I want to power my 2x4x8 grow tent with 4 recirculating bubble buckets and 400watt light setup with solar panels. Anybody know about what size or how much power I need to run it all?
Why not have nature help you grow more of her beautiful plants? It's energy efficient which means it won't hurt your power bill. It puts a double meaning on "going green" lol
Yeah, it cost a good amount of money to get one of those solar panels installed,but regarding the power bill,i don't think it's going to that bad.just save energy by using less energy else where in the house.Like turn off all the power in the rooms no one is in,turn off the PC when no one is using it,stuff like that.
Does anybody else have any "specific knowledge" about solar power? (Not guesses). I'm not looking for different ways to save energy around the house because it's not in my house. I want to invest in a solar setup.
your going to have to do some digging on your own... the idea has been tossed around this site many times about using solar power... once specifics and price tags are brought into play everyone drops the ball... im not kidding... its going to cost ten thousand dollars... try google.. you'll see
if u want to save elect bill go led. and I'm not trying to start another hps led debate. its just for a little more on setup cost you save in the long run kinda like ur solar Idea ur just not spending 10,000 to save $40 a month.
Agreed, and also led's save you money in the long run as they are supposed to last alot longer than other lights.
Code: Well my situation is my closet is out in a shed that has no electricity. I want for it to be solar powered and no generator.
Man Solar is costly...........there are a few systems that will run off of 12volt but for lighting, your talking big money with inverters/solar panels, batteries. Man you had better re think the grow, like thesage3 said get a long extension cord. Better yet just take the roof off the shed and let the sun shine inine in Herb
Haha thanks for the input bur I'm determined to have a grow powered on pure solar power so I'll start thinking about starting a sticky about "How to power your garden with solar power" Look forward to it!!!!
exactly thats why I said it would be like 10 grand cause you'd put on ur house and have it wired to the house to avert suspicion, then run a hard line. herb al cure using an extension cord is dangerous if buried it heats up I had one buried for awhile but when dug it up it had dirt kinda fused to it not melted but definitely stuck to it, and it was only buried for one season. you need to either get underground cable kinda pricey or conduit. imo do it right or don't do it at all. love the solar Idea but I think if ur dead set on just solar panel for the shed ur asking for headaches.
Why is everyone hating on him about this? I think it's a great idea. Although it isn't practical to run the whole system, without spending a lot of cash, I think the best case scenario is to get "off the grid" and any step in that direction is a step forward. This might be able to operate your air pump, and could be a step in the right direction: 20 Watt Do-it-Yourself Solar Energy Starter Kit Cheers, Past
you just repeated what everyone said. it's not practicle and horrendously expensive. his house is not 'off the grid'. He's talking about spending thousands to save a few dozen dollars. If the 20 watt solar panel received 5 hours per day of full sun, then you would have: 1.2 amps (20W panel) X 5 hrs sun = 6 amp-hours/day 6 X 12V = 72 watt-hours per day. If you were using a 15 watt 12V compact fluorescent bulb then you could light the bulb for 4+ hours with the energy you produced that day. Hell yeah spend 600 dollars on a solar kit to run a SINGLE 15w CFL for 4 hours! if you were running 3x23w CFL's on 24/0(sufficient for 1 plant in that shed) you would need 1656 watt-hours per day. Meaning you will need 23 of these 'starter kits' to grow one plant. which is a $13,800.00 investment just to power your shed. This is not including anything you'd use to route the power from your house's roof to the shed. The idea is fantastic, its just not very practicle. Also consider potential hail damage and return policies from the company you are buying this from. I don't know where you live. The battery on that starter kit advertises it can power that 15w bulb for up to 12 hours (after 3 days of power generation from solar power). I just don't see anything realistic here unless you pay professionals to put solar power into your 'on the grid' circuit in your house and then routing electricity to the shed from your house. A full roof of solar panels would be less obvious and any electricity you produce that you don't use, you can SELL back to the electric company.
(( i've always wanted to live completely off the grid )) I'd like to think that solar power is right on the cusp of being 'affordable' in the next couple years. These are a couple links you solar people may find of interest. US Government Backs Concentrated Photovoltaics More Power from Rooftop Solar Capturing More Light with a single Solar Cell An Energy Boost for Ultra Capacitors ^ check this stuff out if you want