Shop for me! :) Solar for running PS4 / TV

[PerthVanTime]

My girl wants a PS4 for her birthday coming up. We live in a Mitsubishi Express and have no power currently. She doesn't think it would be possible to get a PS4 and I want to shock her.

I'm in Perth in the city and am looking at used Solar Panels. I have no idea which to buy. I know I need some kind of inverter and a power supply of batteries. If anyone here is up for it.... just point out the things for sale and I'll go buy them! Anything on Perth Gumtree. 

I was thinking I would need 2 big batteries, 1 or 2 solar panels, some kind of inverter thing.... maybe more?

 

[jonyjoe303]

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]the [/font][font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]PS4[/font][font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif] when it's playing games 137 watts or streaming videos 89 watts. Then you got to add the monitor wattage depending on screen size. Also you need to have a fan running 140 watts will start heating up the inside of your van.[/font]

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]So playing games thats about 11 amps just on the PS4, If you got a 120ah agm battery that only give you 60 ah of usable power, maybe you get 4 hours out of it playing time.[/font]

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Your Mitsubishi van is similar in size to my astrovan, on my van I got a 240 watt panel to fit lenghtwise. only 1 fits that way, You can probably fit 2 of them sideways but will extend a little over the edges. 240 watts laying flat when connected to mppt will get you a max of 15 amps if the sun is overhead and the battery is depleted (average I see is about 12 amps).[/font]

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]The 120 watt panels max out at about 6 amps, you might need 3 of those, 3 of them will get you 18 amps. [/font]

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Myself I like large panels, I definitely look at something 240 or higher watts. But make sure you get an mppt controller, the cheaper pwm will only get you 7 amps out of a large panel. I do like the 300 watt panels but didnt see the specs on it, don't know if the ecoworthy will work on that, but I'm sure it fit on your roof lenghtwise. 300 watt will max out about 20 amps average maybe 15 amps.[/font]
We talking real power.

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]The 120 ah battery kit seems too expensive, also the built-in mppt only handles solar max voltage of 28 volts, the large panels put out over 36 volts, so that is no good for big panels.[/font]

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]A true mppt like an ecoworthy 20 amp can handle up to 45 volts solar input (about 260 watt panel) , its the controller I got. You got to be careful because some controller claim to be mppt and are not. Youtube has good reviews on mppt controllers, they also show the fake ones.[/font]

[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]240 watt 36 volt solar panel plus ecoworthy 20 amp mppt (if you can find one in your area) in USA they cost about 100 dollars. Is the bare minimum I would start with and at least a 100 ah battery. The inverter don't have to be too big but it also depends if the PS4 requires pure sine (more expensive) then the more common modified sine inverter. You might need more research in that area.[/font]



[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]This is what mppt controller looks like [/font]


panel on roof of my van

 

[DLTooley]

The LiFePo4 battery market hasn't quite developed in the US yet - best source is the chinese ecommerce site alibaba. You might check and see if they are available yet in Australia.

 

[Van-Tramp]

jonyjoe303 summarized it well.

Not only will you have to buy that PS4 (and monitor) you will have to buy at least 300 watts in solar, a good sized battery bank, and an inverter to run it. You are talking another $600-1000 in solar to play on a PS4 for a few hours each day at best. That isn't even including paying someone else to install all of this (since you say you know nothing on this subject, you will need someone to install it as well)

Ask yourself, where are you keeping those in you vehicle? One or two large lead acid batteries (toxic to breath the fumes BTW) and three or more large panels... where do they go? I'm not even talking about where the PS4 and TV go and all the wiring.

Think realistically. You live in a small vehicle. Is a PS4 really that important too you? Isnt there better things to spend $1500+ on?

 

[tav-2020]

maybe more do-able:
a small laptop (that you may already have?) and an account with Steam? https://store.steampowered.com/
or maybe she already does that.
i have found i enjoy the quality and gameplay of some Steam offerings better than most PS4, xbox or nintendo

you would need internet, and enough solar to to run/charge the laptop, but maybe less costly and space-taking as the PS4...

 

[Treknik]

> maybe more do-able: a small laptop (that you may already have?) and an account with Steam...

Love the Laptop/Steam idea.
Also consider a Nintendo Switch instead of PS4. Smaller, cheaper, can run on TV/Monitor with HDMI. Can also run portably with batteries.
You still need to be able to charge the batteries. Figure 3 hours of play time (depends widely on game) and 3.5 hours to fully recharge.

Perhaps your daughter is more interested in a particular game rather than platform. If so check if it is available on the Switch. The Switch has some very popular proprietary games; just not as good graphic resolutions compared to PS4/XBox.

 

[lenny flank]

Alas, most people take "electricity" entirely for granted, since it just comes right out of the wall in virtually unlimited quantities whenever we want it.

They do not really realize how much electricity they actually use each day, and how expensive and complex it is to produce a significant electricity in a van or RV.

 

[highdesertranger]

x2 on what Lenny said^. highdesertranger