Friday, December 21, 2012

What can I do with 150W SOlar Power + 83AH Battery Bank?

So what can I really do with 150W SOlar Power source + 83AH Battery Bank with the sun shines normally without rain or typhoon? Or in other word in a normal and typical day? It has been 4 months and I had never really thought of this question because everyday, I have to spend sometime outside so I am not able to really measure or give accurate measurements of how much energy can be spent with this power source.

So today(Dec 21, the supposed end of the world in the Mayan calendar), I never really went out just to get the most accurate measurement. Here are the things I did  whole day:

1. 6:00AM to 6:30AM - The  sun begun to shine so I initially let my system charged up.
2. 6:30AM to 7:00AM - I begun to charge my 4.5ah and 5.7ah LI-ION Battery that I use to power up my 2 usb powered fans.
3. 7:00AM to 10:00AM - I turned on my 48W ChangHong 29" LED Tv with my 20W Solar Fan turned on
4. 10:00AM to 10:30AM - I charged my 45W MSI U270 Netbook and turned off the tv
5. 10:30AM to 11:30AM - I let the whole system store energy again by disconnecting power consuming loads such as my 20W electric fan and 5W LED Light Bulb and my power inverter.
6. 11:30AM to 3:00PM - I turned on again the tv with fan turned on as well.
7. 3:00PM to 5:00PM I charged my netbook
8. 5:00PM to 8:00PM I just watched tv with the solar fan turned on and my 3W, 1.5W and 6W(led Christmas light) LED Lights turned on
9. 8:00PM - 6AM - I just used the solar fan and the christmas light turn on the whole night and still running normally.

These things could not have possible if I went out at 3PM because some burglars are sabotaging my setup.

At least with this experiment, I am able to know the maximum usability of my current power source but still, this is not enough to power a small refridgerator probably a 48W can be adequately powered continously by a 400W Solar Panel plus 240AH battery bank.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Batteries are all over my place

Since 4 months ago when I started using solar panels as source of my electricity, I have bought a lot of batteries of different sizes and capacities. Batteries are very important because when you are not home during the day, you will need to store the energy captured by the solar panels so that you can watch tv and use your electric fan not to mention the power needed for your ligting needs. I also encountered several problems with these batteries because of their difference in s izes and capacities.

I noticed that when the 17ah battery is fully charged, I can use it to power my 29" Changhong LED tv for more than 2 hours but when I combine the larger batteries(26ah and 40ah) I still get 2 hours so I thought this is totally wrong. With 83ah, I should be able to use my tv 24hrs but I am not getting it. But that is what is happening and I think the basic explanation to this is that there are power losses maybe huge power losses when I connect the 3 batteries. The small ones acts as loads of the bigger ones and so while energy is consumed, the little ones competes with the actual loads(I am referring to the tv).

So to at least solve this problem and at least minimize the energy loss, I bought a 3amps ac-dc converter plus a mechanical timer to isolate my 28ah battery from the other 2 batteries so that when I come home at night, I can watch tv for at least 4 hours continiously and at the same time I can use my electric fan and lights without draining the batteries when I wake up in the morning and my theory has worked so far.


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Utilizing the Power of the Sun

For 4 months now, I have been utilizing the energy coming from the sun to energize my gadgets. And within that 4 months, I have been doing several experiments and trying to solve everyday problems I encountered. Although it is quite expensive, I have enjoyed tingling with technology. It is as if I don't care about the money much as long as I really enjoy what I do and I really do enjoyed it.

First problem I encountered is I really can't leave my solar panels because in the place where I stay, a lot of strangers pass by and who knows, they may pick up some of my solar panels and easily run away. Second, I will have to check starting at 3 pm whether the solar panels still receive sunlight which they often do so I have to re-arrange them accordingly.


So I really need  to construct a small metal structure about 8ft high just to be able to use my solar panels 7 days a week because right now, I am only able to charge my battery bank twice a week and use this stored energy the whole week for my usb electric fans and led lights plus the Christmas lights.

So off I went to the hardware store and bought several flat angular bars and screws which cost over 2500 pesos and without much planning, I was able to finish the job in just 1 day.


So now, I will be able to use my solar panels 7 days a week and I just wonder how it would affect my energy needs. Currently, It could not adequately power my CHangHong 29" Led Tv and charge my 2 laptops.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Peso in gaining temporary strength

When something keeps climbing and reaches the top, it will not go anywhere but down. This is mostly true in gold, currencies and stocks. Traders usually concentrates in determining the highest possible value and when this value is reached, that's the time that they start either selling or buying. This is another good way to earn money to buy new gadgets.

Lately, the peso is appreciating but this will be temporary and once it reaches its inflection point(a point where it starts to collapse), that is the best time to buy dollars. Just imagine if you have 1million dollars, and you bought this dollars at $1: Php35, and suddenly the peso loses its strength and value and reaches $1:Php50, then you will earn around Php15 million  with no sweat. And with Php15million, you can already buy a big house, a nice car, lots of expensive gadgets, etc, etc.

ChangHong 29" LED TV is really one of the best!

I just bought ChangHong 29" LED TV and watching movies with it is so much better than ordinary LCD TV. Although it is only 29", I could hardly notice how small it is as compared to my previous 32" LG LCD Tv this is because the ChangHong LED Full HD Tv almost occupies the whole plastic casing.

What I like about it even more is that it can directly play movies and music from any USB thumb drive which enables me to use my laptop without ever connecting to the tv just to watch my favorite music videos or listen to my favorite music although the sound quality is not that good, it is enough just to make noise in the house.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this tv considering that its price has become so affordable and is just like buying a boob-tube tv 6 years ago.