Hello, and thanks for stopping by. My name is Cal. And I like to teach you a little bit about solar generators.
Now a days the bulk of the solar market is geared toward the homeowner or businesses. With a small market for everybody else.
I've looked at hundreds of solar generators, and system's. Today's system's are getting better and better, but there is nothing new with generators.
I built a solar generator. I love it, thought it worked alright. But I now know it's like all solar generators I see, they are not practical. They are bulky. Not so easy to transport. They have expensive components, like batteries with short life spans. Not to metion most are as ugly as me. But they can be practical with a very simple change.
Let's talk about the design of today's traditional solar generators. There are 4 main components. A solar panel, a charge controller, a battery and an inverter. Very simple. Very wrong.
Decades ago when solar generators were born this was right. But today it's wrong. Back then A.C. power was used for most everything. So if you look up how to make a solar generator now. You will see hundreds of plans that tell you the traditional 4 components are needed. Panel, controller, battery and an inverter. I know this type of solar generator. It is expensive. I built one.
Now let's talk about today's power usage. A.C. is still king, however their has been major strides in battery technology as well as the amount of products that run on batteries. This is what made me realise where traditional solar generators fail.
They are designed for mainly A.C. USE.
Well that's the right way to waste electricity. Solar panels produce D.C. power. Ideally D.C. application should be used. When you turn D.C. power to A.C. power you lose some power in the process. Yes your still producing free electricity, but we can do this more efficiently by simply keeping everything D.C.
Look around your house. I bet you can find at least 3 things you use every day that run on batteries.
Cell phone.
Tablet.
Bluetooth speaker.
Small battery banks for phones.
Camera.
Headphones and so on.
We use batteries everyday now. And add items to that list all the time. Well all them small items scream to be charged solarly.
Now what about USB items? USB items also run on D.C. There are hundreds of USB items. Fans, chargers, lights, radios, spaekers, USB fidge they have that, disco ball they have that too. Sometimes I can't believe what they make that's USB.
As you can see there are more and more D.C. products filling our homes. And this is where a basic solar generator comes in.
Earlier I mentioned the traditional solar generator is made of 4 components. Panel, charge controller, battery, and inverter. Well you really only need 3. If we get rid of the A.C. inverter (costly item) we still have a D.C. generator. And instead of a big battery bank. Lets use a small battery and save money.
Most people what to directly use the power that the panel provide directly. With my design you can. Simply point it at the sun and plug in your phone
Now a small D.C. solar generator will do a lot for you. And to build 1 you can do it for about $200. Then you can charge your phones, tablets and whatever all day long (well if the sun is out). From a small generator that you can move easily.
Take it to the beach and run a USB fan while charging your phone and playing a radio.
During a power outage use it to charge your phone. Charge up your small battery banks. And provide some light.
Take it camping, leave it in your car, hang out with it in the backyard when you BBQ. As you can see there is many practical uses for a unit like this.
What can it do to save you money on your electric bill? On the real side not much. I designed this for light use. Meaning small D.C. items. However, there are many led lights out there that run on USB ports. You could switch to them instead of your house lights. You won't shine bright like a diamond, but you could save enough to buy one. You can also watch tv on your phone or tablet instead of your flat screen. Again, I didn't design this for saveing you on your electric bill. I designed it to be convenient, affordable, easy to use and portable. But if used the right way it can save you money.
