I just found out I can buy a decent 400W solar panel in the local hardware store for around 90€ these days.
Are there people around with experience in off-grid solar? There is quite some supply in cheap MPTT charge controllers on the internet. And I can’t afford a 700€ power station. But I would be able to buy a few power tool batteries or one of the lead-acid batteries people put in their caravan. Are there projects building a power station myself? Is this even worth it?
Maybe someone alredy wrote a blog post with recommendations or findings and failures along the way. Or has something similar running at home?
(Thanks to the mods for steering me towards the correct community.)
What about sodium batteries? Aren’t they a bit bulkier but cheaper and safer?
Finding a charge controller and inverter that’s compatible with the voltage of sodium ion batteries will be difficult.
They sell them on AliExpress.
Are those already in mass production and available to random customers? All I can find are a lot of recent news articles, very few manufacturers and very pricey batteries.
I don’t know the volumes but you can get them on aliexpress in lots of form factors, like 18650 or bigger blocks.
No idea how price competitive they are.