What kind of set-up could I get by with for the safe running of my laptop, comp speakers, and battery charger simultaneously with ZERO chance of hurting my laptop and chargers?
Can this minimal solar investment be cheap? It is actually for my home for blackouts.
What is ācheapā in your terms. I can see doing something that could work for $300 to $400.
Cost will be influenced heavily by how much power you will be drawing, how long you want to be able to do it, and how fast you need to recharge the supply. 350 watt hour āpower stationsā can be pretty cheap, but may only give you a few hours of runtime. Going up to 1000 watt hours will raise the price 2 to 3 times. Small solar panels can be had cheap, but they will likely be too slow to replace what you are using in the time available (hours of āgoodā sunshine). 100 watt panels would probably be a good starting point, but again, may not have enough output. So 200 watt (?). Well portable panels can basically double in price from 100 to 200 wat panels.
So you can see where this is going. The question is not one that can be answered without a bunch more information from you.
Some advice anyway, donāt even think about buying anything until you understand your requirements. The very basics are how much power the devices that you want to run consume and how long you think you will need to run them. Oh yeahā¦and define ācheapāā¦ 
Once you get there we can talk about pure sinewave filtered outputs from the āsolar generatorā, charge controllers, solar panel efficiency, etc. 
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I donāt want the power bank and was hoping for something that I could just use during the sunny portion of a winter sunny day in the desert. Using my laptop with a hotspot, and charging batteries in a BT-C3100 for example.
Most panels put out 18 to ~23 volts DC. With full mid summer sunlight. What are you thinking about doing to get that to a voltage that you need?
Some panels can be had with charge controllers that have USB outputs and 12 volts (for charging 12 volt batteries or accessories using that run on 12 volts). If you need AC, you will need an inverter.
You still need to know the power requirements for the devices to size the panels and charge controller for what you need.
It looks like the 808 can use 18 volts at 2 amps. Which is not a typical voltage included with a charge controller.
Laptop?? Is it USB C, what size is the supply it comes with.?
But you still havenāt said what you consider to be āCheapāā¦??
You changed from the 808 to the BT-C3100. It takes a 12 volt inputā¦ so as long as the panels are sized correctly, you have enough light, and a charge controller that puts out 12 volts (plus the right cable/connectors) that could workā¦
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Wouldnāt 100 watts easily cover a laptop and perhaps a BT-C3100 charger?
you can typically de-rate panels by 25% to 30% and even then the numbers are only under ideal solar conditions.
So figure that on a perfect sunny summer day at noon, you may get 75 watts out of a 100 watt rated panel.
OH Yeah, and only if you keep the panel pointed directly at the sun.
You avoid the questionsā¦ how much power do all of the devices that you want to run use? You have to know thatā¦first!
What laptop are you using?
What speakers/amp?
Which charger 808 or 3100?
I keep saying, you need to find out your requirements before you decide on anything else. Otherwise you will end up being disappointedā¦ or stuck returning things.
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I thought a typical 16-inch laptop was pretty general say 60 or 70 watts and the BT-C3100 was about 10 watts, I could drop the speakers but was thinking of just the typical old speakers that used to come with computers, I also own these which seem to draw about 16 watts or less.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0791J2658/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Canāt you just look at the power supply for your laptop? The supply for the Speakers?)
But just using the numbers that you give ( think the laptop may be less if the battery is charged ) you have 86 watts. A single 100 watt panel would not reliably power that.
Also remember you wonāt get AC out without an inverter in the middle. You need to check the input for the devices. The 3100 uses 12 volts, that should be easy. What about the speakers? What about the laptop?
BTW, I am not trying to be a PIA. I decided to get into this maybe 8 months ago. I was surprised how much there is to it. I now have two sets of panels 4 different āsolar Generatorsā and a big box of cables and adapters. I wish I had done my homework betterā¦
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I use a few different old laptops, this is one a āToshiba Satellite C50-ABT3N11 Laptopā for which the specs say 65 watts, but I have a 14-year-old old 17-inch one that goes 90 watts.
