Basic solar and/or wind power systems

A solar power system could look like this ...

You would have some solar panels in a sunny place. These would generate electricity whenever the sun shone on them. The problem is what to do with this electricity ...
We could attach something straight to the panel with a bit of wire, the trouble is whatever we attached would only work when the sun was shining. Since the first basic need is usually lights at night this setup would be pretty hopeless!

The next stage is to add a battery ...

The addition of a battery makes a solar system functional 24 hours per day. The electricity you generate during the day can be used at night then replenished again on the next sunny day. A consideration here is what would happen if the batteries were totally full of charge in the middle of a sunny day ...

The next addition is a solar regulator ...

A solar regulator is a device that prevents the solar panels from over-charging the battery when it is full of charge.

It is likely we need some "mains type power"...

When you have a simple solar system as described above you are limited to powering your lights and appliances straight off the battery. This is fine for small setups needing only basic lighting and simple battery powered devices. If you are intending to set up a solar system for a motorhome or house you will no doubt require some modern appliances straight from the electrical shop. These devices will undoubtedly need a power point to plug into. To provide the necessary power for these appliances from your battery bank you need an inverter. An inverter is a device that converts the electricity stored in your battery to something more useable like the 240 volts you get from the socket on the wall at home.

Add another generation source ...

Depending on your location and situation you may be able to add a complimentary generation source like a wind generator or a micro-hydro power plant. This will connect to your battery independently of the solar panels and will most probably require its own regulator to work alongside the solar regulator. This is covered more in the information section on wind generators.

Summary:

You use solar panels in sunlight to generate electricity. You store this electricity in a battery bank. A solar regulator prevents the battery bank from being overcharged. You convert the battery electricity to mains electricity using a device called an inverter. Later on this information section will cover stuff like how many panels we need, how big should the battery bank be and some information on inverter selection but for the moment the next step to understanding all this stuff is a basic electricity lesson which is next!

Progress on to the next section which is simple electricity by using the side nav bar.

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