs to a generator, and itll spread the power all around your house ^^

I personally put my panel on the roof of my place. Specifically in a small wooden construction we have for shade on the top balcony. We used to put cloth for shade in summer, now we have the panel ^^

Luckily I live on the side of a mountain facing south, so its easy to get good sun hours. My panel is preety big ~200x130cm , but so far I have only one. I'm planning on putting some more, even making a small structure to hold em, bolted to the rest of the ceiling to not ruin the tiles. We don't have hurricanes here at all though

Tbh, I am all aganist EVs (although specially because of the privacy and digital settings, not the electrical aspect itself). But having a small solar sistem, with a reliable non progammed obsolescence EV, sounds SUPER neat. Freedom of energy and freedom of movement.

I have a male 240V Generator Inlet box installed on the wall just under the main panel box, so all I have to do is plug in a normal generator cord from my 7.5KW generator to the inlet box, and it powers all the circuits in the house, including 240V appliances. It worked great during the hurricane Ian when we lost power for almost 24 hours. The generator was able to power everything 120V, we didn't turn on the 240V appliances, it probably could have run the dryer or the water heater separately if we needed it. We have 3 full size refrigerators and a 20 cubic feet freezer. Also was running 1800 watt induction cook top and 1200 watt microwave, and a big TV all at the same time without issues.



I am aware of the privacy issues of the EVs; but that is something I'm willing to live with. Most modern cars now probably sends data back to the OEM.

[I am B]

I didn't know about that kind of plug, but it definetly looks like a great idea ^^

Actually I was debating myself about getting the solar panel experiment or a nice generator. I understand yours uses fuel right? I've been throwing some gigs with a bunch of them, plugging the whole 6000w PA sound system to it, and its impressive how even the "hand carriable" ones already give a more than decent punch!

Which one do you use? I've used honda and some honda copy, and heard theyr're the best ones.

[onevoice]

Posted by I am B (here)
I didn't know about that kind of plug, but it definetly looks like a great idea ^^

Actually I was debating myself about getting the solar panel experiment or a nice generator. I understand yours uses fuel right? I've been throwing some gigs with a bunch of them, plugging the whole 6000w PA sound system to it, and its impressive how even the "hand carriable" ones already give a more than decent punch!

Which one do you use? I've used honda and some honda copy, and heard theyr're the best ones.

I have a Powermate 7,500Watt with 12,000 Watt surge capacity generator. It is powered by a Honda engine, love these Honda engines. I've had Honda lawn mowers and they seem to last forever. Originally the generator only ran on gasoline, but I replaced the carburetor which can now accept propane, natural gas or gasoline. Since propane burns clean, that is what I have been using, it works well. Propane can be stored for years vs gasoline which can only be stored for a few months at best unless a stabilizer is added.

[I am B]

Propane carb! That is such a great idea, and so versatile. May I ask you the specifics on how you did it? Any online guide or pure personal handyness? Myself I know my way around carburetors a bit, from messing with my car and bike, so I'm definetly daring to go for it as soon as i have the chance. One of the reasons I havent got a generator yet is the storage of gas.

I'm afraid our convo is slowly deviating from the lines of this thread (although it relates to prepping for what is discussed here, so I guess its fine ^^)

[onevoice]

Posted by I am B (here)
Propane carb! That is such a great idea, and so versatile. May I ask you the specifics on how you did it? Any online guide or pure personal handyness? Myself I know my way around carburetors a bit, from messing with my car and bike, so I'm definetly daring to go for it as soon as i have the chance. One of the reasons I havent got a generator yet is the storage of gas.

I'm afraid our convo is slowly deviating from the lines of this thread (although it relates to prepping for what is discussed here, so I guess its fine ^^)

Many current models of generators now are able to run on propane or gasoline. If you wanted to buy an older model of generator that only runs on gasoline and convert it for propane or gasoline, you would need to know the engine model on the generator. My generator, which I bought from Costco over 15 years ago uses Honda GX390 engine. So I looked for carburetor for Honda GX390 on ebay. I ordered one that fit the engine but the throttle control layout was different that my engine. There are apparently several versions of Honda GX390. So I looked for carburetor picture for throttle control that looked exactly like what was on my generator. The second time it was a match, so it was easy to take the old one off and screw in the new one.



