No monitor. And not a souped up system. Let's assume the power supply is rated for 300 Watts. And if I used the panel with a 12 volt deep charge battery?
2007-07-20 03:17:41 · 7 answers · asked by learning5on606 2 in Environment ➔ Green Living
There's no simple answer. There are panels of many sizes.
If you want to do this you'd be better off with a laptop. They're engineered for low power consumption and designed to run off DC. The DC/AC converter after a solar panel is costly and reduces efficiency. And they make very low power computers for use with solar panels in undeveloped countries.
2007-07-20 03:37:55 · answer #1 · answered by Bob 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
A 200 watt solar panel will cost about $1000. If you really want 300 watts you will need more than 1, but if you use it to charge up batteries and run the computer off the batteries only a few hours a day, that would be plenty big. If you only use it for a shorter time each day, a smaller panel would do.
And I agree with Bob, a laptop would be the way to go.
2007-07-20 03:46:09 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Basically, here's what you need (I'm keeping this general on purpose): The panels themselves -- how large an area depends on average power consumption and how much power you can get on average. That, in turn , depends on climate. You'd need more in Seattle than Tuscon, for example. I'd guess something in the neighborhod of 10 square feet. Depends also on haow many gadgets (printers, etc.) you have. You'll need a power storage system. Lithium gives you the best poser density (of off-the-shelf stuff) but an ordinary car battery works well and is reliable. And, of course, a control system to manage the power generation/storage/use so everything works together without that annoying smell that tells you you just cooked a few hundred bucks worth of equuipment! :)
2016-05-18 02:19:54 · answer #3 · answered by loren 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
And if you decide to try this with wind power you can get a small wind generator exactly like the one actor Ed Begley Jr has on his house for about $3,000. My guess it that it would be good enough to run a PC 24 x 7 with reasonable wind and storage batteries of course.
And ditto on the laptop comments. They generally run off an external AC to DC adaptor that you may be able to eliminate with some luck and thus increase the efficiency of the system.
2007-07-20 04:36:42 · answer #4 · answered by A Toast For Trayvon 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Suggested the other day, by another answerer. Why not power using a stationery bike instead of solar panels or wind turbines? With a house full of computer geeks I would have an amazingly fit family.
2007-07-20 10:47:02 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
depends on the computer... and how much you use it.
You could get by supplying a low power laptop machine for a couple of hours a day with a 18 watt panel.
You'd definitely want to use a deep cycle battery.... othewise you'll only be running the computer durring daylight.
2007-07-20 05:34:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
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2017-01-29 23:16:03 · answer #7 · answered by Phillip 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