this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
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Solar power station DIY projects? (palaver.p3x.de)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by hendrik@palaver.p3x.de to c/askelectronics@discuss.tchncs.de
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I just found out I can buy a decent 400W solar panel in the local hardware store for around 90€ these days.

Are there people around with experience in off-grid solar? There is quite some supply in cheap MPTT charge controllers on the internet. And I can't afford a 700€ power station. But I would be able to buy a few power tool batteries or one of the lead-acid batteries people put in their caravan. Are there projects building a power station myself? Is this even worth it?

Maybe someone alredy wrote a blog post with recommendations or findings and failures along the way. Or has something similar running at home?

(Thanks to the mods for steering me towards the correct community.)

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[–] Numse@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I haven't really explored other chemistries because bulkier was a no-go for me. But you also may want to look at discharge profiles. Lithium (LifePO4) have a nice linear discharge rate, so you get nice constant power until the end (think power tools: they work, they work, they work, the battery is dead). Also, if considering other chemistries, you need to also know the charging profile and determine if the MPPT can produce that profile to charge your batteries.

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Yeah, i would definitely look at LIFEPO4. People just have the name recognition of "lithium" so they don't really understand the differences between that and lithium ion, and so from what I saw last time I checked, the price was not really different, even though LIFEPO4 lasts longer and is safer.