Solar - Let the Sunshine (PAH)

Dave Yates (PAH)

Any resources and/or books that you have found to be great? I've been a subscriber to Solar Today for some time and appreciate the info put forth, but I'd like to hear some first-hand feed-back on suppliers, equipment and down-to-earth common-sense approaches.

May sound crazy, but I'd eventually like to go off-grid! A combination of PV and water panels & maybe feeding the grid.

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GMcD

Solar and off the grid info

Well, I'd suggest downloading the latest Soltek catalogue and read through it. Some good stuff there.

www.soltek.ca

Lots of off the grid places up here in the Pacific NW, out on the Gulf Islands and up the Coast.

Ron Schroeder_3

Hi Dave,

I have worked with Solar since the '70's. I currently produce most of my own power and sell the surplus to the grid. What info are you looking for? What state are you in?

Ron

hr

Atta boy, Dave

I'd do the same thing!

I found this article in the current issue of Solar Today very interesting..

http://www.solartoday.org/2005/jan_feb05/Japan.htm

For any interested in the wet side of solar, I got this book for a Christmas give. Very well written, coves all sorts of solar hot water systems, mostly DHW and pool, weak in the hydronic/ solar. www.ecs-solar.com

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Dave Yates (PAH)

Well

I'm in the State of confusion most of the time!(G)

Pennsylvania in the SE corner. My house faces almost due south and the roof is about a 5/12 pitch. In addition, there's a fairly large "widow's walk porch up top, which would give me good access to the roof and I've got a walkway inside the roof trusses from end to end (access to the air handlers for my A/C).

Downside: A hill blocks direct early morning sunshine and trees partially block any sun after 2 or 3 PM, which would already be a poor solar gain due to the angle of light at that late point in the day.

While at ISH in March, I'm hoping to spend a fair amount of time exploring the European methods and equipment.

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Dave Yates (PAH)

That article

was what prompted me to again begin considering my project. Can't sell what I don't do(G).

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hr

Heck

I have one of my solar DHW panels on a north exposure roof. I STILL get a tanks worth of hot water in the summer months. Tanks a lot, sunshine. The one on my well house only gets about 3 hours of sun due to the trees. Hate to cut down trees to get solar energy!

I think the solar/alternate energy hall at ISH Germany would be an excellent place to research.

I heard that German solar booth at ISH Boston gave those pretty blue panels away at the last day! It pays to drive your truck to these big shows on the last day

Consider buying a BMW while you are over there and loading it with goodies for the boat ride over to PA. Or maybe a Unimog!



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Paul Pollets

Thermomax

Dave, Thermomax is the place to go. www.thermomax.com If you were at ISH Boston, they had a booth. Best info and best products. The director of the company has a PhD in electrical engineering and is always available for consult. His name is Mahjouri. Mention my name. (410) 997-0778

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Dave Yates (PAH)

Unimog!

One cool vehicle, but a Skidder would do almost as well(G). While x-mas shopping this year, I contemplated getting the bride a telescope & was fascinated by the tracking software that came with it. Tracks any star or planet so the viewer doesn't have to bother fiddling on account of the earth's rotation.

Seems to me I remember reading about panels that track the sun.

What benefit do you see from reflected moonlight, if any?
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Dave Yates (PAH)

Wow!

That's a site packed with info. Thanks & bookmarked for study (as are the other links). You've posted some beautiful radiant installations here in the past.

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Weezbo

That IS an outasite Site*~/:)

Solar appeals to me too. summer we have lots of sunlight *) this time of year ,...well thats another story....Thanks for asking a question. using solar in Alaska is has and will continue to be done....i will see if i can find one of my buddies ,he cracker jack at it. he built a three story house that spins around in circles or some equally out landish sorta deal wAy up at the pinnacle of his home is his "Office" *~/:) hes handy with the computer maybe i can get him interested in comming here hes always into some sharp thinking endeavour....

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

I took Pauls advice

and bought 120 evac. tubes from thermomax and I am very satisified with the product and service. They are still supplying most of my domestic and some of my heating. Yesterday at 8:45 am they started pumping 140 degree water. The only problem is we seem to get only 1 or 2 sunny days every 2 weeks. We need seasonal storage. I'm thinking of P.V. myself. We have to do something, the ozone layer may be harmed, and the rivers, lakes, and oceans, are being polluted with mercury, fuel costs are rising, and may be running out. Wake up and smell the carbon. Bob

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Brad_3

pv professional

Dave, when you get to the point where you want to talk to a pv professional, call Jason Fisher of Aurora Energy at 410-268-3088. He's an electrical contractor that knows pv. In Annapolis, closest I could find to you.

