Recommendations for a Solar kit for a workshop

[The avantgardener]

I am looking for a solar power kit for my new workshop, I don’t require vast amounts of energy, just enough to run lighting in the Winter months to sharpen saws/maintenance etc after work, maybe a kettle/phone charger/radio etc but not compressor type equipment.

Heating will be from a woodburner.

Loads on the net but has anyone used one and have good experiences from any particular kit?

Thanks in advance.

[eggsarascal]

3 minutes ago, The avantgardener said:

I am looking for a solar power kit for my new workshop, I don’t require vast amounts of energy, just enough to run lighting in the Winter months to sharpen saws/maintenance etc after work, maybe a kettle/phone charger/radio etc but not compressor type equipment.

Heating will be from a woodburner.

Loads on the net but has anyone used one and have good experiences from any particular kit?

Thanks in advance.

If you want to use an electric kettle you will need and inverter that will power it, and they are a big draw on your batteries. Radio won't take a massive amount but a wind up one will help through the Autum/Winter days when you aren't pulling in much power through your panels, lighting wants to be 12v led's, phone charger through USB charger rather than a 'household' one. MPPT controllers are the most efficient. Have a look here, they are a well respected company, with good after service.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bimble+solar&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

[Rough Hewn]

Producing the power is relatively cheap and easy, the expensive and hard part is storage.
12v leisure batteries are good for lighting with leds and constant recharging.
[emoji106]

[eggsarascal]

Trojans are one of the best batteries on the market but they are eye watering expensive. You really need to do an energy audit to work out which system will work best for your needs. Back to the radio, if you do go for an electric one get a car stereo.

[The avantgardener]

9 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

If you want to use an electric kettle you will need and inverter that will power it, and they are a big draw on your batteries. Radio won't take a massive amount but a wind up one will help through the Autum/Winter days when you aren't pulling in much power through your panels, lighting wants to be 12v led's, phone charger through USB charger rather than a 'household' one. MPPT controllers are the most efficient. Have a look here, they are a well respected company, with good after service.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bimble+solar&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

Thanks Eggs, will take a ? 

[eggsarascal]

I've just noticed @AHPP is online, he gets used yet apparently still good batteries free, I never did ask him where he gets them from.

[AHPP]

8 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

I've just noticed @AHPP is online, he gets used yet apparently still good batteries free, I never did ask him where he gets them from.

A school. They're pretty small and come ganged up to 96v in enclosures that form part of an uninterruptible power supply for a computer server. They bin them every two years to make sure the backup power system is always tip top. I imagine other organisations with lots of computers do similar. Because they're small, I had to do a lot of wiring to parallel them (I'm running at 12v), which was fiddly and expensive but works.

[eggsarascal]

From my experience most people who haven't used solar before usually wreck their first bank of batteries fairly quickly, with that in mind I'd probably take a punt on these with a cheeky offer to start with.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Sonnenschein-12-76-12V-456AH-5-5KWh-LEISURE-SOLAR-INVERTER-POWER-BATTERIES/113714471748?hash=item1a79e92344%3Ag%3AxLwAAOSwJ-xchnsB&LH_ItemCondition=4

[difflock]

Eggs,

How or why are the batteries wrecked by newbies?

mth

[eggsarascal]

13 minutes ago, difflock said:

Eggs,

How or why are the batteries wrecked by newbies?

mth

Mainly through them thinking, (example) a 110ah baterry will give you 110ah. Apart from lithiums dischaging a battery below 50% capacity is the way to wreck batteries quickly, using the example above a 110ah battery is only good to supply 55ah.