Interesting project...

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System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
I've got an interesting project I'm working on and I'd love some advice. Here is the long and short of it. My family and I are going on and extended gold prospecting trip in the Spring. We will be in the Black Hills of SD for a good portion of our stay. I've looked at the wind charts for that area and the average wind is between 7-8 mph. so I was planning on doing a combination of solar array and wind turbine to generate power for our base camp. I'm not entirely sure what my total power needs will be but I will need to power batteries for tools, camp lights, a laptop and some other small appliances.

I guess my first question would be, where can I find a reputable dealer for equipment? I see tons of stuff on ebay but I just don't trust it for some reason.

Also, any thoughts on my project please feel free to put them out there. I've been interested in alternative energy for some time and finally I'm gonna be able to get into it. Thanks guys! :cool:
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  • Slappy
    Slappy Solar Expert Posts: 251 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: Interesting project...

    I guess my first question would be, where can I find a reputable dealer for equipment?

    answer = http://www.solar-electric.com/
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: Interesting project...

    Welcome to the forum.

    Let's get right to the bad news and get it out of the way: 7-8 mph winds will produce diddly-squat by way of power. Furthermore, it's not easy to put a turbine up a 50' tower; not likely you'd be able to bring that with you and set it up. Wind is a real no-go for this adventure.

    On the bright side, solar can be made fairly portable so long as you don't get big ideas about power use. There are many threads here about portable solar. They tend to be long and involved and twist back and forth a bit, but the information contained therein is good.

    (And if we don't make the "monolith" project a sticky soon I'm going to go mad because I can't find it - again! :cry: )

    Anyway, the first step is to work out what amount of power you think you'll be needing. Then we'll see how easy/difficult/impossible it is to supply it from solar. Your looking for two numbers: the maximum Watts used at any one time and the total Watt hours you expect to use in a day.

    As far as reputable dealers go, there are few as good as our host NAWS: http://www.solar-electric.com/
    And no I don't work for them. All the moderators here are volunteers and not connected with the host company. They just happen to actually be good! :D
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,447 admin
    #4
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    Re: Interesting project...

    Marc (and anyone else),

    If you think a thread/subject/post is worthy of finding later--please feel free to add to this thread:

    Working Thread for Solar Beginner Post/FAQ

    And to answer the questions about a small off-grid solar power system:

    Emergency Power

    Basically a very long thread that starts from the beginning with a few vague requirements through design and assembly for a "portable" solar RE off-grid power box.

    And here is another example by Mike90045 called the Solar Monolith:

    attachment.php?attachmentid=384&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1234752636

    attachment.php?attachmentid=385&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1234752653

    Update pictures/information here.

    Here is a nice thread with video from Kevin in Calgary Canada that shows designing and installing solar PV in a small RV trailer.

    Poster Robert "2ManyToyz" has created a web page about the installation and use of his Link Pro Battery Monitor (he also has many other small solar/generator info on his website too). How to install instructions and youtube video included.

    Otherwise, as Marc (and others) have said--knowing your loads/power requirements needs to be first on your list. Most people underestimate their loads and over estimate how much solar can output. And don't forget conservation--saving energy on your loads will save you a lot of $$$ when building out your solar/genset system.

    Also--for short trips, do not underestimate what a small genset (Honda eu2000i or eu1000i) can do for you. The eu2000i (1,600 watt peak) can output ~400 watts for nearly 10 hours on 1.1 gallons of fuel.

    That would take ~800+ watts of panels and a bunch of batteries (maybe 300-600 AH of 12 volt batteries) to do similar.

    Using the batteries for light loads and solar panels can be nice... Use the genset for heavier loads and to bulk up the battery bank during bad weather.

    Kill-a-Watt meter or equivalent for 120 VAC 15 amp power measurements (even for home conservation).

    If you have larger power needs or DC, let us know and we can perhaps suggest other hardware.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #5
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    Re: Interesting project...

    Mike's monolith is off-site which is why I couldn't find it on the forum. Senior moment. :blush:

    Bill either has the most amazing memory - or one astounding collection of bookmarks. :D
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,447 admin
    #6
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    Re: Interesting project...

    Hint:

    Working Thread for Solar Beginner Post/FAQ

    And using Google, enter your "search terms" plus the site: tag:
    • search terms site:wind-sun.com
    Google has better natural language searches than the forum tools. And you can limit searches to any website... Such as site:wind-sun.com

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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