Solar power in Phill

[andypaul]

I know its not quite pc's but its a techy kind of subject.

In previous vists to phill i have taken over solar powered battery chargers most not very efficent so not that useful.

But i noticed even Maplin now has (if you got a spare grand) 150 w solar panels which in three or four years with a ten year warranty may mean if they say quarter of the price could generate enough to power a small to medium size electric fan, a light and possibly a small lcd tv


I found one link with some info and will be sending over some trial panels with the missus to be tested by a techy uncle.


http://howto.altenergystore.com/Refe...ppliances/a21/




http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y





Do others use solar power in phill or elsewhere?

[fred]

Always found this subject interesting but disappointed at how little progress has been made in regards cost restrictions.
How much would it cost me for a set up that runs a 1 HP A/C for say 8 hours a day?
Now hydro power would be a far more cost effective way to be self sufficient if I could just find some land adjacent to a water fall.

[joebloggs]

Always found this subject interesting but disappointed at how little progress has been made in regards cost restrictions.
How much would it cost me for a set up that runs a 1 HP A/C for say 8 hours a day?
Now hydro power would be a far more cost effective way to be self sufficient if I could just find some land adjacent to a water fall.

knowing how keen you are on saving money fred, not sure i'll come for that orange drink now, if i have to paint your gate, maybe if you put an umbrella in it, i might

would it not be cheaper to get a couple of bikes or tread mills and connect them to dynamos and pay a couple of locals for a 8 hr shift

i'm joking , you know what i think you would

[fred]

would it not be cheaper to get a couple of bikes or tread mills and connect them to dynamos and pay a couple of locals for a 8 hr shift

Now you have me thinking Joe! Pay them?
Hell no..I`ll charge them..
I`ll open a gym.

[mhynne]

got an uncle in the phils who is into those kinda things.. he got his house lights powered up by solar panels... and he made me a solar powered mini car for my project in high school.. which runs really slow... but heck it ran and i got a good grade from that project! =)
very few people i think would have it in their homes in the phils... only if you have the passion and the smarts for those kinda things.. and its not something that you often see promoted on the tube. so basically not all people are enticed by it...

[baboyako]

Unless its a really remote location, its not worth it. kyocera make a lot of stuff, and the missus tells me there are already companies doing that in davao at least. its much much more expensive to do properly than a visit to maplin

http://www.kyocerasolar.com/products/indproducts.html

The solar-thermal plants (www.abengoasolar.com) are cheaper and seem to be where the money is going.

I'm sure you know about city hall http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.2493

cost £540,000
power 50,000kWh (estimated per year)

say the cost of electicity is 10p /KWh (was 8.8p on my bill last quarter). That is £5000 worth of electricity. So it takes 108 years to repay for the project , plus maintanance, cleaning etc etc.. it just is not viable. Unless electricity goes up 10fold that is

[Alan]

Here in Valencia we get a P600 a month subsidy from the local Geothermal Power Plant.

Have been living here for 5 months now and not paid a penny (Centavo) for electricity.

Al.

[joebloggs]

Here in Valencia we get a P600 a month subsidy from the local Geothermal Power Plant.

Have been living here for 5 months now and not paid a penny (Centavo) for electricity.

Al.

well scouser keith never paid to, he uses the lecky from the street lights outside his house

[Mrs.JMajor]

well scouser keith never paid to, he uses the lecky from the street lights outside his house

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[KeithD]

Much more efficient solar panels have been developed, but they are not yet mass produced. Best you can get in the UK is about 10% of a year, not worth the investment, but the news technology should get 45%.

[andypaul]

Was thinking more for the brown or black out when power goes offline for who knows how long and you need a minimum amount of power to keep you ticking over. Cheaper to generate your own with fuel we have found for Ac and the like. What also was worth looking in to was the thirty pound security and backup lights. The security light in particular as i rarely see them used in the wifes area so may be effective if used wisely.

[andypaul]

A little update.

The Wife took out several solar powered devices (battry chargers x2, mobile and ipod chargers, some rechargable radio/torchs which are both wind up and solar and we also sent out some slightly larger units.

With the instructions followed by some bright young cousins we now have some smaller fans powered by solar power.
We also have solar powered security lighting which is used in the dirty kitchen so when someone has to go out side it lights up so far we have reports of 4 to 5 hours of decent lighting for free. the outlay was about 40 quid after some hunting round online.

We have also had the first leccy bill since the units were installed it has made a sizable difference to the monthly leccy bill.

I have several other projects we aim to sort which include water heaters and the installation of two large solar power units which should produce 300 watts this will produce enough power to charge some heavy duty battries and run at least one possible full size fans, with the battries possibly being used for the nighttime power for the fans.

Cost far more than the power generated by the units, but hoping its both useful during power outrages and reduces monthly outgoings.

The kids love them and the fact as the newer phones take more and more power to charge more frequently, we don't notice prehaps, but its pesos Titas would rather spend in the market
The wind up/solar radios and torchs combos the younger ones love and real handy for older members of the family.

[keithAngel]

I have some experience of this from Portugal

You have to start from what you want to do with it in terms of use and calculate your requirements in watts (most aplliances are rated in watts) and how many amps you need to generate and store to service this

For example if you work from 12 volts a 60 watt tv or fan will use 60divided by 12 equals 5amps per hour if you use it 6 hours a day thats 30amps of consumption a 75 watt solar panel at peak might give you 4-5amps per hour for 8-9 hours depending on intensity and you can make your list of projected expenditure at peak and your required input at min in a 24 hour period, winter calculations are best as you use more lighting at least here. your batteries act as the reservoir and balance out the peaks and troughs

A friend of mine installed 4 x 75watt panels on a manual swivel stand (you can get auto trackers)

He had 12 x 2volt 100amper batteries which is your energy storage

And a 1.5 kilowatt inverter which converts 24volt dc to 220 ac

About £5000 8 years ago but the advantage was that to have mains power brought there he would have paid that for the installation so he effectively for the same money had power but no bills

It was enough for all his audio and lighting ran washing machine without heating the water (did this with 12mm coils of alkathene on his roof with water flowing through which could be stored for later use in the house)

It also ran all his power tools although he would try to gear this for full sun times no good for refrigeration though he had gas

He also used a 1mt parabolic reflector about £120 easy to make if you buy the mirror quality ali pre cut out and this would boil a gallon of water in a caste iron kettle in 5mins at 9am in Sep in Portugal There are also quite efficient designs for earth /solar ovens if anyone is interested and cant find out tell me and i have good access to these resources and will point you in the right directions.

I am involved with Green/Alternative Tech Events for many years and have helped in Thailand with a few small projects

If you have access to wind and or water there are other low cost strategies
Including Savernous Rotars (spelling) and pelton wheels that dont require more than village blacksmith tech