fresh meat

morpho · February 2009

Re: fresh meat

Well,
This may all be a mute point for the moment.
I have new neighbor. An oil and gas battery has been put in within 2km's of my land that will be dealing with sour gas and releasing H2S (Hydrogen Sulphide) into the air around me. I'll be selling the land and moving on probably.

So I will just keep reading everybody's posts until I find a new plot of land ...minus the deadly poison gas.

in

BB. · February 2009

Re: fresh meat

Learn something new everyday:

"battery" means a facility at which the liquids obtained from one or more wells are stored before those liquids are processed for market or delivered to market or are otherwise disposed of, and may include equipment or other devices for separating the liquids into oil, natural gas and water;

And, I probably would not want to live downwind of one either...

Terribly sorry...
-Bill

morpho · February 2010

Re: fresh meat

I'm baaaack!

Ok. so I am currently on my new plot of land. (Minus the poison gas).
And have been wintering in a 12 foot travel trailer.
fear not, I built a simple 400 sq foot pole structure around it, wrapped the whole thing in strawbales, covered all that in a very large tarp and hunkered down for the winter. It's been pretty fun all things considered.
I built a rocket mass heater for when the sun is not heating up the 16 feet of south facing glazing. I can personally vouch for passive solar gain to heat up a space.
It has been down to minus 36 outside and with the sun shining in it was plus 80 inside without any heater.

OK, so down to PV business.
I have had no internet for about 9 months so I am not too much further ahead on understanding what I need to do about power.

I was gifted 2 Kycera 130 watt panels (one with shattered glass) and 4, 12 volt 100 amp hr AGM batteries. God bless the cast offs of the oil industry!

I wired a cheapo charge controller and 1000 watt modified sine wave inverter onto it and have been powered ever since.

We have lights (3 strings of LED christmas lights) 2 CF bulbs and two computers, a little utility pump all running off this system. We have had to run the little generator twice all winter! Pretty happy about that.

So can anyone point me in the direction of a book that explains how to size a system properly? panels to batteries etc.

I'll try to get a few moments to scan through the forums for info now that I have the"interwebs"

What can people tell me about the complete packages that companies like Alt-e sell?
I was told by a rep that they can customize it to any configuration I might need.

is there a preference for certain panels for off grid use? ie: smaller size so the wind does not detach them from the frames on a pole mount.

ok. Nice to be back.

BB. · February 2010

Re: fresh meat

Welcome Back!

morpho wrote: »

And have been wintering in a 12 foot travel trailer.
fear not, I built a simple 400 sq foot pole structure around it, wrapped the whole thing in strawbales, covered all that in a very large tarp and hunkered down for the winter. It's been pretty fun all things considered.

Fire? I hope it is safe for you.

I built a rocket mass heater for when the sun is not heating up the 16 feet of south facing glazing. I can personally vouch for passive solar gain to heat up a space.
It has been down to minus 36 outside and with the sun shining in it was plus 80 inside without any heater.

Rocket Stove Mass Heater?

Looks interesting--Any issues with fire safety and carbon monoxide leaks?

I was gifted 2 Kycera 130 watt panels (one with shattered glass) and 4, 12 volt 100 amp hr AGM batteries. God bless the cast offs of the oil industry!

In general, the shattered panel is only worth the price of the aluminum scrap. You can try pulling the cells for experimenting--but probably not much else.

I wired a cheapo charge controller and 1000 watt modified sine wave inverter onto it and have been powered ever since.

We have lights (3 strings of LED Christmas lights) 2 CF bulbs and two computers, a little utility pump all running off this system. We have had to run the little generator twice all winter! Pretty happy about that.

Sounds like you passed Solar 101.

Watch the AGM charging voltage--Sealed batteries are easily damaged by overcharging. Check the mfg. website for proper charging voltage/current.

So can anyone point me in the direction of a book that explains how to size a system properly? panels to batteries etc.

We can give you a starting point pretty easily... However--to do this in a cost effective manner--You really need to measure your peak loads and average daily loads (watt*hours) -- perhaps with seasonal variations (pumping, fans, lighting, etc.). For AC power, Kill-a-Watt is perfect for plug-in appliances. For DC, something like one of these may be helpful.

I'll try to get a few moments to scan through the forums for info now that I have the"interwebs"

We have had quite a few recent threads on sizing systems in the last week or so... But more than happy to do the same thing with your power requirements.

What can people tell me about the complete packages that companies like Alt-e sell?
I was told by a rep that they can customize it to any configuration I might need.

Compare pricing with other vendors as piece parts. There are lots of variations out there--some pretty good, some not so good. Doing your home work before buying will help. Some vendors don't clearly state brand/model numbers when purchasing--be careful with bait and switch or getting low quality electronics in the deal.

is there a preference for certain panels for off grid use? ie: smaller size so the wind does not detach them from the frames on a pole mount.

In general, you will find better pricing with panels over 100 watts in size. Grid Tied systems use lots of large (and frequently high voltage) panels in their systems.

A few larger panels are easier to mount and wire as they have fewer connections to make (panels over 175 watts probably will require two people to manage on a roof).

If you need "portable panels" for some reason (take down and store when traveling, etc.)--then smaller panels may be easier to handle.

-Bill

russ · February 2010

Re: fresh meat

İ guess Morpho is referring to a masonry heater - North European type style of stove with lots of thermal mass?

morpho · February 2010

Re: fresh meat

Wicked!
Thanks for the responses.

Oh the rocket heater is something else.
I won't clutter up this PV forum with details, but I basically..... it's a....well...look it up here: http://www.rocketstoves.com/ as it takes too long to explain.
Suffice it to say it's a pretty efficient way to heat and is fantastic to curl up against.
No problems with CO leaks, (I was pretty careful) and the risk of fire is pretty minimal as it's all enclosed and the exhaust is so cool compared to that from a box stove that I can hold the exiting stove pipe with my hand and it's barely warm.

Ok. PV stuff:

Ya, the shattered panel is still working, but I don't know how long it will keep working.
I put a sheet of glass over it, caulked it and it seems to be holding it's own for now.
I don't really think it will be added to the final set-up though.
I'm sure condensation will find it's way into there at some point. BBBZZZZT!

The AGM batteries are pretty faulty to begin with and I'm sure I have been doing them no favors with the draining /charging schedule. But we have been able to function off them.
We went the first three months with no electricity at all so anything is better than nothing.

Determining my loads will be difficult as this is all temporary so I think I will have to simply add up the expected loads.
I am the King of keeping the power use down to a minimum. (my eyes have adjusted to dark spaces and dark computer monitors)

The packages I have been looking at are comprised of products from Xantrex Outback etc. Nothing dodgy like billy bobs super power inverter deluxe. All High end stuff.
The prices in Canada on the stuff is stupid. In the US it will cost about 14 thousand in Canada they want to charge 27 thousand. And considering there are no rebates here in OilLandia that is a real kick in the teeth!

Maybe I'm missing something....further due diligence is needed.

Ok, I'll read a a bunch and see what kind of dumb questions I can pose.

Cariboocoot · February 2010

Re: fresh meat

morpho wrote: »

The prices in Canada on the stuff is stupid. In the US it will cost about 14 thousand in Canada they want to charge 27 thousand. And considering there are no rebates here in OilLandia that is a real kick in the teeth!

Ok, I'll read a a bunch and see what kind of dumb questions I can pose.

Commiserations. There's a few of us Canucks on here and we know just what you mean. Even component prices are quease-making.

No such thing as dumb questions. But if you like I'm sure we can come up with some dumb answers (to go along with the smart answers).

fresh meat

Comments

Categories