What Solar Equipment to Power Disaster Recovery?

MailtoDelete asks: "I work with a team that is involved with disaster recovery efforts after natural disasters, like Katrina. We have satellite based equipment that allows us to bring data connections up in devastated areas to help bring the infrastructure back online to serve the public. I have looked at the main networking equipment and determined that the power draw is usually low (about 50 watts) and was curious about the possibility of using a small solar setup to power the equipment rather than running a 8-10kw generator to do the same work (after all, fuel may be scarce). Can anyone suggest a good site or book that I can look into that would help me learn more about what equipment would best serve my purpose? There is a small business in town that does this sort of work, and they have suggested a 550 watt array with the controllers, etc for about $5100. Does this sound reasonable?"

Comments

Home Power magazine

[dalmiroy2k]

Home Power magazine's website it's a great place to start. You can download free PDF files with practical information about solar power generators for home use.

http://www.homepower.com/

Re:What if it's cloudy?

[DFM Whiplash]

I agree with JoshJ, I usually equate natural disaster with terrible weather conditions. As you said "...rather than running a 8-10kw generator..." why not something MUCH smaller? http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp ?ModelName=eu1000i Or Perhaps? http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/catalog/pr oduct_info.php?cPath=36_139_44_173&products_id=438 (I really hope these links work, I am new to this)

Re:What if it's cloudy?

[falconwolf]

You'll need some sort of long-term energy storage if you want to use solar power, as solar power doesn't function in a cloudy situation.

Some of the new solar panels don't need full sunlight and can work while it's cloudy. Yes the older panels weren't good even if only a small part of the panel was blocked, whether by clouds or a tree, but newer tech had improved this.

Falcon

The simple solution

[Propaganda13]

Buy a smaller generator.

Yamaha EF1000iS 900W generator with .66 gallons of fuel has a runtime of 12 hours with 25% load. $700

Solar equipment

[r.garrison1]

I am not certain if this meets the needs specific to your purpose, but I have been looking into an off-grid vacation residence. I found a good bit of information at:

http://www.backwoodssolar.com/

One other site I found interesting: http://store.altenergystore.com/Kits-Package-Deals /Sunwize-Power-Ready-Systems/c692/

Some Clarification :)

[MailtoDelete]

Many folks have suggested smaller generators and such. The specific setup is a 22 foot trailer with satellite, security equipment and computer equipment. The trailer already has an 8kw generator welded to the tongue. Since the power draw is relatively low if only the networking equipment is needed (50 watts) I was thinking about adding a solar system to the trailer. This way, if the batteries were critically low, the genset could charge the system, but the batteries would have enough stored energy to last a few days with marginal solar charging if the genset were unable to run (no gas or other problems). As for re-supply, yes, it is possible. We get resupplied either from the fed. gov't or from our own people. Thanks for all the great input and links so far! :)