Solar generator thread

[Liber Pater]

Does anyone here have one or more solar generators (preferably portable) at their home or business? If so, what does your setup look like and which manufacturers would you recommend?
I currently have a diesel generator that I use primarily to keep my freezer running when the power goes out (which has happened a few times over the past 2 years). However, I would like to improve my disaster preparedneass further by acquiring solar generator(s) to provide power for essential functions (light, cold food storage, charging personal electronic devices, boiling water, etc) in case of emergency. Preferably, I would like a portable setup in case I have to leave my residence (a strong possibility in many scenarios I am preparing for).
There are a number of options in terms of manufacturer, number of panels, number and capacity of generators, etc that I could pursue. Does anyone have advice or experience in this area?

 

[DumbDude42]

>solar generator
>portable
these don't seem like they go together very well tbh

also what kind of disaster are you preparing for? something temporary, where you're without power for just a couple days or weeks? in that case, a diesel generator and a couple dozen gallons of diesel in the basement is probably your best option.
however if you're planning for some apocalypse or civil war scenario, you could look into one of those generators that run on wood chips, cause that's a semi renewable fuel you can gather yourself.

 

[Aidan]

>solar generator
>portable
these don't seem like they go together very well tbh

also what kind of disaster are you preparing for? something temporary, where you're without power for just a couple days or weeks? in that case, a diesel generator and a couple dozen gallons of diesel in the basement is probably your best option.
however if you're planning for some apocalypse or civil war scenario, you could look into one of those generators that run on wood chips, cause that's a semi renewable fuel you can gather yourself.

I can't really help OP and am also curious about this but am aware that there are some decent portable solar panel kits out there that hikers use to keep phones and even cameras charged up. For lighting and charging devices nowadays one of those could go a long way, I just don't know which ones are good or not since I just use batteries.

 

[FiddleAFox]

Solar generators are a temporary solution. You really are better off sticking to the diesel generator you have just based on the efficiency alone. I have a petrol generator that can be converted to propane, but both of those methods are semi-dependent on big oil overall.

Solar, and for that matter, wind power is laughably pathetic in terms of actually generating energy, at most you'd be able to charge your smartphone with them.

With solar panels in particular, they'll only last you about 15 years max before you'd need to replace them, and their impact on the environment makes them unable to be recycled all that well, if at all.

Your Diesel generator can last you a few centuries as long as you keep it in the best shape possible just doing a bit of maintenance every so often. Plus if you're clever enough, you can run it off peanut oil (which was the entire purpose of the invention to begin with) or any kind of oil as long as it's a simple diesel engine (most generator diesel engines are).

 

[Toolbox]

I can't really help OP and am also curious about this but am aware that there are some decent portable solar panel kits out there that hikers use to keep phones and even cameras charged up. For lighting and charging devices nowadays one of those could go a long way, I just don't know which ones are good or not since I just use batteries.

And they're getting even more portable. Not sure how old the tech actually is, but printable panels have been promoted recently.

 

[TheSkoomer]

Bootleg solar setup is best solar setup. It's fully customizable, and if a single component fails; you only replace that single component.
All these fancy all-in-one solutions and setups are insanely overpriced, and not user-servicable. (at least, by plebs who cannot into electronics) Everything's in one box, and if one part fails; the whole thing becomes useless.

And it's not a "solar generator". It's a battery, charge controller, and inverter in a box with a solar panel attached.

but both of those methods are semi-dependent on big oil overall.

Google "woodgas generator," my nigger.

And gas gens can also run on alcohol, which is trivial to make...

And many plastics can be refined into fuel...

And they're getting even more portable. Not sure how old the tech actually is, but printable panels have been promoted recently.

Flexible amorphous silicon panels are shit and only work for about 10 years of constant use; then they're basically nonfunctional.

Monocrystaline and polycrystaline panels decline in output slightly over the course of around 10 years and then the decline levels off, and they continue to output power at a rate slightly lower than their original rated wattage, basicaly forever. They never fully degrade like amorphous silicon panels do.

 

[Toolbox]

Flexible amorphous silicon panels are shit and only work for about 10 years of constant use; then they're basically nonfunctional.

Not really sure if they're intended to last a while, they're able to be printed from traditional industrial printing setups used for product labels and can be stored in a much smaller form than regular panels. Do you mean they are also shit in that their efficiency is way lower?

 

[eternal dog mongler]

And gas gens can also run on alcohol, which is trivial to make...

If you want to fuck up your carb and your lines, sure.

The only actual ethanol generators I know of come from China, which makes me wonder what the fuck they're prepping for

 

[TheSkoomer]

I totally forgot to actually answer OP's question about "what does your setup look like" so here goes my setup:

Gas Generators: I have 6 small gas inverter gens that I bought used (people sell them shit-cheap when they don't run, and I fix them)

Solar: 100W panels, no batteries; only for running small inverters and phone chargers as needed.

Also, OP. If you want a SHTF freezer, you want a propane freezer converted to run on kerosene, or an Amish kerosene freezer. Don't bother with electricity.

Not really sure if they're intended to last a while, they're able to be printed from traditional industrial printing setups used for product labels and can be stored in a much smaller form than regular panels. Do you mean they are also shit in that their efficiency is way lower?

