Setting up your own solar panels can be a great project whether your goals are:
- offset some or all of your home energy requirements
- go off-grid
- power for your RV or boat
- on the go power for living outdoors and an active lifestyle
These are all perfect reasons to buy and create your own power from the sun!
It doesn’t matter if your system is big or small they all contain some of the same key pieces.
- the solar panels
- the charge converter and battery management device
- inverters
- batteries
When the sun is shining the solar panels generate electricity. This is in DC (Direct Current) which is different from what you get out of a wall socket. this power is fed into a device to manage the voltages appropriately to manage how the batteries are charged. A good quality charge controller will charge batteries faster and increase their lifespan.
To power your standard appliances you need to convert the DC power to AC (Alternating Current). This is the job of an alternator. A good quality alternator will provide clean power which is less likely to disrupt sensitive electronics.