Solar Power

[Bgosnell151 1,347]

For you guys waaaaay smarter than me.  I am in the planning process for my shed/outdoor cooking.  The shed will be about 60 feet from the house, so figured it might be easier to use solar instead of running electricity to it.  I am looking to have a single light inside the shed, a string of lights under the cooking area, an outlet inside the shed for charging a wireless drill, and 2 outlets in the cooking area that will be used for charging mobile devices and running a temp controller.  With this entirely way too vague of a description, would this system work for me?  Would it be overkill/not enough?  Would I need to add anything to it to work better?  Does anyone have any other ideas?

 

Renogy 400 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Starter Kit with Wanderer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BSZUHRC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_O11JDb1CSW825

 

[philpom 7,242]

I have some experience with solar, the panel kit is ok but you will need batteries and inverter.  I would suggest 2 75ah deep cycle batteries.   You will not be able to leave the inverter on 24x7 so charging drills and such isn't going to work.  If you turn the system on in the morning and off at night you could charge a drill.  This system would be great for lighting, running a fan and charging for several hours in the evening while you cook.

 

I'm on my phone so details are sparse but if you want more details let me know.  I had a small system running at a previous house and it was great for occasional power out back.  Box fans, lights and even hair clippers.   The inverter will kill the batteries even if nothing is plugged in so that is why it's no good to leave things like cordless tools plugged in on charge all the time.  Turn the system on, use the power, turn it off and it's great.

[Bgosnell151 1,347]

Awesome... thanks.  It sounds like it may end up being cheaper to have an electrician just wire it.  I can do the hard part of the conduit and entry to house.

[mike echo 253]

Some thoughts.  Being so spendy...Verify if the panel is damaged somehow, is it covered by your home owner policy.  I.e hail, wind, falling branches. How will it be repaired? Who will do the job?

 

Some of the stand alone lighting is decent- w/o the whole panel and batteries expense.

 

Maybe none of this is an issue for you.

 

M.