PV Gap

June Said:

has anyone run machine tools off of solar/battery power?

We Answered:

Solar and green does not work out. You have been sold a lie by solar companies. A solar cell takes more energy to make than it will put out in it's life time.

On the other hand solar makes great remote power. Running a lathe on solar panel would depend on what size of lathe. If you have a smaller lathe using 120 volt power all you would need in a large inverter.
If you are running a larger lathe using 220 power it will be a little harder. They make 220 volt inverters but they are not as cheap as a 120. If it was me i believe i would change out the ac motor for a dc motor. This could be done for under few hundred and you could connect directly to the motor from the battery pack. You could even install a dc speed control.
the best optoin for remote power would be to use a fuel generator. If you want to stay green look into hydrogen. Again you have to understand that most hydrogen is not generatored in a "green way". So you would have to look into buying only "green hydrogen" you may or maybnot have access to this.

Renee Said:

Does the DC port on my digital camera charge my battery or just allow it to run without using battery power?

We Answered:

Yes, if your camera was sold with a rechargeable battery, the power adapter charges it.

(Note: in many cameras, you can use rechargeable AA batteries. In that case, a power adaptor does not charge those batteries).

Easy way to check. Use your camera until the battery runs out.
Then put the adaptor. If later you can use the camera with no adaptor, it means it was charged.