Powerenz portable solar power

[North_Star]

http://www.powerenz.com/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=152

Any thought on this portable solar power package?

It seems very useful... but pricey for me.

[BackBlast]

http://www.powerenz.com/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=152

Any thought on this portable solar power package?

It seems very useful... but pricey for me.

Yes, I have a few thoughts...

Looks rather expensive. And I'm not the biggest fan of some of their part choices, principly, the battery.

LiPoly is great for getting the most capacity in the lightest package. But it's a portable 4.3 lbs bomb. If that takes a nasty fall or a bullet it's going to go up in it's critical falure state which is described as "vents rapidly with flame". A slow motion explosion that would turn the pack into a smoldering pile of melted plastic and toxic gas that will light anything nearby into flame.

The other disadvantage is you only get some 200-300 cycles with LiPoly OR about 3 years of shelf life. Then you're done. A bad choice for "emergency" power IMHO. There are better choices for both cycle longevity and shelf longevity with only a modest weight penalty.

Anyway, so lets go over the pack contents..

Bag: $100 (didn't look up the exact model, but, I estimated high)
Foldable Solar Panel: $800 (60 watt foldable panels run around this ballpark)
Battery Pack: $250 (all-battery.com lipoly packs as reference, I guess it's the 11.1 v nominal system rather than the 14.1 volt nominal that lipoly provides)
Charge management electronics: $100 (low voltage cutoff, charge balancer, etc, high estimate)
DC-DC, DC-AC converters: $50

This puts the total system cost off the shelf at a high estimate of $1300. The bulk of which is the foldable solar panel.

Changes I might recommend is using a LiFePO4 battery instead of LiPo. Which should give you 1000+ cycles at 90% DoD and 5-8 years shelf life, depending on the manufacture. I'd also probably opt for a 30 watt foldable panel depending on what I was trying to run. Keep the weight and cost down...

That kit could probably be had for less than $1000. Maybe $800 with the right deals.

Brandon

[BackBlast]

I'm going to be putting together a similar kit for myself in the spring. Probably March-April-May time frame... I'll probably make mine half the size of the 150 (30 watt panel & 120-240 WH in a 12v battery) and have a target price of 600-750$ depending on what I narrow it down to. To hit the price point, mine is probably going to use a bit heavier foldable panel. This setup would let me run my 10-watt laptop and GPS for several hours and plenty of extra juice to charge AAs for lights and radios. My preference is a hard case like a pelican rather than a soft pack (not cheap stuff so I want it water proofed and protected!).

If others are interested I wouldn't mind doing the minor assembly required for a few others at no charge (maybe we can get some price breaks...). Things like battery packs usually require some wiring to get them squared away and working correctly. If interest is large though I'll want some margin for my time or I can post assembly directions and where I source my parts.

[Cowboy]

I would be very interested in this package.

[KF7EEC]

I'd be interested.

[KF7EEC]

Its heavy, but I think this also looks interesting: http://www.mysolarbackup.com/

[BackBlast]

A few parts I favor at the moment...

http://www.ctsolar.com/ProductImages/32_2W%20Folding%20Camo%20Panel1.jpghttp://www.ctsolar.com/ProductImages/32_2W%20Folding%20Panel2.jpg


This is not a flexible thin-film panel, it's a foldable rigid panel. Which means it's heavier, I'd say it's more durable too, not to mention much smaller when expanded due to higher efficiency. It also produces better voltages, especially in less than ideal conditions where you may not get any power at all out of thin-film. Panel performance tends to suffer when they get hot and some worse than others. It's also cheaper than thin-film.

Size: 14.125" X 11.5" X 1.5" folded; 14.125" X 48" unfolded. 6 pounds 4 oz weight.

http://www.ctsolar.com/322wbluenylonfoldingsolarpanelourmostpopularpanel. aspx

$330 for the blue
$340 for the camo

Cells

http://www.evcomponents.com/v/vspfiles/photos/38120S-2T.jpg

http://www.evcomponents.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=38120S

8 cells is 5.5 lbs, 20 AH @ 12v.

~ $175 with connectors and wires

Case

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images345x345/416679.jpg

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/416679-REG/Pelican_1500_001_190_1500NF_Case_without_Foam.html

$85 and 6.4 lbs

[Baconator]

I've been considering this one for a while now.
http://www.4lots.com/awesomexantrexxpower1500withpro100plugandplay.aspx

It's not as light or portable, but it has more storage capacity (60amp-hour AGM battery), 95w solar panel, built-in inverter and is a bit more reasonably priced.
It's on my wish list.

[BackBlast]

I've been considering this one for a while now.
http://www.4lots.com/awesomexantrexxpower1500withpro100plugandplay.aspx

It's not as light or portable, but it has more storage capacity (60amp-hour AGM battery), 95w solar panel, built-in inverter and is a bit more reasonably priced.
It's on my wish list.

I tend to recommend LiFePO4 batteries over lead-acid, the cycle life and user-friendlyness makes them a better value IMHO.

LiFePO4 are rated to 1000+ cycles at 80% discharge depth.

To get 1000 cycles out of lead acid you can only go to about 20% dod. Which means you have to have about 4-5 times the capacity.

If you leave lead acid in the discharged or partially charged state for very long it becomes a boat anchor. LiFePO4 is fine in these states - no adverse effects. If you just didn't have time to recharge your battery for a few weeks after that emergency use, LiFePO4 would continue to work fine, lead acid would suffer severe adverse effects.