So my needs would be 90 watts if I have to save money by skipping the extra speakers and donāt use the charger at the same time.
Would there be much cost difference between a good 100 watts and a good 150 watts set-up?
Just to add a little more data to the mix:
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one thing that heavily influences solar panel energy production is latitude: smaller latitude, closer to the Equator, more energy. The opposite happens with larger latitudes. Seasons also change that a lot: more solar energy is produced by hour on average during the summer than during the winter, even if the sky is perfectly clear, and this effect is reinforced by latitude.
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Altitude also has a marked effect: the higher you are, the less atmosphere there is between you and the Sun, and the more energy you get. I was able to get much more energy up in the Chilean Andes than down the Chilean coast, despite both being in the Atacama desert and within a half-degree of the same latitude.
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Thatās why just saying āin the desertā is not enough: presuming the OP is in the US, the eg Sonoran Desert in AZ offers a very different solar profile than eg the Yakima Valley desert in WA. I like to use this site to estimate the solar profile of a location: https://solcast.com/, the OP should create a free account there and then configure a āroof-top installationā at your his specific location with, say, 1KW of solar panels and see how much energy the site predicts for your location.
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I donāt think the OP can count on charging/powering your devices directly from solar panels. The classical solution is panels feeding a charge controller, that then charge a battery bank, to which you have connected an inverter to produce 110VAC, and DC-DC converters for your DC-powered devices.
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A āsolar generatorā is basically a device that combines a battery bank with an inverter and DC-DC converters and sometimes a charge controller too, so you connect the panels to its input and it charges its internal batteries, and you connect the devices you want to power/recharge to its outputs. It simplifies design and installation a lot, but are usually less powerful and more expensive per capacity than a well-engineered āclassical solutionā.
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First thing the OP should do is to determine how much energy the combined devices he wants to power actually need. The best way to do that is to use a meter like the kill-a-watt; this will help size the āsolar generatorā he will need to buy, as well as the number of solar panels (along with location data, see above).
OP, once you have more data, specifically what I indicated at 2) and 5), please come back and we can try and help you further.
Thereās a lot more to energy consumption than that. You need to know not only how many watts on peak (which is what the labels tell you), but also on average, and even more important, the total energy (in Watts-hours) your setup consumes per day. See my last post, you need to actually measure this, guesstimating will lead you to buying the wrong equipment and spending money twice or worse.
@Mandrake50 is absolutely correct. A 100W solar panel will perhaps produce 100W at the Equator, exactly at noon, at 25 degrees centigrade (every solar panel loses efficiency as it heats up, and good luck keeping them cool as theyāre black and the Sun will heat them up like crazy) and after sacrificing at least one sheep to Apollo or Ra (you can pick your preferred Sun-god).
If you are not at the Equator, will not use your equipment only at noon, and the ambient temperature is not cool enough to keep your panels at 25C, nor have the sheeps for the sacrifice, donāt count on anything near these 100W.
Case in point: I have 400W of solar panels on my motorhome. Under the absolute best conditions I ever had (Summer in the Atacama desert at about 9000ft altitude, with ambient temperature about 10C and with a sky so painfully clear it was actually more purple than blue), I was able to extract about 250W on average from 10:00AM to 02:00PM (it almost, but not quite, hit the nominal 400W at noon).
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I think the OP was hoping to just get a 100 watt panel, plug his stuff in, set it in the sun, and be good. It is not that simpleā¦ But given the time, money, and education, it can work. But it is just not that simpleā¦ I wish it were.
I would have thought that there would be an easy safe margin to get 100 to 150 watts for a little portable setup in the desert at 5100 feet.
All this precision seems overkill, Iām not building a permanent rooftop system, just a little portable system for any laptop I would be using, and if it worked out, another 30 or 50-watt margin on top of that.
I didnāt think that or I would not have asked, they sell the 100 watt kit all day long, what i donāt understand is why there arenāt any rough estimates, some ball park figures, some minimums given.
They do, and itās because people are buying 
but many of them either never utilize them fully, or try to and end up frustrated.
