Solar power system advance

[billvon 3,116]

Up until now there have been basically two kinds of solar power systems you can get:

1) Batteryless grid tie. Solar DC goes straight to the inverter which changes it to AC and feeds it back to the grid. When the power goes out so does your solar power system. However when the grid is up they are cheap and efficient.

2) Battery based. These use a large battery bank. Solar charges the batteries with DC power, inverter changes DC to AC and feeds it back to the grid. Much more expensive and larger than option 1) - and requires regular battery replacement - but it gives you backup power during blackouts.

Most people choose 1) for cost reasons, which means that during a blackout there's no backup power. This is pretty clearly explained in manuals/quotes but still a lot of people were upset during Hurricane Sandy (for example) when their power was out for weeks and their solar power system sat there useless.

SMA-America now has a new batteryless inverter that solves this problem. The 3000TL-US is a regular (cheap) grid tie inverter that does not require batteries, but will give you 1500 watts of power when the sun is out - enough to run a refrigerator and fans during the day and charge cellphones/flashlights/lanterns/laptops for use at night.

If anyone is considering doing a solar install I'd strongly suggest using an inverter that has this feature. (They call it their "secure power" system.) It doesn't add much to the price, but when you need it you really need it.

[regulator 0]

That's pretty cool. Have you seen the Goal Zero yeti solar kits?

http://www.rei.com/product/842690/goal-zero-yeti-1250-solar-generator-kit

This one is the largest I think...but they have smaller ones for backpacking.

[BIGUN 1,486]

Funny you should show up with this, Bill. I am enamored with this as of late and was going to post for your opinion... Washing Machine Power Generator

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[billvon 3,116]

>I am enamored with this as of late and was going to post for your opinion...

If you have the site (which means a stream with a large vertical drop) microhydro is by far the best option. The guy in the video had a stream with a 150' head (so the stream entered his property 150 feet higher than it left his property) and on sites like that even a small amount of water can generate a lot of power.

The most common problem people talk about is low head; not much height difference. Most people who have streams on their property have plenty of water but not much vertical drop. You can get about 300 watts if you let 550 pounds of water drop 1 foot in 1 second in a good turbine. (Or 1 pound of water drop 550 feet in 1 second, or 10 pounds of water drop 55 feet in a second etc)

Pluses are power all the time (so either a small battery bank or no battery bank) and no issues with sun or wind exposure. Minuses are having to clean the intakes and nozzles all the time.

[DanG 1]

Quote

The most common problem people talk about is low head;

I've had that problem since getting married.

Hey, this is Bonfire, right?

- Dan G

[BIGUN 1,486]

Thank you for the advice. I had a washer crap out and was thinking there's got to be a way to reconstitute this instead of just pitching it. I thought it a good time to look for ideas on youtube. A buddy of mine has a small 120 acre ranch and is a Macgyver type.

At first, I was just thinking about the tub and making an Amish type hand-operated washer (he made one of those already) and dropping the metal off at a local plant for smelting. But, tripped over this idea. He has streams and I see him this weekend. The information about the drop rate is appreciated.

Ya know, once you get to thinking about ways to re-use things; it gets to be a bit of a hobby.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.