i am moving to sierra leone, the poorest country in the world. there will be no electricity where i will be. if i buy a 12v solar charger and a 12v (we'll say flourescent) light capable of creating as many lumens as a 60w light bulb, how many hours of light can i provide each night (assuming 14 hours of sunlight)? any additional suggestions for off the grid power are very welcome.
2006-12-27 19:33:23 · 5 answers · asked by Christian Wolfe 2 in Environment
Here is a couple of quick ideas for you.
Get solar yard lights. They are small and if you have enough of them you will get ok lighting and they do last all night even in the winter where the days are only about 8 and 9 hours long.
If you get solar panels you will then need batteries. This will work but pretty bulky. You can get 12 or 24 volt compact fluorescent lamps or LED lamps
Here is a catalog in PDF format. Look on Page 70 for the lighting.
2006-12-30 04:31:46 · answer #1 · answered by Don K 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Switch all of your lighting needs to progressively switched LEDs. Higher initial cost, but longevity and bang for buck on DC, far exceeds anything else now. If lead acid batteries are going to be hard to find and service there, take lithium ion camera batteries packs, they have no charge memory and blow ni-cads away for longevity. Catch is you will never find replacements there. They are still not everyday items in the first world. Again expensive, but very high return and reliability. Don't drop them; goners quick. Expect to have to replace/supplement them with locally purchased lead acids. Don't forget switches and wiring, those Will be like gold there. And buy a bunch of cheap Chinese solar panels and expect to replace their crappy external wires. You'll need a volt/ohm meter, and rechargeable batteries for that. For your situ, I recommend against bothering with anything 110vac. But if you have to, there are small inverters all over the market now. They are heat sensitive and short lived; great if you're just camping, suck for living out. You might spend $1000, and weight of 100 pounds, but be set for many rough years of service.
You had better practice making, rearranging and repairing these systems here, where a screw up won't cost you your lighting for the duration. Get to know your system in the dark.
2006-12-27 21:01:01 · answer #2 · answered by Don Quixote de Kaw 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the main low in fee thank you to grant gentle with photograph voltaic power is to place in a sky-gentle and open the curtains. in case you pick for to proceed to grant gentle at nighttime, you could choose a photograph voltaic cellular with a "deep-cycle" battery and occasional voltage lights furnishings. LED variety lights furnishings will draw much less power than universal incondesents. this can be the direction to take.
2016-10-06 02:50:02 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Homemade Solar Power Videos : http://Solar.eudko.com/?Pbl
2017-04-06 05:17:09 · answer #4 · answered by Wilbur 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the Swedes have figured this out. Use solar collectors to collect energy, then use this power to distribute the energy to where it needs to go.
2006-12-27 20:46:40 · answer #5 · answered by navig8r 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