The gasoline line connects to the small brass tube on the top right. The propane line connects to the larger brass tube on the bottom.

Starting next year, I'll be better prepared for power outage as I won't be needing a generator. I will be acquiring an EV car that I can plug into my house directly and supply power for a week, so it will be much more convenient. Ford F150 Lightning can do the same, providing 80AMP service to the house. When we had the generator running it was very loud. We could hear the generators from two houses down when I shutdown my generator. I've only ran the generator about 4 times so it is practically new.

[I am B]

Thats great ^^ I'll defintely look into it thanks!

The EV battery is of great use as long as you have a way of generating electricity for it. I've been looking for 800W Offroad-friendly bikes and electric scooters. They're ideal for where I live, versatile, and don't need as much load as a regular EV to move around. Can I ask which EV do you have? Tesla?

I found some videos from prepping channels explaining preety much the same I did in a slightly smaller scale. Anyone can do it with this video. 0 knowledge needed.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=M89LDaTzgmo

[thepainterdoug]

This is a valuable post. Actionable! lol

I watched this video above. I found it curiously therapeutic, just to watch something of logic, common sense, done clearly, without metal music blaring, while introducing it.

I live in a second story large studio with tall windows facing south. Sun all day when the sun is shining. This setup including exact solar panel is perfect for me should I choose to do so.

If one takes a look at what is essential, water, food, heat, health precaution, light, fire, some cash at hand etc , Its all pretty much solvable with just being mindful allocating some funds and taking action on it.

If never needed, then fine and will bring some peace of mind just knowing you have it .

If needed, well...

Thanks I am B

[Stardad]

Good practical post I am B!

As a back up, I have installed a similar system (120 Watts solar panel, charge controller, inverter and 4X6volts deep discharge batteries) for emergency power! The output is not spectacular, but a few lights, a working coffee machine and a running ventilator for my propane stove is comforting when the power grid goes down!

You need more power if the outage is longer than a day, to maintain your Frozen reserves! So a gasoline generator is ok (till you run out of fuel)!

Just my two cents worth!

[I am B]

In my case I digged into it, and by spending on "independent" components and putting it up myself, I was able to get a proper charge controller for rigging a 450W one. The panel is preety damn big, but still it can be carried on top of a camper van, or a big enough 4x4, and the rest of the things can be conveniently organised inside of a 50x100cm plastic case with only two cables coming out from it.

As I mentioned before, not only it can be a huge prepping asset, but a genuinely useful thing both for leisure activities and day to day life, reducing to 0 the cost of many many appliances.

There are some things that can be taken into account to save some of the costs of the whole system.

- Fancy batteries, like the one in the video, are hella expensive and not at all necessary. And it is true that if car batteries lose charge they can (and will) be forever damaged. But taking a battery load display , a low voltage cut device, and an inverter with integrated low voltage cut barely makes it more expensive (display is 8€, low voltage device is 12€, inverter increase may be around 30€ extra), it is a child's game to connect, and it allows to plug car and truck batteries, that can be tied together for increased capacity, giving more storing capacity, more versatility, and less the price of expensive specific solar batteries. This also means, that if some of the components was to fail, it can be replaced without compromising any of the others, and reducing the cost of replacing a whole specific battery (with bluetooth and all those fancy things). Overscepticism tells me there must be some downturn to this, but I still haven't found any, far from it.

- A good solar charge controller, that allows for different amp loads, and supports different kinds of batteries, is a worthy investment to be able to expand the capabilities of the system.

On a whole other topic, my parents got a hold of 3 ethanol filled solar water-warming panels. After installing them, I'll try to rig the solar rig to the water and ethanol pumps (which are preety light it seems), see if I manage to be able to have running water and take warm showers while "off grid".

[onevoice]

Posted by I am B (here)
Thats great ^^ I'll defintely look into it thanks!

The EV battery is of great use as long as you have a way of generating electricity for it. I've been looking for 800W Offroad-friendly bikes and electric scooters. They're ideal for where I live, versatile, and don't need as much load as a regular EV to move around. Can I ask which EV do you have? Tesla?

