SOLAR ENERGY

[BADVE]

IN THE DAYS OF CONTINUEOUS LOAD SHADING FROM POWER SUPPLY AUTHORITIES IS IT POSSIBLE TO USE SOLAR ENERGY TO RUN A HOUSE WITH 5 KW CONNECTED LOAD?

CAN ANY BODY THROW THE LIGHT OF UTILITY OF SOLAR ENERGY FOR COMMON MAN WHO WILL BE INDEPENDANT ON STATE POWER SUPPLY GRID?

 

[itsmoked]

BADVE: Generally it is not viable to run 5KW of connected load with solar.

Unless:

1) You have a lot of space.
2) A lot of solar exposure.
3) Willingness to fuss with batteries A LOT.
4) Lots of money.
5) Don't mind spending far more than
grid power would cost.
6) Don't mind replacing a huge bank of batteries regularily.
7) Space for lots of batteries.
8) Maybe 70K dollars for inital installation.

Now if you are talking 1KW of connected load things might look less bleak.

 

[OperaHouse]

I have a camp and I got the great idea to run a small 50W 12V (running 12 min every hour)refrigerator from 150 watts of solar panel. The calculations were based on an average 3 hours of sunshine a day for that area. Figured that that this being prime summer condition, this would be easy. It was a total disaster. Even though it was great weather, the slightest cloud drops your power to about nothing. The best systems are where you don't do any storage and sell the excess back to the grid. The energy is free, the hardware isn't. The rule of thumb is, five days of storage power.

 

[itsmoked]

Yes if you can ditch the batteries and use the utility as your storage it makes things a WHOLE lot easier.

OperaHouse I bet you had too little battery?

 

[OperaHouse]

Too little battery. Technically, you could say that was true. Battery was large enough to run the system for 2.5 days, I needed a battery that would last two weeks! Just bad luck with the weather in upstate NY. For a majority of the time the system could only produce about 2A though peak currents would approach 10A. The comment is that it takes a really large system to have DEPENDABLE power. I've run the entire house for years (without refrigeration) on only about 200WH supplied by a connection to my vehicle.

 

[itsmoked]

Whoa, whoa, WHOA! You run your HOUSE off of a VEHICLE??? Or you run your summer cottage off your vehicle?

Well sounds like you need to augment the solar with one of those lunchpails you put on top of your wood stove.

http://www.hi-z.com/websit10.htm

http://www.triz-journal.com/archives/1997/01/a/index.htm

And if its up in the hills, a wind generator. The sail boat types get truely amazing amounts of energy out of those things.

Only a few of the zillions:

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.html

http://www.solardyne.com/windgenerators.html

http://www.unlimited-power.co.uk/Aerogen_wind_turbines.html

 

[OperaHouse]

Just a couple of lights to read at night, TV, and CD at the camp. Tried a test wind generator, it hardly ever turned. You need a good 11 mph wind for a generator to work. A propane refrigerator is way cheaper than more solar panels! These things always sound easier than the reality.

 

[itsmoked]

Indeed.. Solar systems are really very simple sounding but the details are many some are critical and can turn things sour quickly, as you've seen.

Propane refers are very reliable too. I used to work in a biology lab in a knew facility. Half the refers were propane.

 

[Warpspeed]

I have seen a lot of these systems over the years, they are all horribly expensive to install and maintain. An absolutely huge battery will be required for reliable power during winter. An engine driven battery charger will probably reduce the battery capacity requirement, but it adds even more cost, maintenance, and complexity.

If you are really serious, a hybrid system using solar (summer) wind power(winter) with a backup engine driven charger, and a massive battery can work, but it will keep you constantly busy. The batteries might need replacing every few years too, and that can be a significant cost.

Wind turbines can self destruct in storms, and hail damage can wreck solar panels. Reliable ? remote area power can certainly be interesting hehehe.