Solar components, where ??

[cornishcarlos]

17 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

For panels you can pick any brand but I'd assume 330W poly panels are right now about the sweet spot in terms of baht per watt. Retail price should be about 3.5k THB as mentioned. No need for a top brand here. Keep in mind that a 330W panel will only peak at that and on avg give you much less but for lighting and charging some batteries it'll be fine.

 

With the batteries I would be careful. Double so in a remote wood hut (fire risk). LiFePo4 on paper have a good potential for this usecase but I wouldn't take the noname route for it. Maybe also consider putting the battery in a seperate compartment somewhere on the ground (but consider flooding).

 

Thank you kindly.

 

The batteries will not be staying onsite permanently at the moment. I intend to take my solar set up with me and then back home again.

Therefore maybe looking at more portable set up.

Maybe just a 100w panel, that 45Ah battery and just make do with that for a couple lights and my battery charger. Battery charger will be used just during the day though, so main battery drain will be a couple small wattage 12v LEDs for now.

 

Obviously this is just a temp set up, so would one of the PWM solar chargers that cost approx 300 baht do the job and what Amp rating is the best to use ? Just a 10A or go bigger ??

 

[Crossy]

26 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

The batteries will not be staying onsite permanently at the moment. I intend to take my solar set up with me and then back home again.

 

If you're lugging the stuff around consider using your car as the power source (maybe a bigger battery or a charge splitter to charge a second battery) whilst you are in residence there.

 

Most vehicle batteries will run a small light, lappie and phone charger all night and still start the car in the morning.

 

Or just take a fully charged battery with you and run off that.

 

[TheDark]

37 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

If you're lugging the stuff around consider using your car as the power source (maybe a bigger battery or a charge splitter to charge a second battery) whilst you are in residence there.

 

Most vehicle batteries will run a small light, lappie and phone charger all night and still start the car in the morning.

 

Or just take a fully charged battery with you and run off that.

This one, but also adding thin film solar panels on top of the car. While not in the cabin, the solar cell and batteries could run a small fan, blowing heated air from the car outside.

 

While at the cabin, simply plug the car with the solarpanel and battery to your cabin. 

[eisfeld]

1 hour ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Thank you kindly.

 

The batteries will not be staying onsite permanently at the moment. I intend to take my solar set up with me and then back home again.

Therefore maybe looking at more portable set up.

Maybe just a 100w panel, that 45Ah battery and just make do with that for a couple lights and my battery charger. Battery charger will be used just during the day though, so main battery drain will be a couple small wattage 12v LEDs for now.

 

Obviously this is just a temp set up, so would one of the PWM solar chargers that cost approx 300 baht do the job and what Amp rating is the best to use ? Just a 10A or go bigger ??

 

Aha these requirements change everything. Forget about the standard size panels. Those are not portable as they are roughly 1m by 2m and can't fold or bend. Also weigh a bit and are relatively fragile (glass).

 

A portable solar charger kit can work well enough to charge a powerbank which you can use then to charge your mobile phones, USB LEDs etc. Many can give you 24 or 28W. Not sure about your power tools, that depends on what voltage they need, most likely also not USB.

 

45 minutes ago, Crossy said:

If you're lugging the stuff around consider using your car as the power source (maybe a bigger battery or a charge splitter to charge a second battery) whilst you are in residence there.

 

Most vehicle batteries will run a small light, lappie and phone charger all night and still start the car in the morning.

 

Or just take a fully charged battery with you and run off that.

I would caution using the main car battery to power his appliances for the simple reason of not wanting to risk being stuck in the sticks with a flat car battery. If there's no cell signal then you could be in a really uncool situation ????

 

You mentioned charging a second battery from the car, that's a much better choice.

[cornishcarlos]

Thanks guys...

 

Good options and ideas...

I'm not short of space, depending which vehicle we drive up there, so don't mind lugging a few bits back and fwd..

Prefer to set up something semi permanent so we can do a week to 10 days straight.

I had in mind making up a little wall mountable board, to include the solar charger, inverter and stowage for cables (during transport). 

So hang that on the wall, pop the battery next to it and chuck the solar panel out the window onto a frame that's fixed to the hut.

Lighting and switches can be hardwired and left in situ, just plug in once we arrive. 

 

That was my thoughts but still planning as I'm not back from work till April ????

[farmerjo]

I'd go with the cabbage????