Solar Powered Audio

07-10-06: Jalanc42069
I have a battery(12v) int amp(sonic impact t amp), a Dynavector D-75 12V phono stage, a Technics Sl-10 battery powered TT. All can run off of seperate SLA(sealed lead acid) batteries, and charged with a trickle charger or Solar battery charger. There are 12V cd players and DACS available too. Wellborne Labs has a tube preamp that is battery powered. Much simpler and cheaper than a bunch of solar panels to power AC equipment. Get off the Grid! Let em turn off the power and we'll still have sweet music by candlelight or solar powered lights, or tubes!
Jalanc42069 (Threads | Answers)

Well, if you're charging your batteries with a trickle charger, then you're not off the grid.

Also, I personally believe that all the batteries required to power battery powered gear creates a rather fugly installation. It'd be a cleaner to run wire from batteries in an attic or crawlspace, wouldn't it? And then you'd really be off the grid.

Anyhow, this is more of a rhetorical question intended to spur some discussion on the topic, although I thought there'd be at least one deep-pockets audiophile in one of the sunshine states to have tried this.

Tom Lyons, Audiogon user name TWL, has been completely off of the grid for years, check out some of his posts for the practical applications of the theory.

Since synergy is always an issue, I prefer to swap out power coniditioners instead of power generation systems. But that is just my opinion - you can do whatever you like.

You may want to consider the damage in the wake of the "stormy" season on the sun. The solar cycle runs 11 years. At peak, most solar flares and CME's, or Coronal Mass Ejections, take place. These prominences can lift off as far as 300,000 miles above the sun. Solar wind carrying damaging particles can wreak havoc on magnetic/eclectrical devices on Earth - even those below Earth's nifty magnetic field.
Whether this has anything to do with performance of solar pannels powering your rig, I have no clue. I just wanted to freak you out a bit and show off something I learned from this cool new picture/factoid book "The Sun". Very enjoyable to read while listening to KC and the Sunshine Band. ;)

Cool stuff!
Tvad, i said that the batteries can be charged with a trickle charger OR a solar battery charger just to show the versatility of battery powered systems. One 2'x4' solar panel can charge multiple batteries that can play music for days, depending on the size of the batteries you use. I use 7amp batteries on each component but i guess you could use a lawn tractor size battery(30amp) to do the whole thing. As far as being fugly, yeah, maybe but so aren't power conditioners and transformers. You could build a nice rosewood veneered box to mount batteries in, or put a cardboard box over the batts and paint it to look like gold urn filled with Brilliant Pebbles! Run wires up to a crawl space?, you've got to be kidding. Why make it so complicated? This is a simple set up. 7 amp SLA batteries are about $20. each and a 2x4 ft panel/charger is about $200. The deep pocket audiophiles can spend thousands for an elaborite solar system which is cool if it powers your whole house, but i could find better uses for thousands of dollars.
Douglas, "Solar wind carrying damaging particles can wreak havoc on magnetic/electrical devices on earth", ok, but will it damage your $20. battery? When you get back down to earth try some SLA batteries, hee hee!
Great posts guys, this is an interesting subject. Thanks, Alan