Research - Part 1
The first site I found on DIY solar was this one from treehugger.com.
It's a concise plan for a cheap solar solution that could be scaled up to accommodate more demand over time. Thing is, I didn't recognize a thing in the list of items to buy besides what sounded like a car battery.
That's when I found these guys.
They provide great descriptions of the necessary components and even have a section dedicated to learning the basics of setting up a solar system. If you're like me and don't know much about electricity, this is a great place to start. You can even call them with questions if you're still a bit confused.
These are the components to a basic DIY solar system.
I now know the first step in creating a solar system is to figure out how much power you'll need to collect and store. Remember, my goal is to power my computer system on the weekends.
Here's my system. I double-checked the watts per component online. You can also purchase a watt meter to get average watt usage over time.
Assuming the above watt indications are the average operating levels, this system requires the following power.
110 + 65 + 22 = 197 watts
So if I want to run my computer setup for at least four hours over Saturday and Sunday, I need to figure out how to store 197 watts X 4 hours or 788 watt hours of electricity.
How to do that will be Research - Part 2.....
Labels: apartment, electricity, renewable energy, solar energy
posted by Dog Saucy at
9:24 AM
1 Comments:
Just want to say thank you for taking the time to do and then blog about your project. As a fellow NYC resident who lives in a very well lit highrise building I wanted to try a project like this but had not way to start. Now with a little inspiration I can see a way to plan my own.
Post a Comment
<< Home