What should come first? Portable solar panels or a power station?

[uncagingmyspirit]

I'm starting to build the area for my mobile desk and I don't want to skimp on quality. Both the portable solar panels and the power station or slightly expensive. What should be purchased first? Portable solar panels or the power station? Or are they something that should be bought together?

I already have a cell phone booster kit with antenna. Planning to get a Wi-Fi hotspot subscription. so the next thing is either portable solar panels or power station.

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[MrNoodly]

A power station won't be good for much for very long (a couple of days or so?) without some way to recharge it. If you're not going to depend on the grid for that, or if you're not going to be driving hours at a time nearly daily so you can charge it via your vehicle's electrical system, you'll want solar.

 

[B and C]

Solar does no good without something to charge.

Short term you can charge from your vehicle or shore.

 

[LoupGarou]

The portable power station, followed by a way to charge it from the vehicle.

I have a 100watt portable solar panel set and I despise it. It’s heavy, difficult to store and I have to baby sit it when it’s put out as the sun moves.

Temperatures are warming up. On warm/hot days I’m looking for some shade, so roof mounted solar panels wouldn’t work for me.

 

[JDub]

I'd get them together if that's possible. I've been testing out my GOLAB pack using both the DC and AC functions and it's pretty darn handy. It's run everything from my meatcutter to my 12v refer. Great endurance on the battery and it's so much handier than hauling around my big solar system. The 100w, 18v flexible panel system I got at the same time recharges it quickly and it plugs in direct to the pack. No SC needed. The one thing I would recommend (as a few others here also have) is getting an extension cord for the panels to the power pack. The 6ft cord included isn't really enough. A 25' SAE to SAE connector cord is only 16 bucks on Amazon.

Cheers!

 

[thegoodtom1]

I believe that, on a budget, start small and then upgrade. Get enough solar to charge the batteries that you can afford. You will kill batteries that don't get fully charged, and waste energy with more solar than you can store. A water heater can store some of your excess if you dump the charge into an electrical heating element when your batteries are full. Just start with a good combination that you can afford, and build bigger as you can.

 

[RVTravel]

As Highdesertranger always says,

1. determine energy needs
2. size battery(s) according to needs
3. size solar for battery(s)

 

[eDJ_]

I notice the concerns with adjusting the solar panel several times a day so it faces the sun and gives maximum efficiency. 

I was looking at old back issues of MotherEarth News Magazine awhile back and saw an issue from 1977-78.  On the cover was something called a Heliostat. It's a solar device that focuses sunlight to produce heat such as for heating water. It tracks the sun like a sunflower throughout the day automatically.

In the article was a diagram to make the tracking device so the Heliostat could follow the sun automatically.  Just a small motor like a BBQ Rotisserie motor that would run intermittently to turn the array just a little each hour. Not a complicated or expensive project and any electronics tech person could probably fabricate one. Or someone with modest skills put a prefab kit together to have one up and running in a few hours.

The mount could be a 1 inch steel pin driven into the ground with a mallet.  Welded to the pin would be the motor & tracking device mount.  The mount for the solar panel would sit down on that pin such that a small rubber drive belt would connect the pulley of the motor to the pulley of the solar panel mounting array. But again there may be prefab kits for that too.

This first link looks like what MotherEarth Magazine published in it's article.



MotherEarth Article


Premade device from AliExpress

 

[eDJ_]

There are numerous designs of Heliostats.  Some are primitive, like the "death ray" design, and others that  have a motor drive that tracks the sun & adjust the inclination of the array. (called zenith over azimuth)

An old satellite dish can be cleaned (well) and covered with metal reflective tape to produce a mirrored surface that will concentrate heat on to the surface of a cooking vessel or metal can, like a 5 gallon metal Jerry Can full of water to have a solar hot water heating system.  See the YouTube link below starting at 4:30 in the video.

The Solar Fire site shows some more advanced types with impressive photos of these being used in cold environments.  There is a link to the Sunflower 3 in it worth looking at.  It automatically tracks the sun and places the focus where it would be wanted.  I can imagine setting this up in cold weather to focus on one side of a Van.  (just past the hottest point so it wouldn't burn the paint but add heat to the Van)   In time I could imagine such a solar heating system focused on an "absorption cooling generator" as the free heat source.  That cold could interact with a liquid to circulate between the generator and a radiator in the Van to provide cooling. A small low voltage recirculation pump may be all that would be necessary in such a system.  But the absorption system would be outside the Van with the Heliostat that would provide the heat. 

I could imagine someone manufacturing a sun tracking array that anyone could mount their suitcase solar panel array on to set it and forget it.  This could work well for those who travel often as the ease of set up and dismantling would be easy.  Otherwise for snow birds or boondockers who would be setting up twice a year or once a month. 

Reflective Satellite Dish Heliostat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPISolar Fire Site
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPIhttps://solarfire.io/en#news
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPIhttps://solarfire.io/en#news
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPIhttps://solarfire.io/en#newsSolar Sunflower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPIhttps://solarfire.io/en#newshttps://www.wikoda.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPIhttps://solarfire.io/en#newshttps://www.wikoda.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWX5HH6HyPIhttps://solarfire.io/en#newshttps://www.wikoda.com/Red Rock Energy Heliostats

 

[eDJ_]

I've often noticed the discussions where people air their frustrations with constantly having to adjust their solar panels thru the day and the time it takes to heat up some water for a shower or to have dish washing water.  The Heliostat built on a smaller scale could offer solutions.   Suit Case Solar Panels could
be placed on such a sun tracking framework or a reflective dish made from a scrap satellite dish could be mounted if some simple fabrication were undertaken.  In time someone may manufacture these devices.

I've seen small DC pump motors that were rated for some rather hot water. This could work with Jerry Cans or Garden Sprayer's converted to use as a shower.  And this may heat water much more quickly than allowing containers to sit in the sun.   Once water is heated, the solar panels could be mounted on the Heliostat frame within a couple of minutes.

 

[eDJ_]

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[jacqueg]

Hey, I'm retired. I don't mind having to reposition my suitcase panels 2 or 3 times a day. I'd rather do that than listen to my generator, and I'm sure any neighbors I have feel the same way!

But my suitcase panels are just one means I have to keep things charged up, and I don't even use them every day.