Who knows electricity?

[Informer]

[Informer]

Well the Grand Total: $170.70 for 2 of them shipped.

[Desert Eagle]

I heard from a pro that CIS Copper Indium Selenium solid state is the best type coupled with a russian zinc battery array being fed with a standby 1KW honda generator. but I'm currently not updated in the market about these things. I did see a lot of scientific breakthroughs lately, one of the working marketed ones is an acrylic bubble that focuses more rays to a modified panel.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Desert Eagle

[Informer]

Here is the plan, I paid $170 for the panels, then invested in a 250w grid tied inverter and Kill A Watt meter that came to $130 for a total of $300 invested. So I divide the $300 by (65 + 65) 130 watts which comes to roughly $2.30 per watt going back into the grid.

 

So if I assume average output of 130 watts for 6 hours a day I will get .78 KW a day from it, multiply that by the 365 days a year and we get 284.7 Kw a year. At an average of $0.15 per Kilowatt hour the 284.7Kw hours equals $42.70 worth of energy.

 

So to get the amount of time the solar system will pay for itself we take the $300 investment and divide it by the $42.70 of money it makes a year. This gives us a short return of 7 years before I would make the money back, put clean energy into the grid and start to profit. Seems win win if all goes accordingly.

[Marblehead]

My solar system is a 'stand-alone' system at 12VDC. I use it only for my fish pond pumps. I have battery storage for night-time operation. Break-even for me was at 5 1/2 years so I have been using 'free' energy for over four years now. I did all the installation myself and that is the reason break-even was so low.

 

Most commercial installations have a break-even between 25 and 35 years and this is why solar is not more popular here in the US.

[Informer]

My solar system is a 'stand-alone' system at 12VDC. I use it only for my fish pond pumps. I have battery storage for night-time operation. Break-even for me was at 5 1/2 years so I have been using 'free' energy for over four years now. I did all the installation myself and that is the reason break-even was so low.

 

Most commercial installations have a break-even between 25 and 35 years and this is why solar is not more popular here in the US.

 

Well, they are getting quite a bit cheaper. If you have like 5-$6000 you can get a nice system installed at about $2.40 Kwh or 2+ Kilowatt system. That's including quality charge controller and inverter(not including batteries). The thing is not everyone has $5000 for an initial investment. Granted, that is more of a consumer/residential system than a commercial system. I don't know if by installed you mean someone does all the work for you or the control panel is setup? The control panel seems to be the hard part.

 

If I add $170 to the initial $300 investment I can double the output simply by adding 2 more panels. Which should reduce the payback by 2 years.

 

I'm going to see how well they work and let you guys know.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Informer

[Informer]

How many watts are the panels marblehead?

[Marblehead]

How many watts are the panels marblehead?

 

Yeah, when I started playing with solar ten years ago there was only one solar business in Florida and they were 400 miles away from me.

 

I have different sizes (output and physical). I started off with two 10 watt panels just to see if I wanted to follow through with the idea. All the other panels are between 40 an 80 watts. I forget what my total output is. I did figure it out once but have forgotten. A quick guess, over 1000 watts but less than 1500.

[Informer]

Long-term I am wanting to set up a greenhouse for shiitakes and reishi using the solar panels to run the LED grow lights. So I plan on getting quite a bigger system, yet only have an introductory to electronics class behind the belt.

 

You could extend the growing season to grow some local produce off-season, which would increase the payback even more. So I might set one up for tomatoes or something similar as well.

[Marblehead]

Long-term I am wanting to set up a greenhouse for shiitakes and reishi using the solar panels to run the LED grow lights. So I plan on getting quite a bigger system, yet only have an introductory to electronics class behind the belt.

 

You could extend the growing season to grow some local produce off-season, which would increase the payback even more. So I might set one up for tomatoes or something similar as well.

 

Actually, LED lights consume very little current compared to other lighting systems. If you determine how much lighting you will need and then determine the consumption you will likely find out that you won't need as many panels as you might think.

 

12VDC LED lights are very common and rather inexpensive.

[Informer]

We should make all the top floors in the bigger city's dedicated to growing organic food locally, that would save on so many emissions, and pay for itself probably a hundredfold in 10 years.

