The Big Fat Solar Panel Challenge.

[fmjs]

The deal is this. I would like to install some PV cells on my roof and generate enough electricity for cooling/warming things, and possibly even run a computer off it. And I would like to do it for under 800 smackers. The number derives from how much I can afford, not any knowledge of the current solar panel market, so it'll probably be revised

Comments

[winstontlchow]

Wow. I like it! Is this a personal project? Or something for work?

Another question - what sort of electrical equipment (apart from your PC) do you want to run with PV power?

[fmjs]

This is a personal project, but I have sort of used solar panels in previous work, to top up car batteries (which in turn powered field devices). Single panels are going for suspiciously cheap prices on ebay, but of course that's not the whole story; I want to be able to make a weather-proof system that can sit on the roof and store energy continuously.

And this last point is going to control what I can run on it. Off the top of my head, most appliances in the house are too power-hungry for straightforward PV power to cope with. I will start off small - too small for most expensive commercial products being hawked.

I will dispense with a tracker/mount, for a start. But it's the inverter that will be an issue, I think. Some people are selling panel/sets with inverters and power-points included, but I think they'd be taking big cuts off the customer and I wonder if I can get these things separately.

[winstontlchow]

Hmmm. Don't think I can help too much from my side of the world :(

Have you tried walking around the floors of Sim Lim Tower at Rochor for the necessary hardware? It's admittedly a longshot, but they may have low-cost stuff of interest, and the people there are generally friendly enough to give decent advice.

[fmjs]

No I haven't, so that will be my first port of call!

Cheers mate :D

[jaa6]

Wow, good luck! :)

[fmjs]

Thank you, I will need it :)

Slowly does it!