Introducing solar power for homes with this $600 solar kit

Some would say that installing solar power for homes is not cheap right now. Establishing a solar power for homes system that is large enough to allow you to go completely off-grid could cost you thousands of dollars, possibly even tens of thousands depending on the size and scale of the job required.

The big question is though, do we really need to install the whole solar power for homes system all at once? Is that how you do things normally? I suggest that normally you would look to introduce incremental change. While the idealists might say that’s not fast enough, the realists among us would prefer to use a less radical approach. Little by little feels more comfortable and certainly it calls for a lot less money up front.

So we are facing the question, “Do we really need to go solar power for homes all at once?” This article looks at what might constitute the very least you would need to introduce in order to still end up with enough solar power for homes to run a few important things around the house, enough to start to make a difference to your monthly energy bills.

To do this, consider introducing a $600 solar kit. What is it and what would it deliver? Well let’s start with what you could get from it. In short, the answer is about 1KWh. Yes, but what does that mean in the real world?

Well, let’s just say that, with 1KWh, you could run a laptop computer for 40 hours, a 20-inch TV for 20 hours, a portable stereo for 100 hours or a 12-watt fluorescent light bulb for 80 hours. (Do people really still use portable stereos?)

As part of the $600 solar kit, you’d get an 800-watt inverter offering an attendant 2,000-watt surge capacity. Now this little beauty could easily run a small vacuum cleaner, a drill or a small drill press, a sander, a jigsaw or small band saw, (now we’re talking!) but probably it would not have the capacity to run a large circular saw. (doh! My plans for an eco-friendly remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre are scuppered!)

If toasters and coffee makers are more your thing, then you could have them going without any worries. Likewise, a coffee blender would be child’s play for this little baby. Just don’t try to hook it up to a microwave. Equally, you could run a hair dryer on low, but try running it on high? You’ve no chance. Sorry!

Despite its restrictions, this $60 solar kit hss still got an impressive range. In terms of spec, what would you get for your $600? Here’s the ingredients:

One Uni-Solar 32-watt 12 volt amorphous-silicon PV module: $180.00

Two Deka 12 volt 92 amp-hour sealed batteries: ($130.00 each) $260.00

One 12 volt Aims 800-watt modified sine wave inverter: $65.00

One 12 volt Morningstar 6-amp charge controller: $40.00

Et voila! All in all, that amounts to a total of $545.00. You can take the remaining $55 and use it for wiring, fuses, mounting hardware, battery cables and the miscellaneous odds and sods that are always needed for this type of job.

You could say that this is a beginner’s solar power for homes system. With all bar the inverter, it would be simple to expand it over time as you slowly acquire the increased budget for such things.

You could introduce any amount of these modules simply by wiring them together in parallel. Just make sure that all the modules are of the same wattage. The 6-amp charge controller can easily handle as many as three 32-watt modules. Over time, you can introduce extra charge controllers by wiring them into the system in parallel. Slowly, but importantly, in your own time, you are increasing the amount of solar energy you are introducing into your home.

Buying more batteries is a good thing so long as you are generating enough power to create surplus solar energy at peak times of the day.

Everything in this solar kit can by multiplied up except sadly you cannot connect the inverter to another one of its kind. We are not able to provide more power in that way, nor can we configure the inverter to make it operate at a higher input voltage. However, at only $65, introducing another 800-watt AC power source that quietly pulls power from your battery – that would be a handy accessory to keep tucked away.

If times are tight, or you tend to like to dip your toe in the watrer before diving right in, then consider introducing a $600 solar power starter kit system. Once you have it all up and running, you can start to dream of your deluxe solar power for homes system.

from Sam Deane,
your solar power for homes guide,
at www dot go solar power for homes dot com

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