Beginners Guide to Solar Power

When I first went with solar, I started very small, a 45 watt solar panel, a 750w/1500w modified swine power inverter and a 5 amp charge controller, all purchased from Harbor Freight. This came to a total of about $175.00. I purchased 2 deep cell marine batteries from Wal Mart, this cost about $160.00.

This ran my lights, gas stove (oven), radio, and an old tv.

I have expanded since then, my garage has all the old stuff from above plus an extra 2 deep cell batters.

I now have 3 165w solar panels for the house along with 4 AGM batteries, a 50 amp charge controller and a pure swine power inverter to run everything above plus computer equipment and charge sensitive electronics.

If you go with solar, make sure you buy a pure swine inverter for your sensitive electronics or you may fry them.

Here's an article for the beginner:

https://webosolar.com/blog/parts-of-an-off-grid-solar-system/

Backwoods Home Magazine has some good articles on Solar Power:

Solar Power 101:Batteries  -- Part 1
http://www.backwoodshome.com/solar-power-101-batteries/

Solar Power 101:Batteries  -- Part 2
http://www.backwoodshome.com/solar-power-101-batteries-2/

Solar Power 101: -- Inverters
http://www.backwoodshome.com/solar-power-101-inverters/

Solar Power 101--Solar arrays
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago90.html

Solar Energy, A Simple Alternative
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/alternative-energy/solar-energy-a-simple-alternative/

It all starts by converting a single energy unit from the sun, a photon (a particle that carries electromagnetic force). A photon particle released from the sun takes about 8 minutes to reach the earth. Once reaching earth, it (the photon) can be used to convert its energy to perform useful tasks for us humans.

Contained within each square meter of sunlight that reaches the earth’s upper atmosphere, there are 1,400 watts of available energy. After beaming through the atmosphere, the available energy is reduced to 1,000 watts per square meter by the time it reaches the surface of the earth. Additional factors reduce this number further, such as one’s geographical location, season, time of day, weather, and the efficiency of the solar energy system that you are using.   ---CONTINUED---

Solar Electric Basics with Jerry Noel
https://commonsensehome.com/solar-electric-basics/

Solar electric, also technically known as “photovoltaics” (PV for short), is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. The predominant resource for this conversion is the silicon chip; the same kind used in computer cpus. Over the course of a series of articles, I will try to explain how a solar panel system (array) is installed, what it can produce, and approximately cost. I will also delve into many of the many FAQ’s involved with this science.   ---CONTINUED---

Solar Emergency Gear – Lights, Power, Radios, and Ovens
https://commonsensehome.com/solar-emergency-gear/

  Solar emergency gear isn't just for summer or warm climate areas. The new generation of solar gadgets and tools can be used year round – even in cold temps. Some items, like the SunOven, have been around for years, proving their durability and long life. New tools like LuminAID solar lights are making huge inroads in emergency relief and general use solar lighting. In this post I'll share some of my top picks for emergency solar lights, power, radios, ovens and more to give you an overview of the tools that are now available.   ---CONTINUED---

Here are some solar starter kits from renogy, for the beginner, all you have to add is the battery or batteries. The prices are not bad:


https://www.renogy.com/products/solar-kits/starter-kits/

Video on a basic solar power installation. In an emergency situation, if you have all these items you will be able to charge/run simple items. As far as the battery, you can use the battery in your vehicle.

You can get solar panel kits from Amazon, Ebay, etc., they are reasonably priced, depending the size you want and the size depends on what you want to run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOka91PxFlA

Came across this from theprepared.com, off grid power 101. Ya never know when you'll need some power:

https://theprepared.com/gear/guides/off-grid-power-101/