nightowl wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2026 2:24 pmI've got no idea what might be useful for charging a phone or powering a small radio and what might be useful for powering a larger appliance like a TV.
Solar generating exists on quite a scale with different costs{tens of pound to thousands}, different capabilities and differing levels of techy knowledge needed. Some offerings are integrated solutions like a
Jackery Power Station, but I'll start from first principles:-
A solar panel produces energy from the sun roughly proportional to its surface area.
One of, say, 30cm x 40cm might generate 25 Watts(Enough for slowly charging a laptop or a few phones) while one of 1m x 2m might generate up to 450W (Enough to run a few small appliances)
The energy is presented as a DC voltage from about 18V to 60V for a big one, but it's only working in sunlight, so we would normally want to store energy in a reservoir battery. Some
small solutions just include a USB charging lead and leave it with you Not much use in just a solar panel unless it has a little bit of circuitry in it to convert the voltage to charge something like a USB phone charge connector.
So then, typically comes a
Solar Charge Controller, which is used to attach the panels to some sort of rechargeable reservoir battery, such as a car battery. A 150W panel, a Charge Controller and a car battery ( or Leisure Battery) might be used on a caravan, allotment shed or barge, etc as a complete 12V supply for lamps and small tool chargers.
But, if you aspire to get 240V mains from your stored energy, You need to add an
Inverter to your battery. That would only give you low power mains to drive, say a small TV, but not enough for heating or cooking devices.
A
'Power Station' integrates those items and are popular with preppers and occasional off grid campers and caravan users.
There's a new kid on the block, coming soon to the UK called a
'balcony system' These pump generated power into the home to offset your electricity bill, they can work with or without special storage batteries ( at a cost)
And then there's the multi-panel home system, professionally installed for many thousands of pounds. Such systems may or may not include storage batteries or might sell surplus energy to the mains electricity supplier.
Beware of some cheap Chinese kit on ebay that grossly overstates the power rating of the panels. If you see panels with ringlet holes for mounting, they are likely rubbish.
Also beware scam adverts for £500 'power stations' at about £70 on Facebook marketplace
I'll send you a private message with some more links.
