Solar Sheds?

I have a solar battery charger from HF. bought it years ago. I had to use it once as I left a tractor out in a field once, and when I got back to it, the batteries were dead, that's when I found out the alternator was bad on it lol! anyways, I placed the solar panel on the hood of the tractor, hooked it all up and went back the next day. the tractor started right up. it's not a very big panel so i'm sure it only puts in an amp or 2 while charging. it did save me a lot of work tho!

I have two of them, one on each end of my shed. I made a longer cord and can reach about anything I have and just keep moving them around every time I am in the shed and keep the batteries charged and ready to use

Edited by Les Royer - 09 Oct 2018 at 11:03am

Nice.

It occured to me on the drive home, that solar panels are appearing on construction signs now, so I wonder if any construction companies, or municipalities have busted signs with working panels just waiting for auction.

I guess next time I'm up in town I'll check out the Harbor Freight.

https://www.amazon.com/LXG-LED-Daylight-Incandescent-Equivalent-Dimmable/dp/B077ZVB64N/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&qid=1539123177&sr=8-34&keywords=12+volt+e27+led+bulbsthese will screw into a normal HOUSE light socket... just remember they are 12 VOLT and not to be used on house voltage.

Steve, nice. I'm looking at utility / work lights rated at 27W ea. I can get 10 for $46 which would let me put lights on the tractor, and in the shed, but yes they'd pull a couple of amps each, but it's a quonset hut, so I could mount them on the side supports, use cheap lamp cord, I'd probably want to work out switching so I'm not always illuminating empty bits and wasting power.

I guess it all depends on how much they draw vs. how much area they light, I could maybe put one on a clamp or a hook for a worklight. I think I'd need more than a trickle charger if I use them regularly though, but for occasional visiting maybe be OK.

Here's a thought, can I wire my shed negative ground, and run a single cord to each lamp? I think so

Edited by Coke - 09 Oct 2018 at 6:28pm

Coke, the kids have a party 1/4 mile back in the woods on July 4 every year... I made a small plywood box with a handle that has a motorcycle battery inside and a 10 watt LED bulb on top..Set one along the road every 300 ft... That pulls about 1 amp per hour... Small battery is a 36  amp/hour battery so it will run the light for 36 hours before going dead.... I have left them on all night running on the SMALL battery... You could have portable lights, but in a shed I would put 3-4 bulbs high on the wall around the side for general lighting.. Connect them with a 16-18 gauge extension cord . Don't need a 3rd wire ground, just  + and - ...... You could also use a  drop light cord that you could pull over and move around 30 ft in any direction to work on tractor .... any of the lights could have an on- off switch so they don't all come on constantly .... all run off one car battery... 4-5 lights would probably run for 24 hours so a small charger connected could build it up all day long for use that night or next weekend... could also have clips to connect to tractor battery to charge it.

yes, that is a concern... but double check the bulbs.. The ones I have a 12 volt and 60 watt EQUIVILANT , but only use 8-9 watts .... with 4 bulbs you could be taking about 36 watts of power PER HOUR and yes, that would be 24 hours to recharge if your using a 1.5 amp charger... Your going to need a bigger charger, a couple batteries, less lights, or less usage time to balance out !! .............. this works great for  a 10-12 hour shift.. ONE battery and LOTS OF LIGHT OUTPUT ... but it does need to be recharged.. I bring my battery back and plug into the 120v charger at 6-8 amps overnight.......... too bad solar don't work at night !!

here is a 10 WATT solar panel...   10 WATTS / 12 VOLTS = .8 AMPS .......... make sure your talking about AMPS or WATTS when comparing.......... also a 12 volt OUTPUT would be great for lights and keep a battery up ....... but a CHARGER puts out 14 volts, not 12....... I have not looked into that......... maybe the solar panels listed for 12 volt are actually somewhat higher ?

HF has 3 panels that hook together and has the frames and mounting, inverter, and all the stuff needed (cept batteries) in one box. a lot cheaper than other places, and they work. I've seen them all over in my travels, and have talked to a lot of folks that use them, they all said they work and they were pleased with them. I bought the set, haven't installed this set yet. had one other set but it blew off my roof in a storm. that was my fault not theirs.