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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
Ross Richardson wrote:
Hey Jim, Try looking through this. http://www.homepower.com/ My son has provide me some literature on renewable energy and I am convinced with some up front spending you can survive anywere without the power grid. You may need a 5KW generator at time when the wind, solar, etc give out. ------------- Regards, Ross C-172F 180HP KSWI RST Engineering wrote: After much thought and ponderance, I've come to the conclusion that to electrify the hangar using Pacific Gas & Electricity (PG&E -- Pigs, Goats, and Elephants) isn't clever. By the time you get them to hang a meter ($5k), trench from the power pole to the end of the row of hangars, conduit romex to 35 hangars at a cost somewhere around $50k ($1500 per hangar), and then pay the monthly electric bill, you could buy a hell of a wind/solar system and perch it on the (flat) hangar roof. Before I flail about gathering data, has anybody on these ngs actually installed a design whereby a hefty solar panel charges a hefty battery to run a hefty inverter? It doesn't have to be absolutely "clean" sinewave power as all we are running are fluorescent shop lights (about 400 watts worth), every now and again a small compressor, a small drill press, a small grinder, but none of these last few at the same time. My hit on it is that a 2 kW inverter would be more than enough to handle the AC side of it, and a bank of 12 volt truck batteries would work for the DC side of it, but there are the problems of parallelling large batteries, how to combine the outputs of solar cells and wind generators, and a reasonable source for all this stuff. There are issues around protecting the solar cells from hail, which we do get from time to time, battery acidic gases inside a hangar where a very expensive lump of aluminum is sitting for months on end, sizing the solar cell and wind generators, and other considerations along these lines. Comments appreciated. Jim http://www.tinaja.com/glib/energfun.pdf -- Many thanks, Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073 Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552 rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com |
#2
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
Jim,
Try alt.energy.homepower or alt.solar.photovoltaic. Lots of experts there. Michelle RST Engineering wrote: After much thought and ponderance, I've come to the conclusion that to electrify the hangar using Pacific Gas & Electricity (PG&E -- Pigs, Goats, and Elephants) isn't clever. By the time you get them to hang a meter ($5k), trench from the power pole to the end of the row of hangars, conduit romex to 35 hangars at a cost somewhere around $50k ($1500 per hangar), and then pay the monthly electric bill, you could buy a hell of a wind/solar system and perch it on the (flat) hangar roof. Before I flail about gathering data, has anybody on these ngs actually installed a design whereby a hefty solar panel charges a hefty battery to run a hefty inverter? It doesn't have to be absolutely "clean" sinewave power as all we are running are fluorescent shop lights (about 400 watts worth), every now and again a small compressor, a small drill press, a small grinder, but none of these last few at the same time. My hit on it is that a 2 kW inverter would be more than enough to handle the AC side of it, and a bank of 12 volt truck batteries would work for the DC side of it, but there are the problems of parallelling large batteries, how to combine the outputs of solar cells and wind generators, and a reasonable source for all this stuff. There are issues around protecting the solar cells from hail, which we do get from time to time, battery acidic gases inside a hangar where a very expensive lump of aluminum is sitting for months on end, sizing the solar cell and wind generators, and other considerations along these lines. Comments appreciated. Jim |
#3
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
Try an outfit called "Real Goods". They are a bunch of old hippies who started out with a lot of alternative energy products. They are now into consumer goods, but I believe they still do solar. Their older catalogs have a lot of planning information in them. At one time they were trying to sell some older used panels that a power company offed when they shelved a project. It was many years ago, but they may still have some left. Running fluorescents is a snap with solar. Any bigger load gets complex and expensive fast. Good Luck, Mike |
#4
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
RST Engineering wrote:
After much thought and ponderance, I've come to the conclusion that to electrify the hangar using Pacific Gas & Electricity (PG&E -- Pigs, Goats, and Elephants) isn't clever. By the time you get them to hang a meter ($5k), trench from the power pole to the end of the row of hangars, conduit romex to 35 hangars at a cost somewhere around $50k ($1500 per hangar), and then pay the monthly electric bill, you could buy a hell of a wind/solar system and perch it on the (flat) hangar roof. yes, thats when solar pv starts to look good. Before I flail about gathering data, has anybody on these ngs actually installed a design whereby a hefty solar panel charges a hefty battery to run a hefty inverter? It doesn't have to be absolutely "clean" sinewave power as all we are running are fluorescent shop lights (about 400 watts worth), every now and again a small compressor, a small drill press, a small grinder, but none of these last few at the same time. There are 2 main invertor options, sine or modified sine, which is IRL rectangular wave. IIRC, iron