Typically, amorphous silicon (flexible) panels have lower efficiency than monocrystaline/polycrystaline in full sun,

BUT they do have one upside (besides being flexible) in that they can produce power in lower light than monocrystaline/polycrystaline. Your flexi panels will start to produce power earlier in the morning, and keep producing power later in the day, just less power overall. They will also work in indirect sun (shade) when the monocrystaline/polycrystaline won't.

If you want to fuck up your carb and your lines, sure.

It's not the best, but it does work. Imagine the soot from running an engine on wood-gas tho...

You can actually run some small engines on straight crude oil.

 

[Nate Higgers]

If you have the money to buy a solar setup, id highly recommend looking into a diesel/LPG/natural gas powered genset instead. You should price check because I’m sure prices have gone up since the last time I’ve looked at them but you can get a 15kW “home backup generator” with an ATS for about $4k USD. I’m more partial to those because if you’re in an area where your house has a gas hookup from the local gas utility then if/when the power goes out then you’re covered since your genset is already hooked to a fuel source.

Unless you care about the environment and whatnot but in that case you’d still need to get a decent sized battery array sized to whatever you want to power in the event of an outage

 

[Toolbox]

If you have the money to buy a solar setup, id highly recommend looking into a diesel/LPG/natural gas powered genset instead. You should price check because I’m sure prices have gone up since the last time I’ve looked at them but you can get a 15kW “home backup generator” with an ATS for about $4k USD. I’m more partial to those because if you’re in an area where your house has a gas hookup from the local gas utility then if/when the power goes out then you’re covered since your genset is already hooked to a fuel source.

Unless you care about the environment and whatnot but in that case you’d still need to get a decent sized battery array sized to whatever you want to power in the event of an outage

This relies a lot on the price of fuel not continuing to be fucked with. Solar is at least a constant, other than the price of electronics.

 

[Nate Higgers]

This relies a lot on the price of fuel not continuing to be fucked with. Solar is at least a constant, other than the price of electronics.

That’s very true but you have more energy density with diesel or LPG than you do with even lithium batteries (which are expensive as fuck to build a battery array around). You can get a 1000gal diesel tank if you really wanna be big pimpin and use it for other things depending how off-grid you are, while still doing your monthly generator start up just to get the diagnostics.

Or LPG, clean burning propane is always nice.

 

[Uber driver reviewer]

I’m waiting for technologies like Tesla solar roofs to mature a bit. No way am I putting even the latest panels on my roof. Everyone who gets them, ends up with leaks. They are also ugly. I’ll only do panels that replace the roofing shingles entirely. I’d also want battery storage. Solar isn’t directly powering shit.

I have a relatively large inverter generator and a smaller regular gen for backup. Both run on gas. I store enough gas for 3-4 days and have capacity to store 6-7 days. We use stabil and cycle the gas through our gas car at 4-6 months. The gens run into a patch panel and lineman cutoff outside the home. I want to put a dirt bike muffler on the larger gen because it’s loud as fuck.

We had a 4 hour power outage a month ago. I was able to run the entire house (AC, well pump, lights, freezers, appliances, TV’s etc) no problem off of the 200A panel. The only thing I didn’t try was charging our Tesla or run the dryer. I’d probably turn off the AC for that.

 

[FiddleAFox]

Google "woodgas generator," my nigger.

And gas gens can also run on alcohol, which is trivial to make...

And many plastics can be refined into fuel...

My question though is how long will the metals last against the ethanol/alcohol based fuel? I'm not worried about the loss of power because if it's free fuel, then sure that's completely understandable, but I wanna know if there's fuel that won't cause the metals to corrode, specifically the carburetors which are oftentimes made out of aluminum and will corrode when exposed to high concentrations of ethanol.

 

[Johan Schmidt]

I suggest replacing solar with your own RTG. Will pretty much never run out of power homie.

 

[Toolbox]

I suggest replacing solar with your own RTG. Will pretty much never run out of power homie.

Speaking of, why are RTGs not seemingly used for anything on Earth? Is their power output just too low to deal with the radiation here?

 

[Johan Schmidt]

Speaking of, why are RTGs not seemingly used for anything on Earth? Is their power output just too low to deal with the radiation here?

It's probably a lot easier and more energy efficient to build a nuclear plant, if you're going to be messing with anything radioactive.

 

[Toolbox]

It's probably a lot easier and more energy efficient to build a nuclear plant, if you're going to be messing with anything radioactive.

So they really are just a niche for long service life space devices?

 

[God's drunkest driver]

Speaking of, why are RTGs not seemingly used for anything on Earth? Is their power output just too low to deal with the radiation here?

RTGs rely on temperature differential to function and aren’t terribly efficient to begin with. On earth they’re only really used in extreme cold where low maintenance is desired because they are probably one of the less effective ways to generate electricity per dollar.

 

[King Vidiot]

Speaking of, why are RTGs not seemingly used for anything on Earth? Is their power output just too low to deal with the radiation here?

RTGs rely on temperature differential to function and aren’t terribly efficient to begin with. On earth they’re only really used in extreme cold where low maintenance is desired because they are probably one of the less effective ways to generate electricity per dollar.

The Soviet Union used RTGs to power Polar Lighthouses but that didn't end well. They eventually got looted and vandalized after being abandoned, which turned them into radioactive zones when the shielding was broken.