Solar Update

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living
• Date: Dec 1,2010

Hi gang.  I spent 3 days in Ontario installing the solar equipment.  Although I was rushed and short on time, everything went well ! As much as I know this stuff, I was worried because this equipment is worth so much and I didn’t want to damage any of it.  As a result, I called Flanagan and Sun three times to confirm that what I was doing was correct.  (What confused me the most was just the proper way of grounding everything, and where to put the breakers. ) As usual,  he goes above and beyond. I was literally at the hardware store trying to figure out which cable to buy and called him. He did the math for me and told me which cable to buy on the spot.  Thanks Sean !

As soon as I get the pictures and video’s off the camera, I’ll post it all here.

Stay tuned!

DIY Solar Power install #2 – Getting Ready

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living
• Date: Nov 22,2010

A few years ago I installed a small, 30 watt solar power system at my sisters off-grid home near Kingston, Ontario. This solar system was JUST enough to let them turn on some lights for a few hours every day.  This year, they’ve decided to invest in solar power and really take it up a notch !

Step 1: How much power is needed ?

As usual, the first step in setting up a solar power system is figuring out how much electricity you actually need to do what you want. This particular project / upgrade is so that my brother in law can use his laptop WITH wireless internet all day every day from their off-grid home.

Here are the calculations I did and sent to my brother in law:
2 lightbulbs @ 20 watts each for 4 hours a day : 160 watts
Average laptop power consumption is 60 watts (hopefully I’m going a little high here) x 8 hours a day : 480 watts
Total guess of inverter losses while using all this for a day : 30 watts (just trying to be safe here)
Equipment for internet : Modem, Router, antenna, etc (TOTAL guess) @ 10 watts x 8 hours a day : 80 watts

So in an average work day, you’ll be using 750 Watts.

Lets say you get 4 hours of sun per day, you need 190 watts worth of solar panels. (you currently have 30)

Step 2 : Find the solar power equipment you need at the best price possible.

So now we know we need atleast 190 watts worth of solar panels.   During our original 30 watt install, we got almost everything at Canadian Tire, but this kind of project goes beyond the kind of things Canadian Tire can supply.    Finding a Canadian supplier was very important for me.  Customs are a pain, and shipping delays are much more prone to happen when ordering across the border.  Mostly though, the price of shipping batteries can’t be cheap, they weigh a ton ! The closer they come from, the better.

I lucked into finding a website of a solar company in Ontario.  The thing is, Ontario has no shortage of suppliers for solar power equipment, the problem is finding an Ontario supplier that has pricing that’s comparable to the best deals I could find online.   After a couple hours of going from site to site, I came across my saving grace, Flanagan and Sun.

I knew how much power I needed, I knew that I’d make the mount for the solar panels myself, and I knew that I was going to install it myself.  I sent Sean (the owner of Flanagan and Sun) an email about what I needed, and then he made me a couple of quotes.    He never once pushed me to have him install it.  Quite the opposite actually.  He’s been happily answering my questions about how I’m going to be installing this.  The pricing was excellent.  Not only that, but he had recommendations and advise that was very helpful.  We accepted a quote for 370 Watts worth of solar panels, 4 x 115 amp hour 12 volt AGM batteries (Which makes for a battery bank that holds 5500 watts worth of power),  and the appropriate inverter / charge controller.   Flanagan and Sun couldn’t have made it easier for me.  They literally put all the parts I would need together into a nice simple quote. (right down to the fuses and the box that holds them)  It would have taken me weeks to research each individual part to make sure they all worked together properly.

Here’s the quote we ended up accepting :

2  x AS5M36 Amerisolar 185W PV module @ $666.00 each, Total  $1,332.00
4 x  MC4 MC4 Wire Connectors  @ $30.00 each, total $120.00
1 x MNPV-3 Midnite Solar combiner box @ $86.58 each, total $86.58
2 x MNEPV-15A 15A Midnite Solar Din Rail DC breaker @ $12.48 each, total $24.96
1 x MM1524AE Magnum 1500 Watt, 24V Inverter/35 Amp PFC Charger @ $746.40, total $746.40
1 x SS-20L-24 Morningstar Sun Saver 20 Amp Regulator W/ LVD,TC – 24VDC @ $92.82, total $92.82
1 x BABY-Box Enclosure for 1-4 MNEPV or MNEAC Breakers @ $39.00, total $39.00
2 x MNEPV-20A 20A Midnite Solar Din Rail DC Breaker @ $12.48 each, total $24.96
4 x EV 31A Batteries AGM EV 31A batteries (114Ah at 20 hr rate) @ $163.80 each, total $655.20
4 x BAT_CABLE Battery Cables @ $25.20 each, total $100.80
1 x  Inverter Cable… Pair of 5 ft inverter cables. @ $78.00, total $78.00

