Reddit mentions of ECO-Worthy [Upgraded] 25 Watts 12V Off Grid Solar Panel SAE Connector Kit: Waterproof 25W Solar Panel + SAE Connection Cable +USB Controller for Light

This fence line is just shy of 90 feet and my setup works pretty well at that length. I used pretty small diameter pvc so it’s not much weight; I can’t imagine reinforcement would be needed for the watering— maybe for the vines depending. It’s not a raging torrent of water it basically is just a steady drip but it saturates pretty well when run in cycles and not run during the heat of the day.

My initial version of this setup was a single battery and small solar panel and it ran fine for a year or more (granted I’m in SoCal so we get a lot of sun)— I’ve since expanded a bit to a 4 battery setup and larger panel but just because I added two more pumps for covering other areas.

Here’s a picture of the control box of a basic single battery system with timer and a simple solar controller
https://i.imgur.com/JOfGqdp.jpg


Here’s some of the basic gear:

Water Storage
===========================

Current Water tank
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003H9WJMI/

(Although I’ve also used smaller/cheaper tanks like this for my vegetable garden, just might mean more refills depending on how often it’s run: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BFC5NIA/ )

If you’re looking to go super cheap, I honestly started my first setup with a couple modified 5 gallon plastic water bottles I stole from my office like these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003B27RAA/


Power
===========================

Current solar panel for a 4 battery setup:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HFMBF3G

Previous panel for single battery system:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PFGP0EA


Solar regulator (keeps you from blowing up the battery! The smaller panel comes free with one that works fine, I just liked this one better because it had more lights!): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L37KZI6/

Batteries, one is plenty for a single pump system:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003S1RQ2S/

(obviously if you wanted to build a system on the cheap you could bypass the solar entirely and drop $20 on a second battery that you leave charging and just swap them back and forth every week or three, depending on how often/long you run the system)


Pump
===========================

Current Pump:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BXBQGC/

Although I’ve also used cheaper ones like these for drip systems and they were fine:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07699RMVB

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WYMC492

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DLKT4OO


Misc
===========================

Timer (has like 16 stop/start memories which should be plenty for any configuration):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090MTLFO


If there is some interest next weekend I could draw up a complete wiring/assembly diagram and detailed parts list and make a separate post (and include all the sundries: wire, hose, clamps, filters, waterproof project box, couplings, drip heads, etc).

You can find them on Amazon for around that price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=solar+laptop+charger

Not sure what your current battery/inverter setup is but you might get more bang for your buck if you wire a panel into your batteries.

Here's a kit that you would wire into your batteries. Even comes with a controller for only $60. At that price you could also pick up an inverter if you don't have one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00PFGP0EA/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1485137984&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=solar+panel&dpPl=1&dpID=51QihHVnteL&ref=plSrch

A quick look at the dimensions on Amazon found these 20W solar panel kits, incl. charge controller measuring 20.5" x 14.4" x 0.7", you can connect those charge controllers in parallel to the same 12V battery.
If you find other "12V" panels then you can connect those in parallel to a separate solar charge controller, a 20A seems overkill but they stay a bit cooler.

For the 120Vac inverter I suggest a 'pure sine wave' model as that is preferred by motors, I think the 300W (600W peak) will be big enough.
They also consume power themselves, even without the fan connected a bigger inverter will draw more battery current.

Do check with your airline about sending batteries, there is a 100Wh limit on quantity, which for USB power packs means <40000 mAh, (preferably in the undamaged original packaging), you could send a few (up to ten?) together with USB charge cables, micro-C for most, Apple's iPhone has a different connector, I think.

With those USB power packs you can power USB lights to read the newspaper and/or move around at night, and/or use small USB fans, a little bit noisy but everything helps.

To charge those USB power packs you can use 12/24V cigarette lighter socket USB chargers, if you can't find a car battery they should work directly of the solar panels (Voc=22V).
That's why I selected the 12V-24V and not the cheaper 12V only.

If you send a larger battery, choose a sealed 'deep cycle' battery, for your airline restrictions: 100Wh = 12V-8Ah, 150Wh =12V-12Ah.
You can discharge those down to 20%, at the cost of number of charge/discharge cycles, 50% is recommended.
Maybe you want to send some crimp connectors and crimp tool (from the car parts shop) as well, (the colour denotes different wire thickness), the 'spades' are needed for the deep cycle battery, and maybe a small car fuse box and (a selecting of) spare fuses to connect the 120V inverter.

Edit: and a small selection of screwdrivers and pliers, just in case.

Neat!

I doubt you need anything super fancy for that, hell, throw in a lead acid battery (you can ask around, often you can find used ones. Alternatively, you can sometimes find 12v batteries in UPSs) with this kit and you've got something you can teach with: https://www.amazon.ca/ECO-WORTHY-20W-Solar-Panel-Polycrystalline/dp/B00PFGP0EA/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=solar+kit&qid=1569784734&s=gateway&sr=8-7

Perhaps you want to get a battery box to contain and mount it all too.

It would also be a good idea to get a multi meter (I quite like the clamp on ones).

I would point towards questions like:

• How do amps and volts work?
  
• Why do we use watts to measure how much electricity something is consuming? How do you calculate them?
  
• how do we measure amps and volts?
  
• how do we measure how much capacity a battery has?
  
• What types of batteries are there? what are their advantages and disadvantages?
  
• What types of solar panels are there? what are their advantages and disadvantages?
  
• What is the purpose of a charge controller? why do we need it?
  
• If these lights took 30 watts and had to be powered for 8 hours, would this set up do it? why or why not?
  
• How would you choose to improve this setup?
  
  I used to work as an IT person for a school board, I loved projects like this. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Look here for a 20 watt version. Personally I would think about 3 gray, sunless days in a row and what it would take to make up what was lost by the gray days. Depending upon what type of battery you have, basic loss from just sitting can vary from type to type. A lead acid might take quite a while to come back up to full after a few days of no sun and only 10 or 20 watts to charge it. A lithium will charge faster and have less loss. Then there is everything in between.

Figure out what it might lose over a week (worst case) and then buy appropriately. $150 invested now might be cheaper than a pair or more of new batteries after winter.