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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 10:29:12 -0800, "RST Engineering \(jw\)"
wrote: 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? It's not a matter of building a cathedral foundation, but rather trying to design the least expensive foundation. But I guess if you're going to light 35 hangars with ten fluorescent fixtures that are on for a few minutes each day, you won't need much. 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. Very reasonable, and what I would suggest depending on how much the surge is. Of course, that means you'll have to have wiring so that those items will plug directly into the generator, rather than going through the inverter. 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. It is extremely inefficient to bring the batteries up to full charge using the gas generator. Batteries charge more slowly as they approach full charge. Better get a reliable generator, then. 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. Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA) |
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