Solar panels

[Ian walmsley]

I’m after some solar panels for my garage roof to have enough energy to run a treadmill for 30mins 3/4 times aweek. Any information would be helpful. Thxs

[matty40s]

You will need several large solar panels, a decent MPPt controller, a large battery bank, an pure sine wave inverter and some trainers.

Power needed will have to be worked out from whatever the amount of power your treadmill uses.

In winter you may have to walk round the block instead.

These are good value, sell kits and have some useful calculation tools.

 

https://www.bimblesolar.com/

Edited May 2, 2020 by matty40s

[WotEver]

15 minutes ago, matty40s said:

You will need several large solar panels, a decent MPPt controller, a large battery bank, an pure sine wave inverter and some trainers.

?

[Alan de Enfield]

Strange 1st post for a Canal boat forum.

[churchward]

1 hour ago, Ian walmsley said:

I’m after some solar panels for my garage roof to have enough energy to run a treadmill for 30mins 3/4 times aweek. Any information would be helpful. Thxs

It is impossible for anyone to advise you with any accuracy without any information about the power consumption f the devices you will wish to operate.

 

However, what may help you is the following link which is a basic tool for listing the used devices and their power ratings and how that converts into how many batteries and solar panels you would need.

 

https://www.bimblesolar.com/solarcalc

 

I have a workshop with solar that mainly runs our blackwater (sewage) digester which consumes about 100w (or a bit under) and runs 24 hours per day. I have 1.2kw of panels which is plenty in the summer but is not enough in the winter on dull short days. Mind you the orientation of the panels is not the best as they point more west than south.

Edited May 2, 2020 by churchward

[Detling]

In olden days they used treadmills to generate energ,y to lift water and building materials, seems like the progress of modern society is backward.

[Alan de Enfield]

25 minutes ago, Detling said:

In olden days they used treadmills to generate energ,y to lift water and building materials, seems like the progress of modern society is backward.

 

 

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, Detling said:

In olden days they used treadmills to generate energ,y to lift water and building materials, seems like the progress of modern society is backward.

Weve being going backwards in society for quite a few years now ?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

How far away is this garage from a house, or other source of grid mains? Almost certainly it will be easier and cheaper to run a wire to the garage than setting up a solar + controller + batteries + inverter, even having to get a sparky in to do it and get the necessary bits of paper.

We do solar on boats because for some, or all of the time we can't get grid mains.

Putting a boat solar system in, with controller, batteries and inverter costs £1000 to £2000 excluding labour. Once you have everything and budget on a new set of batteries at around £400 every two to three years. A garage set up will probably be of a similar order, though we don't know how much power your treadmill takes. Easier and cheaper would be to move the treadmill in to the house. Easiest and cheapest would be to sell it and go for a walk outside.

 

We are all sounding very negative on your idea, but we have a lot of experience with photovoltaics and know the costs and limitations.

 

Jen

[Richard10002]

6 hours ago, Ian walmsley said:

I’m after some solar panels for my garage roof to have enough energy to run a treadmill for 30mins 3/4 times aweek. Any information would be helpful. Thxs

Watch some of Will Prowse videos on YouTube. He is an expert on solar, inverters, and batteries, and has a shed in his garden with a few different systems in it.

[RufusR]

On 02/05/2020 at 21:49, Richard10002 said:

Watch some of Will Prowse videos on YouTube. He is an expert on solar, inverters, and batteries, and has a shed in his garden with a few different systems in it.

Love that guy !! Rips everything apart literally lol . 

[restlessnomad]

On 05/05/2020 at 20:18, RufusR said:

Love that guy !! Rips everything apart literally lol . 

I was watching his channel today, really simple and beginner friendly.

Think we should have a sticky thread on solar.

 

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, restlessnomad said:

I was watching his channel today, really simple and beginner friendly.

Think we should have a sticky thread on solar.

Good basic grounding for a beginner, although I have a couple of issues with it. His simplistic ‘time to recharge’ is completely wrong for lead acid batteries. It might hold true for lithiums but he wasn’t talking about Lithiums. The time would be about double what he quotes with an ideal system. 
 

And I went hoarse from shouting “STOP TALKING ABOUT AMPERAGE!” The word is “current”. But then he’s a Yank and they tend to say “amperage”; it’s just a pet peeve of mine. 
 

Oh, and the water hose analogy falls down  quite early on - what happens if you restrict the hose? The pressure increases. What happens if you restrict a conductor, either by using a resistor or by using a smaller than required cable? The pressure (voltage) reduces. 

[cuthound]

2 hours ago, WotEver said:

Good basic grounding for a beginner, although I have a couple of issues with it. His simplistic ‘time to recharge’ is completely wrong for lead acid batteries. It might hold true for lithiums but he wasn’t talking about Lithiums. The time would be about double what he quotes with an ideal system. 
 

And I went hoarse from shouting “STOP TALKING ABOUT AMPERAGE!” The word is “current”. But then he’s a Yank and they tend to say “amperage”; it’s just a pet peeve of mine. 
 

Oh, and the water hose analogy falls down  quite early on - what happens if you restrict the hose? The pressure increases. What happens if you restrict a conductor, either by using a resistor or by using a smaller than required cable? The pressure (voltage) reduces. 

 

Mine too.

 

Mind you a water analogy for a capacitor by replacing a it with a rubber diaphragm works well.

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

Mine too.

 

Mind you a water analogy for a capacitor by replacing a it with a rubber diaphragm works well.

I like that

 

There are lots of water analogies that work, but the size of the pipe doesn’t. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

5 hours ago, WotEver said:

And I went hoarse from shouting “STOP TALKING ABOUT AMPERAGE!” The word is “current”. But then he’s a Yank and they tend to say “amperage”; it’s just a pet peeve of mine. 

As long as he never says Amps per hour!

[WotEver]

Just now, Jen-in-Wellies said:

As long as he never says Amps per hour!

I thought he was going to at one point... but then I could breath again