Sascha D's posts

Posted by Sascha D on Mar 15, 2010 06:52 pm

#31 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Low Battery Cut Out Limits
Well, there is one aspect to take into consideration - a battery bank under load is different than at rest (no load). When your inverter starts drawing from the battery bank, the voltage dips very suddenly. As soon as you remove that load (the inverter stops drawing), the voltage will come back up.

The best metaphor I can think of is someone pushing a trash can 90% full of crumpled paper down with their hand til it looks like it's only 60% full. The moment they remove their hand the crumpled paper pushes back up - perhaps only to 80%. Same with batteries, the voltage bounces back after you remove the load.

That's why voltage isn't an exact way to measure how full your batteries are if they're in use. It is fairly exact if you leave them to rest for a few hours.

So the manufacturer doesn't want your inverter to prematurely cut-out. I don't know if 44V corresponds to 50% full exactly under load... but I know that under load a 44V will go up a few volts when the load is shut-off.
 

Posted by Sascha D on Feb 3, 2009 06:03 pm

#32 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: solar/wind on Xantrex C35 and no charge from wind at night.
Out of curiosity, since the AirX has a built in charge controller in it, why run it through the C35 solar charge controller at all?  Why not just run it straight to the battery bank (with a breaker and stop switch of course in line Smiley.

If you do this type of setup you just need to be sure that one charger (either the C35 or the potentiometer on the AirX setting its charge controller voltage) is set to stop charging before another.  Typically folks set the AirX wind turbine's voltage "full" point to be higher than their solar charge controller's. This way the chargers aren't bopping back in forth thinking "ok, it's charged, wait it's not, oh wait it is, etc.".
 

Posted by Sascha D on Jan 22, 2009 05:09 pm

#33 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Modified sign wave inverter and the new HE washing machines
Howdy Kim,
Generally speaking running anything with motors in with a modified inverter will at best treat it hard.  Modified inverters (b/c of their square wave form) suck about 30% more energy from your batteries to run a motor than pure sine wave inverter.  Also, they will run the actual motor hotter - which usually means in the electrical world a decreased lifetime for that device.

Plus, the modified sinewave inverters are notoriously bad working with some electronics. So if your high efficiency washer has some really cool fancy looking digital display and a microprocessor inside it's possible it might not work at all or potentially even fry it. Or it might work just fine.

Last but not least (I have never verified this BTW), I have heard that some manufacturers of washers will not honor a warranty if it was run on a modified sine wave. One of the exceptions are the Staber washing machines which having been expressly built with off-grid folks with modified sine wave inverters in mind.
 

Posted by Sascha D on Oct 29, 2008 05:41 pm

#34 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Looking for opinions on Enphase Inverters
Hi John,
We (a few of us from AltE) recently had a chance to see Enphase's product at the Solar Power 2008 show. If it's an indication of the interest in their product, their booth more than any other I saw had the largest crowd of folks oozing out into the aisles. It has clearly generated a lot of excitement in our industry and it was the highlight for most our folks that went to the show as well.

Personally, this is a product that I have been bugging manufacturers to come out with for the US market (but apparently Enphase stayed off our radar until now) after Trace let go of their Microsine inverter series.  Our retail division, AltE Store, focuses on helping Do-It-Yourselfers install RE systems safely & successfully. However, grid-tie solar electric systems have almost always involved playing with very high and very dangerous DC voltages - something that only the most skilled DIYer should consider installing and, of course, with the assistance of a licensed electrician for final hookup and code review. So, what impressed me about the Enphase product was how they not only made the install simpler (and simpler to meet code requirements) but that it allows DIYers to play with DC voltages that won't stop their heart. Wink I.e. under 48VDC. 

The other big point is that so many green DIYers are working on a budget that doesn't necessarily allow them to afford the upfront cost of a 5-10kW PV system. A micro grid tie inverter allows folks to add capacity as their budget affords. You add one inverter & one panel at a time. And whether you live in a state that has an aggressive rebate program for RE systems or not, the 2008 or 2009 tax credit makes this small of a system even more financially attractive.

We're hoping to get one of these units into our AltE "Labs" to test and play with soon.  So with any luck, our guys will be able to provide you and other folks out there with some of our test results. Stay tuned!
 

Posted by Sascha D on Sep 26, 2008 07:03 pm

#35 -  Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: DIY solar collector enclosure?
Hey Steven, I've played around with creating my own collectors in the past. When I was prototyping I actually used the galvanized steel studs you can buy in hardware store and sheet metal screw to attach the vertical and horizontal members together. I used aluminum sheet as a backing. Obviously, the big downside with galvanized steel is that it will begin to corrode pretty quickly, unless you have it nicely painted and kept that way. Also with the Al skin on the back I used a silicon gasket (caulking) to minimize the corrosion potential from two dissimilar metals touching. Extruded aluminum would optimal but it is, as you've discovered, hard to find a supplier and the right design.

