Help! Questions about solar power for a bedroom!?
i am 14 and cannot make the decision to put solar panels on the roof ( i would if i could) but i would at least like to make my own things energy effi...
i am 14 and cannot make the decision to put solar panels on the roof ( i would if i could) but i would at least like to make my own things energy efficient. i want solar power.. but i don’t have a ton of money.. it would just be to plug my stereo, clock, and lamp (and possibly hair dryer or straightener at times) into. i do not know a whole lot about this solar power stuff.. is there any thing where you just let it get light and plug your stuff into it?? or does it all have to be so complicated.. please help! tell me all you know and any places or products that might be of use to me! thank you so much.
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I’ve seen some cheap, small and compact solar things online, look it up
If you don’t know about electricity and electronics it will be complicated. But if you do know about electricity and electronics it isn’t so difficult. But it is expensive.
The 1st source has some kits. You need to know how many watts you want to use to buy the right kit. They will all make 12V DC power. If your stereo can use 12V DC power (like from a car power outlet or cigarette lighter) you can use it directly. Otherwise you need a 12V DC to 120V AC inverter. You can get small ones at radio shack (2nd source).
If you only want power when the Sun is up you don’t need a battery, otherwise you need a battery. A deep cycle battery (often sold at RV stores for motor homes or in the 3rd source) is the type you want. These are like car batteries but designed for low power long duration use. Regular car starter batteries are designed to provide a lot of power for short periods of a few seconds and those do not do well if you want a little power for hours at a time.
As a fourteen year old, you probably are not able to afford a lot of expensive equipment, like you said. Here is an idea that you might be able to actually do. If you know about uniterruptable power supplies that people buy for their computers. Those are devices that rely on batteries to power an inverter that powers the computer when the main power goes out. Those UPS become available for free or for cheap when the owners decide to get a bigger one, or just decide that they are in the way. You then need a solar panel. Most solar panels are made to produce power to charge a 12 volt battery, but some are made to charge six. You will need to match the solar panel voltage to the UPS voltage. Most have UPS have12 volt batteries, but some small ones use 6. You will need some help to install a switch to be able to disconnect the batteries from the UPS. It has to be a heavy duty one like a wall type switch, or another sturdy type of switch. You will need that switch because the UPS would run all the time and not just when you need it and thereby run down the battery. So all you need to do is attach the solar panel directly to the batteries so that the batteries get charged by the sun, and switch the UPS on when you want to use the electric power from the outlets on the UPS. You would also have to figure out how to stop that pesky beeping that the UPS makes.
If you are allowed to have a battery and inverter in your room, those things are not expensive in the smaller sizes. Very simple. You do not need a regulator or any other equipment if you just have a single small solar panel. Just keep it hooked up all the time and turn on the inverter when you want to power something.
It is great that you feel so committed.
I am afraid, however, that you will be a lot older before what you want can happen at an affordable price.
Let us do some arithmetic. You need about 400W energy for all that you described. Assuming that you will use it for five hours a day, you need about 2 KWHr of power.
At current efficiency levels you need about 30 to 50 square feet of solar panels, a 24 volt 80 to 100 amp hour capacity battery, and an inverter. All of which will cost a packet.
But the world needs people like you to be the change they want to see.
Keep that flame burning, and do something decisive to make it happen, whenever you are ready for it.
Most hair dryers require 1500 watts or more of power to run.
For that much power you could run a large screen TV, Computer, large freezer and a light or two.
A womens hair dryer is one of the largest loads in a home.
But you might be able to run some of your smaller items from solar without needing a system large enough to power a whole house.
Look at the portable chargers on this website. Backpacks and roll or foldable panels for charging IPods or cell phones. People use them for trips or camping mostly.
http://www.oynot-solar.com/solar-power-products.html
Well I’m 21 & i’ve sat my parents down & basically put in there face how they’re harming the earth… Now I’m happy to report that my parents are 98% green while in the next few months they are replacing the roof with solar panels & recycled aluminum. Try my tactic print out charts on how they can save & will get payed for the extra energy they produce by the local electric facility. Do whatever you have to to convience them to help our fragle planet. Thanks for being so consiterate most ppl your age could care less.. Good luck
Great question! It’s so encouraging to see young people looking into the future the way you are.
For now, many things are still complicated and expensive. But somebody once said, “the whole world changes when someone asks ‘why not?’” And that’s what you’ve done here: why can we not just light up a surface and plug in?
Some day we will. And if people your age start playing around with the technologies, that some day will get here now.
Keep looking, keep asking, keep watching for good solutions. Something great will happen soon.
Peace to you ~ AB
OK, your question stuck in my head, so now when I run across a solution, I’ll have to link it here!
These items are probably not quite powerful enough to do what you want (yet!), but this looks like resource worth watching:
http://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/Solar.html
Peace ~ AB