If I see pv questions, I'll answer.

Brad

hr

Talk about an electrical energy hog

consider Las Vegas!

Isn't it something like 2% of the energy an incandesent bulb consumes is actually converted to visiable light?

The State of Nevada, with a federal grant, started a program last fall to train about 80 apprentices and journeyman a year, via the electrical unions, to install PV systems. According to a JLC magazine blurb.

Now that makes sense. Hotels and casinos have the need, money, roof space and sunshine to make this a workable technology.

PV powered keno for the retiring boomers While the radioactive Yucca Mountain disposal site glows brighter than the Luxor in the background.

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jerry scharf_2

tracking panels

Dave,

The ones I have seen have a very simple setup, using a square post and 4 photo sensors mounted to a corner of the panel. It moves the panel unitl the sensors all produce the same output.

The claim is that tracking panels can increase the output up to 30% for a 2 axis tracker. The thing is that you can't just toss ther on the roof, they need to be pole mounted. If you are talking about a few panels on a pole, that might be OK, though even that is a pain out here where the earth shakes now and then. To get enough to run off the grid, it looks like quite a project to do all the poles and panels to do this.

You need to trade off the cost of more panels against tracking panels. There are financial, visual and installation effort issues. Also, you can look at higher performance panels as an alternative to trackers.

jerry

Dale Pickard

No Way

You'd have to cover the state of Nevada with PV panels to power Las Vegas. That's just reality. Do the numbers. No free lunch.

If you were to do something like that, it would be a waste of solar collectors that should be doing something useful.

The energy consumption of Las Vegas has been heavily subsidized for decades. The day will come when we as a society decide that the power comes at a dear cost has more important uses. When we remove the energy subsidies and price power according to it's true cost and value, we won't be able to afford Las Vegas any more.

Someday, historians and anthropologists will study the phenomenon of Las Vegas and what it says about late 20th century American culture, or the lack of it, as the case may be.

Dale

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

pv question

compared to the grid' what does it cost to harvest elec. with pv on average?

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1solarguy

Solar Info

I live off the grid with p-v panels for power. I salvaged some DHW panels off a nearby roof(left over from the 80's).The system works great (when the sun shines) The new way of storing the hot water makes all the difference. Instead of trying to heat all the water in the tank(s), hot water is added from the top,where it stays stratified,ready for use hours before the whole tank(s) heat up.
PV's have come a long way too.The main obstacles to success are unrealistic expectations, and too much load, The first step to a alt.energy system is to get your loads under control. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs, tumblewash washingmachines,etc.,etc.There are ways to do many of the same tasks with much less energy. The forward-looking people will be all over this.The foot draggers will scream as they lose (waste) large sums of $
A great source of info is Homepower magazine. You can download every issue. www.homepower.com check it out.

Dave Yates (PAH)

Jay

Thanks for a reply "from the trenches". I'll bookmark the site and wonder if you'd be willing to tell your story about how you arrived at having a home off the grid, how it works (in detail) and what kind of inconvienence you had to adjust to for being off grid and relying solely on solar.

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Constantin

I hate to do this, but...

... I can't resist since I actually worked on the minimum energy efficiency standards at the DoE.

A front-loading washing machine is no guarantee for low energy-usage. On average, they do much better than a regular top-loader because 80%+ of all consumers never adjust the fill height in their top-loaders, regardless of the load size.

However, the GWL-10 (and its successors) from Fisher-Paykel is a top-loader and has been 2007-standards compliant since 2000. Back then, this top loader was the only washing machine I know of to meet 2007-standards.

Yes, it may be the exception to the rule, but if you're going to advocate the best of class, then one ought to be accurate. The myth that front-loaders are the only choice for energy-efficient washing has to be broken. It is too ironic to see groups like Sierra (that take part in the NOPR process at the DoE) make the same mistake in print within their own literature.

Ray_9

energy efficient washerf

Way to go, Constantin. I've had my GWL10 for about 6 years. Saw it demonstrated at a mfr training session for our company (appliance sales) & run against the big 3 competitors - it blew them away then. We never wait for the dryer to finish, & the water bill (yes -water isn't free on LI) is down significantly.

hr

but Dale

I just wanted to run some electronic Keno games in the various casinos, or some billboards, not the entire city

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