Welcome! It looks like we have a ton of solar people on OG, so this was a great idea to share here.
I’m definitely using LEDs, and actually, I have a WILLS 250w for testing right now, and its actually drawing around 117w. I’m testing fans now too, but I only have cheap walmart and vivosun fans, so I’m hoping to see some partnerships to help the research progress.
This is fun! lol
Yeah I am on a big estuary and the wind comes straight off that, I have a couple of small natural springs that create Brooks for a water wheel or turbine as well.
If you looking on YouTube you may have seen this guy already but I will add a link to his website forum.
It seems very friendly and like here you get lots of good ideas and different recommendations as to what’s good out there atm.
I should look into wind again. I live off a huge, flat farm, so we see some crazy winds. Its definitely not a regular thing at ground level, but if it adds anything it may be worth it.
I WISH I had a stream available, but no such luck. How does that compare to a solar panel?
Awesome tip with that forum. Thank you. Bookmarked and saved.
If it doesn’t freeze in winter, and my neighbor confirmed it’s only done it a couple of times in the last 30 years he has been here, it’s the gold standard for renewable energy as it runs 24/7 52 weeks a year.
I found out yesterday when I was speaking to him, my workshop once had a big water wheel in it. Unfortunately the government improved the road out front of the property and changed the course of the stream, after putting in a culvert under the rd, so its 25ft further away now 
I have a couple of electrical motors .75 and .5 of a hp which I am going to experiment with. If you can turn the armature it will produce electricity instead of using it. I may need to make a dam higher up to create a decent head of pressure for a turbine but the water wheel may be an easier option. I need to calculate water flow rates atm. Similar process for wind just need to find something that I can attach and spin the motor. I have a steady 18kmh wind atm out there so thinking maybe a couple of 50 gal plastic barrels cut in half mounted on a frame at ground level that will spin around fast enough, but I can add gearing to increase the motor revolutions, my biggest expense will be the batteries, rectifiers and controllers.
Yes yes & yes 
It’s 620 am hst so gimme half a day to respond with a more functional brain 
I’ve got a whole off grid 48v solar grow life
But am using sun for plants 🤦 currently 
Will take pics. Def need help 
(quiet yous)
Amazing. I think this would be another great project to show off. Between all these inputs, there has to be a clean way to power a whole grow, from start to end, without breaking the bank. And as I was reading your reply my mind was also producing some extra electricity, and I have a couple new ideas to try out.
Too bad you dont have that same river path now. That wheel sounds like a lot of fun to have and tinker with lol
Did we just become best friends?
This is a very cool idea. The closest I’ve come is using solar powered security, floodlights with motion detectors watched out over my fenced in grows. Worked great!
Curious to see if the natural sun could power enough for a grow, and if what size, and costs/production rates. Following…
Welcome aboard! I hope I can answer a few of those with this process, and maybe create even more questions and answers. From the price to the install I should be doing it all while taking notes and sharing.
Yepper, already doing it, along with powering our home
I’m reading your thread right now. Lots of great info. Now you have me thinking about DIY batteries.
I was going to go solar but i sold my house and moved into an apt. I have a system with 640 watts of 2 panels 2 100ah batteries a 40-amp controller and 2000-watt INVERTER i never set it up but i may next spring and put the panels outside my back wall. I would have to secure them so they don’t get stolen. I get sun all day every day its out here in Oklahoma. i do have a friend in Florida who is an electrical Engineer he has gone total solar on everything he owns a cabin up in the mountains a sailboat a camper plus his 2000 sq ft house that cost 25k to set up 10 years ago and he just in the last year has been getting a check from the power company I think he said it’s like 25 bucks a month or something like that it’s not very much.
Getting money is better than giving it to them lol
I hope to be off grid one day but I dont have the money and I certainly dont have the skills of some of these other OGers, but its a fun little project.
Sounds like you’ve got quite a bit of equipment yourself. Get wiring! lol
yep agreed but im going to have to wait until spring i think unless i get so extra ambition maybe set it up to see what the max power draw is with it since im using mh/hps right now
i cant hook into my power im thinking the complex owners wouldnt appreciate it…lol i have to have written permission to grow and that i do have written permission to grow flowers and herb garden 
This would be a really sexy addition to my operation. Right now I’m using an all-in-one and only running a small tent and light, but something more permanent will be added eventually.
How many panels are you running for all that? I saw you are fixing old panels. Also very interesting.
I am up to 80 some panels. Going for 120 of them, I want 300 amps on an overcast winters day…haha
Yes, I buy them used and do a little refurbing on them. I built it all from used equipment, outside of one inverter.
You’ve realigned my aspirations. I spent more on 1 piece than you did on your system with unfathomably more power than I have. This means more is possible than I originally guessed. I have some learning to do.
