250-300W panels will be much cheaper per W. You also will need batteries unless you want to grid-connect your panels.

I know I need batteries. The only thing I know about batteries, is the amount of Ah they provide. Never researched "yet" about how much current you can draw off them. I do know quite a bit about 26650 & 18650 batteries. I know that a high drain 26650 or 18650 or even LiPo batteries will allow you to draw 20 amps or higher for 26650 or 18650 batteries, and for LiPo's you can draw as much as 200+ amps or even higher than that.

But as far as 12v batteries, again, the only thing I know about is the capacity. I heard about that there's different kinds, etc. The only kind of 12 volt battery I'm aware of is for the car, ... etc.

 

Most people use lead-acid batteries, because they're cheaper. Same kind as car batteries, but bigger - golf cart batteries, fork lift batteries.

 

If you live in a windy place you could get a wind turbine generator.

 

Thanks, very helpful. I knew the electric company doesn't give you current, only voltage. I'm really excited about getting into Solar. So far I only have a tiny three solar panels each rated at 1.5w @ 4.5v. But maybe my next paycheck I'll get one of those 12v @ 100 watt solar panels. Not bad for only $150. Inverters really aren't that expensive either, nore are the MPPT charge controllers. For what you get out of the deal "Free Electricity" it's really impressive. Paycheck after paycheck, could invest in solar and get panel after panel, until I have like 5kW, lol idk.. but $150-$200 per monocrystalline panel, isn't very much. Not if you take your time, and don't blow your whole paycheck on a 5 solar panels every month, maybe 1 or 2.

"Thanks, very helpful. I knew the electric company doesn't give you current, only voltage."

What?.... The mains supply is a "voltage source" and it maintains its voltage by sourcing or sinking current. If it could not source or sink current it would not be a voltage source.

How do you think it delivers power to your home without current?

 

To complicate things more, the electric company's current is alternating and averages zero over time - which means that the electric company "gives" exactly the same amount of current as it "takes".

 

If my electric company stops providing current, I will refuse to pay the next bill, and rightfully so.

Bob

 

"The electric company doesn't supply current"

erm... I think you'll find that it does.

Here in Arizona, the power company supplies "Energy". You pay for how many Kilowatts of Power you use for how long you use it. The billing is per KWh, which I think you will find is called Energy (not amps).

 

Yes, we pay for energy, but without current we wouldn't get any energy.

 

Yes, we pay for energy, but without current we wouldn't get any energy.

But you control how much current your loads take; the power company has nothing to do with the current. All it can do is deliver a more or less constant voltage (here it is 242V+-1V) at your service panel.

 

Yes, my point is that the power company delivers current.... and they have everything to do with the current.

 

Yes, my point is that the power company delivers current.... and they have everything to do with the current.

Yes and my point is that they do not.

 

Yes and my point is that they do not.

Then where does the current come from?

 

Thanks, very helpful. I knew the electric company doesn't give you current, only voltage.

Actually it gives you neither while it does sell you both.

 

Then where does the current come from?

Ohms Law... and cause and effect.

I = E/R. The power company provides (constant) voltage. You control R. The more lights etc you turn on, the lower the R. Current is 240V divided by R, so if R gets smaller, I gets bigger.

If the Power company pushed current at you, Ohms Law would have to be transposed so that E = IR. With a predetermined current, the voltage E increases as R increases, meaning that the line voltage would go up as you turn lights off, which doesn't happen, at least in my neighborhood...

The cause is the resistance, the effect is the current that comes from the power company, because the line voltage is constant...

 

" the effect is the current that comes from the power company, because the line voltage is constant..."

Thanks for that... It's taken 10 posts to get back to the statement I made in post #24; "The mains supply is a "voltage source" and it maintains its voltage by sourcing or sinking current" .... I guess you didn't read that bit.

 

If there wasn't current, I wouldn't need that big box in my basement with all the circuit breakers. All rated in AMPS.

It's actually very similar to your natural gas supply, or water if you don't have a well. You buy current at a pressure (voltage) controlled within a narrow range. You don't pay for the pressure, just the amount consumed.

 

It's actually very similar to your natural gas supply, or water if you don't have a well. You buy current at a pressure (voltage) controlled within a narrow range.

Since the current is alternating (AC), average current is zero. It's like your water (or gas) company would pump water in, but then the very next moment would suck it all out, so that in average you would get zero flow - not a single drop of water!

 

Since the current is alternating (AC), average current is zero. It's like your water (or gas) company would pump water in, but then the very next moment would suck it all out, so that in average you would get zero flow - not a single drop of water!

If the average current is zero then the average power must too be zero.

So why do they send me a bill every month?

 

This is why we use RMS rather than average values for AC current and voltage.

 

If the average current is zero then the average power must too be zero.

Average current is zero. Average voltage is zero. But power is not zero. Wonders of AC