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Harbor freight solar panel. anyone used them?

927 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  dfm_13 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm looking to accommodate my chicken coop for the winter. All I need to power is a light/heater for the water and possibly a light for inside the coop.

I'm thinking about a 45 watt harbor freight special for solar power as seen here:
http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-68751.html

Then for those non sunny days I was thinking about trying my hand at a do it yourself wind generator possibly using an alternator. (not sure if it will work. but its a back up.... and I like to experiment)

Does anyone use the harbor freight solar panel kits? How well do they work? what do you power? and how long can i expect it to last?
 
#4 ·
The solar would be to charge a deep cycle battery. The lights would be 12V which I am ok with, but I always have the option of running an inverter.

It is about 200-250 ft away from the house. Its a little far, but I could run power. I'm just trying to figure out my options.

Never tried their solar panels but everything else electronic I've bought there was complete junk.

As for the wind generator, an alternator would require to high RPM's to make any power. There are other ways though. I've thought of playing around with it but never got the time.
Thats kind of what I was wondering about the panel. I'm going to shop around for others but wanted to see if anyone had used them before.

I'll look into other options. I just realized there was a lot of wind where i'm going to be wetting this up and figured it might be worth a shot.
 
#3 ·
Never tried their solar panels but everything else electronic I've bought there was complete junk.

As for the wind generator, an alternator would require to high RPM's to make any power. There are other ways though. I've thought of playing around with it but never got the time.
 
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