Can you use an old car battery to charge it from the solar panel...?
If possible - give me links or explanations on how to do that - I am a girl :-)
Answer:
The cheapest, easiest way to harness solar energy for the home, at least in my experience is , buy a reasonably sized solar kit. 45 watt kits can be found for $170-$200, second you can use a car battery but since you already had to replace it it likely isn't any good anymore so investing in a deep cycle batterry is a good bet, I personally wired all my exterior lights directly to the battery( a deep cycle huge RV battery) using 12 volt leds, and also have an internal inverter/powerpack from Xanrax for powering my internal lights and TV/ Satellight when the power goes out. It works great when the power goes out I'm the only house on the block with power, so I've been having power out block parties. Also all the heavy Items Panels/ battery is built on a small trailer that I load my kayaks on for camping so I always have power when i camp. It's not a good idea to have 12 volt lead acid batteries inside as when you charge them they can give off hydrogen gas, which is harmless vented outside but inside could build up to explosive levels. The best statup kit is linkedbelow, they have always been great about guickly shipping. The first is for the solar kit, the second is for the leds
you could... with some work. You would have to convert the battery from DC to AC first. But I have seen some wind/solar arrays that use old car batteries (forklift would be better/bigger/more power) to power part of their homes. Try some of these links for more info. The difference from solar to wind shouldn't be to much.
Being a girl shouldn't matter, be proud of yourself.
Now from a McGuyver perceptive who could do anything with anything, I don't see why not.
Remember a electrical current needs two places for the energy to loop that's why outlets have two prongs. It's called a current, think of circular also why electrical cords have two wires connects to the plug, one for energy to come in and the other for it to come out.
Hover Dam uses water power, like a water-wheel would. Also wind power is also used, but one thing it to remember there is a circular movement in the windmill and also the Hoover dam.
Batteries have two places like an electric cord, a positive and a negative, also why all batters have a plus and a negative sign on them.
If you can use a potato to light up a light bulb I am sure you can use a car battery here, but if the batteries is still functional. Batteries have an expiration date for a reason for the chemicals inside of them. Even old car batteries don’t last forever. Also remember the positive and the negative will be on the car battery too. Be careful here whatever you decided to do.
No. You can charge a car battery from a solar panel, but it is not made for repeated complete discharging. There is a big difference between a car battery and a deep-cycle battery. For more information, see:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question21...
For a site that has lots of solar items and prices, see:
http://store.solar-electric.com/...
In general, solar panels don't produce much power, and they cost a lot of money. Without tax breaks, they are just not economical. So going solar means becoming REALLY efficient with all the home's electrical devices, and no hair dryers.
Stevie is on the right track here, and the main point is that your car battery runs off of DC and your voltage input is going to be AC comming from the Solar panels, however as PV (Photovoltaic) systems do for homes and other applications, an inverter changes the electricity as needed. One of my solar engineers uses one to power his cell phone and palm pilot out of his car with a mini inverter. I am not sure if the cost effectiveness is going to be worth it at this point. I will consult with him when he gets back from the field, if the question is still open, I'll get you the link to where he got his inverter.
You can easily buy a car battery trickle charger, and connect your appliances to an inverter.
The more powerful the charger and inverter, the more they will cost. A reasonably cheap start would be a 5 watt charger and a 100 watt inverter, for a total under $100. This could run a small drill, but not a hoover or iron.
http://www.google.com/products?q=%2bsola...
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With a 5 watt charger, ten hours of charging equals 50 watt hours. So a 1000 watt appliance will use up the power in three minutes. That's why you would use a low power device like a radio or fluorescent light would run almost all day on a day of sunshine.
This is fairly safe, but the charger and inverter need to be clipped onto the battery with the red lead securely on the positive terminal, and the black lead on the negative. There should be no loose wires which can short out and start a fire.
The battery should be kept outdoors, because it is full of acid and can produce hydrogen gas which is explosive in a closed space. Car batteries don't like being totally discharged, so try to charge it before it is completely run down.
Your local electronics store can help you select the charger and inverter and tell you how to connect them safely.
My house, until very recently, was powered exclusively by solar. It is NOT all that it is cracked up to be and it isn't "free energy" as people often think. The batteries should be DEEP CYCLE batteries, I used the golf cart batteries in mine. You will need an inverter to invert the power from 12 or 24 volts to 110-115. You'll need a solar array that has enough power production to keep up with your usage AND the batteries enough to store it. I had 18 batteries and it was NOT enough. I was producing 2,000 watts pr hr and it was NOT enough. Get a back up generator, you'll need it no matter if you're on the grid or not. Go around your house adding up all your electrical usage and think about how you can reduce it.
you need to produce more than 13.8 volts and have a voltage regulator that will prevent overcharging the battery or it will explode, overheat, fume out toxic gases or just catch fire when it dries up inside.
