DIY solar outhouse for lights and drill charger Find help, tips and information on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind etc.... and also alternative energy & heating production.

[brian-bailey]

I want to renovate my outhouse by adding solar to it.

It's just used to keep tools, power tools and lawn mower so was just wanting lighting and maybe something to charge the drill etc.

Does anyone know of good solar panel brands?

I'm also looking for a site that will offer finance on this sort of thing.

Many thanks.

[ericmark]

I want lights in my garage, and I use an old bus 12 volt fluorescent lamp and a battery, and I swap the battery to charge it every so often.

The problem is you need a battery even with a solar panel, the MPPT controller will both stop the battery over charging, and mean the panel starts and finishes charging earlier and latter as it matches the voltage to panel.

But unless it produces a reasonable output, over 5 amp, the use of a MPPT is not really cost effective. And to turn the 12 volt to 230 volt to run a standard charger the inverter uses power.

So a jump start pack is likely the best option, they often come with a charger, lamp, and 13 amp socket built in, the 12 Ah battery is light enough to carry, so you can charge in the house and use in outhouse, using a cig lighter lead you could connect to a small solar panel, with a simple zenor diode to stop over charging, but easier to just take whole thing back to house.