Solar electricity to my shed...

[4_Legs_Good]

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

[ourbluenation]

1. I used to work at Real Goods

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

[burythehatchet]

2. its remarkable that this type of info isn't readily available to us

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.

[4_Legs_Good]

14. Yeah, it's nuts

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

[Webster Green]

3. I would stay with the extension cord.

You could put up one or two panels (one would probably do the job), and charge a big old fork lift battery, or a marine battery (deep discharge batteries), but you would be running 12 volt lights, which may not give you the illumination you want for any length of time, especially if the weather isn't co-operating.

It would be quite expensive considering the objective.

[4_Legs_Good]

5. It seems like there's money to be made here selling kits

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

[Shakespeare]

4. Contact the good folks at the Solar Living Center.

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

http://www.solarliving.org

[ourbluenation]

7. Hey! The SLC grew out of Real Goods

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

[jswordy]

6. Get RID of the underground extension cord!

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.

[4_Legs_Good]

8. Well, I did run it through PVC

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

[AlCzervik]

9. I'm not sure of the cost for these

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.

[4_Legs_Good]

12. Totally cool!

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

[AlCzervik]

13. i think they are awesome!!

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.

[Walt Starr]

10. Why not do the electricity correctly and run conduit from the house to the

shed?

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

Just a thought.,

[4_Legs_Good]

11. My HOA is pretty restrictive...

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