Researched this recently and came across this which appears to be the best solution in the field currently, though price prohibitive. http://solarips.com/power-tower/
Those are really neat, thanks for sharing!
Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?
11–16 of 16 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?
#12You can make your own extremely easy. 1kWh is about 85 Amp Hours. You'll need at least a 160Ah battery if you don't want any extra storage. Usually you will need to at least double that for days when you don't have much sun. I would suggest you need at least 400Ah worth of batteries. Then you have to figure out how much sun your panels are getting to determine if you can fully charge your batteries in that time for t…
What about those batteries, is lithium an option?
Sure! Just incredibly expensive.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?
#13You can make your own extremely easy. 1kWh is about 85 Amp Hours. You'll need at least a 160Ah battery if you don't want any extra storage. Usually you will need to at least double that for days when you don't have much sun. I would suggest you need at least 400Ah worth of batteries. Then you have to figure out how much sun your panels are getting to determine if you can fully charge your batteries in that time for t…
Thanks for this reply. Maybe I'm not understanding something, but 1kWh per day converts to about 42 Watts. Why would I need several 100W panels? Is the power rating of the panels a peak, before efficiency or lack-of-sun losses are taken into account?
Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?
#14You can make your own extremely easy. 1kWh is about 85 Amp Hours. You'll need at least a 160Ah battery if you don't want any extra storage. Usually you will need to at least double that for days when you don't have much sun. I would suggest you need at least 400Ah worth of batteries. Then you have to figure out how much sun your panels are getting to determine if you can fully charge your batteries in that time for t…
Thanks for this reply. Maybe I'm not understanding something, but 1kWh per day converts to about 42 Watts. Why would I need several 100W panels? Is the power rating of the panels a peak, before efficiency or lack-of-sun losses are taken into account?
You only get real power out of your solar for a few hours a day, at best. This needs to be enough to supply power to your equipment during those hours while also (hopefully) giving your battery bank a full or near full charge.
Your panels will pretty-much work 24/7 though. I've gotten half an amp from the moon on my 2x 100w panels.
> Is the power rating of the panels a peak, before efficiency or lack-of-sun losses are taken into account?
Yeah. They can actually put out a tiny-bit more, but don't expect them to. Plan for them outputting peak 70% of what they are rated for, actually.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?
#15What about https://ironedison.com? I’m interested in nickel iron batteries, sounds like they last longer and can handle more abuse then lead acid and lithium ion... would love to hear if anyone has experience with them
Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?
#16I personally have a Goal Zero setup with the Lithium-based Yeti 3000 (3000W), and a pair of the Boulder 200 solar panel briefcases, totaling 400W. Albeit expensive, went with this option for the ease of installation - 1 wire per solar panel plugged into the Yeti, and It Just Works. No complaints besides from my wallet.