These are two prototypes of small solar generators, one portable and one fixed. The solar panels are courtesy of Harbor Freight and costs less than $200. The portable unit was built on a convertable two wheeler. The fixed unit is a Rubbermaid deck box. Both are single battery units, which are only useful for small applications. If the power goes out, you could have basic lighting, as the HF kit comes with two 12 volt, 5 watt fluorecent bulbs. You can charge cell phones, lap tops and do other things that would make your life a little better during a power outage. The best thing about these units is that they require no fuel, just the sun. I’ve been building much larger units that can run a refrigerator. It’s important to know that a modified sin-wave inverter can do light work, but if you want to run a large motor, or refrigerator, then you need a true sin-wave inverter. One last point of interest is that these types of generators are silent. During a disaster, they won’t be drawing unwanted attention from looters.
Post time: Jul-01-2017