Off The Grid Power

Solar Christmas String Lights:  Professional Grade vs. Toy Grade Quality

You get what you pay for when it comes to buying solar lighting, well-designed solar lights will last longer and perform better than the less expensive products on the market.

Solar string lights manufactured by the toy industry have panel housings made from non-UV ASB plastic which is fine for toys, but will start to disintegrate after a few months of strong sunlight.  These companies also use only an epoxy coating over their solar panel which will yellow after a few months, preventing the solar panels from making use of the solar power.

The panel housings on professional grade solar string lights are made from high-impact UV resistant glass-filled nylon material which will last for many years outdoors in bright sunlight.  Tempered glass, which does not yellow,  is used to protect the solar panel.

Toy grade solar string lights are not waterproof and rain will damage or destroy the product.  On the professional grade solar string lights the solar panel is fully gasketed and waterproof, the on/off switch is waterproof, the multi-function switch is waterproof, and the LEDs on the string light are waterproof.

When it comes to whose lights are brighter and stay lit longer the professional grade solar string lights win again with lights that are 4-5 times brighter than the competition and solar panels that charge in full sun for 8 hours to get 16 hours of steady light or 30 hours of flashing light.  These lights also have a patented electronic circuit that automatically steps down the brightness output 20% in the event of prolonged cloudy weather to preserve battery power.

Toy grade solar string lights have dimmer lights which get dimmer after an hour or so.  It takes over 20 hours to charge the batteries completely, and even fully charged they won’t stay on as long.  There is no solution to cloudy weather, cloudy weather means no light output.

The battery capacity and solar panel efficiency of professional grade solar string lights is also better than that found in toy grade lights.  Professional grade lights use 3x 1400mAh 3.6V professional grade rechargeable batteries, 4200mAh total.  Battery temperature range is from zero F to 120F with 75% efficiency at either end of this range.  The solar pane is 1.3 peak watts.

Toy grade lights use toy-quality 2x 2000mAh 2.4V batteries.  Battery temperature range is from 32F-120F and will not work below freezing.  Some manufacturers use Ni-Cad batteries containing cadmium, and environmental poison banned in many countries.  Their solar panel is only 0.4 peak watt (which means it will take 3 times longer to charge their batteries).

If you have any doubts as to which solar string lights to spend your money on then buy one string of each and see which ones work best for you.

Professional Grade Solar Christmas String LED Lights
Inexpensive Solar Powered Christmas Lights (Be sure to read the customer reviews)

Fall Solar Garden Decorations

Using solar lights is one of the easiest ways to decorate your garden or pathway.  You simply put your lights wherever you want them without worrying about power cords and high electric bills.

This cute Solar LED Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin Head Garden Stake is just one of many solar garden stakes I found online and makes a perfect addition to your fall decorating.  It is made from flexible 4″ PVC  and the cut-out Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin Head lights up after dark with a realistic flickering amber LED light.

The 34” sturdy metal stake has built-in automatic photocell control which makes it easy to place anywhere you want, and can be used as a stand-alone decoration in your garden or use several to line your walkway or patio for Halloween.

For an even more festive look add solar string lights.   See whose solar string lights perform better and last longer – Solar Christmas String Light Review.

Power Predictor Solar Calculations

The Power Predictor includes a simple solar sensor that is used to measure the solar intensity of the hours of full sunlight vs. overcast.

Solar insolation, unlike wind, can be much more reliably modelled, factoring in the angle of the sun on each day of the year for your latitude.

The reports system which you will see once you have 30 days worth or data runs off one of these solar models with around a +/-2% confidence on the annual power results.

The online models that are called upon by the Power Predictor are PVGIS (Europe) and PV WATTS (North America and ROW).  They use known solar insolation data for the latitude and longitude to model typical solar PV panel performance data, adjusting for the sun angle on each day of the year and the orientation of the roof.

Annual power output from these models are included in the Power Report summary table and ranked alongside the wind turbine systems.

Related link:

Solar Maps and Calculator Solar maps show national solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) resource potential for the United States, and provide monthly average daily total solar resource information on grid cells.  PVWATTS calculator permits non-experts to quickly obtain performance estimates for grid-connected PV systems within the United States.

Power Predictor Specifications

Power Predictor Wind Reports

Once more than thirty days worth of data is collected from the Power Predictor the data file can be uploaded from the memory card to the web site which then generates instant solar calculations, wind speed and direction graphs, a payback forecast, annual energy bill savings, annual electricity generation, carbon savings, and it recommends the best options from the wind turbine and solar power systems currently available worldwide.

The Power Predictor software allows for two methods of annualising the data sample collected, depending on whether local seasonal trend data is available.  Where trend data is available, users can choose between two report types:

• Seasonally adjusted report
• Real-time report

It is best to measure wind speeds for as long a time-period as possible since the more data gathered, the closer the forecast will be.

In areas where no seasonal data is available the Power Predictor will provide results in a real-time report.

The next post will cover solar calculations from the Power Predictor.

Related link:

Wind Resource Maps

An anemometer is a device that is used to measure wind speed.  The Power Predictor anemometer is a little different than regular anemometers because it measures and assesses both wind and solar power at your site and tells you how much money you could save by installing wind turbines or solar panels before you buy.

Anemometer prices run from $12.00 for a simple hand held device up to around $5,000 for a professional wireless station.  The Power Predictor costs under $300 and is an affordable way to prevent making an expensive mistake when it comes to adding solar power or wind turbines.

The raw data collected by the Power Predictor is processed by the software to calculate an estimate of the total energy that could be generated at that site by a range of wind turbines and solar panels that are on the market today.

The Power Predictor web application works through your PC or Mac browser.  Data is uploaded from the memory card into the web site where it generates instant graphs.

Take a look at Ben Ashton’s review of the Power Predictor as he shares why he bought the Power Predictor, as well as his experience with installing it and the results of his first reports.  http://www.powerpredictorreview.com

The next post will cover the wind report forecasts from the Power Predictor.

Related link:

Anemometer history, build your own anemometer – good science project