Solar powered lights

[Travis Kelcee]

I don't understand 24/7? Do you store the energy produced by the solar panels?
If yes, what's the efficiency of that? 50-60%?
Or you live in area where it's always sunny, 24/7 no matter what? I don't get it
wouldn't it be better to sell the energy you produce through the day to the distributor and just use how much you need?

Let me help you out

Today was mostly sunny. I'll get about 5Kwh of solar today. In about 5 hrs that power will run a 12K BTU mini split, large fridge, large freezer, internet and some lights while recharging the batteries to full.

Trying doing that with you portable generator or Generac.

The replies seems to gloss right over they fact I built a solar Backup Generator for the same cost as a whole house backup generator, not a solar power system to run my house.

Th 2 biggest differences between my system and Generac whole house gen.
1. I don't have to pay for fuel when the power goes out
2. I can repurpose it to get free electric while it's in standby

My thread was trying to see if other off grid are partial off grid growers were out there. Not a place to spill arrogance about greenhouses and hyperbolic exaggerations about 100% efficiency. Lot's of people have gone off grid over the last 10 years.

Hope that clears it up.

As far as equipment efficiencies

The panels are 21% efficient
The batteries are 98% efficient each way
The Inverter is 93% efficient

My inverter produces cleaner power than the grid which help prolong the life of appliances.

 

[Travis Kelcee]

Sorry there is a lot here so I just skimmed and may have missed.

I'm assuming you are grid connected since you do have 'city' power. What arrangements did you have to make with electric co and can you possibly 'sell' them your surplus, if any?

If I was grid tied I would need permits.

You don't need permits to build a solar generator that is not tied in to your electrical system.

I "plug in to it" to run those things I listed.

My son in law is licensed master electrician so I'm in a gray area on the generator angle, but 100% solid and safe on the build.

 

[pleaseforgive]

20% from 4500 W is about 900W? to store 5kWh you had to have sun for 5.5h atleast or longer.
and after that you should be able to run 500W lights for 10 hours, but my best bet is that there is loss on storing and extracting the energy bigger than the 2% you're claiming with the 98% battery efficiency..
from what I remember, back in the days what they did teach us, in the best case you would end up having 20% energy loss in the process not 2% loss
ending up having 4kWh of usable energy which is still a lot, but well.. selling it to support locals and getting something out of it is better choice than storing and losing 20% through the process
also get your self a big ass fire extinguisher incase one of this huge batteries... not even going to end this sentence, be cautious..

 

[goingrey]

How about solar collectors and fiberoptic cables bringing it in? Wasn't someone even doing that? Or was it just NASA

 

[Orange's Greenhouse]

The panels are 21% efficient
The batteries are 98% efficient each way
The Inverter is 93% efficient

21 % * 93 % is 19.5 %. So there you lose most of the energy of sunlight. The batteries storage solution is about 70-80 % efficient. That is because you have to convert it between AC and DC twice (each about 90 % efficient, thermal losses in the battery etc.). If you had a system that has your 98 % you should stop wasting your time here and commercialize it. You would be richer than Elon Musk *and* save the world in the process.
So you have 16 % efficiency for off-peak hours.

I remind you. You asked specifically about running grow lights on solar. Not about home appliances.

How about solar collectors and fiberoptic cables bringing it in? Wasn't someone even doing that? Or was it just NASA

NASA did that. Then they invented (super crappy) LEDs and never looked back.

 

[Ttystikk]

I don't really see the use case. The idea of off grid is attractive until you need replacement parts, food and other supplies or your neighbours see that you're the only house with lights.
To safeguard a grow a UPS to keep ventilation running (and odors low) is a cost effective solution. Plants survive days without light.
After 3 days without electricity there are other problems than weed.

I've gone a week in the dark, at least in bloom and the plants were fine.