I don't know, but have you tried checking wikipedia?
The answer is: maybe, yes, and no. But the question is a timely and good one, because it calls to mind the whole concept of using energy you already have or can get for little impact.
Any appliance that uses house current will need an "inverter" which converts the DC power supplied from a battery to the AC needed to run your vac, for example. And then, its all about total power required. If the device needs a steady and heavy jolt, it will drain the battery. Once that happens, you've got to recharge the battery, and if you do so by plugging it into a charger, you're using house current -and are right back where you started, but worse, now, because ANY conversion of one kind of power to another uses energy in the process. That said, you could use a solar powered charger. In fact, this is what's going on up and down the interstate, where you see solar panels mounted next to devices that run lights or relay data to traffic control -they actually charge a battery that powers the equipment.
You mentioned a power drill, and here is a device which is more and more sold as a battery powered tool. Efficient motors and transmission systems, together with durable batteries, make them real energy savers. To say nothing of the convenience.
One thing to look for when choosing "alternative energy" sources is the chain of supply and other resources that may be taxed MORE in exchange for the expected savings. And this is one of the problems with things like batteries, for example. If more and more of them must be produced to meet a "green" demand, the apparent eco-friendly aspect may have an offset on the production side. Looking at the total energy stream, does the cost of mining, transporting, manufacturing and distributing a battery -and then safely disposing of it eventually- outweigh the benefits either as to total power consumed or as to pollution created -or both? Its hard to calaculate exact values, sometimes, but unquestionably the "there ain't no free lunch" laws of physics do apply.
Corn as a source of clean fuel for cars is another case. The problem, oddly enough, is that it can work too well! Specifically, there is not enough corn grown to supply a conversion from corn to petroleum on anything more than a token basis -and even that involves a cost in terms of energy expended and pollution created to produce refining plants, convert the cars and set up distribution -to say nothing of the lower power delivered by corn to the engine which might well be offset by a heavy foot on the accelerator! Already, the price of corn has gone up merely to supply the trickle being consumed so far. The answer may well mean an opporunity for our neighbors to the south to start growing corn to meet the supply. Sounds like a good economic deal on the face of it, but guess what? It means clearing land of vegetation, which reduces the carrying capacity of the environment for the junk we put in the air now, exposes bare earth to reflect back more sunlight and thereby makes the global warming worse. No free lunch. And, I haven't even covered the impact of all that extra fertilizer to make the corn grow.
But your question strongly hints at action that can be taken -this very moment- to reduce the problem -and that is to reduce the consumption wherever we, as individuals, can do so. Do I really need a hair dryer? Can I tolerate "wrinkle free clothing" (or some wrinkles). Can I live 5 deg hotter in summer and 5 deg cooler in winter? Can I drive less often -and more slowly -just a little more slowly- when I do? Can I microwave instead of run a burner? Use the oven instead of the stove? You get the point.
Fact is -really, really is- that real savings in energy and benefits to the environment can be best achieved -lacking truly revolutionary technological break throughs- by reducing consumption. And it can be done right NOW. Its simple -less demand by us means less demand of Mother Nature.
By the way, the fact that you are a girl has nothing whatsoever to do with your capability to figure stuff out. That's the real deal, too.
Solar panels could be used to charge a car battery - although batteries which are made to stand being completely discharged would work better - Electric motorcycles use that kind of battery.
Both car and electric motorcycle batteries are generally rated at 12 volts and the current is direct current - meaning it goes in one direction. In the US, power from a wall socket generally comes out at about 115 volts and the current is alternating current- which means that it changes direction constantly (60 times per second). Direct current can be converted to Alternating current and vice - versa.
Voltage is a measure of electrical pressure- You can't get much of a shock from 12 volts - but 115 volts could go right through your skin and give you a big shock. - Amperes or Amps is a measure of the amount electric current. Think of electricity like water going through a hose. (While you can't get much of a shock from a car battery- car batteries can produce a lot of current for a short time- and if you shorted out the terminals on a car battery with a wire, you might get burned because all the current flow would cause the wire to heat up.) - Volts is like water pressure - and amps is like the amount of water passing through the hose. - Volts times Amps equals Watts which is the total measure of electric power. A hair driver or an electric Iron or a toaster require a lot of watts. (Perhaps 1000) - A small power drill might run on 100 watts or less. - A lap top computer might run on 75 to 100 watts. - And I am sure you know what a 100 watt light bulb is like.
It would take a lot of solar panels and batteries to run an Iron for very long. - but one large solar panel could easily charge a battery to run a lap top computer.
you could although u have listed 2 high energy appliances and suggested an old car battery which means probably one not holding charge very well you can rejuvenate car batteries but they don't like being trickle charged which is what a solar panel does,
i would suggest sweeping, waring clothes that don't require ironing and a hand drill
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