I found some videos from prepping channels explaining preety much the same I did in a slightly smaller scale. Anyone can do it with this video. 0 knowledge needed.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=M89LDaTzgmo

Good video on assembling a solar power source. He kept it very simple to explain the various parts of the system, just connect it all together, easy enough. I'm surprised that he used black wires for both polarities for several cables. Would definitely need to label each polarities in this case. Like you said, I would buy regular lead acid car batteries instead of the high end lithion ion battery mentioned in the video. One could also consider using deep cycle marine batteries, which costs more but are more robust and can take deep discharge state below recommended 20% charge state.

I have been driving a white iridescent pearl 2017 Chevrolet Volt Premiere for the past 5 years. It is a great car; it is designed to operate as an EV car, and has a 1.5 liter gasoline engine that can kick in on demand to generate electricity to drive the electric motors that really drive the car. It has about a 9 gallon gasoline tank, so I can take it on long journey like regular gasoline powered cars. So it has the best features of using battery for local transportation and has gasoline generator to power it for long journeys. I love the car, it drives very well, very quiet and smooth with quick acceleration (290 ft-pound of torque). It has a Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT) so it never shifts gears. It has 18.4-kWh battery pack, so lot of people have added an a 2500 Watt inverter to the car for emergency power. Alas it has been discontinued by General Motors, so I have been researching for a replacement for the past 2+ years. I have customized the car by replacing the Bose subwoofer with a audiophile grade subwoofer, replacing the front 2 inch tweeters, and adding a subwoofer power module. Despite the Bose brand name, the subwoofer was junk and very cheaply made. Also added soundproofing to the trunk of the car, which meant that I had to remove all the visible material in the trunk to the bare metal. So the audio system sounds great now, and will be little sad to give it up.

About 2 years ago, I decided to go with a white Fisker Ocean One as replacement for my Volt and got on a waiting list. The waiting list turned into order a few months ago, so I expect to take delivery sometime in late November or December of this year. Only 5,000 of the car I ordered will be made worldwide so it is a limited edition and so will have a serial number from 1 to 5,000. It will be the top of the line so will have every options available.

What I like is that the car is designed by Henrik Fisker. In 2007, Tesla Motors hired Fisker to perform initial design work on the Tesla Model S electric sedan, which was introduced in 2012 (source). I don't like that most of Tesla car only has a big screen to display and control car functions. I like having a dedicated display for key car information. The car has autonomous driving functions, just like Tesla cars. The Fisker Ocean One also includes the solar panels on the roof:

With the Fisker Ocean’s revolutionary full-length SolarSky roof, you can harvest the sun’s rays to generate free energy to support the vehicle’s battery-powered motor. When fully exposed to the sun, the Fisker Ocean Extreme’s SolarSky can produce up to 1,500 clean, emissions-free miles per year, and under ideal conditions may increase to beyond 2000 miles

The Fisker company has stated that it intends to recycle the car after 10 years, so I like that as well. The car includes many recycled material and doesn't use any animal derived material. It has 350+ miles of range so I could visit my nephew and his wife who lives 480 miles from us with a single 30 minute charge along the way. The other great feature is that the car can be plugged into the house to power all circuits for a week. We've never been out of power for more than 24 hours since I've lived in the present location, so this will be great backup solution.

I have looked into having solar power system installed onto my roof, but after reviewing many available data, it is not worth it at this point in technology and support. Many solar installation company go out of business after a few years, and lot of people report having difficulty getting support when components fail. Also It may take 15 to 20 years to recoup one's investment. Our present electric rate is about $0.08/ KW, so we are lucky to have low electric rate. Our power company has already added extensive solar power farms in the state and is continuing to add more solar power to the grid.

The other thing consider using solar power is that during hurricane Ian, it was heavily overcast during the day before, day of, and the day after the storm, so for these critical days solar power would not have helped much, if at all when they are needed the most. We have solar powered landscape lights, which did not function during these days. After the storm, many of the solar powered landscape lights failed, due to the low discharge states. I will have to replace them. So for this reason, even if you have solar power system, a backup generator should be considered.

