Batteries and Solar

Solar Load Estimates

Estimates of what it would take to achieve a year-round solar autonomy, for different continuous loads. The model assumes "typical" SF weather conditions (Link to model).

Note

A good portion of the capacity is just to meet the worst few days of the year, so if you are willing to sacrifice those, the system can be quite a bit smaller and still get you 95%+ annual up time.

Estimates

Below all assume 26V LiFePO4 battery (using 80% of capacity), somewhat conservative, but not a lot of margin:

• 7W (cont.): 18A-h battery, 90W solar, 5A charge controller
• 10W (cont.): 25A-h battery, 125W solar, 5A charge controller
• 15W (cont.): 38A-h battery, 190W solar, 10A charge controller
• 20W (cont.): 50A-h battery, 250W solar, 10A charge controller
• 40W (cont.): 100A-h battery, 500W solar, 20A charge controller
• 50W (cont.): 125A-h battery, 625W solar, 25A charge controller
• 60W (cont.): 150A-h battery, 750W solar, 30A charge controller

Batteries

Just Batteries

• Ampere Time 25.6v 100Ah LiFePO4 pack Fire proof bag!
• LiTime 12v 100Ah LiFePO4 pack

• Bioenno Power - LiFePO4 batteries which are lightweight but support many more charging cycles compared to normal lithium batteries.
• TalentCell - LiFePO4 batteries being evaluated at the Sunol Ridge site.

Battery Charge Controllers

• ALGcom DC UPS 24V 10A https://www.ispsupplies.com/ALGcom-FN-2400-10-ST

• ALGcom DC UPS 48V 10A Manageable SNMP https://www.ispsupplies.com/ALGcom-FN-4800-10-SNMP

Uninterruptible Power Supply Controllers

• EdgePower Supply, 24V 72W https://store.ui.com/collections/operator-accessories/products/ep-24v-72w

• EdgePower Supply, 54V 150W https://store.ui.com/collections/operator-accessories/products/edgepower-54v-150w
• Portable Mini UPS Battery Backup and PoE - an easy to carry PoE and battery combo for testing nodes in the field

Solar Charge Controllers

• Ubiquiti provide solar charges specifically designed for use with their PoE Wifi products. Batteries and solar are bought separately (No longer available).
• Tycon tp-scpoe-2424-hp lacks the web ui, unable to set the battery charge targets.
• Victron SmartSolar Chargers https://www.victronenergy.com/solar-charge-controllers

Solar Monitoring

• VenusOS - free to use software for monitoring Victron devices from a Raspberry Pi - https://updates.victronenergy.com/feeds/venus/release/images/
• Cerbo-S GX Network connected system monitor https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Cerbo-S_GX/en/index-en.html

Off The Shelf ALL-in-ONE Systems

• Jackery offer a range of all-in-one portable battery and charging packs. Can be used with optional solar panels.
• Tycon Systems
• Anker SOLIX Portable Power Station

Non-penetrating mounts

ISP Supplies ships from TX, USA

Project Systems

• Uninterrupted Self Sustaining Solar Power by KJ6DZB (USSP)
• Evans Hall Roof Top
• Skyline College