Spotted at Hackaday is this open source solar power generator design, which is "designed to replace conventional diesel generators".
The device does use some proprietary components, but the entire design is open source. It contains solar panels, of course, as well as storage capacity and an inverter.
...
The design is modular so you can pick and choose what you want. It also is portable, stackable, and easy to transport. The team claims they generate 900W of solar power and can store 4 kWh. Because of the storage device, the peak power out is 1600W and the output is 230V 50Hz AC.
Instructables has complete build instructions, published under the CERN Open Hardware License, as well as more detailed technical specifications.
The project homepage has additional background, and summarises the objectives of the design:
It is made for off-grid energy production in remote areas, outdoor events, refugee camps or in case of emergency situations.
The SunZilla system combines four unique features: it's open source, portable, modular and easy-to-use with a plug-and-play approach.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Tuesday July 12 2016, @10:37PM
Lets examine this economically and from a practical standpoint. The actual website is content free so I went to Instructables and they have rough pricing for a cut down version. Cost is about a thousand Euros. And you don't end up with a system capable of providing ANY refrigeration capability since it lack the storage to make it through even one sunless day. You can't deploy in the real world if the first crappy day means you lose all of your perishables. Now note the pricing for a gas generator (forget diesel, these things are far punier than the smallest diesel gensets) plus several drums of fuel is far lower and would also fit on that same pallet. So unless you really are sending this thing to an off grid third world hellhole and planning on it staying there, it makes no sense. If you are putting it at a camp you can toss a can or two on the back of the truck/jeep taking you there on weekends.
Compare a WEN inverter genset from Walmart.com @421 with over twice the capacity and buy fuel with the remainder. It is rated to run six hours at half load (800W) on one gallon of fuel. One 55gallon drum plus a gallon already in the tank gets you two weeks of runtime. And that is solid, rain or shine running. Might not want to run it 24/7and you might also want to investigate an automated fuel feed between the drum and the onboard tank.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:17PM
Must . . . assert . . . petroleum . . . alternative. Save . . . us. . . from. . . hippies. . . Global Warming is not real, sheeple!!!!
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:21PM
jmorris, you seem to have missed this part:
Cloudy day
charging 10-15 smartphones
running one small fridge OR 2 Notebooks
Cloudy day, sun still shines! And BTW, you don't have to keep beer cold all the time, it won't perish.
(Score: 3, Touché) by pnkwarhall on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:41PM
There are essentials other than beer that need to be refrigerated. One that comes to mind is insulin.
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 3, Touché) by el_oscuro on Wednesday July 13 2016, @02:50AM
I need insulin, so this is literally a life or death situation for me. Modern insulins like Lantus or Humalog have a refrigerated shelf life of about 2 years, and they can be unrefrigerated for up to 30 days. Generics may not have the same shelf life as these, but they can survive a short power loss pretty easy.
SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jmorris on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:48PM
No, I actually read the stats. To make it through a day where the sun doesn't come out enough to get the panels producing, you need enough battery capacity to go thirty plus hours. And unless you have enough for two or three days you certainly don't want to risk valuable perishables like drugs. If you plan to have a deep freeze full of meat, the assured runtime requirements go up even more. The system described doesn't come close. And forget it if you are in a Northern climate in winter where even a good day only gets a few usable hours of sunlight. Granted that your need for refrigeration is reduced in those conditions but other power needs are the same or higher, lighting for example.
Solar is simply not suitable as primary power. Supplemental is another story, but it is expensive and high maintenance so the expense of it compared to a traditional genset powered by dead dino (measured as dollars or hassle/reliability of transport) should always be weighed. The solar array itself isn't all that high maintenance but batteries are. Any such install should be hybrid at a minimum, solar when available but wire in a generator to top up the battery as required to supplement the system availability.
That sounds like a much more interesting project. Take an inverter genset and enhance it to allow it to add on an optional battery pack to run the inverter and charge from either the generator or any alternative energy input into a set of DC lugs, including the smarts to start/stop the gas engine.
