Who said you can’t have your own alternative energy source for emergencies if you’re living in an apartment?
Having some cash at hand at the end of december, I bought online two large deep cycle batteries, of capacity 140 Ah and 100 Ah.
The larger one was a bit broken (piece of plastic broke, but was glued by the shop who sells them), and because of that cost almost the same as the smaller battery.
So at this moment I have next to my bed total of 5 batteries:
- two 38 Ah AGM batteries, that were bought for my RV, but have to be taken indoors for winters,
- one 20 Ah AGM battery in a jumpstarter (equippped with air compressor, light, and 100 W inverter),
- the two batteries I just bought.
This gives me total of over 330 Ah, or a bit over 4 kWh.
Of course I won’t be able to power my kitchen stove using that setup, but that is not why I bought the batteries. In any unusual event, this setup will provide me with power for my AA/AAA rechargeable batteries. And maybe some leisure on my laptop.
The solar panels I can be put on the roof of my building, facing south, so that I can catch as much solar power as possible. In case of emergency, that is.
I also had to get a new charger, so that I am able to recharge the large batteries in a reasonably short time. The new charger is able to supply 8 A current, and it would take it more than 24 hours to fully recharge the largest battery.
I’m going to connect all the batteries together, so it would be easier for me to keep them fully charged. I plan to get a single 120 W solar panel, it should be enough to keep them charged even if there’s no sun. I don’t use the energy stored here, after all.
On the right hand side of the photo, in the back, you can see a small 12 V car fan, that will be more than enough to keep me cool in a hot summer days without power. My windows are facing west which makes my apartment pretty hot in the evenings.
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