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Hello,

I've been checking some solar home setups online and starting toying with this idea...
summer is around the corner, and our "day3a" house is very isolated, we have no "ichtirak" and electricity goes out for 6 hours at a time... So I was thinking, maybe I could get a 100 watts solar panel to power my desktop (I have an intel nuc as mentioned in a previous thread, consumes 15 watts on heavy usage)

Anyone know where can I find solar panels in Lebanon with the related installation items(batteries, regulators or whatever) ?
And has anyone tried something like this before? Some insight would be helpful.

Thanks
I'm sure you can find it. We have solar water heating on the roof.
Solar energy is not that much of an alien concept in Lebanon, there are lots of sun and some people take advantage of it.
Hope you will find it in an affordable form.
I don't know anyone who tried getting solar electricity though. I'm interested. If you find something affordable, please share, I'd like to try it as well - but not necessarily for my computer but for other things.
I'm guessing you could hook up a panel to a 12V battery and use it to charge it, and use that battery as power source to a UPS for your computer.
You will need a UPS anyway.
This power panel, you can use them to charge the battery of your UPS @ 12V (or whatever). Like I said.
But no need to blow all your budget on the UPS. And anyway even @ $400 I don't think you'll find one that lasts 6 hours. Not sure though.
If you can manage to have both it'll be all good.
I have played around with small solar system (12v, 6w) nothing much, and nothing useful. the solar panel would provide the voltage and power from the sun, but since the sun is not stationary, so is the voltage, and thus you need a controller for stabilization of voltage before connecting them to the batteries. then the usual setup, battery, UPS, whatever electrical equipment you want to use.
As per your situation, the batteries and UPS are a must anyway, what you will be paying extra for are the panel (about $200) and the controller ($20), maybe a stand for the panels depending on your situation.
6 hours life span, on 100W only, maybe a small UPS that lasts 15 minutes would serve the 100W, but you would need to change the battery to a bigger one, or even have 2 in series, battery voltage is constant, but the amps are used upon request until a limit of course.
Money is a lesser issue for me, the bigger issue is that these wires and installation, they take up space, each part requires special maintenance and consideration, if I want to use electricity when available it might not be straight forward, I need to unplug the wires from one socket and place them in another. That is why I'd be willing to spend more on just a UPS, it is flexible I can take it with me, when we switch houses etc...

It seems it is not practical yet.
@user .. Think of solar power as an investment though you might pay 800-1000$ now for an installation that can run your PC for 6-8 hours easy but it all evens out after a year or so (5amp = 70$ a month these days) .. you can unplug them during your Beirut days and re-plug and wash the panels during the village days.
Let professionals do them or if you are an expert you can install them yourself in a stealthy and tidy manner.
user wrote It seems it is not practical yet.
Maybe not but it sounds like an entertaining, interesting and possibly useful project.
I'm not sure if they do small scale projects, but I know an engineer named Reda Safieddine from EPCC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contractor) Elements Sun & Wind who specialize in solar panels and their integration with current means of power production (i.e. diesel engines, goverment electrical outlets, wind turbines). His phone number is 03/178820 and email is rsafieddine@elementssw.com or mrsafieddine@hotmail.com.
I have a wind/solar setup in my house with a 80 KVA aps ... I have so much power it hurts
Stygmata wroteI have a wind/solar setup in my house with a 80 KVA aps ... I have so much power it hurts
I am very interested on knowing where this is ? who built this for you? and how much did this cost?
for as to my limited knowledge wind power is not a thing in lebanon !!
The setup is in jounieh ..a small wind turbine with two solar panels (photo electric not the ones of water heater) connected into an aps with automatic starter . Cost is around 10 000 fully installed (ROI is around 5 years )
Stygmata wroteThe setup is in jounieh ..a small wind turbine with two solar panels (photo electric not the ones of water heater) connected into an aps with automatic starter . Cost is around 10 000 fully installed (ROI is around 5 years )
how many batteries you have? whats the capacity of each one
20 car batteries in series ( 12 volts x 120 watts each )
My setup is large because I have 4 appartements connected to it
Stygmata wroteThe setup is in jounieh ..a small wind turbine with two solar panels (photo electric not the ones of water heater) connected into an aps with automatic starter . Cost is around 10 000 fully installed (ROI is around 5 years )
Nice, are there any precautions to take in winter when the wind may be rough and the raining might be heavy? And how often do you change batteries? and what do those cost?

rain cannot damage the solar panels but i had one panel broken with heavy hail .
Valve-regulated lead acid car battery , all they need is a bit of cleaning and such .. the battery can last betwen 55 to 60 months ( and more in case of moderate usage )
each 3 month i shake the batteries a bit and clean them from corrosion ..you can have hydrogen build up with these batteries so ventilation is extremely important
also these batteries doesnt play well in extreme heat or cold .