Alt-E Tech Support's posts

The average home in the US uses about 600 kWh of electriciy per months and spends about $100 per month. This average home will spend about $30,000 on a wind energy system to run the entire home. If you use much less electricity or have a better than average wind resource you may be able to spend less than this to run your entire home.  

If this is more than you woulld like to spend there are alternatives. The question is why are you interested in using wind energy? Is it because you need some back-up electricity for when the utilty grid is unavailable? Or is it because you want to spend less money per month on electricity? In either case it is possible to install a smaller and less expensive system that will supply a portion of your electricty needs.

If it is because you want to spend less money per month then you may want to start by hiring a solar person or energy efficiency person in you area to come into your home and suggest ways of reducing your electricity consumption. These ways may be as easy as changing all your light bulbs to compact flourescents or as difficult as changing out your old electric water heater for a propane or natural gas model. Any of these things will save money to different degrees. Once your home is as efficient as it can be then you may want to consider installing a wind generator for "utility intertie". This type of system will feed wind generated electricity back into your utility lines and off-set power you would otherwise buy from the utility. It essentially turns your meter backwards.  This system may not cover your entire electricity bill and can be as large or small as your budget allows with certain limitations on the size of the utility intertie inverters you have to choose from. This type of system is subject to acceptance from your local utility so you may want to contact them to see what their terms are.  This type of system has very limited battery storage capacity in order to keep the price down so it is not typically thought of as offering back-up power.

If you are interested in wind energy to provide back up power during utility outages in  your area I still suggest doing whatever you can to increase the efficiency of your home first. A back-up power system like this is generally used to provide power for "priority loads " when the utility grid is unavailable. Every one has their own priority loads but they generally include the refrigerator, water pump, heater blower and some lights for example.  The wind generator and battery bank are sized to power these priority loads for a period of a couple of days or how ever long you typically are without power. This system can be set up so that it powers the prioriy loads all the time or so that it only comes on when the grid goes down.  This system also can be as small or large as your budget allows. The smaller the budget the more selective you will have to be about which loads to run.

If you want to pursue a a back-up power system the next step is for you to identify your priority loads,  determine the electricity draw and hours of run time for each one. Further information on how to do a load calcuation is located our University section.  If you want to pursue a utility intertie system I must have some idea of your budget or what portion of your electric bill you would like to try to off-set.  

There is a great online resource that lists renewable energy companies all over the world including by state in the US.

http://energy.sourceguides.com/index.shtml

Some of the listings are not too complete so you may have to do some calling around to see who does installations, who is licensed, etc.,.

Hello Gloria,

Please send an Email into our support@ altenergystore.com email address or reply to this posting with the specifics for your well (depth, static water level, how many gallons per day your family uses) and we will put together a system quote for you. Chances are that we will recommend the SunRise submersible pump.  You can go to the solar water pumping section of our website to learn  more about this kit.

It is true that the dump load does not make a lot of useable heat - that is not really its purpose. The main reason is to keep a constant load on a wind generator or hydro turbine when the batteries get full. You have to have a pretty large system to get anything useful. With larger systems you can use a small DC Muffin fan to blwo across the dump load (heating element) which at least circulates the hot air. It is still not going to replace your home heating system or anything!

You may try visiting www.homepower.com which is the website for a very wonderful hands on renewable energy magazine. They have had several articles about different solar projects for schools & youth groups including solar cars. You may also want to try the American Solar Energy Society out of Boulder Colorado to find a solar energy group in your state. Lots of state organizations will have plans for solar cars and other solar learning tools. The final suggestion is a ground out of Amherst Wisconsin who specializes in solar edcuation for grades k - 12 and they will also have some good resources. I Do not know their contact information but if you can get in touch with the Midwest Renewable Energy Association they will be able to point you to the right folks.

I can't officially tell you how to make such a dump load although I have heard different solutions over the year like cutting up an old drier element and putting it in a 55 gallon water drum or just using a coil of wire with the appropriate amount of resistance.

The main thing is that the dump must be low voltage and it should be rated at 50% over the wind generator's maximum production capacity. You can easily find a low voltage water heating element at a plumbing suply house that is meant to be inserted in your water heater. Or you can find a low voltage air heating element at an RV store.

Yes, we have lots of different types of solar panels listed on our site which will power a water pump direclty if it is a DC pump. You will have to let me know the wattage and voltage requirements of the specific pumps if I am to spec a system for you.

