#2 -
Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > The Strive to be independant
Okay so after watching the Al Gore movie, I've decided that I 'm going to build an environmentally friendly house. I've gone through the forums and I've looked online, but I also want the opinion of the people on this site. First off, my estimated kWh... Here's the thing, the house that I'm building is about 2x my current house. BUT! I'll be using ICF walls w/ a geothermal heat exchanger and radiant floors. So, for heating (if the earth cools off and stops spinning) I'll still be able to heat my house with a candle and cool it off with an ice cube. The Beginner’s Guide said that the average US house uses 500 kWh?! My highest kWh for the last 3 years is 147 kWh. The only gas appliances that I have are the water heater and the forced air unit. So, given all that I would think that 200kWh would be sufficient. (Please poke as many flaws in my thinking as possible, I enjoy creative criticism.) So! Now for the equipment:
Land:
The lot that I bought is good desert land, it's always sunny at least 3 hours a day and if it's not sunny, the wind is at 9-24 mph. There's a breeze almost all night.
Wind:
WHISPER 200 1kW 12-48v WIND TURBINE
This looks like a good product and w/ 1kW, would be sufficient to charge the batteries
Solar:
I-165-12, 165w, 12v Solar Panel Isofoton x10
(10)165W solar panels in parallel(?) to give me 1.6kW should also be sufficient but should this be in series vs parallel? (I'm a software guy, hardware isn't where I excel. Parallel is connecting (+) to (+) and Series is (+) to (-)? Am I also right in that parallel increases volts while series increases amps?)
Batteries:
8A4D AGM 200 AMP HOUR (20HR) SEALED BATT x12
12V x 200 A-H
I would like about 6 days of uninterrupted power while still only using about 50% of my battery juice. I used the calculator online and it told me I needed 12. How exactly is this calculated? I plan on connecting these in (2) rows to give me 24V and 1600 A-H. (is that right?)
Controller:
I can't find one. I looked at the Controller that the Whisper 500 (EZ WIRE Controller) and that looked promising. It controls the PV and the Wind and the Batteries. I like that, sounds extremely simple. Any suggestions?
Here's where I get a little confused. So the batteries, the wind turbine and the PV all connect to the controller. There controller then has a load connection and that's where I hook the "house" up to? If that's the case, then I'll be getting 24VDC from that connection? So do I need a AC converter to get it up to 120VAC and 240VAC? (I have (2) 240VAC appliances so if I could connect the mass of the house into 120VAC and only have a little of the battery "juice" hit the 240VAC that would be excellent) Then if I get the electricity from the AC converter do I just hook it up directly to the house breaker box and then treat it just like grid power?
ANY help/suggestions/reality smacks are definitely appreciated.