You can then use cyana-I-don't-what-it's-called foam insulation board for the backing and the internal sides. The trick will definitely be to keep the glass in place - not too rigidly so it doesn't break with temperature variations causing everything to expand/contract. Again, I'd use that silicon as a gasket between the glass and whatever metal you decide to go with.

Just some ideas - I'm a total amateur when it comes to this but I thought I'd share some of my amateur-ish experiences. One thing I did gain from trying to do it myself was a complete respect for how hard it actually is for manufacturers to make a solid product - whereas I would be afraid to place any warranty on any of my creations. Wink
 

Posted by Sascha D on May 22, 2008 06:08 pm

#36 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Help with Designing Security Camera System
Hey Chuck,
This is a nice and simple system to design, since you can run it all at 12V. Here's all you need to do:

1)Figure out your total load (per day) in watt-hours. You can do that by using the load calculator here:
http://howto.altenergystore.com/Calculators/c5/

I assume the equipment will be running 24 hrs/day, so be sure to put in that info.

2)Then use our off grid system calculator (link to it is in the same place as above) to determine how many watts of solar panel(s) you'll need. Hit the blue links to the next for sizing the charge controllers and the battery bank.

3) Once you narrowed down on a particular solar panel that's at least the wattage rating that you come up with in the calculator (better to err on larger than smaller), choose a top of pole or side of pole mount.  They can be found here:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Solar-Trackers-Solar-Panel-Mounts/c459/

Just going into the specification page for any of them and look for the pricing and sizing guide (PDF) to match up the mount model with your solar panel of choice.

4) Now I'm not sure if you equipment needs exactly 12V or can work directly from a 12V battery (or battery bank) which can range from 10-15V.  If you think that you need exactly 12V then you need a regulator. This one should work:

http://store.altenergystore.com/ec/SORFB12-3

MISC
----
A. Solar Panels:
You can choose your solar panel from here:
http://store.altenergystore.com/Solar-Panels/c541/

(note: I'd recommend a amorphous or CIGS type of solar panel, that's more resistant to partial shading (as opposed to mono or polycrystalline) just in case you have nearby tree branches or shrubbage to worry about. Check out the Global Solar units.)

B. Batteries:
http://store.altenergystore.com/Batteries/c434/

C. Charge Controllers:
http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/c892/

(for a small simple system probably fine to go with PWM charge controller - check out Morningstar, they tend to be more rugged).

D. You'll want breakers or fuses between your solar panel and your charge controller. Then another between your charge controller and your battery bank. Then one more between the voltage regulator (if you use it) and the devices you'll be powering. Generally, on either side of the charge controller, if you use a 12V DC breaker rated for the same max current as the charge controller then yer fine. I'd use a 5A fuse/breaker between your equipment and your battery bank (or your voltage regulator, if you decide to use it).

That should cover most of it!

Might plop in a DC Lightning Arrestor to protect your investment from nearby lightning strikes.

Hope that helps. Smiley


D. To size the cables for your system check out our article here:
http://howto.altenergystore.com/Library-Articles/Solar-Electric-Power-PV-Systems/Cables-Wires/c17/


 

Posted by Sascha D on Dec 21, 2007 10:27 am

#37 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Auxiliary Relays
I could be wrong here, but I believe you can do that with those same beefy relays we offer. They are capable of carrying a high amount of DC amps which tend to clamp contacts. AC on the other hand for the same amperage doesn't clamp the contacts as much. So my theory is that if you use DC for controlling the relay (from the Xantrex inverter's relay) and then AC on the other side of the relay, it should work (as long as you're not going over the amperage rating).

We've never tried this and I haven't heard of anyone using these relays for this purpose, so I could be completely wrong. But in theory I think this should work.
 

Posted by Sascha D on Dec 10, 2007 09:39 am

#38 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Auxiliary Relays
Hi Ben,
We offer high power relays just for the purpose that you mention. See here:
http://store.altenergystore.com/Enclosures-Electrical-and-Safety/Miscellaneous-Electrical-Parts/High-Current-Relays/c642/

You can hook these higher power relays up to the low power relay of your Xantrex inverter. The high current connection of the relays would be connected to your battery bank and whatever dump load device you'd prefer. We offer air heating resistors and hot water tank elements for optional dump loads. See here:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Enclosures-Electrical-and-Safety/Miscellaneous-Electrical-Parts/Dump-Loads-Dump-Load-Controllers/Diversion-LoadsDump-Loads/c516/

And it sounds like you have some other creative and good ideas to use with that excess energy.

Hope that helps!
 

Posted by Sascha D on Oct 5, 2006 06:10 pm

#39 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: I am looking for a 12 volt programable timer.
As a less expensive option or if you need more amps you might try one of the Phoco CX series charge controllers. These solar controllers can be simultaneously used as a load controller. That is you can connect up a DC load (as long as it's not over the capacity of the controller, 10, 20 or 40 Amps) and program it to shut off or on whenever you want.

