40 Watt Do-it-Yourself Solar Energy Starter Kit --1

40 Watt Do It Yourself Solar Power Kit

RRP:

~~$699.97~~

Your Price:

$649.97 (You save $50.00)

SKU:

900-10065-00

Rating:

( 1 product review )

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Product Description

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Our 40 Watt solar kit for do-it-yourselfers. Includes all the parts to build your own system to solar power lights, radios, laptop computer, fan, small tv and lots more. This system has two standard 110V plugs, just like the ones you have at home.

We've made it very easy to put together with complete instructions.

Upgrades: Add a second 40 watt panel for total of 80 watts of power. Add a hard plastic battery case. Add flat roof mounting brackets (RV style). Add pole mounting hardware for panel.

Includes:
* 40 Watt Framed Solar Panel
* SunSaver 6 amp charge controller
* 55 Amp-hr sealed lead-acid AGM battery
* 300 Watt DC to AC Power inverter
* Voltage meter
* 12V DC outlet with fuse

Module Dimensions: Length 20" X Width 26" X Thickness 1.4. Weight: 13 pounds

What could you power?

If the 40 watt solar panel received 5 hours per day of full sun: 2.3 Amps X 5 hrs = 11.5 amp-hrs per day. 11.5 X 12V = 138 watt-hrs of solar energy in your battery. Double your daily power by adding a second solar panel.

If you were using a 20 watt compact fluorescent bulb with the inverter (we'll call it 25 watts because the inverter uses some energy) then you could light the bulb for about 5 1/2 hours with the energy you produced that day.

But you have a battery! Since the battery holds 55 amp-hours or over 660 watt-hours of energy, you could light the light for 26 hours before you need a charge, but it's better to charge it sooner. Batteries last much longer if you limit the discharge to 50% of it's capacity and then charge it up.

You get the idea - the sun puts watt-hours into your battery and then you use it to power stuff that uses watt-hours. Energy in, energy out.

The charge controller prevents the 12V sealed lead-acid battery from over-charging, the inverter converts the 12V DC to 115V AC (standard household-type power). The GoPower 300 inverter is limited to loads of 300 watts or less.

Perfect for beginners that want to get started in solar but don't know where to begin.

Customize your own system. House the battery and components in a cooler on wheels or build a wooden box. Cut a hole and mount the panel voltage meter, and weatherproof with silicone sealant from the hardware store.

Makes a great demonstration system to show how a basic solar home works. Teach your kids and other people's kids about solar power - they're the future!

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Product Reviews

A good start for a backup power system

Posted by W. Bellant on 27th Oct 2009

I bought one of these units a year ago and have been somewhat pleased. The basic cart worked well enough but when I put much of a load on it, it would cut out. Then I added 4 of the 18 amp hour sealed batteries that they recommend in their directions and am very happy with the results. I even pulled out my monster Kirby vacuum cleaner (the kind with powered wheels) and vacuumed my whole 2bdrm condo. I bought a couple solar panels and a charge controller and wired them up during a practice power outage (I shutoff all the circuits in my fuse box except my refrigerator) and went through a day without power. I highly recommend this for anyone who's serious about preparing for power interruptions.
The directions recommend sealed batteries since you can roll the cart around without smelling battery acid or spilling it on your carpet. If you're really serious about this stuff though, you might even want to pickup a few serious deep cycle batteries and put them in a stationary location and use a cable to connect it to the cart.
I did notice one slight drawback. The inverter seems to kick out some noise if I use it to power my ancient boom box from the 80's. You might need to get a pure sign wave inverter if you're going to power sensitive electronic equipment.
If the price of this cart is too much, you can make a stationary version of this with a couple sealed deep cycle batteries, a charger for it (that shuts off automatically, like the one that comes with the cart) and a good sized inverter. You could throw it all in one of those plastic boxes that can buy at any big box store.