Getting Started with Solar

lol.. just yanking your chain BT..

with the recent magnetosphere fluctuations, if you haven't had any issues (with an X-class flare) I imagine we might do ok down here in the flats..

 

There are many way's to go and lots of avenue's to get there. You would all be advised (newbie's to solar) to first sit down and devise a plan to get there. Where you actually want to be and then we may be able to help you attain those goals a little easier. We really do want to help as many as we can, but none of us are mind readers. When we don't know your specific idea's, then we all tend to speculate and that is never good. So try and sit down and work out a plan on paper, what you need to run , and what you wish to run , which are not always the same thing.

For one thing, a lot of you are under the impression that the size of your house or cabin makes a difference. It does not ! What matters is how many people will be living there full time. How many children you have , and the biggie is how many teenagers will be living there wanting all their electronic gadgets on all the time. ?

When one of our daughters comes to visit, we have to tell them over and over again just to turn out the lights when they are not using them. And both of them are in their 40's. People having never lived on solar, don't have a concept of what is going on or even a thought that it is. They both call me a power czar most of the time, but that is the way it has to be.

On costs of the system, yesterday, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. A guy I haven't seen in about 8 years had a Trace 2524 1st series pure sine way inverter that he needed to sell. I bought it for $50.00 ! I have a complete 12v system, but in less then a day could convert it all over to 24 volt, except my wind generator. I believe but am not sure that I would have to install an outback mppt 60 that I have in storage to be able to do that. But that inverter new is $3,000.00. Now that is a pretty good deal. That can also happen from time to time. I bought a complete working system last year including a watson power tracker for about 7,000.00 which was for a friend that is on this site. Look around, be careful and you may get lucky also.

 

Ive heard that the old school galvanized steel trash cans with lids make a good faraday cage. not grounded and sitting on wood. can anyone verify this? it would be a good way to protect vulnerable equipment if its true. if thats the case how about any ungrounded metal box? like a "job box" or others.

 

http://www.zappworks.com/battery_prices.htm Check out these batteries. I talked with Hank the product expert at Zapp Works and this guy is an ex Nuke sub guy. Very sharp. He is helping me set up my solar system using nickel Iron batteries. The batteries will last longer than me.

 

Kingfish, if I had your money, I would burn what little I have. Why don't you just buy a submarine and keep those batteries. then you could have underwater fish excursions up there in the frozen north LOL

 

It seems to me that Nickel Iron is the answer to home solar problems. Im talking long term with little to no replacement batteries available. This system will run my frig and freezer and some other household things like LED lights and television long past my death for about 11 grand. Andy got me looking for Better batteries and I see these are made in the U.S. and can be reconditioned if necessary very easily by just removing the tops flushing with distilled water and refilling. Nadja, I would really appreciate if you would call this guy and see what your opinion of this product is. I value your opinion. KF

 

another company to check is Iron Edison Battery co., if i remember right its ironedison.com, just google it! They sell individual cells as well as complete storage systems. Just my 2 cents

 

Hi Kingfish. I have been really sick, but maybe tomorrow I will be well enough to talk batteries. IF I can remember. I am really old you know.

 

Nadja, sorry to hear you have been ill. I hope I am heading in the right direction. These batteries look to be fantastic as I can recondition them myself. They claim as does Edison Iron they will be the last batteries you will ever buy. I just cant get my wife to agree to buy a battery that is done in 5 to 7 years. I am almost ready to purchase . KF

 

Hey, join the club. I purchased the land 40 years ago. Improved it by putting up fences and dropping a well. Grid was my choice then for it was only a few feet away. I continued to figure out the "system" of the local area and in this I leased the land for grazing to incur the least amount of taxes.

We commuated every chance we got to have a rural place and a secure refuge to build and teach the kids.

My background is in electrical maintenance, electrical design and marine work. With a bit more than 50 years experience that includes hands on and book learning along with project management all of my experience was used in one way or another. Experience actually started in the Old Man's shop with turning and undercutting DC Generators and Starters.

First the lay out of the homestead was determined by the land, weather, roads and grid. Then the structures were arranged in a semi circle to reduce walking distance as well as water and power layouts.

Since the power drop was in then well was the next in. A sketch was made and the water supply manifold was planned. I'll note that most fail by not planning their system. In this often you will see the most important components mounted on ramshackle roofs. The best plan I can suggest is to use concrete as a building medium. No sense in expecting a diaster in the future if you do poor quality work at the install.

In my case we built a 12' concrete & foam dome to house the main parts of the water system. The manifold was one of the most important parts for proper planning has allowed us to suppply water to different parts of the place and limit others when we were not on site. Along with this securing out side faucets in the winter is a simple as turning off that valve in the supply dome. This system also aids in any type of maintence work on the system or a new install.

THE deal is, you must plan, you must talk to others, you must obtain the book knowledge needed in some aspects and you must make and continue to update a layout of your systems.

Lots more but I will say that we left the city in 94 and finished the "house" in 2005. Barns and sheds were complete long before and now it's time to see about more upgrades,

 

Be curious to see what you think of them after a while, KF. Keep us informed if you would !

 

Been a few months since I could get online and I am amazed at the pool of knowledge available here. My goal is to retire in 4 years and 11 months, I will be 50 years old and I will be bugging out to Northern Arizona or Southern Idaho. My goal is to be off grid and self sufficient to a major degree, meaning power is generated at home, water is well water and food is 50% grown/raised and the balance is long term store-able and market food. The posts here have really opened my eyes about solar and I want to thank everyone for posting their info here.

I am amazed to find out that in Southern California, I am actually required to be connected to the grid, if I was to use a solar system right now, wouldnt I be a power generator for Southern California Edison *(SCE) and when the power goes down, would I not be offline too because of the lack of energy storage?

So, my question would be, how would I be able to have a solar system that adds to the grid but can be switched over during a black out? The thought of providing energy to SCE makes me want to puke, if I could disconnect but still be connected would be the best scenario for me, any ideas?

 

First you need to check the requirments of the State.

The how is pretty simple, but can be costly.

An ABT (Autonatic Buss Transfer) that can carry the load.

A system that converts the SV to AC to match your incoming from the Grid.

In theory you produce more than enough for yourself in daylight hours.

Your system, through a meter serves this to the Grid. You are paid X$ for this, all set rates by the power commision/state laws.

At sundown your system provides you power and not the Grids.

This is the simple version and as you can guess your system must be large enough to provide what you need and what ever the law says you must produce to the grid.

Seldom worth while.

 

Thanks so much for responding, I am also wondering how permanent professional panel installs are, if I was to retire, would the system be a benefit for resale or should I pack it up and roll out to the new homestead.

 

The installation is a not a minor bit of work and it can be removed but if that is what you intend then you need to plan for that at the install.

This would mean having junction boxes, an added cost, and not a direct wire in the normal install sense.

A lot of this depends on your location/site/home.

In my case I have all the install space prefigured and in this I mean I am close to the power pole and have a very secure/storm proof building. This building has space for all of the equipment. This means the ABT, Converter/Inverter and a seperate area for batteries.

The state I am in (not mental) has advocated this a couple of times and have had some tax ++, still and all I do not find the systems worth the investment.

I would rather have a reduce (YMMV on what this means) PV/Wind system for emergency use.

Do understand that batteries, as of this date, are the weak/temp. link.