Check them out here:

CX10
http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/Pwm-Type-Solar-Charge-Contollers/Phocos-Solar-Charge-Controllers-Pwm/Phocos-CX10-10A1224V-PWM-Charge-Controller/

CX20
http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/Pwm-Type-Solar-Charge-Contollers/Phocos-Solar-Charge-Controllers-Pwm/Phocos-CX20-Charge-Controller/

CX40
http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/Pwm-Type-Solar-Charge-Contollers/Phocos-Solar-Charge-Controllers-Pwm/Phocos-CX40-40A1224V-PWM-Charge-Controller/


Coming very shortly is a new interface for these controllers which allow you to connect them to a computer to program. Really cool and easy to use interface (USB).  In the interim you can program it through its simple interface on the front.

Best of luck!
 

Posted by Sascha D on Oct 3, 2006 12:14 pm

#40 -  Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Mounting Lighting arrestors
The lightning arrestor you'll need for the Whisper (as well as the other Whispers, and the Lakota) are the 3 phase ones. These turbines produce a wild 3 phase AC signal that gets sent to the controller (load diversion controller usually) at ground level. The lightning arrestor is placed in parallel with all of these 3 phases and one connection goes to ground.

Here's a link to the appropriate Delta 3 phase lightning arrestor:

http://store.altenergystore.com/FusesBreakersEtc/Lightning-Arrestors/Delta-Lightning-Arrestors-La-303-3-Phase-Lightning-Arrestor/p471/

Incidentally, the Air X (and Bergey XL.1) uses just the normal DC lightning arrestor because it has the rectifiers and controller built in internally and shoots out DC electricity (instead of the wild AC electricity). That lightning arrestor can be found here:

http://store.altenergystore.com/FusesBreakersEtc/Lightning-Arrestors/Delta-Lightning-Arrestors-La302-Dc-Lightning-Arrestor/p473/

 

Posted by Sascha D on Sep 26, 2006 06:11 pm

#41 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Solar panels/charge controller and RFI
Your idea with the metal screen (copper, iron, aluminium, etc) should work as well. Though I wonder if the RF noise could escape where the holes are for the cables.

If that doesn't work and you're close to a Radio Shack, you might pickup a toroid choke core or 2 to wrap the the incoming/outgoing wires of the controller to repress the RF signals.
 

Posted by Sascha D on Sep 26, 2006 04:36 pm

#42 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Choosing solar modules
Great question and point Kurt! Solar panel selection is usually not just about price per watt. For some it's about the technology, the brand, the efficiency per square foot (due to limited roof space), what else the company produces or stands for besides solar, warranty length, types of connectors or junction boxes on the back, etc.

To answer your question specifically, my suggestion would be to consider solar panels which use amorphous or thinfilm technologies.  This type of PV tends to produce more power in diffuse light conditions (i.e. overcast, dawn or dusk) than polycrystalline or monocrystalline. In fact, generally speaking, an amorphous or thin film solar panel would produce more energy (watt-hours) over the course of a day than a mono or poly crystalline panel of exactly the same wattage rating.  This effect is because of the fact that they are able to capture more power from low light and indirect light conditions.

Efficiency is often too focused on as well as the most important thing. It's only important if you have limited space to place the panels or for some reason the weight, the larger dimensions cause problems in the install or transport.

Some examples of manufacturers that produces amorphous and thin film solar panels are:

Global Solar
http://store.altenergystore.com/Global-Solar/m30/

Kaneka
http://store.altenergystore.com/Kaneka/m37/

Uni-Solar
http://store.altenergystore.com/Unisolar/m79/

Iowa Thin Film (Power Film)
http://store.altenergystore.com/Iowa-Thin-Film-Technologies/m35/

As you'll see many of these companies produces PV that are flexible and foldable.  However, Kaneka & Uni-Solar produce modules currently with rigid frames appropriate for mounting on a house.

Hope that helps!
 

Posted by Sascha D on Sep 18, 2006 11:56 pm

#43 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Tenerife climate - solar hot water panels or PV ?
The economics of heating (water or air) using an expensive technology that is only 10-17% efficient (i.e. solar electric panels) in converting the sun's light to useable energy is so poor that with the same money you'd spend on a solar electric systems you could probably buy from 10 to 16 solar pool heating systems (if not more).

Solar pool heating systems are very efficient at converting the sun's light to heat (60-70+%). They are also inexpensive when compared to using not only solar electric panels (PV) but also traditional sources of heating (natural gas, electricity from the grid, etc).  Solar pool heaters have one of the best financial paybacks of all of the renewable energy systems available for home owners.  A solar pool heating system can pay for itself in just one year (that's with no rebate, no tax credit, nada). Not many investements out there that give 100% return in one year! And in your case, as it sounds like you'll be using your pool all year round your payback period is probably even better.