The only thing we didn’t know was the price of the shipping.  This was a pretty large concern for me.  I figured it would easily cost $500 JUST to ship the batteries, if not more.    I figured if it cost too much, we’d buy everything from him EXCEPT the batteries which I’d pick up myself in Montreal before going to do this installation.    I gave him the OK, and asked him to get back to me as to how much the shipping would cost.    I didn’t hear from him in a couple of days.   I assumed he was busy and it took a little bit of time and effort to calculate the size and weight of the shipment in order to give an accurate shipping estimate.  What I didn’t realize was that he had already ordered and gotten everything, but was finding a way to get this to us without it costing a fortune.  (I was very surprised that he didn’t ask for a deposit once I told him to get all this equipment together for us)  In just a little over a week after I gave him the go-ahead, he had arranged to have one of his employees drive it all the way down to my sisters other (on the grid) home which is over 3 hours away from him for only $185 !!  I don’t know what they were driving, but it seems to me like just the gas for the trip would cost over a hundred dollars, then you’ve still gotta compensate someone for spending over 6 hours of time doing the driving.

Step 3 : Plan the installation

In this case, even though this is a much larger installation, it will be pretty easy since there’s an existing setup.  I already did all the work on the fuse panel the first time around so I don’t really need to touch that.    However, this system is so large compared to the existing one that we decided to not use the parts from the original install (solar panels, batteries, inverter, charge controler) .  This is a fresh solar power installation, and we’ll use the existing panels and batteries for something else which we haven’t decided yet.    Since we’ve gone from 30 watts of panels to 370 watts, we pretty much had no choice but to upgrade to a 24 volt system instead of the 12 volt system they currently had.  (Solar panels above 100 watts in the 12 volt range is rare, and more expensive per watt than  solar panels that supply 24 volt power)

Also, at this point we’ve got 4 batteries instead of 2, and they’ll be getting charged much more aggresively than the current setup so we need to move it out of the house for safety reasons  (Batteries produce flammable gasses while charging – this wasn’t really an issue before since we were basically just trickle charging them with 30 watts of solar panels).

We decided to house the batteries, inverter, and charge controller in an old freezer which will be outside right where the panels are.  The freezer will help equalize the environment, but we’ll need to put a few air vents in it to make sure those battery gasses have somewhere to go.   We’re also going to seperate the freezer into 2 sections.  One for the batteries, and the other for the inverter / charge controller.  The inverter may spark from time to time, and we don’t want the gasses from the batteries to ignite when that happens !!!

The batteries pretty much HAD to be outside because of the way their house is setup (just one room).  However the inverter didn’t need to be outside.  The reason we’ll be installing it outside is because of the distance between where the solar panels will be and the house.  A cable run that will move 24 volts of power 100 feet with minimal losses is expensive,  however a cable run that will move 120 volts isn’t.  This will save a couple hundred dollars.

Step 4 :   Install your Solar Power !

At this point, I’m under a week away from the installation date.  All the equipment has been delivered,  however I won’t get to actually see it until I’m there for the installation.  The only thing that I don’t know how I’m going to do it is mounting the solar panels to the top of the freezer.  I really need to see the panels to figure that out, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to use parts from the old solar panel mount for the new one.

Final Words :

I will be documenting every part of the installation and will post updates here as always ! Installation is scheduled for November 27th – 28th 2010.

If you have any questions regarding solar power, please feel free to ask in the comments section.  If you’re looking for a supplier or installer located in Canada, contact Flanagan and Sun ! (Please mention that Jason from TechieNATION refered you)

Why Solar Power isn’t common

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living, Techie Cartoons
• Date: Nov 11,2010

Click on the comic to see it full size.  I stumbled upon this comic about the feasibility of solar and wind power and just had to put it up.

Collapsible Shower for Camping, Cabin’s, RV’s, and Off-Grid Homes

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living, Uncategorized
• Date: Jan 1,2009

This article describes a portable shower that I designed that can be folded up and fit under a bed.  It requires no electricity, and no water hook-ups. (no water pressure)   It only requires a bucket of water. (Ideally warm) It can be modified to work great for camping and RV’s too. This is my first prototype, there are lots of things that can and will be adjusted in the future. Click here for the youtube video or just scroll down the page!

What started TechieNATION in the first place was a post written about my now famous Solar Power installation in Kingston which provided a small amount of power for the first time to my little sisters off-grid home.  They have 10 acres of land, a small 600sq foot house, and have chosen to live “the simple life” for the moment.  Their only source of water is from a well at the bottom of a hill 100 feet from the house, and is powered by hand.  (a Good’ol fashioned well pump).  Last Christmas my Mother, Girlfriend, and I put our money together and got them solar panels. This years TechieNATION christmas project was a portable shower that could fit under their bed.

