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Build Your Own PORTABLE SOLAR GENERATOR - Video 3 of 6
Jan 25, 2024
Learn how to build your own portable solar generator from simple parts, and gain the knowledge you'll need to put together a much larger off-grid energy system if you choose. READ MY POPULAR ARTICLES ABOUT: Polyurethane Finish - https://bit.ly/powerbuffing DIY Hoop House Plans - https://bit.ly/hoophouseplans Submersible Pump Installation - https://bit.ly/pumpinstallation Air-Drying Wood Tips - https://bit.ly/wooddrying How to Build a Table - https://bit.ly/tablebuilding How to Stain a Deck - https://bit.ly/deckstain Choosing Waterproof Outdoor Glue - https://bit.ly/exterioradhesives How To Build A Wheelchair Ramp - https://bit.ly/wheelchairrampplans SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/BLRchannel WATCH MY POPULAR VIDEO: How to Cut Perfect Miter Joints https://youtu.be/0wnjJ-Xi5FU WATCH MORE BAILEY LINE ROAD: Winter Tips - https://bit.ly/2rpnUcm
View Video Transcript
0:00
In this video, I'll show you exactly how I've helped many people experience the power of
0:05
photovoltaic energy first-hand, and the boost in self-reliance and self-confidence that this delivers
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Be sure to watch this entire video, and don't forget to download the free construction plans
0:16
I'm offering. But before all this, let me recap what I've covered in my previous two videos
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First, I showed you why the old method of learning about off-grid energy is a terrible
0:27
option for building energy independence. We need something better, and that's why the off-grid mastery approach is superior
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to anything else I've seen so far. In my second video, I shared exactly how you can get started implementing off-grid energy
0:42
mastery for yourself. If you haven't watched these first two videos yet, do that right now
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They don't take long, and I cover a lot of important points in those previous videos
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You definitely don't want to miss them. Right now, I want to share something extremely practical with you
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Something that has improved the lives and boosted the energy independence of many people
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I've worked with over the years. And I call it the Do-It-Yourself Solar Generator Exercise
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So as I said before, start by downloading the plans from the link, then get ready to
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experience the power of off-grid energy in a small but useful and manageable project
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Now in a minute, I'm going to take you to the shop. We're going to look right inside the solar generator
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But before I do, I just want to show you what this baby can do
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Now this is not the system that can power your whole house. But everything inside of it is exactly the same as what you'd put in your house except smaller
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So it's a great exercise for you to learn how things work, how they go together, and
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to start building confidence that you can actually make this happen for yourself
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So let me plug in a few things. I'll show you a few features here, and then we'll take a look under the hood
1:50
So I built this portable solar generator primarily to provide a little bit of electric power
1:56
for my youngest daughter with her public singing, with her busking. So she can plug in her amplifier here and things like that
2:03
As I mentioned before, this is not the kind of thing that can power your whole home, but it has all of the components of a whole house system in miniature
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So it's a great way of understanding how it all works to actually see the kinds of components
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you're going to put together. I tried to build a lot of features into this little box
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One of them here is just a light on the end for when you want a little bit of illumination
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at night. This is a voltmeter here. It's very important to monitor the voltage of your battery because that affects how long
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it will last. Over here, you've got a port for charging phones and anything that can plug into a USB
2:46
port can be charged there. And then this is just an accessory outlet for the kinds of things that might plug into
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a vehicle. The main part of this system though is the AC output, the alternating current output
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which can operate anything small that plugs into it. So for instance, here we've got a sander
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It's just like a regular outlet. This unit can put out up to 1,000 watts of power
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So it's not a huge amount, but I don't need a huge amount. And like I said, my aim here was small size and portability
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The panel, that's a 100 watt panel. You could connect any size of panel to this
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A 100 watt panel where I live, the latitude I live, on a sunny day generally puts out
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maybe 70 or 80 watts of power. They never put out all that they claim to put out
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And it connects to the internal workings with some cables that fit in here at the side
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So when I'm moving it, I'm going to disconnect the panel to make things easier to carry
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But right now, let's go inside. I'm going to open up the lid. I'm going to show you all the components that make this magic happen
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One of my main aims with this solar generator was to make it as small and compact as possible
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So that's why I built a box to put everything in, so there's no wasted space
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I made this out of plywood mostly. You can come and take a look here
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Baltic birch plywood, raised rim of quarter inch material to form a lip
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Kind of, you know, if this happens to sit out in the rain a little bit, the lip's going
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to stop a lot of the water from coming in. I had an artist friend of mine make up these stickers
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This is the same kind of thing that you'd see on vehicles that are used for advertising
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So it comes in a sheet, you peel it off, stick it on. So it makes it look nice, protects the wood a bit too
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And here we have the insides. Let me start with an overview
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This is the battery. This is what stores energy that is developed, generated by the photovoltaic panel, the PV panel
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This is the charge controller. We can't connect a photovoltaic panel or a windmill directly to a battery because that
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current, the electricity flowing in would be unregulated and it would damage the battery
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So the purpose of the charge controller is to constantly monitor the state of charge
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of the battery and allow the right amount of electricity in to charge that unit without
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overcharging and damaging. So these two things together give us the direct current power that you saw me use when I switched
5:41
on the light here for instance or if we're charging a phone that starts with 12 volts
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This is a 12 volt outlet here. So these things tap directly off the battery and they're delivering DC current
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But for the plug outlet we want AC current. We actually want 120 volts AC just like you'd have in your house
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We're not going to get that from the battery directly. We need to feed the power from the battery into something called an inverter and that's
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what this is here. This changes 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC and provides that power to this outlet here
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The inverter is the limiting factor in how much power any kind of a system like this
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can put out. And this inverter is a 1000 watt unit so it can't produce any more than 1000 watts
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1000 watts isn't all that much. A regular household outlet can put out maximum about 1800 watts
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1200, 1500 is about the most anyone would use from one. So it's a little bit less than a regular household outlet
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But remember I wanted small size and portability. So that's why I designed things this way
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Why am I showing you this? Well this is a microcosm of everything that would go into an off-grid energy system for
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your home. Everything except possibly the ability to connect back into the grid to sell the utility
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electric power that you have generated and to get paid for that. That's something that this doesn't do
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But that is something that many off-grid systems can do and it's a great thing if you've got
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excess power. So this is a little exercise that you may or may not choose to do as part of the off-grid
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mastery course and procedure. But it's a great way to learn and it's a great way to actually get your hands dirty, to start
7:44
stripping some wires, and when you're done you'll have something that can protect you
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and your family from long-term power failures by providing a little bit of essential power
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for lighting, phones, things like that. You'll also know exactly how to build a bigger version of this to power your entire house
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Did you enjoy that little tour? I hope so. There's much more where that came from
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In the next session of my off-grid energy school, starting soon, I'll be explaining
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all my best tricks such as designing an energy system to handle the needs of an entire house
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choosing specific pieces of energy hardware based on your expected needs, and how to combine
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solar and wind energy for a reliable system that works better than solar or wind alone
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This is going to be the best and most up-to-date training I've ever released and it contains
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everything I've ever learned about off-grid energy mastery. In the next video, I'll show you that complete off-grid energy school curriculum right from
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the beginning to the end. I've helped hundreds of people achieve off-grid mastery and energy independence this way
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I literally draw the curtains and show you every single thing you need to learn
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You don't want to miss the next video because I'll be sharing the complete game plan with
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you then. So thanks for watching and stay tuned for the next video
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I'll see you there
#Electricity
#Electronics & Electrical
#Generators
#Power Supplies
#Renewable & Alternative Energy