If you're worried about using it in the summer. Just unplug it! It should be just about that easy. Disconnect it from being in line with the pool pump.

For some examples of solar pool heaters see:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Solar-Pool-Heaters-and-Solar-Spa-Heaters/c622/
 

Posted by Sascha D on Sep 11, 2006 12:16 am

#44 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: What MPPT???
Aboard my sailboat I have one 130W PV panel and three Rolls 4-D batteries, 185 AH each. I may add another 130W PV panel. What size amp MPPT charge controller should I use?

Generally speaking charge controllers are rated by their maximum output amperage. Let's assume you want to size for two KC130 (2 x 130 watts), then that's 260 Watts total. I'm going to assume you have a 12 Volt system.  So to figure out the maximum amperage output we divide the power by the voltage (from the formula Power = Volts x Amps). So here's what we'd get:

 260 Watts / 12 Volts = 21.7 Amps

In reality there's a number of effects that could actually cause your panels to produce more power than their rating - like reflected sunlight off of the water, cold temperatures, battery voltage is very low (10.5V instead of the 12V assumed above), etc. So for those reasons we generally boost up that calculation by 25%:
 
 21.7 Amps x 125% = 27.1 Amps

So you'd need an MPPT charge controller that can handle 27 Amps or more.

Here are some of the MPPT controllers that Alt-E offers in that range:

 Blue Sky Energy's Solar Boost 3024i:
 http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/MPPT-Solar-Charge-Controllers/Blue-Sky-Solar-Charge-Controllers-MPPT/Blue-Sky-Energy-SOLAR-BOOST-3024i-30A1224V-wo-Display/p240/

 BZ Product's MMPT500:
 http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/MPPT-Solar-Charge-Controllers/BZ-Products-Charge-Controllers-MPPT/Bz-Products-MPPT500-40A122448V-Charge-Controller/p295/


One of the neat things about both of these controllers is that you could connect your 2nd panel up in series with 1st one for 24V and the controllers will automatically downconvert very effeciently. Wiring them in 24V will reduce the amount of wire runs you'll need to do. Handy trick.
 

Posted by Sascha D on Sep 9, 2006 02:26 pm

#45 -  Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Batteries voltage going down
I also have dropping voltage from my single 130 watt Kyocera pv panel installed aboard my sailboat.

Yesterday I had it connected up for the first time ( wired 12 ga. wire direct from pv panel to SunSaver 10 then wired direct to two Rolls 4-D batteries. Voltage within a couple of hours was up to 14+ during mostly hazy and diminishing sunlight.

Today, a bright and sunny day, pv panel aimed, it will not get past 13.3 volts.

With the pv panel wires open, I see 20.9 volts, and load at 13.3

Did I damage my panel when I started my diesel engine last night? Did I run voltage from my alternator (14.Cool back into the pv panel and ruin it?

Same case as with Jorge above. Everything is working exactly as it should. Because you're not using a charge controller with MPPT technology then your PV is forced to operate at the same voltage as your batteries. The highest your PV voltage will rise to will be the full voltage of your batteries, which is around 14 plus volts.

Running your diesel engine to charge up the battery bank would not damage your PV nor your charge controller. It would just make your batteries full and happy really fast. Wink

Also, remember that a battery bank's voltage changes when you hook a load up to it. At rest, the battery bank full charged may be say 14.4V.  But the moment you run a load on that battery bank (e.g. a bilge pump, lights, radio, etc) that voltage will dip a bit ... like down to 13.3V. As soon as you remove that load you'll see the voltage will actually creep up again. If you only ran the load for a very short period of time, the voltage may rise right back to the full voltage (14.4V). That's all ok and normal.
 

Posted by Sascha D on Sep 9, 2006 02:05 pm

#46 -  Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Batteries voltage going down
What you noticed is exactly how solar panels behave when disconnected and then connected to a battery bank.  They have a higher voltage when they're not connected to any load (e.g. a battery bank).  This voltage is called the open circuit voltage of the solar panel (Voc).  You can see the open circuit voltage for the KC130 in its specification page here:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Solar-Electric-Panels/100-to-149-Watts-Solar-Panels/Kyocera-Solar-KC130TM-130W-12V-Solar-Panel-w-J-Box/p2403/

Once they are connected to the battery bank they are forced to operate at the same voltage as the battery bank (which in 12V system could be anywhere from about 10 to 14V DC).

If your concerned that your solar panels are working at lower voltage than their maximum voltage and that you might not be getting all of the power that you could otherwise get - you're not too far off from being right. The catch is that the solar panels don't produce their maximum power at their highest voltage (which is the voltage you see when the panels aren't connected to anything).

Every solar panel has a defined voltage where it optimally operates and produces the most power (Power = Voltage x Amperes). This voltage is called the maximum power point voltage (Vmp). You'll see in the spec page for the KC130 the max. power voltage is 17.6V DC. So yes, when your solar panels are connected through the Flexcharge charge controller and then the battery bank they are forced to operate at a voltage below the maximum power voltage (they forced to operate at the battery bank's voltage).

