How To Build a Portable, Solar-Charged Off-Grid Power Station

Wesley recently moved to a new home where electric power might not always be accessible. In preparation for his move, he wanted to be ready, regardless of what mother nature threw at him.

And so, the off-grid solar power charge station was born, capable of recharging flashlights and powering small devices without skipping a beat! It boasts a total of 66Ah battery bank with a 100w solar panel and multiple charging options. It was considerably less expensive as a project than a commercial device would have been, and it could even be expanded in the future.

#0:00 Welcome to element14 presents
#0:23 Overview
#2:11 The Batteries
#6:02 Adding Features
#11:52 Getting Things Connected
#16:09 Testing It!
#19:26 Give Your Feedback

#solarenergy #solarpower #solarpanel #solarpanels #batterypack

[Franksey]

Always enjoy portable power projects. Would be great if you did another video for a bigger version of this. Start that video with a detailed re-visit to this one, showing what worked, what didn't, what you'd like to improve etc. Show the solar panel im operation and the statistics for charging on the LCD panel and the stats also for when you have load on the display. Then build the next one with the improvements or larger power capability etc. Would be a great "part 2" to this video.

[DaveEverett]

connecting them in parallel will cause them to "chase" each other down to discharge. power will flow from the higher volt cell to the lower volt cell, and will flip between each cell till full cell discharge. The only way to avoid this is to electronically control each cell. Another factor is that half discharge is 12.5v for lead-acid and that means usable energy is much lower if you intend to charge the batteries many times. LiPo batteries can be discharged much lower giving greater energy without damaging the cells as will happen with lead-acid.

[YouLookinAtMe-Bro]

Good job, looks nice!
Looks like there's plenty of room to add an inlet to charge quickly from grid power.
Thanks for the time and for sharing!

[IrregularShed]

I'm a fan of using toolboxes in this way, I've used a small one for distributing power for musical instruments and a mixer from one mains lead :) I would've liked to have seen more regarding the inverter though so, if you do a follow-up build, please include this!

[stephensu]

i already having one of this, but i using retire battery, and my one is use at home only, then i can use up all those battery life until it completely depleted, use up last drop of their value, then i put those truly dead battery to recycle station, some time i got some money out of those recycle

[muffenme]

I would use 2 12v 100Ah LiFePO4 deep cycle lithium batteries. This would give 2400Wh. But you would use with this project 400 W of solar energy.

[MAYERMAKES]

aha, I have the samll version of the tool boxes used as case for years, a realyl good choice for an enclosure!

[keencreek]

If the box was weather tight and all the electronics were inside it, would you trust leaving it permanently outside in the elements?

[PNW.RC]

How much was all this. Is it even worth it. Specially using those batteries aren’t the best

[alanmonteath]

Let's see more with lithium batts.

[chrisw]

Lead Acid?? Seriously??? You do know it's 2023, not 2003, right?? Sealed Lead Acid batteries will NOT give you 792 Wh, they'll give you HALF that, because pulling them below 50% severely shortens their lifetime. Even 50% isn't recommended for long service. Switch them out for two LiFePo4 batteries, and your power station will last for a decade or more and still have around 80% of it's original capacity. Is cost an issue? Not as much as you'd think. Sealed Lead Acid batteries have an average service life of 5 years - IF you never deeply discharge them, which an emergency might require. Replacing those batteries three times over 15 years means 3x the cost. Two 100 Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries will double that cost, and you'll 'only' get 200 Ah instead of just under 400 Ah. BUT the pack will be much lighter, you can use 100% of it's power in an emergency without ruining them, and they can sit in storage at 50=70% charge for a year (long term storage at over 90% charge is not recommended) and still be usable for many years to come. Try that with any lead acid battery.

[dinithaw]

Size to power capacity ratio is very poor. Use 18650 cells and shrink down the size. Or use more batteries to increase the capacity lol