I am planning to utilize solar energy in my next prolonged power interruption/disaster. To that end I have acquired various Goal Zero goodies (panels,etc.) and they will probably serve well enough for my needs. The units are portable, easy to set up, and should recharge my flashlights (except for those using larger lithium ion batteries) and cell phones. The units are convenient but I understand they are highly priced compared to other rigs where electrical expertise is useful.

So drawing upon the group expertise, what kind of systems can be rigged without requiring an EE degree and a great deal of expense? Portability is desirable.

I am impressed with the potential for solar power in emergencies. The other day I was fiddling around with solar ovens in preparation fora field project where conventional fires were inadvisable, and just using items around the house, I slapped together a rig that produced the proverbial nice cup of tea and even a biscuit.

I'm keeping a thin but rigid 4x4' sheet of polished and coated aluminum for rigging an efficient solar oven like this one, WTSHTF:


In fact, mine could be folded into a parabolic shape as well to get even up to forging temperatures.

Regarding affordable solar panels: in just one evening I built a 20W solar panel out of 25 65x65mm modules. Got them off ebay for just $16 (sixteen!) with all the tabbings, bus lines, and soldering flux. The resulting panel size is slightly over a square foot (pending a protective polycarbonate screen on top of it). Tested it today under the hazy sky - 14V 1.2A.

You don't have to be an EE guru to rig your own solar charging or even house powering station. Get panels you can afford (e.g. 150W 3'x3' solid plate on a frame is around $200, truly portable folding album sized solarfilm at the same wattage is around $700). Get the universal solar charger (~$40), get a set of generic batteries (lithium - for portability, sealed gel for longevity and household power storage, or wait a bit for the Tesla Wall for ultimate power storage and with the charging controller already builtin), some inverter to hold expected consuming wattage, and just connect them all together with 8 pieces of thick wire - that's it.

Hikermor... what battery/cell size have you settled on for your emergency power? my dedicated hurricane lighting and electronics are AA Eneloop, and charge in about 3.5 hours with my Goal Zero 7w panel, and 45 minutes with 120vac...

I have changed my thinking, and have relegated the GZ panel to backup, and the deep discharge battery to primary power storage as it is 95 amp/hour... kept on a float charger, and I have multiple gasoline driven charging options... in the 9 day outage in 2004, its predecessor did a good job keeping the small fan running, and providing power for the analog TV (which has been replaced)

old pic, previously shown, of the hard wired 12v female receptacle and fuse... the charger is now the weak link and will get a backup when I can find one... this one works on 12vdc, 120vac, and 5vusb...charges AA and AAA

I have the Goal Zero Guide 10 for charging AA batteries, but I also have a unit that charges batteries from a 12 volt plug like you'd find in your car. Keeping Eneloops charged is not an issue. For cooking I've got propane, butane, white gas and kerosene stoves. Keeping the refrigerator cold is the issue -- working on that.

Russ... for the 9 day outage in 2004, my Coleman 5 day cooler was loaded with my refrigerator freezer contents (mostly frozen soups) and 4 one gallon frozen jugs of water... it was not opened until day 6 and the jugs still had some ice... the soups partially thawed but I considered them safe to eat (later thrown out)

I cooked out of a second, older Igloo cooler containing unfrozen perishable food and milk... four frozen jugs kept food cool (quickly opened twice a day) until day 6 when school started, and I had access to ice at the cafeteria...a smaller cooler was used to transport ice home

I have later installed a 3500w generator to keep the refrigerator running, but have reconsidered, as I typically do not have enough value stored in the refrigerator to justify the expense of running the generator

I'll continue to rely on the multi day coolers, even if I need to run the refrigerator via generator to freeze the gallon jugs

my county had ice available the day after the storm if you could wait in line...

We've got an off-grid solar system in the works. Four solar panels with 24volt DC output to a eight batteries then to an inverter which power to the refrigerator or whatever other device.

Most all the solar systems here are on-grid and provide no power when the grid shuts down or there is a local black-out. Those are the systems the companies here push though with a large system to knock down you monthly electricity bill. Our E bill isn't big enough for them to bother, but we still need to run the 'fridge. So we opted for a smaller off-grid solar system.

oooooooo Favorite topic!!!

what do you wanna RUN!

This is my favorite topic that always starts backwards.
It always comes down to the same thing-- power in vs power out.
LesSnyder made a very interesting comment about generators that
I agree with, but would like to turn sideways.

SO

At a high level,
Do you want to power a camping fan, a radio and a AA battery charger
OR
MY HOUSE
OR
My Freezer, My C-pap, and a laptop/cellphone?

AND, for how long? day/week/month/year/a long, long time?

I am accumulating several solar lanterns, radios/ phone rechargers, and looking into small panels after our almost yearly 'lights out' events. I especially like the yard lights which have solar tops.

TRO