The problem isn't your solar panels and in reality that's how the Flexcharge charge controllers work.  They aren't sophisticated enough to allow the panels to operate at their optimal voltage and at the same time allow the batteries to work at their lower voltage.   In fact, this is the way all charge controllers used to work until the advent of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) charge controllers. Only MPPT type of charge controllers can efficiently convert a solar panel's higher optimal power voltage down to a battery bank's voltage.

For examples of MPPT charge controllers see:
http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/MPPT-Solar-Charge-Controllers/c474/

Using what I refer to as "traditional" charge controllers means that when a battery bank is really low (and has a really low voltage) the solar panel is made to function at a  voltage that's really far from it's optimal power producing voltage (e.g. it may be forced to work at 10.5V instead of 17.9V).  As a result, the solar panel will actually produce 30% less power than it would if it was at its optimal voltage (that's a lot of power loss!).
 

Posted by Sascha D on Aug 31, 2006 01:35 pm

#47 -  AltE > Announcements > Thanks to Our Customers for Making Alt-E an Inc 500 Company!
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and our many customers over the last 7 years+ for making us a 2006 Inc. 500 company. Since our inception in 1999 we have been fortunate to provide our services and renewable energy products to great customers all over the world.

We look forward to making our company serve you even better over the next several years. This is an exciting time to be in the renewable energy industry as there has been a strong upswing over the last few years and renewable energy is clearly beginning to go mainstream.  As we grow more over the upcoming years, we plan to make going with renewable energy systems even more do-able, understandable and financially feasible than before.

Thank you all again!

Sascha Deri
President

News On Our Inc 500 Listing:
http://store.altenergystore.com/press_center/Alternative-Energy-Store-Named-on-the-2006-Inc-500-List/n19/
 

Posted by Sascha D on Aug 17, 2006 06:07 pm

#48 -  AltE > Announcements > New Articles in How-To Area
Hello RE Enthusiasts - We just wanted to bring to everyone's attention that there are a number of new articles that we've added to the How-To section of the website.  Here are some of the new articles we've added:

'Help - I'm New - Where Do I Start?'
 http://howto.altenergystore.com/The-Basics/Help-Im-New-Where-to-start/a64/

'Energy Efficiency and Your Home'
 http://howto.altenergystore.com/The-Basics/Energy-Efficiency-and-Your-Home/a40/

'Determining the Renewable Energy Source for You'
 http://howto.altenergystore.com/The-Basics/Determining-the-Renewable-Energy-Source-for-You/a41/

We'd appreciate your feedback on the articles we've created and ideas on additional articles that you'd like to see in the future.
 

Posted by Sascha D on Jul 3, 2006 12:39 am

#49 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Solar Battery Charging of Security System
I just ordered 3 Linksys WVC 200 PTZ cameras and 3 IR illuminators.  I want to place them outside in a sealed box around my yard in a non powered area and I am looking to attach SLA batteries and solar charging to run them  The power supply for the camera is a "5DVC 2.5A Power Supply" and the illuminator runs a "DC12V 1.5A Power Supply"  I want to buy (1) "12V 12A" SLA Batteries for each camera and illuminator set with a solar panel charger but I have just a few questions.
 
> First -  Does "5DVC" the same as "DC5V"? 

Yes, it does. Smiley

Quote
> Second - Will the battery that I want to buy be sufficient to power those two apparatus on that one battery?

That depends on how long you plan to run the wireless cameras. The way I like to calculate these things is to convert everything into watts and watt-hours.

Let's start off by assuming you want to run the camera 24 hours/day. Let's also assume that the whole time those power supplies will be running at full power.  Here's how we calculate the watts each part takes:

 Power = Current x Voltage

 Wireless Camera:
 ---------------
 Power (watts) = 2.5A x 5V DC = 12.5 Watts
 
 IR Illuminator:
 --------------
 Power = 12V x 1.5A = 18 Watts

Now we need to figure out how much energy (watt-hours) these devices will consume over the period of a day.  We simply multiply the watts for each times the hours they'll be running per day (all day long in this case):

 Energy (watt-hours) = (Watts for Camera x 24 hrs) + (Watts for IR Illuminator x 24 hrs)
                     = (12.5W x 24hrs) + (18W x 24hrs)
                     = (300 W-hrs + 432 W-hrs)
                     = 732 W-hrs


Now, because all of the electronics, the batteries, wires, etc are not 100% electrically efficient we need to increase this number by 30%:

 Daily Watt-Hours =
                  = 732 W-hrs x 1.3
                  = 952 W-hrs

30% might be a little on the high side but you will need a DC-DC converter to bring the battery's 12V voltage down to the 5V for the camera (or if those power supplies run off of 120V AC then you will need a minimal inverter of 50 to 100W, 12V). The 12V illuminator I would think you could run directly off of the battery (though the battery isn't exactly 12V).