 

[Ttystikk]

Inverter - $800
Solar panels (2000 watts) - $1700
2 - 48 Volt LFP batteries - $7000
Wiring - $700

I built the system to serve as my backup "generator" without solar panels originally. My location is horrible for solar or so I thought. Turned out I could get full power out of the solar panels 4 hrs a day on a sunny day. Cloudy days I get about 25%.

I run my critical loads off grid 24/7 , ie. 12k BTU mini split, refrigerator, freezer, lighting, CMH light, exhaust fan and internet. Electric Hot water heater, electric dryer, 30K BTU mini split and most of the light and outlet circuits still on grid. My electric bill is about 1/2 of what it was prior to the install. Roughly $100 - $150 a month which is pretty good considering the whole house is electric.

Did I miss what kind of stove you have? Electric? Induction or resistive? I'm in the city and I was trying to get gas appliances to reduce my electricity bill- and ended up with a dual fuel range; 5 burner gas on top with an electric oven lol

Your solar/battery setup is awesome!

 

[Travis Kelcee]

Did I miss what kind of stove you have? Electric? Induction or resistive? I'm in the city and I was trying to get gas appliances to reduce my electricity bill- and ended up with a dual fuel range; 5 burner gas on top with an electric oven lol

Your solar/battery setup is awesome!

Propane

 

[Travis Kelcee]

Did I miss what kind of stove you have? Electric? Induction or resistive? I'm in the city and I was trying to get gas appliances to reduce my electricity bill- and ended up with a dual fuel range; 5 burner gas on top with an electric oven lol

Your solar/battery setup is awesome!

Thanks it's a great alternative to a gas/propane powered genny and propane tank, for the same cost.

I might add a few more solar panels this year and run another circuit off grid.

You can see the drop in electric usage between 12pm and 2pm when I'm getting the most out of the solar panels. The spikes at 4 and 6 are the electric dryer, between 7pm and 8pm the electric hot water heater creates the biggest spike in usage. The dryer and HW heater are always on grid.

Heat and AC are electric (mini splits) with the smaller mini split (12k BTU) running off grid 24/7

 

[Ttystikk]

The solar panel has 10-15 % efficiency. The light has about 20-25 % conversion of electricity to useable light.
So its in the single digit percent range.

So far, you've been wrong about everything you've said. That's a pretty good argument for assuming you don't know shit about the topic and to start over from scratch.

To wit; most solar panels are at least 19% and on up to 24% depending on price.

Moving on, even HID lamps are 30% efficient or better depending on ballast.

The shittiest LED lights started around 40% and that was for the old school cheap Chinese imports that ran hot as fuck because they drive the chips at maximum rated output, which is not the way to better efficiency.

Modern quality horticultural LED lighting, such as Quantum Boards, are now routinely hitting 60-65% efficiency.

Best case is therefore 24% panels x 98% battery x 65% lights = 15.3% which isn't bad at all for a system you don't need to buy fuel for.

Maybe if you ran your mouth less and used the time to read specifications you'd be better informed.

Source: I'm a co-founder of HLG.

 

[Ttystikk]

Thanks it's a great alternative to a gas/propane powered genny and propane tank, for the same cost.

I might add a few more solar panels this year and run another circuit off grid.

You can see the drop in electric usage between 12pm and 2pm when I'm getting the most out of the solar panels. The spikes at 4 and 6 are the electric dryer, between 7pm and 8pm the electric hot water heater creates the biggest spike in usage. The dryer and HW heater are always on grid.

Heat and AC are electric (mini splits) with the smaller mini split (12k BTU) running off grid 24/7

View attachment 19143764

I think what you have going on is really neat, saves money, provides security, comes in a damn sight more handy than a backup generator and I can see many situations where a loss of grid power might not even be noticed!

I was a bit surprised at the propane range but that is a lot of power. Maybe when you get more panels... A propane backup for heat isn't a bad idea, either. The Faraday blanket is interesting but wouldn't any power surge come through the grid or maybe the solar (EMP)? I'm just trying to follow the logic.