That is quite a bit larger than anything that we can offer. I was hoping that someone else would pop in here with an idea for you. The best we can from 300 meters is about 15,000 gallons per day and that would be with a system that costs around $18,000. Please contact me if you would like the details on this system

I know of two companies that make fairly simple wind speed data logging equipment that will interface with your computer. The first is NRG systems in Vermont and the second is Secondwind whose location escapes me. These companies both make very large, expensive and complex system for wind farm developers etc.,. but they used to make scaled down units for homeownsers. Even though the residential variety is rather expensive though but there may be some leasing programs available.

The AIR does not get connected to the shunt at all but straight to the batteries with a fuse in the positive line. The TM500 will reflect the activity of the wind generator in terms of showing battery volts, amps, state of charge etc.,. But it will not differentiate between what the AIR is doing vs. what the PV's are doing.

As far as I know the only new wind system available with a utility intertie inverter and no batteries is a 10 kW Bergey Excel system and the Jacobs 20 kW from Wind Turbine Industries. Of course there are also larger turbines than this that will interface directly with the utility grid but these two are the only ones that are considered residential. There are also some used turbines still around that will tie directly into the grid like the Enertech & the some 10 kW Jacobs. These are harder to find and are best installed by folks who like to tinker since they will require maintenance.

The average home in the US uses about 600 kWh of electriciy per months and spends about $100 per month. This average home will spend about $30,000 on a wind energy system to run the entire home. If you use much less electricity or have a better than average wind resource you may be able to spend less than this to run your entire home.  

If this is more than you woulld like to spend there are alternatives. The question is why are you interested in using wind energy? Is it because you need some back-up electricity for when the utilty grid is unavailable? Or is it because you want to spend less money per month on electricity? In either case it is possible to install a smaller and less expensive system that will supply a portion of your electricty needs.

If it is because you want to spend less money per month then you may want to start by hiring a solar person or energy efficiency person in you area to come into your home and suggest ways of reducing your electricity consumption. These ways may be as easy as changing all your light bulbs to compact flourescents or as difficult as changing out your old electric water heater for a propane or natural gas model. Any of these things will save money to different degrees. Once your home is as efficient as it can be then you may want to consider installing a wind generator for "utility intertie". This type of system will feed wind generated electricity back into your utility lines and off-set power you would otherwise buy from the utility. It essentially turns your meter backwards.  This system may not cover your entire electricity bill and can be as large or small as your budget allows with certain limitations on the size of the utility intertie inverters you have to choose from. This type of system is subject to acceptance from your local utility so you may want to contact them to see what their terms are.  This type of system has very limited battery storage capacity in order to keep the price down so it is not typically thought of as offering back-up power.

If you are interested in wind energy to provide back up power during utility outages in  your area I still suggest doing whatever you can to increase the efficiency of your home first. A back-up power system like this is generally used to provide power for "priority loads " when the utility grid is unavailable. Every one has their own priority loads but they generally include the refrigerator, water pump, heater blower and some lights for example.  The wind generator and battery bank are sized to power these priority loads for a period of a couple of days or how ever long you typically are without power. This system can be set up so that it powers the prioriy loads all the time or so that it only comes on when the grid goes down.  This system also can be as small or large as your budget allows. The smaller the budget the more selective you will have to be about which loads to run.

If you want to pursue a a back-up power system the next step is for you to identify your priority loads,  determine the electricity draw and hours of run time for each one. Further information on how to do a load calcuation is located our University section.  If you want to pursue a utility intertie system I must have some idea of your budget or what portion of your electric bill you would like to try to off-set.  

We will soon be adding a pump called the SunDelight to our product list. This pump is operated directly off a 12 volt, 75 watt solar panel and will provide  up to 5 GPM at up to 4' of lift. The pump will sell for about $110 plus the cost of the solar panel and a rack if you want one. This is a very affordable system & perfect for a solar fountain. We should have the specs posted on the site within the next couple of weeks so please check back. If you would like to be notified when the pump becomes available please send me an Email or reply to this posting and I will put you on the list.

If you do not need to move very much water from the stream you can use one of the Dankoff Solar Slowpumps. The model 2507 will pump up to 4 GPM using a single 75 watt solar panel and there are smaller models of the Slowpump that will pump less with a smaller solar panel. In some case just pumping water in to the pond will aerate it adequately but it depends on how large it is and what the aeration is for.

Yes, the roof mounts can be installed on a clay tile roof but I need to verify what, if any, modifications need to me made to the standard mount and I will have to let you know about that on Monday.