They’ve been sponge bathing for the last few years with the exception of the occasional warm shower at a family members home. This is what prompted me to try and build a portable shower that takes little room and no electricity.

This shower could easily be adapted for camping, trailers and RV’s, and installed in a more permanent and visually friendly manner.

Here are the parts used for construction :

• Large Rubbermade container that’s designed to fit under beds from Zellers
• 2 Thick pieces of scrap wood with holes drilled into the middle so that copper pipes can slide into it.  (I took apart a broken pallet from a loading dock and used that wood)
• 6 Feet of 3/4inch Copper Pipe. I used the thicker copper pipe to make sure it doesn’t bend and can properly hold up the shower head, pump, and shower curtain.
• a 3/4 inch copper pipe coupler so that I could split the pipe into 3 foot pieces and then screw it back together into a 6 foot piece. (This way the pipe fits into the rubbermade container when put away)
• A Guzzler brand hand pump that can move 8 gallons of water per minute if you want it too with about 18 feet of lift. (This is an excellent pump, it’s designed as a primer pump for boats before you turn on the electric pump)
• about 8 feet of garden hose.  The hose was cut into 2 pieces. I put on the hose connector myself to the short piece on top that goes between the pump and shower head. The shorter the hoses, the less amount of water is required just to fill the piping.
• A single setting shower head from Canadian Tire along with an adapter to be able to connect it to a hose.  (Shower head connectors and hose connectors are different sizes)
• About 12 feet of flexible copper tubing which was used as the shower curtain holder.
• 2 shower curtains. (There’s only 1 in the video, and as you can see it only goes half way around)
• 4 clamps to attach the pump and shower head to the copper pipe at the appropriate locations.

This shower had to meet the following criteria (I think) in order for them to like it and use it :

• They had to be able to hide it from sight and have it not waste any space in their small house.
• It had to take NO electricity because they don’t have enough solar panels to spare for anything other than lights.
• It couldn’t use water pressure to pump the water to the showerhead because they don’t have any water pressure at all. So it needed a manual pump of sorts to get the water from a bucket below.
• I REALLY wanted to connect it to a real shower head to make it more realistic.  It would have been easier to use a hose sprayer (and probably just as functional) but I really didn’t want too.
• It had to be efficient on water because it’s a lot of work to collect and heat in the first place.
• It had to look good.  (Ok so I failed miserably at that part, but it’s my first attempt, I could make it look a lot better looking with a little more time)

Lots of people have commented that I should have a water bucket on the top so that they don’t need to manually pump.  I agree.  However doing this would require making the whole structure much more solid, and there is very limited space above the shower head once it’s put up. (The shower head is a little over 6 feet up) If this was mounted permanently, I would put a temporary water holding tank up in the attic and have the shower head come out of the ceiling.  The pump would be mounted on the wall and only be used to move the warm water from the bucket below to the “tank” above in the attic.  Then they would turn on the shower head and have a hands free shower.

Here’s the video of the portable shower getting put together :

Please feel free to leave comments, questions, and suggestions below ! I read and answer almost all comments !

Solar Power math explained and simplified

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living, Uncategorized
• Date: Oct 19,2008

As far as Solar Power goes, 80% of everything comes down to this. People try and figure out how many batteries and solar panels they need before they know how much power they use. This is the most basic part, and one of the longest. However once you have that number the rest is fast and easy. This article contains the steps you need to take to figure out how many solar panels you need, and how many batteries you need for your renewable energy system.

Step 1 : Figure out how much power you use daily.

I know that it’s a pain, but it’s inevitable.  Make a list of all the electrical appliances you use, figure out how many watts it takes, and estimate how many hours per day you use it.  Multiply the total watts of the appliance with the hours used and that’s your total for that particular electrical product for one day. Do the same for all your electrical things and add them all together.  Now you know how many watts of power you need to generate per day for everything.

Tips :

• Voltage * AMPS = Watts (Lots of power adapters only list the voltage and current, so you need to do the math yourself to get the total Watts it takes)
• Watts are measured on a 1 hour basis.  (So a lightbulb that takes 60 watts uses 60 watts PER HOUR it’s on)
  
• Some appliances are VERY hard to figure out the total power consumption.  If you can call the manufacturer’s they often have these specifications.  (Usually measured in KiloWatt hours per YEAR) Just divide it by 365 to get the number of kilowatt’s in takes per day.  Multiply that by 1000 to get the number of Watts it takes per day on average.
• Use a Kill-A-Watt meter to measure the exact power consumption that something uses. (These are AMAZING and not expensive : Especially the find out the power consumption of things like fridges and computers)

