| This article and its predecessor made me think about smaller-scale solar, and I actually bought a 100W panel out of the Amazon gold box last week to start playing around myself. My first plan is to use the panel and battery to run a set of 12V led outdoor lights, but I'm also thinking about trying to tie into the existing 12V system that I never bother turning on. That's got me thinking about taking it a step further and adding some capacity to power my Christmas lights this year. Now that they're LEDs as well, it seems it should be possible, but probably not cost effective. I keep thinking there must be a decent market in between tiny panels powering path lights and a full rooftop system. Like a standalone patio cover or pergola that has solar panels for a roof. That should give a decent amount of power, and it could be an easier sell to people instead of permanently attaching something to their roof. Actually, I was trying to think of a way to run a small air conditioner from solar—like one of those split systems. The AC could run when the sun is out, which is when the upstairs of my house gets hot. It would be a supplement to my central AC, so I wouldn't be worried about it not running at night or cloudy days. So, I don't need a lot of storage or even worry about tying into the grid. Again, though, it's probably not cost effective piecing it together, but still the solar patio cover seems like something that should available in a big box at Home Depot or Costco these days. |