solar shed

[plargen]

on Monday i will be getting a new 10x10 shed, my aim then is to set up a couple of solar panels through a charge controller to a couple of car battery which i will use for lighting and hopefully it will provide enough power to run either to run some tools via an 1000w inverter or maybe a 500w heater

but last resort a long extension lead from the house


will aim to put pics up as it progresses

[adz600]

Re: solar shed

my shed is 12x8 and is powered by a 35w solar panel which can produce around 1.2 amp in full sun, is contected to a solar charge regulator about £12 from ebay. this will not over charge the battery and also controls the battery output to not over discharge the batt also very nice peice of kit. Light by 12w led spot light very good clear light.

hope this is of interest

[terry]

Re: solar shed

ive got 3 twin 6ft triphosphor flouresant fittings over me in the workshop, well gota seen what im doing in there ! too powerfull for batteries..... well im in there quite a bit.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Re: solar shed

Got a 6 x 8 shed with lighting powered by batteries and charged from a solar panel. Just a 12V 10W one as it trickle charges the batteries nicely. I install solar panels in my day job so felt I had to practice what I preach :wink:

The idea was that I could go out into the shed and have the lights on without having to connect up the mains cable from the house (an outdoor extension modified with a plug on either end)
Fine in summer, not so great in winter with low sun and shorter daylight hours, so the lighting tends to be run from a modified computer PSU at this time of year.

Lighting consists of 6m worth of ultra-brite white LED strips from GiantShark. Gives a really good and evenly balanced light.

Keep us updated

[plargen]

Re: solar shed

will look into the LED strip from giantshark as it sounds good and ive been looking at some 20w solar panels which i was thinking of using 2, but i'm still looking for some with a higher watt on ebay

also had an idea of making a log burner from a old gas cylinder to heat it but my dad said it would take to long to heat up and ages to burn out, so not really practical

[plargen]

Re: solar shed

ok so far ordered the charge controller from ebay and i have been looking at some 40w solar panels that are £48


i had a look at the led on giant shark and will probably get the as they seem pretty good just have to decide how many meters i need

will aim to get some battery from a scrappy i know, usually the more i tell him about my project the cheaper i get bits (that's why i tend to go back there )

and yay shed on Monday

[plargen]

Re: solar shed

found a inverter called a grid tie inverter, apparently they read the power of your mains supply and match it, they plug into the normal household socket and you can connect as many as you want up

so if my system works well on the shed then i might do some more upgrading and start running power to the house as we generally use less than 200w unless ere using the washing machine etc

[PJ-27]

Re: solar shed

Surely you'll want mains power in the shed for tools?

Not meaning to be the un-eco one but what would be the best way to run the LEDs off of the mains?

[plargen]

Re: solar shed

I have been looking at a 1000w inverters which could run most of tools i would just need a large enough solar panel or wind turbine to keep the battery's charged but i am looking at running mains to the shed if it doesn't work

[RogueTwoRobots]

Re: solar shed

Not meaning to be the un-eco one but what would be the best way to run the LEDs off of the mains?

Some form of bench power supply like this: http://www.technobotsonline.com/13.8v-2 ... upply.html

Or, provided you get one with the right voltage/current characteristics and make up appropriate connectors, a basic plug-in transformer would do: http://www.technobotsonline.com/9v-1.5a ... upply.html

Lastly, the method I use when the batteries are low, a modified PSU from an old computer:

[attachment=0:kihv0cmy]DSCN6203.JPG[/attachment:kihv0cmy]

[PJ-27]

Re: solar shed

Neat idea!

[swanaldo]

Re: solar shed

I have done something similar ar work jamie...Used a powersupply from one of our old gaming machines....I have 5v, 12v, 24, 36v and 44v. very handy in my line of work.

[plargen]

Re: solar shed

ok shed is up I've got the door nice and secure and the window tint up now

I've gone for the led's from giant shark, 6 meters and I've tested 1 out and it puts out moor light than the energy saving bulb in the cupboard so they should light the shed nicely

i retrieved the inverter from my dads and found out its 500w and i have also ordered a 500w fan heater to test out in the shed (was surprisingly warm in there today)

i also have the charge controller now so all that required now is solar panels, battery's and some boarding for inside