Do you know have an off-grid solar system with battery backup? Have you ever wondered about the battery state of charge? Do you want to monitor how much energy went into or has been taken out of these batteries? Would knowing the battery’s health help you plan for their replacement one day?
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A lot of our folks are anticipating getting a Starlink Internet terminal in their remote village location in the next year or two. The “Dishy McFlatface” terminals and monthly fees are quite affordable, however Dishy requires a lot more power than a typical laptop computer, so powering it on solar will be a significant expense. Below are 3 reference designs for power systems capable of running your Starlink terminal different amounts of time each day. To keep costs down you’ll probably want to limit your Starlink Internet use to daylight hours and operate it less than 5 hours per day.
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The Online Test Drive is a useful tool for figuring out whether one of the GTIS Power Systems’ packaged systems will work for you. Plus, it will help you understand a little about using solar energy – the importance of panel and battery sizes, the importance of sky conditions, and the importance of load size and runtime.
Here’s a typical case. A linguist/translator writes, “I would like to set up a village worker with a solar system and notebook computer, buying it locally. It will be a Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Gen 2. The person I want to set up spends part of his time in Alotau town [Papua New Guinea], where 240 volt AC power is usually available, and part of his time in a village situation without power. ”
Are you really going to sit out in the sun next to your solar panel?
How you plan to use your solar power system affects what you need to buy, especially when it comes to the solar panels. Picture exactly how you’re going to use your system before you buy. Continue reading
Compared to lead-acid batteries Lithium Iron Phosphate (abbreviated LiFePO4 or just LFP) batteries are simple to charge and quite forgiving about voltage set points. You can use most “12-V” lead-acid solar charge controllers to charge a 12.8 V LFP battery. On those with adjustable settings, here are our recommendations for voltage set-points and why.
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Watt-Hour Estimates for small 12V Solar Power SystemsWhen choosing a solar power system you need solar panels and batteries that can supply and store more than the average watt-hours you will be needing each day to run your equipment.
You may have heard of watts, but are wondering what a watt-hour is. Continue reading