Automate switching of solar power - using available solar energy efficiently
BertvdBerg
Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭✭
Hi All,
New to Wind and Sun and asking for help. We have a 5.3Kw solar array on the roof.
For two years the wife and I have been manually switching appliances, pool pump, water heater, clothes drier and Jacuzzi on and off manually during the day as solar power was available. Sometimes we get distracted and discover that we've been sending power into the grid because the water heater got hot and stopped using power. Also forget to turn something off when it clouds up, etc. When we're not home then we waste a lot of power.
I'm a retired (sort of) electronic engineer and decided to automate this process with some electronics and software and for want of a better name, call this a Solar Controller. I've been trying to replicate what we've been doing manually by implementing some simple rules but figure that some of you might have better ideas or ways to improve upon what I've done.
Some of the potential improvements would be that the Solar Controller could change the rules a bit depending on the time of year (sun lower on the horizon in winter), etc.
I've started a simple website with a video to demonstrate the operation of the Solar Controller and welcome suggestions for improvements but not sure if it would be OK to list the website.
Regards,
New to Wind and Sun and asking for help. We have a 5.3Kw solar array on the roof.
For two years the wife and I have been manually switching appliances, pool pump, water heater, clothes drier and Jacuzzi on and off manually during the day as solar power was available. Sometimes we get distracted and discover that we've been sending power into the grid because the water heater got hot and stopped using power. Also forget to turn something off when it clouds up, etc. When we're not home then we waste a lot of power.
I'm a retired (sort of) electronic engineer and decided to automate this process with some electronics and software and for want of a better name, call this a Solar Controller. I've been trying to replicate what we've been doing manually by implementing some simple rules but figure that some of you might have better ideas or ways to improve upon what I've done.
Some of the potential improvements would be that the Solar Controller could change the rules a bit depending on the time of year (sun lower on the horizon in winter), etc.
I've started a simple website with a video to demonstrate the operation of the Solar Controller and welcome suggestions for improvements but not sure if it would be OK to list the website.
Regards,
Bert van den Berg
Tagged:
Comments
-Bill 'moderator' B.