Ultra-Budget Solar Panel Setup - What Can It Power?

I was honestly surprised by what you can build on such a tight budget!

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Intro
0:22 - What can you get for $100?
1:44 - Unboxing!
5:10 - Setup!
5:53 - What can it power? (And for how long?)
6:45 - How fast does the solar panel charge the battery?
7:23 - What CAN'T it power?
8:10 - Worth it?

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I decided to find out what sort of DIY solar panel setup you can build on an extreme budget of about $100. For context, most 100 watt solar panels cost around $100 each! A small solar panel setup like this consists of 4 main parts: solar panel, charge controller, battery, and inverter.

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DISCLAIMERS

Some of the links in this video description and in the comments below are affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on one, at no extra cost to you I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

For general informational purposes only. Nothing in this video is intended to be professional solar or electrical advice. Please consult with a licensed professional in their field of expertise in your jurisdiction.

[footprinthero]

PARTS (affiliate links)

In this video I tried to focus a bit more on storytelling (even though I don't really know the first thing about storytelling lol). Lemme know if you liked it 😄

[maggew]

I already knew within 30s of clicking play this is a thumbs up. A simple solar related search on YouTube is littered with garbage. Glad I found your video. Thank you very much.

[jasonbroom]

First of all, another EXCELLENT video. Your production quality is next-level! The way the segments are laid out and how clearly you articulate each of the ideas makes it an absolute joy to watch the entire video. With that said, your timeline in this video is typical for those who are new to the idea of solar; buy some stuff and then see what it will power. I know YOU know this, but you always want to spec your system the exact opposite way. You want to identify your loads, including peak draw and total watt-hours of draw over a given time period. That's how you make your decision on both the inverter and the battery capacity. Once you know your battery capacity (and voltage) you can make a good decision on how much solar to bring in, which helps define which charge controller to buy. Great stuff, as always. :)

[brucekempf]

For $173 Total- I was able to come up with a 12V, 20AH, 256WH LiFePo4 battery, 500 watt pure sine wave inverter and 50 watt solar panel and 10A Charge controller. Its worth the extra $73.00

[coffelt]

I literally built this same exact setup 4 years ago lol. It is a fun project. Also you do not need an adapter for the inverter, just cut the plug off and splice directly to the wires.

[iindium]

Thats impressive. I've lived on limited power for two years now. You really get a feel for what you "need" and more importantly, what you can do without.

[jasonbeymer]

For the price, it's a wonderful introduction for kids in science class or even the Boy/Girl Scouts. It would be a cheap yet effective system for light camping or at the beach.

[sluggodna]

This is the only guy that say how long it takes to charge something. Power banks, to car batteries. Most informative videos 👍.
How bout car jump boxes?

[FrugalShave]

Inverters are so inefficient that I just never use them. Since most devices you might want to run use a transformer that converts your house AC back to DC, and very often 12v DC, I just either buy or make a replacement cable to go 12v to 12v. USB is an easy adaptation from 12v as well.
My CPAP machine for instance, will run about 10 hours using the inverter, but with a direct 12v to 12v connection, I can get up to 8 nights of sleep using my 505wh power station.
I am hoping that one of these manufacturers will figure that out and make a more svelte version with all the bells and whistles but dump the useless (to me) inverter.

[Skudster]

I see this as a good testbed to get into solar and get your feet wet, without breaking the bank. Something like this would work great for small USB devices (phones and maybe tablets), LED lighting, or any other small 110V devices you might have. Giving the basic math equations would certainly help people figure out what they can power safely and get a loose expectation of duration and with figuring out the limited solar charging you get from the small solar panel. A great intro video to solar power that should help people answer their own questions!

[CasperMade]

I think its amazing what you're doing on your channel man, keep up the great work and please as always keep em coming !

[ernestsbrigis]

Totally worth it if you have a small garden away from the house far enough to be too expensive to get power and still close enough that you can walk by feet. With a bigger battery and maybe a little beefier inverter it should be enough to power a small water pump once a day, some night lights and maybe once a week you can charge some power tools.

[atranimecs]

Started with a single panel setup for garden pumps and lighting at night. Now im fully invested in a 48v system that can power my lights and a fridge/freezer if the grid goes down. This is a nice video for getting into the hobby.

Learning about different battery chemistry, why higher voltage is better for distant setups, why an MPPT charge controller is better than a PWM solar charger, and how to properly/safely wire setups are all wonderful follow ups for beginners.

For starters, learn to create your own wire lengths and have appropriate connectors thay work with distribution bars to clean up the wiring and reduce saftey issues

[Metriximor]

I'm gona be honest, the video is short, simple, high quality, and you explain all the math and even provide some common knowledge figures and estimates for those that don't know about this kind of stuff (like me). Massive thumbs up, keep it up!

[michaelbenefield]

I've used this solar kit for powering my lights in my chicken pen. I had a 35ah AGM for longer discharge. It also ran a 12v Ceiling fan 24/7. I have another 20w top solar kit powering a 12v RV diagram pump installed on my 50 gal rain barrel collection. I use it to give water to my goats and pigs. It does a great job keeping the batteries topped off. I would recommend it for low power devices that are used sparingly.

[spacejihadist]

You should do more of these budget systems. I have a small cabin I go to every week and this is perfect. I only need to power a light bulb and charge my phone.

Subscribing. I hope to see more.

[lawrence]

actually it would be great if you can also suggest another budget build with up to $150 to $200. I am sure some of the people who watch your video can afford a slightly more budget build.

[jessicaalvarez]

I’m impressed!! Pretty good for the budget

[Junyo]

Two things about the inverter: When it says 150Watts it means it can run 150Watts for a few seconds - not "all the time". Usually inverters are rated at about DOUBLE what their continuous output would be. In this case, your inverter shouldn't be connected to anything that draws more than 75 Watts.

Another thing about the inverter is that your doesn't state it outputs "Pure Sine Wave". This means it will work on stuff like an LED-light, but most electronic devices with chips in them would probably fail.

Also, the lead-acid battery won't like it if you draw more than (AxV/10) about 20 Watts as it would get quite hot if you draw much more than that.

[panayioti]

I think it worth the price, you can easily use with it a larger panel in order to charge the battery faster.