DIY solar shed advice

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Eric in Japan
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DIY solar shed advice

Post by Eric in Japan »

I want to make a small shed to put my lawnmower and hopefully a battery powered Makita brushcutter in. The place I use them mostly is quite a ways from my house, and it would be nice to have a shed with power way down there. Doesn't have to be a lot of power, I just want to be able to charge battery packs and maybe if possible use a small electric chainsaw. If my aquaponics project ever gets back on track a small fishtank pump, but I don't know if that will happen.
I have been looking into solar panels, controllers, battery packs, and inverters and my head is spinning. Does anyone know enough to give me some advice?
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DIY solar shed advice

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Maybe could you link to a few of the products you are thinking of Eric and give us an idea of how much power you would like.

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DIY solar shed advice

Post by Tora »

Check out the units people are using on “van life” camper van conversions for a diy option. The system doesn’t seem too complex and should offer enough power for lights, charging things, an electric beer cooler,….

I’ve seen a couple used solar panels for sale from people doing large installation replacement/removal projects. I’ve seen a couple deep cycle batteries available too. If you’re patient and wanna go that route. You would just need an inverter and… after that. I could have had a system for a couple ¥man with a little patience and attention span- but I just had no immediate plans to use it, place to put it, or need for another project.

There are also premade units available for a premium too. I know one brand called “jackery” seems to offer a deep cycle battery marketed to the camping community that can’t live without electricity when they are reconnecting with nature. There are simple foldout solar panels you can use to charge that battery. I’m sorry but I don’t have a name there. They seem more expensive than the “hard” panels you see on roofs and camper roofs.

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Eric in Japan
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DIY solar shed advice

Post by Eric in Japan »

Zasso Nouka wrote:
Fri Oct 01, 2021 7:31 am
Maybe could you link to a few of the products you are thinking of Eric and give us an idea of how much power you would like.
Well, I looked up the specs on a Makita charger, and I still don't fully understand it, but copy paste to the rescue:
Input Voltage: Single-phase AC 100 V / Input Frequency: 50 - 60 Hz / Input Capacity: 140 W / Battery Charging Terminal
(Does that mean that the charger only draws 1.4 amps? Volts times Amps = Watts, right?)

The electric chainsaws I have say 100V 8A 750W and 100V 12A 1150W

So I guess If I use the chainsaws as long as I have a minimum of 100V 12Amps I should be OK. I could make do with only using the smaller chainsaw for 8Amps, or eventually buying a battery Makita one at much lower amps.

Wow, just writing that down really helped me sort this out in my head.
So working backwards, I want:
1. an inverter that can give me 800 ~ 1200W (found one for 1000W) 10,998 yen
2. A deep cycle battery or a power pack that can be charged by solar panels (this one has the added bonus of having Super Natto written on it.) 11,550 yen
3. A solar controller and solar panel set- probably 100W or so since I will only use it on weekends and vacations. 14,500 yen

I don't want to buy it all and find out it won't work, so if anyone spots any holes/obvious incompatibilities I would be grateful.
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DIY solar shed advice

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Not an electrical expert so take this with a large pinch of salt.

If you aren't going to be using the setup all the time then the solar panel can trickle charge your battery through the week. Might be worth getting an inverter that has greater capacity than you want to use so you aren't pushing it to it's limit when using the chainsaw and to give you room for expansion later on.

What I'm not sure how to work out is how much run time a battery will give you.

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