Home Page
   Articles
       links
About Us    
Traders        
Recipes            
Latest Articles
Solar by numbers?
Page Previous  1, 2, 3
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Downsizer Forum Index -> Energy Efficiency and Construction/Major Projects
Author 
 Message
dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45384
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Oct 07, 14 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

without trying to be negative i can see the value of pv if there is a good chance of sunlight,there is no other sensible alternative or it is convenient to use such as to keep a leccy fence topped up between charges etc .

trying to be positive for a fairly green solar powered thing pre heating/heating water seems a good un

madcat



Joined: 24 May 2008
Posts: 1265
Location: worcester
PostPosted: Wed Oct 08, 14 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Otley Lad there's a lot of use of and experience of solar systems in the Narrowboat community.
My boat is effectively an off grid situation where all power away from the mooring comes from batteries charged by the engine alternator. This is a 12v system using small solar panels as trickle chargers when the boat isn't in use.

I have a simple system and carefully control my energy usage but others have large ( in terms of available roof space) solar arrays and are looking to run such items as fridges which are notorious energy vampires.

You can find out a lot by searching the topics on Canal World forum . I recommend a lot of reading before joining and asking questions as not everybody on there is pleasant or constructive. Downsizer is much more civilised.
I never deploy virtual teeth and claws on Downsizer but have shaped up for a hissy session on CW in the past .

OtleyLad



Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Posts: 2737
Location: Otley, West Yorkshire
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Well I've done one:
System 2
A security light/internal lights and charge a laptop/phone/etc. That is for intermittant use (2 or 3 LED lights for max 3hrs a day in mid-winter).

I've called it a 250w Charging Station

This system uses a 250w solar panel (shown here outside the conservatory). It will go on the garage roof soon. The panel feeds electric into the charger:

The charger safetly feeds the electric into a couple of 12v 88ahr batterries so the system can be used 24/7.
In the conservatory is the charging 'station' that includes an invertor (to up the voltage from 12v dc to 240v ac) for charging laptops and a set of USB ports for charging phones and tablets.

So far so good. It may be that we can drive the conservatory lights off this as well, but first I'll see how it goes for a few months.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 3:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Given time the box will float away buoyant with hydrogen.

OtleyLad



Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Posts: 2737
Location: Otley, West Yorkshire
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 4:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

vegplot wrote:
Given time the box will float away buoyant with hydrogen.


There are plans to drill holes in the top to prevent that - but not so people can poke fingers in there...

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

OtleyLad wrote:
vegplot wrote:
Given time the box will float away buoyant with hydrogen.


There are plans to drill holes in the top to prevent that - but not so people can poke fingers in there...


I wonder how explosive my set up is. I have my batteries in a timber compartment and give myself, perhaps ill founded, confidence it's in an exposed porch.

wellington womble



Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I really could do with one of those for the caravan. Do you reckon someone who has never wired a plug could do it? (And you can all shut up. I've never needed to wire a plug. If the opportunity arises, I'll be happy to have a go.)

Is your conservatory secluded and secure? I see why you want it there, for the lights, but I think I'd be nervous about keeping my electronics in there (but then I'm totally paranoid and take mine to bed with me!)

How much do you reckon it cost?

crofter



Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Posts: 2252

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I would not worry about the box floating away, most likely that plastic is permeable to hydrogen and you will never trap enough to defy gravity, but agree with vegplot that ventilation is needed (high up in the conservatory, as well as in the box) to stop potential build up of explosive gas. I also wonder if that plastic box might build up a static charge...

I would cut that piece of conduit on the left about a foot shorter and clip it onto the brick wall & clip the rest of the cables as well, to leave a tidy job.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

wellington womble wrote:
keeping my electronics in there (...take mine to bed with me!)



Too much info.

crofter



Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Posts: 2252

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 4:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Just noticed that the batteries are outside? Proper ventilation!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45384
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 5:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

nice but the inverter to lappy thing might be a bit ambitious.iirc my big batteries are 80 amp hours each and a full one would run my lappy via an inverter for about 10 hrs

some lappys are less greedy than mine but they are quite power hungry and there is a loss at the inverter stage of about 15% for most

for led lights and similar stuff that looks like a good rig

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Power your laptop direct from 12volts and avoid all the inverter lark. Manufacturers don't make it easy though.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45384
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

if only it was simple .mine feeds at 19 v ,so not only the inverter loss but the lappy transformer as well as the internal conversion from battery/direct feed to the board voltages

im sure most of this sort of thing is due to historic choices about electronics working voltages ,battery efficiencies etc but a pooter that could feed direct from a 12 v supply (or a simple splitter to 6)would be ace

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

dpack wrote:
if only it was simple .mine feeds at 19 v ,so not only the inverter loss but the lappy transformer as well as the internal conversion from battery/direct feed to the board voltages

im sure most of this sort of thing is due to historic choices about electronics working voltages ,battery efficiencies etc but a pooter that could feed direct from a 12 v supply (or a simple splitter to 6)would be ace

If it is designed for 19V, it will probably work on 18V...

wellington womble



Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 15 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

vegplot wrote:
wellington womble wrote:
keeping my electronics in there (...take mine to bed with me!)



Too much info.


I should clarify that I am discussing my wordly goods, which consist of my iphone, ipad, current knitting project, wallet/chequebook, file of Important Documents and back up external harddrive). It means if I hear noises in the night I can bury my head under the duvet and know that unless they nick the coffee, I can sort it out in the morning, and if there is a fire, we can exit the building with our actual and administrative lives intact!

Post new topic   Reply to topic    Downsizer Forum Index -> Energy Efficiency and Construction/Major Projects All times are GMT
Page Previous  1, 2, 3
Page 3 of 3
View Latest Posts View Latest Posts

 

Archive
Powered by php-BB © 2001, 2005 php-BB Group
Style by marsjupiter.com, released under GNU (GNU/GPL) license.
Copyright © 2004 marsjupiter.com