Small off grid solar lighting system advice

given that the battery will take charge from anything that can push a higher voltage than whats in the battery.

I suggest starting with an N70 type battery or one thats the same as the one thats in your vehicle.

head to somewhere like super cheap and pick up somethign thats between N55 (just a mite smaller than the orignal D1 battery) and an N70 (the original series/defender battery)

hell head to a wreckers and try your luck their too if you want to do it on the cheap.

Just make sure that the first thing you do when you turn up and the last thing you do before you leave is to make sure that the cells are topped up and that the battery isnt copping direct sunlight or sitting in the damp and its top is clean.

fantastic, didn't even think of the wreckers.

A 45ah deep cycle is about $100, which should run 60w of stuff for about 4 hours before it starts getting low if I have done the calculations correct (probably not).

I am not too fussed about the panel size given it will have on average at least 5 days to charge and realistically 2 weeks to charge. And if it proves to be reasonable I might go the whole hog in the future.

Half the project is tinkering and learning half is having some lights without connecting the mains.

Monday is a public holiday so I guess supercheapauto might have 20% off so that will make batteries reasonable too.

For $15 you can buy a 5m strip with 300 LED's on ebay. The strips can be cut and used as multiple shorter strips if you want.

Just something to consider vs $10 to $15 for a singe bayonet globe.

60W at 12V needs 5A.

45Ah will be achieved at approx 2.25 A discharge (C/20).

At 5 amp discharge rate you may get half to 1/3 of the capacity. You should get your 4 hours but you will be running the battery very flat and therefore reducing it's life. Give it a go with as many batteries as you want to afford. The less discharge of the battery the longer it will last in terms of cycles. Starting batteries don't do well with deep discharge so if you go batteries of that type you may need a couple.

Worth giving it a go for the learning experience. Go the strip LEDs, order them directly from China for a few bucks and free postage costs.

I have been VERY happy with my budget solar light setup, have even run a small 300w modified sine wave inverter to charge a few batteries, and a 12v stereo.

I have decided to upgrade, keeping the current small setup just for the lights and adding a separate system for 240v inverter usage.

At this stage I just want to run a fan, some power tools, a small tv and an electric keyboard with usage only being one or two days a fortnight, with the car fridge thrown in occasionaly.

So far I have acquired a 1500w pure sine wave inverter, and a 600w pure sine wave inverter, a pair of 80watt solar panels with a 30amp charge controller, and I have come across 6x 12v 65 AH deep cycle batteries. They aren't the best batteries for the application but the price was way too good to pass up. They are rated to 280 cycles at 100% usage or 950 cycles at 30% usage, so I should get a few years out of them in my scenario. They are fully sealed.

What's the easiest best battery box/cupboard? they shouldn't vent too much, I would like them to be inside. Apart from ensuring everything is insulated, is a metal cabinet the best?

G'day cobber. If you only have a smallish solar panel and would like heaps of power on tap with a VERY short recharge time... mere minutes versus hours/days.... check out how to make a 12 Volt battery using "Capacitors". Redily found in dicarded micro-wave ovens. Its easy to do, and you have more power on tap than you would need. If i can be of further help, dont hesitate to contact me. Cheers, Brett