I also have installed two solar powered attic exhaust fans myself which works continuously during the day to expel hot air from the attic. They have helped a lot to remove hot air from the attic to lessen the burden on the AC system. In the future, I'm considering replacing the current electric hot water heater to a solar powered version. My wife's best friend's daughter who recently bought a new house in Hawaii has a solar powered water heater, which works great. I don't envy the daughter's power bill, which is over $1000/month. The daughter had solar roof system with battery backup installed 2 weeks ago. We visited the daughter's home few weeks ago along with her parents. Her house would be many times cheaper here in Florida and much nicer.

[I am B]

Wow I never ever heard before of the Fisker brand, although I'm a bit of a car enthusiast myself. It does indeed seem like a well put up together vehicle inside its EV area, with the solar panel and the external power supply. Pluggable Hybrids are nice, you can always happen to find one or another source of power.

Even if a big supply solar setup is installed, I'm definetly not putting all the eggs on one basket. The same way as one prepares for grid failiure with solar or fuel generators, one prepares with grid energy or fuel generators if the solar fails, and the same again if there are fuel shortages xD It does feel good tho, to be able to "harvest" your own energy on a regular basis, and rely mostly on it for everyday life.

Maybe, and it was kind of the point of the post/thread, you could try to build the system yourself ^^ Hand picking and putting together the components, so you don't have to rely on an external company if any of those happen to fail after some time. I understand though, that it may not prove worth for you with such prices.

I just checked, at this exact time and moment, in spain, we have 0'43€ /Kwh. All hail the sun power...

[Hym]

Good topic I am B.
It's got me to getting back into energy conservation which, altho a constant in my life for as long as I can remember, was the basis of my last college studies and teaching earth building construction.
Not to be lost in the discussions are the constant reminder that having adequate insulation in the walls, ceilings and floors, WHILE being aware that we all need to have a constant supply, wherever we live, of freshly circulating air.

I'll research on PA as a good re-up, to get those gems shared by our friends here, then back to my books.

When making choices for buying the components needed to create our own renewable energy generating systems, or to buy the new ones already here, like EcoFlow with a solar panel, getting an accurate read on how much we consume is helpful....during different times of the year, and considering the amped up needs when helping family and friends, as well as others, who are sharing the energy usage with us.

Even as there are charts easily accessible on the net to determine usage,
I use a Kill A Watt electricity monitor on my most used devices to get an accurate read from the various settings available:

https://www.amazon.com/P3-Internatio..._title_hi?th=1
It's a $30 +- cost and well worth the investment.

Also, when installing any electrical device, storage system or distribution system it is important to get a basic understanding of how different sources of energy affect our bodies themselves, which are dependent upon the transfer of electrical energy in order to survive.
I recommend Dr. Sam Milham's book "Dirty Electricity" and his website which lists studies, his and others, on the dangers of exposure to EM/RF/EMF fields, which has been his area of expertise for decades:

http://www.sammilham.com/links.shtm

To the point: the placement of battery storage, and inverters close to living or working rooms in our homes is NOT recommended, let alone considering the dangers of all rooms being surrounded by outlets, strung together with live wiring in most walls. I would say test it yourself.

In my communications with Dr. Milham about electric cars he warned me of the dangers of the field present in the Tesla model he tested, saying it was "Very Dirty", meaning quite harmful to the maintenance of healthy DNA. To his credit he suggested that I get a Tri-Meter and test it all myself, which I have used for years now.

Thank You, Hymn

[Anchor]

Posted by I am B (here)
As a small trick, in case of a power shutdown, you can get (or do yourself) a Male-male plug, then turn off the general house switch (or the magnetothermical switch), plug the male-male to from any of your house plugs to a generator, and itll spread the power all around your house ^^

Have you ever actually tested this for real, yourself?

I don't want to be that person, but I think you should have stated how dangerous this can be, even though in a real emergency it certainly can solve an immediate problem.

No one can stop you doing this, but it is very risky, especially if one end becomes unplugged while it is still live; furthermore if you forget to isolate your house mains, you can cause lethal risks for people outside your house (or fry your generator as you try to power your neighborhood

Depending on how your house is wired, if you have RCD protection devices those may not work if all you do is throw the breaker on the hot line.

If you want this kind of option, plan ahead for it and get a proper transfer switch installed so you can power your house safely with a generator and have the earthing established properly for that situation.

Sorry I am replying to an old thread I didn't see until today.