What would be a recommendation to "get my feet wet" with solar lights?

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Roscooo
Roscooo Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
Any recommendations on an entry level solar lighting purchase? No specific task, just something to play around with.
From the Great White North, Love Sustainable Living and Healthy Lifestyle
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  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
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    Solar garden light?
    Off-grid.  
    Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #3
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    Assuming/guessing you are in the great white north (Canada)--And solar lighting very much relies on reasonable sunlight:
    http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

    Edmonton
    Average Solar Insolation figures

    Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 36° angle from vertical:
    (For best year-round performance)
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
    1.61
              		2.84
              		4.26
              		5.00
              		4.87
              		4.82
     
    Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
    4.89
              		4.84
              		3.86
              		2.84
              		1.89
              		0.97
     
    Below 3-4 hours per day is not a lot of sun... If you wanted summer cabin lighting, and or had backup genset for "dark weather" -- Battery system + Solar + Genset can make for a very useful system (and more than just lighting).

    Otherwise, if you have utility power and needs lights during the winter--Installing LED lighting and wiring in your yard is going to be more useful and less costly (and remember batteries will typically last 3-7 years, charge controllers about ~10+ years, etc.).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Roscooo
    Roscooo Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭
    #4
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    Very cool Bill , thanks for the info. I will look into it some more. @Estragon what solar garden light would you say?
    From the Great White North, Love Sustainable Living and Healthy Lifestyle
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  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #5
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    It depends a bit on how wet you want to get your feet. If you just want to dip a toe, maybe one of those package things for a lamp post top or decorative thing you can get at box stores. They have pv, battery, and light all put together, so you just place it and watch the magic.

    If you're more interested in more of a project to learn, maybe something something that needs you to design for and you put individual components together for. Solar christmas lights, for example, would take some real noodling to pull off in Edmonton.
    Off-grid.  
    Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
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  • Roscooo
    Roscooo Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭
    #6
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    Why do people think I'm from Edmonton? There's more cities in the great white north than that, lol. But seriously, I will have to decide how far I want to or can dive in. Thanks for being so responsive though. I'll keep you guys posted.
    From the Great White North, Love Sustainable Living and Healthy Lifestyle
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #7
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    My fault, I took a guess from your IP Address (only forum moderators can "see" IP Addresses).

    http://geobytes.com/iplocator/

    More or less, available sun, energy needs, and to a degree electric codes and available hardware are location/regional dependent.

    Many of the answers we give, we try to make sure they apply to where the system will be installed. Talking about outdoor lightning is going to have different problems & solutions for somebody near the equator vs near the poles.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Johann
    Johann Solar Expert Posts: 245 ✭✭✭
    #8
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    You mean like this.........
    or do mean like that?

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  • Lumisol
    Lumisol Registered Users Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
    #9
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    Roscooo said:
    Why do people think I'm from Edmonton? There's more cities in the great white north than that, lol. But seriously, I will have to decide how far I want to or can dive in. Thanks for being so responsive though. I'll keep you guys posted.
    Canada is all the same. :)
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