I'm planning a large solar array for my house in town. The city utility offers net metering and when I make the switch I'll include appliances, HVAC, a few grow lights, hot tub, pottery kiln, several electric vehicles and Christmas lights in my calculation, because they don't want you building a bigger system than you'll use...

 

[Frosty Nuggets]

I have a 7.8KW system with 8KW inverter and 10KW battery, most of the day I get about 5KW from the panels and use 200-400W most of the time, when the heat pump water heater (around 800W) comes on it goes up to 1100W for maybe half an hour or the oven (600-2400W up and down every minute or two) to 1100-2800W for half an hour to an hour or so.
Most of my power use is 2 computers (1 laptop about 4-5 years old and 1 desktop about 10-12 years old), a fridge (about 4 years old) and a 65" TV (less than 12 months old).

The battery only gets below 50% charge during winter when I have a 1200W bar heater going for a few hours a day but I am looking for the most efficient split system air conditioner to use as a heater, I don't need cooling as I have ceiling fans that work well enough.

 

[exploziv]

Keep in mind efficient air conditioneers are not usually rated after heating cycle efficiency. Most newer ones will be in the same ballpark. What makes a diference is if they have an inverter or not, and even that counts much more to the cooling side of things than heating.
Also, you should probably charge your batteries to 80% full or more at least once in a while. Makes them last longer at better capacity.

 

[Orange's Greenhouse]

So far, you've been wrong about everything you've said. That's a pretty good argument for assuming you don't know shit about the topic and to start over from scratch.

To wit; most solar panels are at least 19% and on up to 24% depending on price.

Moving on, even HID lamps are 30% efficient or better depending on ballast.

The shittiest LED lights started around 40% and that was for the old school cheap Chinese imports that ran hot as fuck because they drive the chips at maximum rated output, which is not the way to better efficiency.

Modern quality horticultural LED lighting, such as Quantum Boards, are now routinely hitting 60-65% efficiency.

Best case is therefore 24% panels x 98% battery x 65% lights = 15.3% which isn't bad at all for a system you don't need to buy fuel for.

Maybe if you ran your mouth less and used the time to read specifications you'd be better informed.

Source: I'm a co-founder of HLG.

This is a back of the envelope calculation to show that you need an order of magnitude more solar panel area than grow area. In winter three times more than in summer.

If you want to sound smart, maybe think about all components. Where are inverter losses, battery losses, power supply losses, wall losses?

If it's 5 % or 15 % (in summer!) doesn't matter. It's unfeaseable. Just put the plants outside.

 

[Frosty Nuggets]

Keep in mind efficient air conditioneers are not usually rated after heating cycle efficiency. Most newer ones will be in the same ballpark. What makes a diference is if they have an inverter or not, and even that counts much more to the cooling side of things than heating.
Also, you should probably charge your batteries to 80% full or more at least once in a while. Makes them last longer at better capacity.

The battery always gets charged to 100% during the day, it just gets down to no lower than 50% overnight except for winter.

 

[Ttystikk]

This is a back of the envelope calculation to show that you need an order of magnitude more solar panel area than grow area. In winter three times more than in summer.

If you want to sound smart, maybe think about all components. Where are inverter losses, battery losses, power supply losses, wall losses?

If it's 5 % or 15 % (in summer!) doesn't matter. It's unfeaseable. Just put the plants outside.

Growing indoors is more than just Watts expended but if you can't think beyond that, then no one here can help you.

 

[Ttystikk]

The battery always gets charged to 100% during the day, it just gets down to no lower than 50% overnight except for winter.

If it already generates plenty for your needs then why go bigger but it looks to me like you could get more battery capacity and use a lot more power than you currently do because you have to curtail so much energy generation. Am I reading the graph correctly?

 

[exploziv]

Sure, if battery gets to 100% then drains fast after sunset, another battery will capture more Ah of power and also prolong life of the batteries because they are not so used daily and you pull less instant power from each cell at any given moment. (It will be half the drain current per battery and double the backup power if you add a identical battery.)