Affordable solar and LiFePO4 builds
Small systems that do one job well, each under ₱30,000 for every part: open one, run it through a day in the simulator, then use Buy all the parts for the shopping list with prices.
Solar floodlight: 24 SMD LEDs on three 3.2 V LiFePO4 cells
How the cheap solar floodlights are built. By day a 6 V 10 W panel charges three 32700 LiFePO4 cells in parallel (3.2 V, 18 Ah)…
Solar lights and phone charging for one room, under ₱10,000
The smallest useful solar system: a 50 W panel, a 10 A charge controller and a 12.8 V 12 Ah LiFePO4 battery run two 9 W LED…
Solar fan, lights and phone charging on 12 V, under ₱15,000
A 100 W panel and a 12.8 V 30 Ah LiFePO4 battery run a 12 V fan through the night, two LED bulbs and phone charging, with no…
Solar TV and fan with a 300 W inverter, under ₱30,000
Watch TV and run an electric fan from the sun. A 200 W panel and a 20 A MPPT controller charge a 12.8 V 50 Ah LiFePO4 battery…
Solar power for a Starlink Mini on 12 V, under ₱20,000 (dish not included)
Internet where there is no grid: a 200 W panel, a 20 A MPPT controller and a 12.8 V 50 Ah LiFePO4 battery power a Starlink Mini…
Brownout-proof Wi-Fi: a LiFePO4 DC UPS for your router, under ₱5,000
Keep the internet up through a brownout. A DC UPS module sits between the router’s 12 V adapter and the router: while there is…
Build your own 12.8 V 12 Ah LiFePO4 pack: 4S2P 32700 cells and a BMS
Make a 12.8 V battery yourself. Eight 32700 LiFePO4 cells (3.2 V, 6 Ah each) go in pairs: two in parallel make 6 Ah → 12 Ah…
Before you buy
- Size the battery for your nights: watts × hours, plus a fifth for losses. The calculators do it.
- LiFePO4 lasts thousands of cycles and can be used to 90 % of its capacity; a lead-acid battery wants to stay above half.
- Every system here has a fuse or breaker on each wire that can carry a fault, and a surge protector where a panel is on a roof.