It seems as though we are trying to build a cathedral foundation to hold an
outhouse. It isn't like I'm LIVING in the hangar, nor am I there working
all day every day. Sure, lights when you are elbow deep inside an engine
are nice, but hardly bleeding edge solar design. What? Ten fluorescent
fixtures with 80 watts of bulbs each? A drop cord with another 20 watt
fluorescent bulb? Perhaps a hand drill twice a day WHEN you are working in
the hangar?

As to the compressor, drill press, grinder etc., a gas generator for the few
times a month you need them is quite in order and certainly less expensive
in both the short and long term than gearing up for 100% solar for the
peaks. And, if you design the system correctly, letting the gas generator
run for an hour every time you fire up and letting the batteries take a full
charge from an inexpensive battery charger can add to the output of the
solar system.

I've done a little digging and it seems that Great Plains has the best
pricing on solar panels. Harbor Freight has a little better pricing, but I
need something that I can reliably get month in and month out (I'm the
guinea pig for about 50 hangars) and I can never rely on Harbor Freight to
have what I need when I need it.

My best guess after doing a little educated digging is that I can come up
with a system I can live with for a little over 1 AMU.

(For those of you not on the aviation newsgroups, an AMU is a measure of
money used to disguise the true cost of airplane ownership from other ...
ummm ... family members who might think that clothes, food, and other
nonessentials take priority over flying. 1 AMU = $1000US.)


Jim

In order to make an intelligent decision and design an economical system,
your very first step has to be to estimate your electricity usage as
accurately as possible. In addition to adding up your daily consumption
in
kWh or amp-hours, you also have to consider peak loads. And, especially
since you may be using a compressor, you will also have to consider the
startup surge -- with a compressor this may be five to ten times the
running amps. That information should be decipherable from the motor face
plate.