Jrgunn5150
Member
So I'm hardly a hardcore prepper, but I do like to make thing's. The idea of free, limitless power is certainly appealing as well, not to mention, if there really was a calamity, gas isn't coming back. And a generator hammering away outback would mean I'd have to burn alot of ammo to keep my home secure.
Also, camping, I don't want to hear that crap, I want to hear nature.
I can tell you now, the cheapest course of action is to go buy a generator.
So anyway, the idea is to do something like a Kodiak 1000 that can run some lights, recharge my devices, run a fan in the camper, the water pump, and the TV and Xbox or Kindles on a rainy day. Of course they make Kodiak 1000's already, all I have to do is go buy one, but that's not who I am. It should also be fairly portable.
I started out with a Plano Sportsman box, but it's not really big enough, so I may either step down in size, or split it into two boxes as it's quite heavy now.
So what I have in here, is 4 UH-40 LifePo4 40 amp hour batteries for a total of 160ah of power at 12v, or 80ah at 24v (I've not decided voltage yet) I got them off Ebay for 55 each plus 30 shipping, but I bought 2 at a time, so he waived shipping on the second one. So 140 for 2, 280 for 4. A premade single battery would be about 1000 for a 100 AH Lifepo of name brand, and down around 600 for an off brand.
To charge the batteries I got a 40a Solar Epic charge controller. It's MPPT, so it's more efficient than the cheaper brands, and also is able to be configured specifically for the LifePo4 cells I have, that need a slightly different charge than a lead acid.
I also picked up a Newpowa 100w solar panel off Amazon, watching some reviews on Youtube, it seems to put out as much as the more expensive brands. It was 79.99
At the moment, the only inverter I have is the picture cheap little Centech 400w, which was enough to run my Xbox, Wifi, and TV, although it made a crazy sound the whole time. I'll add a larger inverter when my budget refills.
Rght here I have enough solar to run my furnace or entertainment center for a few days without input, at a total cost of 280 for batteries, 200 for the charge controller and remote monitor, 30.00 for 4 AWG wire, 20 for connectors to the solar panel, and 80 for the panel, and I'll add the inverter even though it'll be replaced later so that was like 25 bucks at a parking lot sale a few years together.
So my initial total here is 650 bucks, but it'll go up when I lock in what tote I'm using and get an upgraded inverter, also I'll probably add at least one panel to it. The most direct competitor, by the inverter I have which is 1000w peak (peak is how they rate solar generators), is the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 which is 96.8AH, and 1000w peak with no solar panel, but does have more plugs that I currently have and retails for 1100 bucks.
I'm feeling pretty good about this so far, especially now that I added it up for this thread and compared it lol.
Also, camping, I don't want to hear that crap, I want to hear nature.
I can tell you now, the cheapest course of action is to go buy a generator.
So anyway, the idea is to do something like a Kodiak 1000 that can run some lights, recharge my devices, run a fan in the camper, the water pump, and the TV and Xbox or Kindles on a rainy day. Of course they make Kodiak 1000's already, all I have to do is go buy one, but that's not who I am. It should also be fairly portable.
I started out with a Plano Sportsman box, but it's not really big enough, so I may either step down in size, or split it into two boxes as it's quite heavy now.
So what I have in here, is 4 UH-40 LifePo4 40 amp hour batteries for a total of 160ah of power at 12v, or 80ah at 24v (I've not decided voltage yet) I got them off Ebay for 55 each plus 30 shipping, but I bought 2 at a time, so he waived shipping on the second one. So 140 for 2, 280 for 4. A premade single battery would be about 1000 for a 100 AH Lifepo of name brand, and down around 600 for an off brand.
To charge the batteries I got a 40a Solar Epic charge controller. It's MPPT, so it's more efficient than the cheaper brands, and also is able to be configured specifically for the LifePo4 cells I have, that need a slightly different charge than a lead acid.
I also picked up a Newpowa 100w solar panel off Amazon, watching some reviews on Youtube, it seems to put out as much as the more expensive brands. It was 79.99
At the moment, the only inverter I have is the picture cheap little Centech 400w, which was enough to run my Xbox, Wifi, and TV, although it made a crazy sound the whole time. I'll add a larger inverter when my budget refills.
Rght here I have enough solar to run my furnace or entertainment center for a few days without input, at a total cost of 280 for batteries, 200 for the charge controller and remote monitor, 30.00 for 4 AWG wire, 20 for connectors to the solar panel, and 80 for the panel, and I'll add the inverter even though it'll be replaced later so that was like 25 bucks at a parking lot sale a few years together.
So my initial total here is 650 bucks, but it'll go up when I lock in what tote I'm using and get an upgraded inverter, also I'll probably add at least one panel to it. The most direct competitor, by the inverter I have which is 1000w peak (peak is how they rate solar generators), is the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 which is 96.8AH, and 1000w peak with no solar panel, but does have more plugs that I currently have and retails for 1100 bucks.
I'm feeling pretty good about this so far, especially now that I added it up for this thread and compared it lol.