Help with Solar panel.

[huntinbass]

So Since my new shanty never maid it out this year I've been planning for next year. Looking to get a small solar panel to put on it to have lights radio etc. Didn't know if anybody had any idea where to get them and any experience with them. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks,  Mike

[Egg7]

I spent a few months with a company installing them on roofs of businesses. Never worked with a small scale, usually did 10 plus collectors. Might be some cool ideas out there but something tells me that small propane systems would be easier/cheaper/less frustrating. But like I said, there might be some awesome systems out there for small scale.

Cool idea either way

[SmellsLikeFishNH]

Jiggin has 2 nice ones on his shack and I was just at Bass Pro last week and they sell them there. Pretty inexpensive too.

I dont think they are really big enough to power anything, I think they are used mostly for charging and maintaining your 12v battery and you run all of your stuff off of that. I had a small 8" one that maintained my 12v for my shack, it ran a stereo and lights.

-Scott

[MLBob]

Here is what I use on a small boat to keep the trolling motor battery charged all summer.  I can get about 10 amp hrs of charge to the battery per sunny day in the summer.  You need to figure out what load you will place on the system and how frequently you will use this load such as just on the weekends or every day and then get a system capable of keeping the battery charged to supply that load.

- Good quality 20 watt solar panel (recommend Top Solar USA on ebay) figure about $80
- Morningstar Sunguard SG-4 charge controller (necessary to prevent overcharging battery) about $25
- Diehard Deep Cycle 12v battery about $95

However, since you are using the system in the winter with much lower sun angle and less daylight, you may need to go with at least a 40 watt panel ($120) to get equivalent amp hrs as I get in the summer. It all depends on how much load you plan to put on the system and how frequently you plan to do it.

[Idahogator]

Here's a link that may help you huntinbass. These folks have a lot of resources linked from their website. They've been around more years than I can remember. Scott & Tracy are pleasant to deal with and are not high pressure.

   http://www.backwoodssolar.com/