A thread for my "Indoor Solar" project.
My apartment lacks a balcony, but I couldn't wait to start experimenting with solar panels. I "sandwiched" an 80 watt Renogy (12V) panel between 2 paynes of a glass window, and connected it to a Bluetti EB3A. The window in question is often covered due to the extremely bright sun.
At best, during a sunny day I can get 30-35 watts of power generation, or over 40% of the panel's rating. IMO that's really good.
I've been using this setup to charge my phone, earbuds, and occasionally my laptop. Having a 100 watt USB-C PD port on the power station has been extremely handy.
In practice, my Pixel 6 phone only draws 20-24 watts. Charging a laptop is a more demanding, but only if the battery is low.
I rock some older Lenovo machines for much of my work. These PC's feature proprietary power connectors. No problem! These inexpensive adapters let you charge without ever converting the power to AC.
Lately I've been considering if it's worth upgrading my indoor Solar setup.
I am limited by space. The window I'm using can, at best, hold a 42" x 21" solar panel. That is enough to fit many 100 watt monocrystalline panels. I'd like to maximize my power output, especially during cloudy days that currently average 15 watts and less.
I'm torn, but tempted to grab Renogy's more expensive 100W panel with SunPower solar cells. It's been difficult to find data that confirms it'll be better.
I witnessed a new Indoor Solar charge rate record today with my 80 watt Renogy panel behind a window: over 50 watts!!
That's awesome to see, since my output has been lacking since the cold cloudy weather arrived.
I'm not able to change the angle of my panel, but I'm pleased to learn the sun moves closer to my sweet spot in the colder months. #Solar #Renogy
@mikekasprzak This inspired me to look into a potential option like this myself. How much did this approximately cost?
@robinaite I bought both during a summer sale. 80W Panel was $80 CAD, and the EB3A power station was $310 CAD, so just under $400 CAD (or under $300 USD). Black Friday deals might end up cheaper. I would recommend getting the biggest panel if you can fit one. I should be upgrading to a 100W panel myself.