Using solar energy to power a TV

One of the major hindrances to the embracing of solar energy in developing nations like Nigeria is the low level of understanding of how the solar systems really works. How does solar energy really work? How much can use it to make his home at least comfortable?

For different people, there are different levels of comfort. While some would say comfort has to do with being able to sleep and wake up in an air-conditioned room, another peron would say if he could at least watch tv any time he wants within a 24 hr period.

What if someone wanted to watch his tv for 24 hrs in Nigeria irrepective of whether the PHCN supplies power or now? Well, with Solar energy system, this is quite possible.

For most people, tv is basically the only entertainment they get at home that can actually make them stay at home and it would be nice if they at least know how much solar power they'd need to power their tv on a 24 hr period.

Well, there really is no straight forward answer as the answer would definitely depend on a number of things such as:

- Power needed by the tv
- The time frame required
- Type of inverter batteries available

As you see, one of the main factors will depend on how much power the tv in question really needs to do its work.

There are different kinds of tv and each one whether small or big comes with it's own power requirement and you can find that out by simply looking at it's back or power cable unit. The power requirements are normally printed on the power cable or back of the tv so that you'd know what it requires.

Once you know the power requirements of your tv and how long you want to power it on, then you can start looking for a solar panel that can supply power to it adequately as well as an inverter system that stores energy from the sun. So one would connect a solar panel to a battery system which then is connected to your tv through an inverter(converts dc to ac).