Questions about Electric Fence Solar panels

I know at some point we have power out (especially during winter) and you never know when SHTF on a big scale. I have a solar panel that powers a electric fence. The fence wire is taking care of a large perimeter, and (I think) the solar panel is 40 watts. (gotta check the manual again).
I would like to know if that size panel could power a small MP3 player? Could it power a laptop?
If so, how do I make the conversion (from mp3 USB cord) to the pos/neg terminals on the panel?
I am not exprert on electronics, and simple instructions will be so, so , so appreciated.
Thanks

It is not a straitnforward answer. It wil depend on:

Your latitude
Your local environment
What time of year it is (unless you are near the equator)
How large your storage batteries are
How efficient your charge controller is
How much time you spend using the device each day
How much your mp3 player or laptop draw a (they vary considerably from model to model)
wether or not you are charging the batteries in the device while running it
Wether or not you are auto tracking the sun with the panel
Wether or not you are running the equipment directly or going through an inverter.

You are going to have to do some considerable research and or experimentation with your specific equipment.

By the way, a laptop is a high draw device and you will not get more than occasional use out of it with a 40 watt panel.

reply to post by triplereiki


Solar panels produce DC electric. You have two options, you can get an AC/DC converter for your equipment, or you can get a power inverter that will allow you to basically plug stuff in. Each has its own pros and cons and depending on your situation and your ultimate goals you need to research the two to see which is your better option. Powering an mp3 player should not be a problem, but may not keep up with a laptop.

reply to post by Skewed


Is there a good reference for learning abut this. something with colour photograps and drawings?
thanks

reply to post by bussoboy


Not really anything specific but searching for AC/DC adapters(they actually make these so you can plug your laptop into your car), and power inverters which would be used for something a little more permanent and give you a little more options for when the DC is converted to AC.

I would suggest you also get involved with one of the solar power or off grid forums. There will be lots of enthusiasts just itching to give advice. I think your pool here is a bit limited and unfortunately it would take me hours to type everything out for you here.

reply to post by dainoyfb


Yikes. Yes that is alot to consider. I will check out some of the threads in the off grid forum. Yes, I bet there will be some kind of tips for use of a small but simple solar panel.

reply to post by Skewed


Yes, the laptop could be a real power hog. Now, I noticed it would use ALOT of energy playing an online game.
Next is downloading music or flash vids. And the least amount of energy it would use is basically reading text (after moast of the other autorun programs have been turned off).

For the type of panel I have, I think a handheld text/ebook reader would be best.
As far as the mp3 player (tiny handheld with earbuds headphones) it would be best to use the panel to charge the player.

I have a inverter. We bought it basically to charge radio equipment (off car battery) en-route to jobs.

Which just now brings me to another thought....for temporary, maybe I could use a simple car battery with that inverter to at least power the mp3 player that also gets radio stations. the only problem is, the little player connects to computer via USB cord for it to be charged.

You can buy wall adapters that have a USB output connector on them. They convert 110 volt AC to the 5 volt DC standard that USB uses. You can also get USB chargers (made for cell phones and mp3 players) that are 12volt and plug into a cigaret lighter socket. I think I've seen inverters that have a USB output on them as well, made by Eliminator (the Canadian Tire brand) I think.
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Car batteries work nicely for this because they are the correct voltage for most applications, are rugged, difficult to overcharge, can store a lot of power over the long term and then release it at high current if needed, and have low self discharge. You can also stack them in parallel as your budget allows. Many inexpensive charge controllers are made for car batteries.

Wish I could offer some help, I'm actually setting up a forum for this kind of stuff. i have around 100gb of pdf's and ebooks for DIY projects and survival stuff

without a inverter and not knowing the exact wattage of the panel i say

your just better off going to amazon or any site you trust and spend a few bucks on a system that will suit all your needs.

they are not that expensive anymore of course if you would rather jerryrig a system to suit your needs thats up to you.

however if your going to be depending on it and for the long term.

spend a 100 bucks or so on something that will last you a very long time.

my 2 cents as always the decsion is yours to make.

ps laptops eat up alot of power always remember that

To run electronics like a computer you would need a modified sine wave inverter I believe

reply to post by triplereiki


Hook it up to a jump pack and use the car charger to charge your mp3 player or laptop. DC to DC is much more efficient than DC-AC-DC...as for your other question...I don't want to do the math, but, it would, it would just take a long time.

I am also interested in using my panel for emergencies. I have a 60 watt panel, HotShock A50
Battery Energizer 12V DC, & a voltage regular, using a car battery. I use this to for Electronet fencing for
my sheep...meter only goes to 5000 v....need at least 4000 due to wool...you use alot less for horses & cattle... I have another panel for back up that puts out the voltage but can't remember what that one is at the moment.
There's a box with brackets, so the panel is mounted on top to the brackets, the Battery Energizer is velcroed
to the front of the box, contrller is on top under the Panel, & the battery sits inside the box.
I got my stuff from Premier1.

Cheers
Ektar

reply to post by triplereiki

I would like to know if that size panel could power a small MP3 player? Could it power a laptop?

I doubt it!

I have a portable 240watt Monocrystalline Solar panel thath I run an 32" LCD TV, Notebook, 80 LItre Fridge Freezer and battery chargers, phones and a few other rechargable devices.

To run this I have a 120ah Deep Cycle Battery with a 3000 watt pure sine wave inverter - I've been told not to go for a modified sine...

Expensive set up but worth it - All I need is a big "h" to go on top of my tent - "h" is for Hilton...

Avoid car batteries as they are designed for a short sharp high burst of energy as apposed to a deep cycle that is designed to run these types of things for longer periods and last alot longer as well. Never drain your battery by more than 50% as that will shorten their life. To get a meter to measure battery power will set you back big bickies...

You could use a 40 watt panel to charge a laptop but its gonna take a while.

Try this;

Calculate total Wh - Convert to Ah

Capacity Ah (Battery) = Power Consumption (Wh) / Total Battery Voltage = wh / (12 x Battery Voltage) = Ah Battery Required.

Hope this helps.

reply to post by Ashtanic


I have not really investigated this, but knowing the differences in the batteries, would marine batteries do a little better job than standard car batteries? Everything made for marine uses are made a little heavier duty than what dry environments are to help protect against short circuits due to the constant moisture.

reply to post by Skewed


In fact, most people use marine/deep cycle batteries for this application, however if you want to keep things in perspective with your 40watt panel, for cost vs capacity a regular car battery will do fine or even something smaller like the batteries they use in lawn mower tractors.

reply to post by Skewed

I've been running my set up for almost 2 yrs & it is out in the rain & thunderstorms & never had a short due to that...my shortages would be due to a break in a strand, high vegetation growth, or sticks & limbs blown into the net from storms. Unfortunately I had to take my sheep to the market last month...I have them to to train my Border Collies. I will try to get a photo of my set up for you guys tomorrow. Now I think they have it all set up
in an anvil like case.

Cheers
Ektar

reply to post by Ashtanic


Thanks that's interesting as I know nothing about any of this just the stuff for fencing. I would have to look back through my material but with my set up I have 30 to 60 days of power w/o sun. I need to go & see what my back up panel is...all this info you're kicking out is greatly appreciated....especially with ALL the crap
going on...may need to use solar for aquaponic green houses,fish feed the plants, & they all feed us.
Thank you I love learning things that you can actually use for yourself!

Cheers
Ektar