Has anyone messed around with solar

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MathewGrows

Well-Known Member
Has anyone used solar to power their grow? I’m interested but I’m not sure how many batteries I’d need for small grow but wanted to expand to a 4x4 tent.
 
go go kid

go go kid

Well-Known Member
dont forget solar is only 12v. and you would need deep cycle marine /golf cart buggy or x military batteries to build a bank worth having and you also have to match batteries up too
 
tkufoS

tkufoS

Well-Known Member
Have you tried researching this..I just did and there is something to read ..use the magnifying glass icon on the top right :shock:
 
N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
For a 4x4 you'll need a max of about 800 to 1000 watts of power with lights, fans, etc. at peak, but you need to add up the wattage hours of each per day since the lights aren't on 24/7. Once you have that, there are millions of web calculators for the kind of system you'll need based on the latitude where you live. You'll need a large one for sure even if you live in the Nevada desert, and it's going to cost you some $$. The panels are cheap as dirt now, but you need the space and mounting equipment to put them up. Just covering your south facing part of your sloped roof isn't likely going to cut it for this application.

Batteries are the killer. The best are lithium but very expensive. I don't see any reason why this can't be done, but the large initial investment is the main obstacle for most even if you reach break-even in a reasonable amount of time.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
To setup a PV array, battery bank, inverter that could support even a small grow is going to be very expensive. And you get to replace the batteries once they reach the end of their life. We are talking a lot of cashola.

A grid tie system will eliminate the battery cost but you still have a lot of money in panels and a grid tie inverter.
 
M

MathewGrows

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
To setup a PV array, battery bank, inverter that could support even a small grow is going to be very expensive. And you get to replace the batteries once they reach the end of their life. We are talking a lot of cashola.

A grid tie system will eliminate the battery cost but you still have a lot of money in panels and a grid tie inverter.
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Thanks for the information I appreciate it. I’m trying to save up for a led and cut some of the cost for electricity
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
The PV array needs to be much larger than you would anticipate because it can only produce maximum power when the sun angle is direct, so maybe 4 hours a day of peak production on a sunny day. Some systems can track the sun, these are ground mounted usually and groups of panels are mounted on a frame that is automatically pointed directly at the sun. Those can put out max power for a good portion of the day.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
MathewGrows said:
Thanks for the information I appreciate it. I’m trying to save up for a led and cut some of the cost for electricity
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If you are looking at LED lighting you need to know there are a LOT of shitty LED's out there trying to look like they are bad ass.

1) Avoid anything blurple.

2) Avoid anything that tries to insinuate they are 1000 or 2000 watts when they only pull 190 watts or something lol. Look for honesty where they will tell you how much area it covers in veg and flower. That should be equivalent to around 30 watts per sqft veg and 35 - 40 for flower.

3) If you want support after the sale, buy from a reputable company that is not located in China. Sucks when they send you a faulty light and you have to pay to return ship it for warranty repair, wait forever... Gay... If you do buy Chinese then buy a spare.

4) Run any purchase by us here BEFORE you pull the trigger. We can help you avoid the shit lights. The good LED lights for a 4x4 are going to run around $1000. You can get a good deal on some HLG 550's since they came out with a newer model. The 550 will rock a 4x4 area.
 
ilovereggae

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
I've run the numbers before for fun, to see if I could do 120W 12V mini setup for veg. As laughable as the idea is to some people, the cost of solar is coming down all the time. And we as users of massive amounts of energy for indoor grows should start thinking about how we can offset some of our electricity usage. It is the only valid argument left that anti cannabis people have left, so I feel like it's a worthy problem for us to solve to shut them up once and for all.

To do 120W would use just under 2KW per day (assuming 16 hrs on). To make it be reliable i either need to size up my battery system 2-3x to account for gray days, or get a more expensive charge controller that lets you auto switch to AC input to charge the battery. its currently not cost effective in any way. Maybe you could do it with 480W setup if you look into DIY Powerwall community and build your own batteries but you would need a huuuge battery.

Batteries are the most expensive part of the setup. One thing that makes this someday possible is the stuff happening w ppl recycling decommissioned Nissan Leaf and Tesla batteries and making them into 12/24/48v solar batteries for 1/4 the price of a new system.

Also here's how to get some panels super cheap. $50 for 250W panels..

SanTan Solar | One Stop Shop for DIY Solar Panel Needs

www.santansolar.com www.santansolar.com
Used panels that still have 15-20 years left in them

The other idea would be to just run direct DC from the solar panels. You would need to have dc to dc drivers to handle regulating the voltage. Possibly this could work but you would probably want at least some normal lights on AC power for dark days and just accept that your grow might get stretchy and you won't always have ideal harvests. Or a way to switch the lights over to regular AC drivers on days when you don't have enough power.

As mentioned before probably just cheaper to build a mini greenhouse or grow outside at this point. But I am definitely going to start experimenting with this idea. Just using a much smaller 12W light for some microgreens ;)
 
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M

MathewGrows

Well-Known Member
ilovereggae said:
I've run the numbers before for fun, to see if I could do 120W 12V mini setup for veg. As laughable as the idea is to some people, the cost of solar is coming down all the time. And we as users of massive amounts of energy for indoor grows should start thinking about how we can offset some of our electricity usage. It is the only valid argument left that anti cannabis people have left, so I feel like it's a worthy problem for us to solve to shut them up once and for all.

To do 120W would use just under 2KW per day (assuming 16 hrs on). To make it be reliable i either need to size up my battery system 2-3x to account for gray days, or get a more expensive charge controller that lets you auto switch to AC input to charge the battery. its currently not cost effective in any way. Maybe you could do it with 480W setup if you look into DIY Powerwall community and build your own batteries but you would need a huuuge battery.

Batteries are the most expensive part of the setup. One thing that makes this someday possible is the stuff happening w ppl recycling decommissioned Nissan Leaf and Tesla batteries and making them into 12/24/58v solar batteries for 1/4 the price of a new system.

Also here's how to get some panels super cheap. $50 for 250W panels..

SanTan Solar | One Stop Shop for DIY Solar Panel Needs

www.santansolar.com www.santansolar.com
Used panels that still have 15-20 years left in them

The other idea would be to just run direct DC from the solar panels. You would need to have dc to dc drivers to handle regulating the voltage. Possibly this could work but you would probably want at least some normal lights on AC power for dark days and just accept that your grow might get stretchy and you won't always have ideal harvests. Or a way to switch the lights over to regular AC drivers on days when you don't have enough power.

As mentioned before probably just cheaper to build a mini greenhouse or grow outside at this point. But I am definitely going to start experimenting with this idea. Just using a much smaller 12W light for some microgreens ;)
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Great information thanks man
 
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