Solar Panel – Day 7 Later On

I’ve measured the amperage across the solar panel throughout the day, at 9:00 AM (.3 amps);
12:00 PM (.7 amps); 5:00 PM (.3 amps); or about .4 amps averaged from 9:00 to 3:00.
So, (0.4 amps) * (12 volts) =  (4.8 watts) * (6 hours) = (28.8 watt hours / per day)

The inverter takes a consistent 1 watt. Which comes to, (1 watt) * (24 hours a day) = (24 watt hours / per day)
(28.8 watt hours / per day) – (24 watt hours / per day) = (Only 4.4 watt hours to charge my devices with)
I have hooked a Kill-A-Watt EZ into the line between my chargers and the extension cord. When charging an iTouch and a Droid it draws 7 watts, and when there just plugged in they draw 2 watts.
(4.4 watt hours) / (2 watt hours) = (2.2 hours of charging) and thats if their fully charged! In reality:
(4.4 watt hours) / (7 watt hours) = (38 minutes of charging)
My Droid gets around 10% charge per 15 minutes. So about 25% charge per device over one day.

Now I get why the solar panel can’t support my setup. The only solution I can think of is to setup a relay on the inverter so I have to flip a switch in the house to allow power to go to it.

Other:
(216 watt hours “battery capacity”) / (28.8 watt hours per day) = (7.5 Days of charging for full battery)

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Solar Panel – Day 7

Well, the battery ran out on me and the inverter’s power alarm started screeching at me. I don’t think the panel is giving it’s full output.

Solar Panel – Day 6

I added plumbers tape to the other side to support it even more and ran two 40 ft. extension cords to my house along my wall. I’ve then connected a power strip to the end and two Motorola USB Charging plugs. They rate around 5 watts each max. Looking great right now!

Solar Panel – Day 4

The battery charged my Droid, iTouch, and iPhone all through the night. Looking good so far!!!

Solar Panel – Day 3

I’m mounting the panel today, it’s looking good so far! I’ve mounted it to my Tree Fort. I’ve had to add a beam across the front to support the right side of the panel. To keep the panel rotated I’ve added a strip of plummer’s tape (the gray plastic strip on the left side) to the array.

Solar Panel – Day 2

Just finished setting up wiring, can’t wait to get it up and running! I wired the SunForce Solar Panel up to the included charge controller. This charges the 18 ah Battery, an equivalent of 216 watt hours or around 3.5 days of charging (“10 watts an hour” * “6 hours a day” = “60 watt hours a day” then “216 watt hours” / “60 watt hours” = “about 3 and 1/2 days”). The battery is wired up to a DC to AC converter that, I hope, will eventually power stuff in my house.

Solar Panel – Day 1

I have finished the mounting brackets. Can’t wait to put them up!