I love the idea behind this experiment and solar power in general. The sun is going to shine. Why not collect some of that light as power? When we finish buying our house, we’re going to look into getting solar installed if it’s in a good spot. But I wish I had seen this before when we were renting in a high-rise. The goal here isn’t to save money. The author does some math on the potential savings and they’re not much. But being self-sufficient is a good goal on its own. It’s also a nice little backup system for when power does go out.
Parts requires for this solar project from the original author
My goal is to take care of the energy needs for just my bedroom. 4 main components are all we need to achieve this: A solar panel to collect, a battery to store, an inverter to convert the direct current to alternating current, and a “charge controller” to balance the three other components. I’m using bargain-basement parts intended for RV, marine & car usage which keeps my system cheap and mobile.
Source: $200 solar self-sufficiency — without your landlord noticing.