Solar electricity to my shed...

Hey everyone!

I have a tool type shed outside (vs. inside, I guess), and at the moment I'm running an extension cord underground to power some lights and a charge my weed wacker. I was thinking that I should rather put up some solar panels on the shed, charge up a battery and use that to power the lights (which rarely get used).

Anyone have any tips on this kinda thing? It's something I'd like to do myself rather than call in professionals. What do I need to buy? Where can I get it? What should I stay away from? how much will it cost?

I figure it's a good first step towards solarifying my house, though I bet my HOA says forget about it (they can't object to the shed, though).

Any tips would be apprecaited!

david

They are all about solar, hydro, wind, etc...There's a lot of info on their website about this stuff...They can guide you thru the process and/or direct you to someone in your area that specializes in solar. If nothing else, the website may be a good place to start.

realgoods.com

but hell, lets drill in Alaska some more.

I've tried researching this myself and there's not a lot a resources hat I found. I would just google it with your city name and see what comes up.

Drill drill drill...

Anyway, I'm thinking that I'm just gonna go for it and see what I can do on my own. I've got a BS in physics and a ton of physicists around my work, and none of them object to the idea. I'm gonna put together a kit and see what happens. Worst case scenario I blow a couple hundred $ on parts - I just wont send my son to college! Best case scenario, I'll be on to something, sell kits and become a gazillionaire!

Woo hoo!!!

david

for just this kinda thing. People who don't want to run wiring to remote areas (remote meaning 10+ feet away from the house :) ).

You could sell a panel, a battery, a switch, and 4 clustered white LED lights with mounts. Sell it for a couple hundred $, and I bet there'd be buyers everywhere.

You may be right, though, that the cost outweighs the benefit. Hmmmmmmm...

david

They can, at the very least, point you in the right direction.

http://www.solarliving.org

in many repects one in the same. You'll find a link to the SLC from realgoods.com

1.) The only safe type of wiring for underground is called Type UF. You can run a 12/2 Type UF feeder from your house circuit breaker box to the shed, and it must be protected by a circuit breaker at the house and also at the shed before it goes to outlets or lights.

AN EXTENSION CORD UNDERGROUND IS ASKING FOR TROUBLE! I cannot overstate how dangerous it is.

2.) Photovoltaic cells are too expensive for a shed only. They run about $35 a foot. Then after that, you must wire them, buy a storage battery and monitoring device, and also buy a power inverter to get to 120 VAC from the 24 VDC the cells produce. Way to much investment for just a shed, you will not get your money back in savings.

My advice is to take a smaller amount of money and have an electrician come and properly hook up your shed wiring, or find a friend who knows how to do it right and buy the materials for him or her.

Please do this, for your own safety.

so it's not burried, really, kinda using PVC conduit.

I agree, though, that it's not a great idea.

As far as the "They run about $35 a foot. Then after that, you must wire them, " goes, the panel(s) would atually be on the shed itself, which has a good south facing roof. And if I'm not interested in going to 120 VAC, but stick with 12V DC to power LED cluster bulbs, wouldn't it still be relatively simple?

It's less about getting my money back in savings than it is about learning the basics of practical solar energy useage and just plain tinkering and home improvement projects.

To be honest, lighting in the shed isn't all that important to me anyway, it's just a bit-o-project.

Next would be powering the pump on a fountain, which seems very conducive to solar energy, no? I know they sell kits for that.

david

but i'm looking into them for my next home.
http://www.oksolar.com/roof/

It may not be what you need but it's a cool product.

I've been saying that they should be making solar shingles for years. It makes perfect sense... in fact it makes very little sense *not* to do it.

Very cool! (but beyond what I had in mind for this project, I think).

david

They totally blend in and i'm pretty i'll get a rebate for having them installed, even without a rebate i'm going to get them.

shed?

Then you could do solar right and run photovoltaics from the roof of your home.

Just a thought.,

and I don't think they allow Solar panels on roofs, although I could try to fight it. I'm not quite ready for that yet.

I figure the shed would be easy and is not visible to anyone else, really, so the HOA Gestapos would never know...

:)

Anyway, this is just a small project at this point...

david