Panels come in all shapes and sizes, so you need to find out how much you are willing to spend and also how much space you have for them. We are starting out with ones that can fit most budgets for our site. But do not worry, they all set up the same way from the biggest to the tiniest.
We are using 3-15 watt panels that you can get in stores or on the internet for around $250.00 or less. These (as shown above) are the panels that we will be using in this instructions. To watch the video, proceed to the step 8.
STEP 1:
Get to know your panels. The black box in the back of the panel is called a diode, it has 1 long grey wire coming out of it with a red and a black wire coming out the bottom of the grey wire. Simple rule to remember in electronics is, red is always positive (+) and black is always negitive (-). This is where the power is coming out, which is 12 volts. If you touch them together, you will short out the panel. Not really a good idea to do this! To find the best location for your panels click HERE.
Step 2:
Now we need to make some connectors. The first set is for the solar panels to the solar regulator. We are doing this so that we have more freedom in where we can put our panels. The second set is for the solar regulator to your battery. First, take your 2 sets of black wires and strip all the ends with your wire strippers, now do the same with the red wires. Next, take the ring terminals for your first set and put one on the red wire and one on the black wire. After they are over the wires, take your wire stripper and pinch the ends of the ring terminal so they are on tight. Now do the same for your second set for your battery hook up.
Step 3:
Now what to do with the red and black wires that are coming out of the solar panels? Well, we are going to take the red wires on all 3 panels and hook them together. From your first set of wires, take the red wire and attach them together with the terminal. Once that is done, we are going to take the black wires on all 3 panels and hook them together. Then take your black wire from the first set and attach them the same way as the red. This step may not be necessary if your wires are long enough to reach your solar regulator.
One panel alone will give you 15 watts. Now that we have hooked 3 panels together, we now have 45 watts. The voltage still stays the same at 12 volts, no matter how many panels that we hook together. This is called a parallel circuit. The more panels you hook together like this, the stronger the amperage will become. This means it will charge your battery, or batteries even faster.
Step 4:
Getting to know your solar regulator is important. The solar regulator takes the crazy 12 volts produced by solar panels and makes it manageable for the deep cycle batteries to charge. There are many different looks to the solar regulator. These are just a few of them.
Step 5:
We are now ready to hook your red and black to the solar regulator. Your solar regulator will most likely not have a red and black hookup on it. That is okay, remember that red is always positive and black is always negative. We will be showing you how to hook these up on a very popular model of juta regulator. This will be the same on almost all regulators. On this model you must get a small screwdriver to open the bottom up and insert the red wire to the positive slot. The same must be done for the black wire into the negative slot.
Step 6:
Great, now what we need to do is hook up the solar regulator to your deep cycle battery. You must use a deep cycle battery and not a plain car battery. Deep cycle batteries are made to charge and discharge every day with no damage. If you use a car battery it wil get damaged easily within a few days, then it will be no good at all. This step will be easier because the regulator has a picture of a battery and it also has a (+) and a (-) sign on it. Take your red wire and insert the bare end into the (+) on the regulator. Then take the black wire and insert the bare end into the (-) on the solar regulator. Unscrew the wing nut off the (+) sign on your battery and attach your red wire onto it, now screw it down. Unscrew the wing nut on the (-) sign on the battery and place the black wire on it and screw down the wing nut. If it is not night time, you are now storing power from the sun.
Step 7:
Now, let's get that power out. The easiest way to do that is with a power inverter. A power inverter takes the dc power and makes it into ac power. This is what comes out of your wall socket. The power inverter has 2 big wires coming out of it. A big red wire and a big black wire. Lets hook the red wire to the positive (+) on the battery. Then take the black wire and hook it up to the (-) negitive terminal on the battery. As soon as your battery is charged, just plug the cord into the inverter and you are now making your own clean green power. Congratulations! You now have a solar off the grid power system.
Step 8:
For the final step, make sure you have your solar regulator, deep cycle battery and power inverter covered from all the elements. It can be a box that you build or even a plastic tote. It is never a good idea to get electronics wet. They will not survive the battle. And last but not the least, make sure to put a vent on your container for the battery.
