>I'm building a shed in my back
>yard and would like to experiment
>by powering it with solar. I'm
>looking for a simple configuration that
>would allow my to have a
>single flourescent light (30w) inside, a
>flood light or two outside (100w
>ea.), a bug zapper (40w), and
>a single outlet for occassional use.
>
>Using the tutorials in the Alternative Energy
>Store site (which is excellent by
>the way!), I have determined that
>I'll need a single Uni-Solar 32
>watt solar panel ($187), A MorningStar
>SunSaver Charge Controller, model 20L-24 ($94),
>and four Trojan T-105 batteries ($320).
>
>With that, I have four questions: 1)
>Do my estimates look accurate, 2)What
>is a low cost inverter that
>would do the job, 3) I
>had trouble using the tutorial to
>figure out the best gauge of
>wire, what should I use, and
>4) Without the inverter, I'm already
>at $600. That's getting expensive to
>simply add some power to a
>shed. Is there a more cost
>efective way to do this or
>am I overestimating something?
The answer to your question is no,your are not overestimating, and the experience you will get out of this is that this equipment is expensive no matter which way you go. If you have electrical power in your house dig a small ditch and bring the power to your shed. It will cost you more money and aggravation to use the alternative energy (solar panels, charge controller, inverter, battery bank,) not to mention the equipment and time to maintain the batteries than use the grid electricity to power your shed for 100 years. The only time you want to use alternative energy is when you are so far away from grid power that you have no choice.