[Marblehead]

We should make all the top floors in the bigger city's dedicated to growing organic food locally, that would save on so many emissions, and pay for itself probably a hundredfold in 10 years.

 

There are some cities in the US that have put out money to have this done. It really is efficient but the start-up costs are pretty heavy and this is why there isn't much being done.

[Informer]

300 dollar start-up didn't seem like too much

[Marblehead]

300 dollar start-up didn't seem like too much

 

Hehehe. Yeah, but you know about governments - they are going to waste 95% of the funding so that any action becomes very expensive. Plus they are going to attach funding for the study of the sex habits of some obscure insect.

[Desert Eagle]

http://www.businesspundit.com/25-most-promising-green-businesses/

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9916858-54.html

 

Edited February 10, 2012 by Desert Eagle

[Marblehead]

http ...

 

Interesting. Also interesting for me was the lithium-ion batteries being manufactured in California. (Sure wish I could get my hands on some for a reasonable price.)

[Informer]

I forgot about this thread. The inverter was reading 95 watts in the winter with both of the solar panels , so considering distance from the sun and inverter efficiency, I'm guessing I can get to 120 in the summer from them. I am happy I bought a couple and plan to get some more when it warms up.

 

I hooked them up to this hydrogen cell and was producing a lot of gas Hydrogen x2 + oxygen.

 

 

I plan on mounting these solar panels on the jeep to produce gas for the jeep to use in the intake. I also plan to get a battery and combined the stored power that accumulates while the engine is off, to expel it with the solar panels while the engine is on ^.^

 

You can see the water is turning into bleach due to the electrolytes (baking soda in this case) and the copper catalyst (pennies) increasing the PH.

 

My main focus is currently on developing an albino Shiitake strain,

Which I am going to start with the spores from this mutant that was grown in the dark.

 

Edited February 11, 2012 by Informer

[Marblehead]

I forgot about this thread.

 

Sounds like you have a good idea you are playing with.

 

Here is what I have been playing with:

 

About three months ago I bought a junk 1984 Honda Civic Shuttle that had been converted to total electric in 1989. After a lot of work and a fair amount of money I have it looking pretty good and running well.

 

I took it out the other day for a distance test and I can safely get 25 miles between charges.

 

My last work on it was to install 5 - 24 volt solar panels on the roof, in series, providing 120 VDC for the drive batteries. Regretfully, I have had mostly cloudy or cloudy days since I completed the installation so I do not yet have a measure as to how well the panels will be able to charge the batteries without plugging in my AC battery charges (there are two chargers with the system).

 

This has been a real fun project.

[Informer]

Sounds like you have a good idea you are playing with.

 

Here is what I have been playing with:

 

About three months ago I bought a junk 1984 Honda Civic Shuttle that had been converted to total electric in 1989. After a lot of work and a fair amount of money I have it looking pretty good and running well.

 

I took it out the other day for a distance test and I can safely get 25 miles between charges.

 

My last work on it was to install 5 - 24 volt solar panels on the roof, in series, providing 120 VDC for the drive batteries. Regretfully, I have had mostly cloudy or cloudy days since I completed the installation so I do not yet have a measure as to how well the panels will be able to charge the batteries without plugging in my AC battery charges (there are two chargers with the system).

 

This has been a real fun project.

 

Wow, things like that are rewarding in and of themselves, without anyone needing to make it so.

 

I though about using a recumbent tricycle and putting solar panels on it, then use 2 electric bicycle motors and a battery to power it, or help you pedal.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Informer

[Marblehead]

Wow, things like that are rewarding in and of themselves, without anyone needing to make it so.

 

I though about using a recumbent tricycle and putting solar panels on it, and use then use 2 electric bicycle motors and a battery to power it, or help you pedal.

 

I have a distant friend who has a Zap. It is one of those three-wheeled utility pick-ups from India. Total electric. He doesn't have panels on it but he does have stationary panels mounted on his property that he plugs the Zap into when he is not using it to charge the batteries.

 

(Because it has only three wheels here in Florida it is titled as a motorcycle and you must have motorcycle indorsement on your driver's license.)

 

I am still thinking about having a stationary solar charging station for my Honda but I probably won't go that way.

 

In your case, if you can get access to drive systems of newer technology you might have a really good thing going. I have seen scooters with lithium technology and much more efficient motors than what I have on my Honda.