Our utility intertie systems do not accept batteries at all. They are meant to create power for immediate consumption that is either used by the resident or sold to the utility company by turning your utiliyt meter backwards. If the grid goes down so does your system and the PV's will not power your home even if the sun is out because they have no storage capabilities. The inverter needs the signal from the utility to operate so that it has a signal to match and feed to your appliances and thatis also the safety mechanism so that no power is fed back onto a grid section that the utilit company thinks is out.

If you want to have battery back-up and to feed excess power back into the grid you can use the Trace SW series like the SW2512, SW4024, SW4048 or SW5548. This type of system is quite different from our utility intertie kits - in fact the only component they really share are the solar panels and racks. In this type of system the PV's charge the batteries which your loads run off and if they are full and your loads are all taken care of,  any extra electricity is fed back to the grid. It isn't as efficient as the SunTie inverter since it is doing more things but it does allow for battery storage. You can use a wind generator as back-up in this system since it just charges your batteries like the PV's but you can't feed a wind generator directly into the SunTie inverter. If you want to see what a system like this contains & costs let me know and I can put something together in the same size range as the Economy Intertie kit. You can also check out the "Average Home Kit" in our Kits 2 Go section which uses one of the SW Inverters and storage batteries. It may not be the exact size for you but it will give you an idea of what is contained in the system.

I can't say whether or not you can install the system yourself. Many states require that it be installed by a licensed electrician so that may make your decision right there. It is helpful to know about electricity and wiring and NEC guidelines and safety. If you do not know these things you may want to hire someone and get it done properly in the first place. Having said that there are lots of handy folks out there who can read a manual and do some research who have installed their own systems with an electricians help.

The Photowatts are a very popular polycrystalline PV module - good quality, good warranty, nice looking. We sell quite a lot of them. You will need the UL listed version for a utility intertie system.

You apply to the CEC to qualify and receive funding from the buydown program but I think you need an invoice or quote from us so we will have to do that once we have figured out what you need.

What power requirements does your greenhouse have? Are you trying to operate pumps, lights, fans etc.,.? How much power in terms of watts and how many hours per day are the loads operating? Are they AC or DC? If they are DC fans or pumps for example, you may be able to operate them directly off the solar panels with no additional components. If they are AC loads that must run at night then you will need the solar panels, batteries and a DC to AC inverter.

If you can provide some more specific information, we can give you some better advice.

The only way to deliver this type of volume at this depth with a solar pump is to use a pump jack. These systems can be very expensive $20,000 - $30,000 and even with that I am not sure that you can get 50 GPM

Knowing what size your inverter is does not allow us to size the solar panels - we need to know how much electricity you use. If you use quite a lot of electricity you may want to try to supply a fraction of it. A solar system configured to 24 volts (2 panels in series) can be configured with any number of pairs of panels to charge batteries that your inverter can tap into to power your loads. We can provide an idea of the number of panels needed if you provide some idea of the amount of electricity you use per month.

I need to know a couple of more things about your system to be able to give you a quote. The main thing is the issue of time of use - you mention that you have never used more than 20 amps but is that over 24 hours or for 6 hours or for how long? Do you currently have an electric bill? If so, if you can give me an idea of the kilowatt hour usage per month I will be able to come up with a more accurate price quote. Also, what state do you live in?

Motor home system canbe very simple and very inexpensive - usually only one or two panels and a charge controller. If you want to run AC loads then you will also need an inverter.

A system with 2 - 100 watt panels and a MPPT charge controller with meter will cost around $1000 plus shipping costs and wire. You may also need batteries if the existing load batteries are not large enough but a couple of glof cart batteries or L-16's will be enought and they will cost between $100 - $350. If you want an inverter large enough to run a microwave or air conditioner will cost about $1400.

These system can pay for themsleves in one summer if they allow you to stay out of the RV parks. 2 - 100 watt panels may not keep you going for days and days expecially if you run large loads like air conditioners a lot but 200 watts during the summer will do a pretty good job. In most cases with RV's there is no more room on the roof even if you have a bigger budget.  

If there is 10 feet of lift or less and if 20-30 GPM is okay you can use the new Dankoff 7445 - 24 volt PV direct pump with 144 watts of PV.

We will have the specs on this pump available for viewing on our website early next week. If you are interested in giving us more information about your particular situation, please send an Email to our general box (or tech @ altenergystore.com) and we will assign you a case number. Once you have a case number then we can quote you prices, complete systems etc.,.

Where are you (and the wind generator) located? Is there a tower included in the $1000? Is the wind generator still in the air or is it on the ground?

We do not deal with used wind generators but this information will be helpful for passing the word.