" Even my beer is cooled by the sun. "
Smelly , That is an awesome thing .
Way cool!
Any problems/annoyances you have had that you would like to share?
Any surprises? Both positive and negative?
I would like to go off grid sometime in the future and I've always been surprised by the little nuggets of info that actual off grid residents have been able to give. Things you never find in any litterature.
I have to admit that it doesn't need much cooling tis time of year.
I could talk for hours about it.
The system is self designed and self built. The panels are second hand from Morocco, the charge controller is from The US and the inverters are Dutch but sourced from the UK. I live in Southern Spain so we have quite a lot of sunshine, even in winter.
The panels are capable of supplying 5.5kW and the inverters can supply a steady 12kW and peak to 24kW. Obviously the batteries supply the extra when the load exceeds what the panels are supplying. I run the system at a nominal 48 volts.
I also have a 20kW 3 phase diesel generator for emergencies or if I need to maintain the solar system.
The big thing of course is to keep an eye on the sun. If I am not too greedy using the power, I can last 5 days without sunshine. The next thing I need is a 48 volt charger that I could top up the batteries with on cloudy days, this could be powered from a small petrol generator. The diesel generator can consume up to 4 litres of fuel an hour if it is running at its maximum.
This time of year I watch the weather forecast for snow which reduces output if it settles on the panels.
I've had free electricity for over 3 years.
I threw a quick search an analysis of the available ebay items. For about $60 one can build 12V 0.5A solar system, main battery excluded.
Smelly, what was the rough cost for your setup?
Viktor
you can use 12v car battery to keep it more cheap safe ...and heavy
solar cells where you find it cheaper, same for the board
the only things to have an efficient magnet rotor is build it in a cyclette...or wind ofc if you want/like BIG noisy fan/s
I can't remember exactly but it was less than half the price of hooking up to the grid and I dumped that idea when the ever spiralling price went over 50k (Euros). i could have had a grant towards the system but that would have meant using an approved contractor who would have used his suppliers and with the labour costs would have cost me significantly more.
Most normal families could get away with a smaller set-up. I have a swimming pool pump to run and air conditioning. A significant proportion of the cost is the batteries, if you have the opportunity to stay on the grid and sell your surplus back then you don't need batteries.
I could talk for hours about it.
Please?
For instance - how nuch fuel did you consume last year for maintenace/topping up
Do you have any idea about what the return payment time (dont know the right term here, maybe point of cost equilibrium?)
for your system is? IE when do you start "earning" free electricity compared to being on the grid.
Return of investment in Croatia is about 4-6 years. Contract with the power company is for 12 years. I presume it can be extended after 12 years.
It depends on the amount of sun energy that reaches ground, or better yet, on the location where you plan to put the solar system.
Viktor
P.S.
We are going a bit off topic, but not much.
I'm still interested in details about the 12V, 1A a) magnet or b) solar system. Anyone got a link for a DIY article/project?
Looks like hes already on free electricity given that electricity company wanted to charge him 50k euros for electrifying his home and he did it himself for what, half the price?
Just keep talking!!! I read on a forum the other day that one should avoid tying into the grid. I just started jumping into solar (on a small scale) my self. "Here comes the sun king:
Keith who love's all things solar. Yes!!
Could explain my love for flashlights/batts/chargers
Please excuse my illiterateness - a magnetically motorised charger wouldn't work by the principle of Bedini's gate theory, by chance?
I always thought that something referred to as a "self-sustained magnetic rotor charger" would, basically, be a perpetuum mobile, and as such contradict the second law of thermodynamics?
curious greetings, Simon
I don't know the name of the principles involved, nor the authors/inventors credited, but I know the principle itself.
Quite simple...
- Electromagnetic force can generate current.
- Current can create (and negate) magnetic force.
This kind of generator requires some power for initial spin up, and turns self sufficient once it achieves a certain RPM threshold.
Magnet's attraction is used to "generate" rotation, small current is used to nullify generating opposite attraction (or "wheel" slowing down) at a precisely timed short moment. Magnets attract for a longer period of time, current is used to nullify the magnetic force for a short(er) period of time.
This is NOT perpetuum mobile. Magnetic force is driving the whole thing, with a manual spinup + battery for storing energy acting as an energy buffer. Energy/power used to nullify the magnetic force at those short intervals is less than energy generated by the motor itself.
Also, efficiency of this generator can reach and even exceed 100%.
Viktor
Quite impossible.
Theoretically posible, and empirically proven.
Search youtube, there are videos and sites with working prototypes. I even found a video of a complete home system that replaces any grid power. I have no idea what it was called or I'd paste the link.
Viktor
I've seen them. All flawed.
I am no expert but I seriously doubt that is possible in any way. If it was then it would have been done on a larger scale by governments/energy companies all over the world and plastered all over the news, you are effectively talking about a perpetual motion machine that also creates excess energy.
It doesn't matter if you describe it as needing small amounts of energy to keep going if at the same time you claim it could give of a greater amount of energy than what it needs to keep going, that extends the system, but it is still a closed one. It is simply impossible as far as physics as we know it is concerned, and that is about as impossible as we can get..
Maybe there was some misunderstanding in either your interpretation our description of how it works/what it is?
I'm not a physicist. :)
My description up there was an amateur description of a principle. I'm thinking there might even be more improvements to the principle.
Oh, and once again, this is not a perpetuum mobile. Remember the resonance and harmonic oscillators? If timed properly, they can output massive amounts of energy. A famous bridge collapsing because of a 40mph wind springs to mind. To me, properly timing a current-generated magnetic force to counter negative force looks like "enforcing" or manipulating resonance.
Here, going over this got me convinced initially.
http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/qedynmnu.htm
I've never tried it, but I think the guy has something there. There are a number of videos there where he's developing the empirical proof of the concept. Notice how small his figures are, currents in the range of 20mA. No overblown currents nor voltages.
Now, something different, if you don't mind.
To avoid going off topic too much, I'm willing to halt discussions about magnetic generators in this thread. If you insist to talk about that subject, let's open a new thread in the off topic part of the forum. I won't respond to attacks of the principle, nor the idea of a magnetic generator. I consider it a closed path in this thread.
I'd really like to try and keep this thread useful and practical for the DIY audience.
Solar charger looks like the most useful and practical solution at the moment.
If anyone has a link to a detailed DIY article project of a solar charger setup, I'd LOVE to see it.
Here is a small project for charging Li-Ions: http://shdesigns.org/lionchg.html
It boasts VERY proper CC/CV curves, has enough variations to charge 1, 2 and 3 batteries and doesn't look too hard to build. And it roughly takes 12V 1A input.
So, my initial quest is still valid: 12V 1A from a solar panel, please, with as many pictures as possible. :D
Viktor
Sounds great! How big is your house and is 5.44KW system enough?