Ok, so now for the moment of truth - let's figure out how many amp-hours your battery needs to be.  We'll convert the watt-hours value to amp-hours:

  Amp-Hours = Watt-hours/Voltage
            = 952 W-hrs/12 V
            = 79 A-Hrs

That's not quite the end of the picture. You don't want the battery to 100% discharged by the end of the day or your battery will be lucky if it lasts you more than a few days. You need to make sure that the battery doesn't discharge more than 50% to ensure a relatively long lifetime. In other words, we need to double that number:
 
  Amp-Hours of Battery = 79 A-Hrs x 2
                       = 158 A-Hrs

So the bad news is the battery you selected is significantly less than you would need. You need one that's around 160 A-Hrs and 12V (or a combination of batteries that gives you the same).

Also, if you're in a location that dips down into chilly temperatures the battery's capacity will be reduced. For instance, at 32 degrees F, a lead-acid battery will have about 60% of its capacity at 77 degrees F.  So, if this your  case you'll need to use an even larger battery to have enough capacity.

Finally, we did these calculations assuming you'd have enough sun ever day and no rainy/overcast days.  In reality you want to make the battery even larger to take into account a few continuously overcast days. For each additional over cast day, add another 158A-Hrs to the battery size (at this point you'll need to have multiple batteries).


Quote
>Third - Will the battery last for at least 12 hours while running those devices and if not, what kind of battery should I buy?

If you run it for 12 hours only, you'll need half the size of the battery we just came up with above (i.e. about 80 Amp-hrs, 12V).

Quote
> Fourth - What wattage do I need for the solar panel and what kind of solar charge controller should I purchase to adequately charge the battery during the day.

Assuming you'll want to use this all year round, we'll need to size the solar panel to provide enough power when you get the least amount of sun (usually in the winter). Since, I don't know your location, let's just go with Columbus, Ohio as an example. Here's the formula that we need to go through:

 Power of Solar Panel = (Daily Watt-Hours)/Lowest Insolation Value for Location

 I look up the lowest solar insolation value for Columbus, OH here:

http://howto.altenergystore.com/Reference-Materials/Solar-Insolation-Data-USA-Cities/a35/

and I see that it is 2.66 hrs. So our calculation is:

 Power Solar Panel = (952 W-hrs)/2.66 hrs
                   = 357 Watts

So you might consider 3 x 120 or 130 watt solar panels (e.g. Evergreen EC-120, Kyocera KC-130, etc) connected in parallel (positives of each panel all connected together and negatives all connected together).

Solar Charge Controller:
-----------------------
I'd recommend a solar charge controller that has "LVD" (Low Voltage Disconnect). This feature allows you to connect up your loads (the camera and illuminator) up the charge controller, then the controller will automatically disconnect the loads from the battery if it ever gets seriously low (to protect your battery's life).

To size the charge controller we just need to get one that can handle all of the current from those three panels. Roughly speaking here's how we can calculate it:

 Current = Total Power of Solar Panels/Voltage of Panels
         = 360 Watts/12 Volts
         = 30 Amps

So we need a charge controller that can handle 30 Amps but probably better to choose 35A-40A as a safety margin (and in case you go with 130 Watt panels instead of 120). Here are some examples:

Phocos 40A 12/24V Controller
Click: http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/Pwm-Type-Solar-Charge-Contollers/Phocos-Solar-Charge-Controllers-Pwm/CX40-40A1224V-PWM-Charge-Controller/p1018/

Morningstar Tristar 45A 12/24/48V Controller
Click: http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/Pwm-Type-Solar-Charge-Contollers/Morningstar-Charge-Controllers-Pwm/TRISTAR-45-45A-CHG-CTLR-WITHOUT-DISPLAY/p806/

Xantrex 40A 12/24/48V Controller
http://store.altenergystore.com/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/Pwm-Type-Solar-Charge-Contollers/Xantrex-Solar-Charge-Controllers-Pwm/Trace-C40-40A12-48V-CHARGE-CONTROLLER/p2070/


Quote
> Finally - How do I "plug them in" to the whole battery power thing?

The panels you'll want to wire in parallel (positives to positives, negative to negatives). Then you'll want to run a pair of wires (positive and negative) to the charge controller. Then from there a pair of wires to the battery (or batteries). Then connect up your loads to the battery. If you want to use a DC-DC converter to convert the battery's 12V down to 5V for the camera, I'd recommend Solar  Converters EQ12/24-5R5 which converts 12-24V TO 5V, and works with up to 5 amps.

Last but not least, you'll want to put DC rated fuses or breakers (over current protectoin) between each part of the system. For the fuse between the solar panels and the charge controller and the one between the controller and the batteries you should be able to get away with 40 to 50 Amp  You'll want to put fuses between the battery and the camera and illuminator.

