Thread: Solar electricity production

Originally Posted by drivesafe

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If you could get your hands on it, what would you like to get that is either not available or is too expensive at this time?

Bit difficult to say, but I would guess the main thing I would like to get is longer lasting batteries and more battery capacity to tide me over longer overcast periods. More panels would help too.

Interesting comment however - I analysed whether to spend more money on panels - and ended up buying a new refrigerator; this will improve the situation more for the $ with the increase in efficiency in the last fourteen years since I bought a four star fridge. The new one, to be picked up tomorrow, is a six star one that uses less than half the power.

John

Originally Posted by DirtyDawg

I came upon a home last month that had 10 solar panels on the roof and it generated enough electricity for about 25% of his homes use, the interesting part was it was hooked up to his SECWA smart meter and when they were at work the surplus power was bought back by the energy commission at .10c per K/watt. it was strange to see the meter going backwards in figures. Cost him $20k all up including installation, I was there because the installers left 6 tiles of his roof and the rain flooded it

There is at least one of these setups round here. In my view, this is the model that we should be pursuing rather than new power stations, whether private or government. The main thing stopping it is that the power people are only paying $0.10 at present. If the price was set at the instantaneous wholesale price (technically possible with a "smart" meter), which would be much more equitable, the average price paid would be a lot higher and would cause a larger take up. Since a lot of the power is generated where it is needed (think power for airconditioning in hot sunny weather) it reduces the need to upgrade distribution systems.

John

Further to the wind generator question. The one I have is from Jaycar, at $499 (as low as $399 for 4+). At these prices it gets difficult to justify building one. Although if you want to, they sell spare blades for $25 each

John

John, did you see that wind generator on a camper trailer near our campsite at Cooma, it seemed to shut down when it wasn't needed, I think it was used in conjunction with an auto rotating solar panel, not a bad setup, does your wind generator shut down when not charging, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

The kitchen stove has a purpose designed water boiler which surrounds all sides of the firebox (except for the firedoor opening, about half the front, and the top and bottom). This is plumbed via a small circulating pump and a branch to the hot water system to a double manifold about two feet above the floor in the middle of the house. From this manifold there are six double spirals of pipe (a special low density poly pipe sold for the purpose) within the slab. The pipes were laid out on top of the reinforcing and wired to the mesh about every metre. The slab had to be thicker than normal by the diameter of the pipe (20mm), and the system was filled with water to stop it lifting when the slab was poured.

There is a small header tank with a ball valve to provide pressure relief and ensure the system is kept filled. (This is essential to prevent the possibility of explosion.) Each separate circuit is provided with a control valve which allows regulation of heat to different areas of the house. The circulating pump is controlled by two thermostats plus a switch - one thermostat keeps the pump off until the water returning from the hot water system reaches the set temperature, and the other switches the pump on regardless when the water rising from the stove approaches boiling point.

I would doubt that you would get enough heat from an open fire, although I suppose it depends on how big the fire is.

Hope that helps,

John

Thanks for the info John. Is this a commercial system or did you design/build it yourself? Do you have the specs/manufacturer info for the pump?

Jarrah burns VERY hot, but I will have to do some calcs to see how much usable heat I could get out.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Thanks for the info John. Is this a commercial system or did you design/build it yourself? Do you have the specs/manufacturer info for the pump?

Jarrah burns VERY hot, but I will have to do some calcs to see how much usable heat I could get out.

Pump is a Grundfos UPS 25-60 130. The system was designed to meet my specifications by Outlook Alternatives in Wangaratta, Vic. They supplied the manifolds and the hot water system and solar collector.

John

Originally Posted by Tank

John, did you see that wind generator on a camper trailer near our campsite at Cooma, it seemed to shut down when it wasn't needed, I think it was used in conjunction with an auto rotating solar panel, not a bad setup, does your wind generator shut down when not charging, Regards Frank.

I don't remember seeing that one, but I am familiar with the type - I actually owned one when I first lived here. If it is the type I am thinking of, they don't actually shut down when the battery is fully charged. Like mine, when the battery is fully charged, the output is transferred to a dummy load, which is sufficiently low resistance to effectively apply a brake to the armature. In addition, excessive wind speed will cause the blades to turn out of wind.

John

Hey Ben
Can get you wood that burns HEAPS hotter than jarrah!!!! You will be sharpening the saw HEAPS more,emptying the ash more and would only need to fill the Landy 1/2 full to get the tyres rubbing!!!!
Will see if we can get you some on our next trip to mix with the jarrah.50/50 is a good mix.Wandoo or Whitegum is the wood.
Will PM you,need more wood!!!!
Andrew