fl ballasts and motors can overheat on MSW, so all your apps ideally want sine. However MSW is much cheaper, and there are workarounds. Fl lights can be run at just slightly reduced power, or heatsinks added to the ballasts, etc. Electronic ballast lights would run happily on 150v dc. Motor driven tools would be fine as is unless youre running them to where they already get seriously hot, ie heavy use. There are ways round it if it proves to be an issue. My hit on it is that a 2 kW inverter would be more than enough to handle the AC side of it, and a bank of 12 volt truck batteries would work for the DC side of it, but there are the problems of parallelling large batteries, how to combine the outputs of solar cells and wind generators, and a reasonable source for all this stuff. ok, first with those powers it would make more sense to run your battery back at apx 150v (assuming you want 110v ac) and use a simple chopper to produce the ac. Your output will then have unregulated V_peak and regulated constant rms. That should work for all your loads. You should add a parallel diode across each battery cell, so that one cell going down has little effect on system performance, and enables everything to continue running. Ditto with the panels, there its particularly important to have a diode across every panel when youre running them at HT. This avoids parallelling batteries (not that thats needed anyway), plus reduces cost of invertor and wiring. Also it means you can supply 150v dc to mains CFL bulbs, electronic ballasted fl lights, and anything else that rectifies the mains, again cutting down on system cost and improving reliability. Use a different plug/socket type for the dc supply. One way to shave 10-20% off power consumption would be to up your supply frequency slightly, this would work nicely with magentic ballast lights and brushed motors, but not induction motors. FWIW brushed motors can run on dc anyway - but not @ 150v. Solar pv is cheaper than wind, and has less significantly issues, so I'd stick to solar. There are issues around protecting the solar cells from hail, which we do get from time to time, battery acidic gases inside a hangar where a very expensive lump of aluminum is sitting for months on end, Battery case is vented to the outside. sizing the solar cell and wind generators, and other considerations along these lines. Comments appreciated. Jim alt.solar.photovoltaic is the place to go. Also dont overlook simple ways to cut cost. A minimal cost reflector outside a window can be used to increase daylight levels, and delay lighting dwitch on until later in the day, thus reducing system cost. And of course a switchbank for your lighting will enable you to use the lights only where theyre wanted at the time. No sense lighting the whole place up bright when youre only working in one area. And dont forget batteries dont last forever, you need to account for future replacement. Beating your PG&E costs should not be difficult, as long as its designed competently. NT |
#5
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
On 15 Dec 2005
RST Engineering wrote: After much thought and ponderance, I've come to the conclusion that to electrify the hangar using Pacific Gas & Electricity (PG&E -- Pigs, Goats, and Elephants) isn't clever. By the time you get them to hang a meter ($5k), trench from the power pole to the end of the row of hangars, conduit romex to 35 hangars at a cost somewhere around $50k ($1500 per hangar), and then pay the monthly electric bill, you could buy a hell of a wind/solar system and perch it on the (flat) hangar roof. You might start with a small bank of golf cart batteries from Sam's Club, and a refurbished inverter/charger from here http://www.sunelec.com/Distributors_...cccltrace.html A Trace SW would be best, but you'd probably be happy with a DR. Use a Honda EU2000 for a charger to get started and as a backup later on. Add PV as your budget allows. Excellent info on home built wind turbines here http://www.otherpower.com/. There's no problem paralleling solar and wind charge controllers. Include a proper system monitor like an E-Meter or TriMetric. Wayne |
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
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#8
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
Alan Adrian wrote:
No doubt you are correct.... No. GG is the ignorant one again. MSW is professional EE talk. When people try to sell a "Modified Sine wave" inverter they are either ignorant or shysters. Nick |
#9
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
wrote:
Alan Adrian wrote: No doubt you are correct.... No. GG is the ignorant one again. MSW is professional EE talk. I'd rather call it professional sales talk. It's not a modified sine wave, it's a modified square wave to approximate a sine wave, and in many cases, sufficiently close enough. We run our whole house on a MSW unit. Trace's DR series inverters were MSW. When people try to sell a "Modified Sine wave" inverter they are either ignorant or shysters. nope, just normal sales folk. unfortunately, it became an industry term. Nick -- Steve Spence Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html |
#10
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Wind/Solar Electrics ???
Hi Nick
MSW is a shysters sales pitch which misrepresents the product. Sort of like someone selling bilge pumps as suitable for continuous duty. wrote: Alan Adrian wrote: No doubt you are correct.... No. GG is the ignorant one again. MSW is professional EE talk. When people try to sell a "Modified Sine wave" inverter they are either ignorant or shysters. Nick |
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