I'm interested in getting a battery chainsaw in the near future. I was doing a lot of research on them earlier in the year, and I think I was drawn to the Echo (even though I have a ryobi one+ tool kit). I had to unexpectedly get a new phone mid year, so anything I had on my search was lost, and memory is a bit foggy. One of the main questions/ponderings I have is...can solar be used for charging the batteries? And I mean a "simple" and small solar system that would be fairly "cheap" to throw together, obviously not a large house running scaled one. If utnwould work, I see it as an interesting way to run the system, but also a good prepper type setup if needed. If anyone has any experience or knowledge on this I'd appreciate some info. And I don't understand much about solar power, the time it takes aspect, and the storing/converting part...so please dumb it down...
I picked up a Hart 20 volt 12 inch chainsaw at Walmart $154 with battery and a charger, it does a really great job when i don't need my gas Sthils.
I bought my used stihl msa 200 off of BrianK . He plays with solar a little also. So far i like the battery saw but i will admit, it's way heavier than i expected. It is quiet and powerful for a small saw.
With enough panel capacity and a good quality sine wave inverter for the charging it is possible. But if the sun drops out while charging things could be damaged. Panels need be connected correctly for the inverter. Samlex 12v 600 Watt Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter PST-600-12 Check that the echo charger doesn't need more than 5 Amp on primary side. If it does one bigger inverter is needed.
I have a Yeti Goal Zero 1000 solar generator with a 100ah lithium battery. It has 4 usb outlets, 12v standard cigarette lighter outlet and 12v Anderson type outlets, as well as two 120 v outlets. It will run anything up to 3000w. It can be charged from a vehicle 12v outlet, 120v, or solar panels, as it has a built in solar controller. I have 3 Renogy 100w panels for it and all the wiring and connectors to hook it up, but right now I’m just keeping it charged with 120v wall outlet. This set up would be more than adequate to charge batteries for a battery chainsaw. However, if you’re looking for cheap, go the Harbor Freight route. Get one or more of their 100w solar panels with solar controller to charge a 12v battery, and a cheap dedicated 12v deep cycle battery to charge it with. Hook up a cheap 120v power inverter (at least 600-800w) to run the chainsaw battery charger. Renogy also makes a decent 100w solar panel and they might even be cheaper on Amazon than the Harbor Freight offering, although Harbor Freight has a cheap solar controller included. Don’t try to charge the chainsaw battery directly from solar panels. They put out 16-20v in sunlight while chainsaw batteries are anywhere from 36 to 64v or more. The electronics necessary to make that conversion are a nightmare. It’s cheaper and simpler to go with cheap solar panel(s), a cheap solar controller to charge 12v batteries and one of more 12v deep cycle battles, wired in parallel. There are lithium deep cycle 12v batteries but they’re expensive and require a different solar panel charge controller than those for lead acid batteries. I too have a Stihl MSA200 battery chainsaw with a 14” bar, and I can’t say enough good about it. I’m thrilled with it and it’s completely replaced my MS250. I still have to pull out my MS290 on occasion for bigger stuff, but since I’m mostly cutting up smaller logs and branches for my mini wood stove, it’s rare I need the bigger saw. Don’t be afraid to look at Facebook Marketplace for used solar stuff too. I found my Yeti Goal Zero there as well as one of my three Renogy solar panels. And two Stihl MSA200 battery chainsaws, one of which I sold to TurboDiesel as he mentioned above. I also found an extra charger and spare batteries for the MSA200 on there.