(Score: 2, Informative) by dr_barnowl on Wednesday July 13 2016, @07:19AM
The listed stats say it can run 2 x 160 litre fridge for 100 hours. That should get you through a few dark days, and sounds like the panels have more than enough excess capacity to top the battery up on bright days, especially if you cut that fridge count down to 1.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Wednesday July 13 2016, @08:23AM
The only link with pricing was instructables. It is 1000Euro or about and not even in the ballpark of running a fridge for days.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @10:29AM
To make it through a day where the sun doesn't come out enough to get the panels producing,
This myth again. Solar panels do not need the "sun to come out" to produce electricity. Tell me, when the sun goes behind a cloud do you immediately start tripping over things, crashing into walls and screaming "AAAHHH! I'M BLIND!!!"?
No? You can still see, even when it's cloudy? Then that means there is still light, even when it's cloudy. If there is light, then solar panels will work. Granted, they produce more in plain sunlight, but you will still be producing power. If you have a battery backup, then when PV output falls below the requirements of your precious beer fridge then the battery will simply be used to "top up" the PV output, which means your battery charge will last a lot longer than it would in total darkness.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2016, @01:20AM
Been done:
https://m.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/4sa9kp/solar_powered_beer_fridge_in_the_middle_of/ [reddit.com]
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @01:30AM
Are you kidding? Beer is a living beverage. Nobody should keep beer cold! Only bacon needs to be kept cold.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Wednesday July 13 2016, @02:28AM
First it is the "no constitution" thing, now the warm beer? Blimey, Mate!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @12:53AM
Global warming is real. Ever since the last ice age, the Earth has been heating up. The not real part is that it's caused by soccer moms in their SUV's. In a few million years glaciers will once again cover most of the world, but it's going to get much hotter before that happens.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2016, @01:35AM
Absolutely, one soccer mom more or less in an SUV or Prius isn't going to impact global warming.
100 million of them, acting as a solid block group - might make a measurable tick on the scale.
Now, go drive to Houston, Pasadena/Baytown area, take a look at the relatively minor flarestacks they've got running there, just imagine what the offshore platforms that do the real production look like, and tally up all the similar industrial operations around the world. Start cleaning up those profit centers and you can effect real change.
https://goo.gl/maps/ft34fX7tFv82 [goo.gl]
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:22PM
The fact that other systems are better for some of its potential uses does not mean it is pointless. Maybe you wouldn't use it to run a refrigerator full of insulin, but it still seems useful for more lightweight and less mission-critical power consumption uses. Keep in mind that as opposed to gas/diesel: solar is silent, there's no exhaust and it doesn't stink, and you can use it in places where fuel is not available or too awkward, heavy, or expensive to transport.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:35PM
There are two things you can do: Double or triple up the solar genset to ensure it has enough capacity to continue operating under the 'worst' solar conditions.... Or add a pair of wind generators to the mix to fill in for when solar isn't available (since solar and wind peaks tend to be at complementary times.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @05:17AM
There's a story in the queue that speaks of this sort of pairing|redundancy|backup.
A Home with No Need for Utilities (Electricity, Hydrocarbons, Water, Sewage) [soylentnews.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @12:09AM
> solar is silent
This could be good for powering a PA system for preaching or singing in a park in the summertime. It could be good for keeping a bouncy castle inflated.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Hawkwind on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:37PM
Note they do have batteries. http://sunzilla.de/. [sunzilla.de] Scroll down to "APPLICATIONS EXAMPLES For SunZilla 2.1" for interesting measurement metrics. Apparently ': )' is a measurement.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @02:22AM
How many ^_^ is that?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2016, @12:54AM
I think the point is simple: it doesn't burn fuel.
Of course mainstream solutions are more cost effective, that's why they are mainstream.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @12:33AM
-zilla, the -gate of software...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2016, @01:23AM
Zillagate! Gatezillagate! Zillazillagategate! Oh, I've got it. Zillagatr! Zillygatly!
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday July 13 2016, @12:42PM
Seems to be missing a few important criteria like wind rating and water proofing.
The promotional materials are a bit breathless as if they invented the solar cell, the battery, or the inverter. Or as if they made the box instead of just buying one.
There is a certain level of respect, however incredibly minimal, for the systems engineering aspect of bolting together COTS stuff and making a kit of it and documenting it.