Itās because the matter is complicated. @Mandrake50 and I are just trying to make sure you understand what youāre getting yourself into before you spend money, time and effort and learn it the hard way.
But if you just want to just jump right into spending money into one of these kits to try and see how well it would work for your case, Iāve thought of a recommendation for you: Amazon.com; this is about the smallest, cheapest kit that has any chance of working, from a good brand and, most importantly comes with the Amazon 30-day refund. I recommend you get it right at the moment youāre able to test it intensively, and then do exactly that ā try and use it every day for as long as you can (within the 30-day return period) to see whether or not it works for you. If it does, all is well and good, and if it doesnāt (which, Iām sad to say, is the most probable hypothesis) you can return it for a full refund (so no worse-off money-wise) and at least will probably have learned some practical knowledge from the time and effort you spent.
Good luck and, one way or the other, please keep us posted; Iād be very interested in hearing about how it goes.
Just keep in mind that there is more to it than the rated output of a panel. Way more. Sizing the panel is the first step of several.
So if you decide to get a panel, keep in mind that you need to get that power to your devices in a form that they can use. That means matching voltage levels and having the physical means to do it. This typically starts with a charge controller that provides various voltage outputs for different purposes. Then it means cables with connectors that can interface with the pane/controller and the devices. IOW, it is not possible to take a wire directly from the panel to your laptop and expect it to work. You could fry the laptop, your cell charger, and your speakers. Remember what I said about the panel having 18 to 23 volts open circuit voltageā¦
You say you donāt want a power bank/āSolar Generatorā. But the function of these devices is to take the power from the panel, store it, and provide outputs that match up with the needs of your devices. Including allowing you to just plug in your current AC adapters (like for your laptop).
Capacity of the panel is a good place to start, but it is just one consideration. You can certainly just go buy a 100 watt kit and hope you can use it. I did, (though I bought a 200 watt kit, and not a cheap one) then spent a bunch of time and money getting to the point of being able to use it.
If you need further help and have specific questions, please ask. Otherwise, I am not sure I can help you further. So far you seem to be unwilling to listen. I do wish you luck in finding something that works for you.
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The whole āsolar generatorā is a bit of marketing fluff, as ā¦solar panel sold separately.
Is weight a concern, like is this all going to be carried on your back over the hills, and far away?
In 2015, I made a powerpack for a friend, mainly to power his 12vdc compressor fridge in his truck, reliably. The battery was an 78 lb, group 31 125 amp hour Lifeline GPL31-XT. I had a plug in 45 amp Charger, progressive dynamics pd9245, and a 400watt pure sine wave inverter, and an ammeter, voltmeter and a way to count amp hours. I had a massive 350 amp Anderson connector and 1/0 cabling directly to the alternTor, and 300 amp continuous rated on off switch.
Solar was a later option he found he never needed as the large heavy quality agm was enough to power the fridge for 3 rays withiut staRting vehicle, and that battery can easily accept 100 alternator amps when well depleted and at least get to 80% charged relatively quickly, but 80 to all important 100% state of charge is no less than 3 hours and often far longer.
While some devices can sometimes be hooked directly to a solar panel in optimal conditions, it is far better to have the solar panel feed a battery and the battery feed an inverter or dc to dc converter powering the device.
my old laptop has an 80 watt power supply, but average consumption is about 32 watts just typing with an already full laptop battery, and only approaches, 80 watts when streaming HD videos or spinning a DVD with depleted battery.
Generally speaking, it is difficult to have too much solar panel, but very easy to not have enough. The power audit is pretty much required for deciding how much is required at a minimum. Tthose who aim forā just enoughā find that on most days it is far from enough and have to cut way back on consumption, or end the trip early.
Its really easier to require less electricity than carry around enough storage and charging source to feed them adequateky using the devices as one would when the grid is the power source.
Lead acid batteries also have issues with progressive capacity loss when they are deeply cycled nightly, and not regularly truly fully charged.
Iāve not personally fed lithium batteries by solar panel, so will not comment on that.