Hope that helps!
 

Posted by Sascha D on Jul 2, 2006 11:11 pm

#50 -  Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Need information about on the grid solar power
Hey Brian - Thomas probably narrowed down upon your biggest consumer of energy, your AC. If we can get your cooling costs down we'll probably significantly reduce your electric bill.

You are actually fortunate that you live in AZ because there is an air conditioning alternative for you that will significantly reduce your electric bill.  Because the Arizona climate is relatively dry you can take advantage of evaporative coolers (also known as swamp coolers). Evaporative coolers use a fraction (around 25% or less) of the energy that AC units use. On a good dry day an evaporative cooler can't 100 degree F days down into the mid 70's.

Evaporative coolers work by forcing the hot air through a wet pad. So, evaporative coolers inherently consume some water while they are running.

Alt-E sells evaporative coolers that can work directly off of a few solar panels. See:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Energy-Efficient-Products/Evaporative-Coolers/c500/

Another tip for keeping your home cooling costs would be to install a solar attic fan. By constantly pulling out the hotter in your attic the floors below stay cooler and your air conditioner (or evaporative coolers Smiley need to work less - which means they need less electricity. And because solar attic fans don't need any wiring they're fairly easy for the do-it-yourself to install. 

See here for solar attic fans that Alt-E offers:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Energy-Efficient-Products/Fan-Products/Solar-Attic-Fans/c1001/

While I think it's fantastic that you're interested in going 'grid-tie' with solar, the first step to renewable is looking at how you can make your home more efficient first.

Hope that helps!
 

Posted by Sascha D on Jun 24, 2004 10:41 am

#51 -  Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: where do I begin?
The Alternative Energy Store offers a variety of appliances, including gas powered refrigerators, appropriate for off-grid living. You can review them online by going to http://shop.altenergystore.com/go.asp?Cc=ENGAPPLN

Frequently, there are gas appliance service people located locally - I would start off by opening up your Yellow Pages and looking under "Gas Appliance Servicing".

 

Posted by Sascha D on Oct 7, 2003 11:32 pm

#52 -  Renewable Energy > Wanted > Re: Wind to grid system
The Lakota wind turbine does seem to be a promising turbine capable of handling windspeeds and not reduce its power after it goes beyond its rated speed.  We've been very happy with it here at the Alternative Energy Store and offer it our customers. However, I would refrane from assuming that it would produce at least 70% of an average size home.

To start off, in our experience, there really is no true "average" home value for the amount of power (kilowatt hours) consumed.  This varies wildly from state to state, country to country and neighbor to neighbor.  For instance, in my home we consume approximately 300kWHr per month. However, typical customers we speak with (US, Canada and other countries) consume anywhere from 500kWHrs to 3500kWhrs(!).  Clearly that's a wide range, and people on the higher end of the usage spectrum need to look for ways to be more energy efficient. Look at your current electric bill to see how much you currently consume.

Next, you simply can't make any assumption of how much power a wind turbine is going to produce until you know how much wind is your location. The Lakota, as an example, will produce about 250kWHrs per month in average wind speed of around 12mph. In my personal situation, if I had that relatively strong average wind speed the Lakota would produce about 80% of power requirements. However, again, our home tends to be on the very low side of the consumption spectrum compared to folks in the US and Canada.  

Rich, to answer your questions specifically:

You ask: Is there a transformer with a disconnect that will take power from a wind generator and pump it directly to grid?

Response: All of the grid tie inverter systems (solar or wind) inherently and to be electric code compliant will automatically disconnect the power generated by your system from the electric utility line should the grid go down.

You Ask: If someone hit a utility pole, how do would I stop power from the wind generator from back feeding through the breaker panel and frying the line worker? Can this be done with out having to manually hit a disconnect? ( at work, out of the house)

Response: Again, the same as above. The inverter would take care of that automagically and the excess energy would be diverted to a "dump" load (see below).

You Ask: Can I divert the load so the wind generator does not �free wheel� out of control?

Response: Excellent question! Most folks don't usually think about this particular situation (you're clearly thinking of all the possibilities, as you should). Typically the wind turbine systems have a "dump load" (usually a high wattage heating coil/element) where they can dump their excess energy to, should the utility grid be unavailable.

For the Lakota wind turbine, to use that as an example again, we usually recommend:

* An SW series inverter (e.g. the SW4024: http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/2.html )
* The Grid Tie Interface unit to go with the SW4024 and allow you to do grid intertie (http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/951.html)
* Appropriate disconnects and fuses and cables
* A minimal battery bank of ~250A-Hrs (unless you want to have more of a backup power supply)
* A Trace C40 used in diversion control mode in conjunction with a high amperage DC relay to through excess power to a high wattage heating coil (e.g. a electric dryer element - you can get these for $25-$40).
* You're overall cost on the components for such a system would be around $7-$8k.

Going with a Trace SW series Power Panel (e.g.: http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/51.html) will greatly reduce your wiring, time for installation and worries for being code compliant.  It combines the inverter, disconnects and much of the wire nicely on a single metal backplane.

At this time, there are no grid tie inverters on the market that we're aware of that are UL approved and allow you to hook up any 'ol electric wind turbine (like the Lakota) to the grid. There are, however, systems that we sell (such as the Excel from Bergey or the Jacobs wind trubine) that do come with a grid tie inverter specially designed for use with those turbines  and do not use a battery bank. However, these systems cost around $20k-$30k including the towers. This may not be where you wanted to start at, price-wise.

 

Posted by Sascha D on Mar 23, 2003 11:26 pm

#53 -  AltE > Discussion > Re: Blackout Buster for use abroad
HI Kodjo,
We would be happy to put this package together for you.  We would simply substitute the SW4024 inverter for one of these Xantrex Inverters.

Xantrex/Trace SW3024E
http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/503.html

Xantrex/Trace SW3048E
http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/504.html

Xantrex/Trace SW4548E
http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/505.html

The cost would be slightly different due to the different inverter. If you're interested write us at sales @ altenergystore.com to request a detailed price quote. Please provide your shipping address. If possible, it will probably save you a good deal of money if you can provide us with a freight forwarded location and company name here in the US that will deliver to your country.

kind regards,
Sascha

 

Posted by Sascha D on Dec 18, 2001 01:24 am

#54 -  Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Four $ a Watt
>unfortunately, it looks like due to all
>the increased demands for solar in
>the last few months, the price
>per watt has been edging up.
>It's that whole supply vs demand
>thing.

Alex is right on the button unfortunately. Demand has been fairly high over the last year and manufacturers have had little incentive to extend extra low prices. If you're fortunate to live in a state (like CA or IL) that aggressive buy down programs - that will definitely get the cost of a solar panel down below $4/watt... does that count?

We'll see what the new year brings and how the economy shapes demand/pressures on manufacturers.

Happy Holidays to all,
Sascha

 

Posted by Sascha D on May 27, 2001 03:49 pm

#55 -  AltE > Discussion > Re: Fuel Cells: MIA
Great question!
The Alternative Energy Store has been actively investigating offering fuel cells to our customers. However, to date (May 27th, 2001), what we've found is that fuel cells for the home market are not yet there. We've looked at several companies and some have prototypes, some even have beta product trials and a few have very expensive first generation products available. We believe that by the end of this year you should see the Alt E Store offering these products.

Feel free to start up a thread to discuss this cutting edge technology!

Kind Regards,
Sascha

 

Posted by Sascha D on Apr 25, 2001 10:43 pm

#56 -  AltE > Discussion > Re: wind power\generator
Hi Cheryl,
I would suggest writing to our tech support folks directly at: support @ AltEnergyStore.com . If you haven't already, we also suggest looking at our Alt-E University seminars on wind power.

Best Wishes

 

Posted by Sascha D on Feb 12, 2001 03:38 pm

#57 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Whisper 175
Hi Scott,
I'll let other folks respond to your question on Whisper install in Kansas. To date, we've had no Whisper customers in that state - so we can't reference anyone directly.

However, I'm concerned about your not being able to send a mail to our support system. What time did you send the message? We've been receiving messages without any issues over the last few days, and we just did another test of the system - so I'm wondering if there's some fluke we're not catching.

Thanks!
Sascha

 

Posted by Sascha D on Jan 30, 2001 03:01 pm

#58 -  AltE > Discussion > Re: no one responding to my email
Hi Mark,
I just wanted to reply to your message. First, we apologize that your email was not responded to in a timely manner. Our tech and sales staff has been recently inundated with emails, questions, order follow-ups, and some emails have slipped through the cracks. I have personally asked that your order be checked up upon to see what the status and we will send you out an email shortly.

It is normal for orders of two or more items to not all arrive in one package, as we utilize multiple warehouses throughout the country to optimize getting your order out the soonest.

Kind Regards,
Sascha

 

Posted by Sascha D on Jan 13, 2001 03:00 pm

#59 -  AltE > Discussion > Re: no one responding to my email
Hi James,
I just wanted to answer your question in regards to shipping cost of an AIR403 to California. It would roughly cost between $25 and $30. And yes, you can certainly just add the AIR403 to your cart and go through the checkout process partially to see the shipping (without having to checkout all the way).

Regards,
Sascha

 

Posted by Sascha D on Aug 8, 2000 12:36 am

#60 -  Renewable Energy > For Sale > Re: solar panels
There are two versions of the PW1000, the UL listed and the ... well, not UL listed. The Alt-E Store does offer both:

Photowatt 100W Panel, UL Listed
http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/577.html

Photowatt PW1000 (100W)
http://www.AltEnergyStore.com/cart/378.html

Of course, the UL Listed one costs a bit more.

 

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