Read the rest of this entry »

Living off-grid in your DIY house with Solar and Wind Power

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living
• Date: Oct 15,2008

The most popular category at TechieNATION by far is all about alternative energy and lifestyles. (Solar panels, wind generators, living off-grid in general) I’ve been learning about these things for the last couple of years and it has become a passion of mine.  As I figure things out and get a chance to try them, I write blog’s about it to share what I’ve learned to the world for free. (The most popular posts are near the top left of this site:  How to calculate your power consumption, figuring out how many solar panels you need, and my Kingston Solar Power Installation for under $600)

For those of you that are in a rush, or don’t want to be reading all of my posts that are spread out within this site, I suggest you buy and read one or all of these ebooks that have been written by Andrew Oke.   He’s living the life I want to live, and has documented it all.  Needless to say, he’s way ahead of me in the game.

His SET of Ebooks covers the following subjects :

• How to build a wind generator
• How to build your own Solar Panels
  
• How to make Bio Diesel Fuel
• How to build your own home
• All about Renewable Energy Solutions

Living off the grid involves a lot of work and even more knowledge. He does a great job of simplifying it and making it understandable for most people. CHECK IT OUT BY CLICKING HERE !

Common Solar Power related questions and answers

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living
• Date: Sep 14,2008

I spend a lot of time monitoring the search terms that send people to Techie NATION, and I’ve found that lots of them are related to power consumption and knowing how many solar panels or batteries you need for a specific product.  Although i’ve talked about these things before, I will try and address these very simple questions one more time.  For anyone that is confused about a certain subject, you’re welcome to send me an email or ask questions in the comments section and you will get replies.

1 – How do I calculate my daily power consumption ?

To know this, you simply figure out how many Watts each electrical item takes.  (Look at the label of the power supply, or on the item itself, it will at the very least say how many volts it takes and how many amps it takes.)  You multiply the volts by the amps and the answer will be the amount of WATTS that that appliance takes PER HOUR of run time. Then you multiply that by the amount of hours it will be running per day and you have your total daily watts for that item per day.  You continue to do that with all other electrical products you plan on running on solar and add up all the WATTS and that will give you your daily power consumption.

Certain items are harder to calculate power consumption.  A fridge is a good example because it takes LOTS of current to get the compressor started and to get the fridge to a certain temperature, and then it takes very little power to maintain it.  I’ve always called the fridge manufacturers and ask them for the power consumption specifications.  They’ll usually tell you the average Kilo-watt hours it takes per year.  You simply divide that by 365 (days) and it’ll give you the average daily power it uses in Kilowatts. (Multiply by 1000 to get it in watts)   I’ve always been surprised that most manufacturers customer service departments ACTUALLY do have this information on hand.  If there is no way of contacting the manufacturer, it’s sometimes easier to purchase a kill-a-watt meter that will measure the power consumption of ANY electrical device you want.

2 – How many solar panels do I need  ?

The most important part of figuring out how many solar panels you need for your solar power system is to figure out your DAILY POWER CONSUMPTION. (Explained in the question above this one)  This is very important, and you shouldn’t go any further until you know more or less how many watts of power you use per day.  When you do know how much power you need per day, it’s easy to figure out how many solar panels you need.

Another thing you need to know is the average amount of sunlight you have per day in your area.  (It’s best to not be optimistic on this)   Where i’m at in Canada, I calculate 4 hours of peak sun on average per day.  (Winter has little sun, but the summer has LOTS of sun, averages out to about 4 hours per day)

Now you simply divide the TOTAL WATTS you use per day by the average hours of sunlight you get per day, and that will tell you how many watts you need to generate per hour.

Solar Panels are rated in Watts.  The number it gives (lets say a 100 watt solar panel) is the amount of power it generates per peak hour of sunlight.  So a 100 Watt Solar panel will generate 100 watts in 1 hour, and 400 watts in 4 hours.  So if you figured out in the previous step that you need to generate 400 Watts of power per hour, you would need either 1 400 Watt panel, or 4 100 Watt Panels, or 8 50 Watt panels. (etc, etc, etc …)  It’s always best to get a little more panels than you think you need.

You can read my other post about deciding how many solar panels you need and how to calculate your power consumption by clicking here.

3 – How many batteries do I need for my solar powered system ?

The simple answer is that you want double the battery power than what you’ll be using every day.  To keep the batteries alive, you want to drain them the least amount possible.  50% is the MAX that you should drain them.  So if you use 1000 Watts per day, you need a battery bank that’s capable of holding 2000 Watts so that you don’t discharge them more than 50%.

Batteries are usually labeled with their Voltage and AMP HOUR capacity (AH).  Once again multiply the volts by the amps and you’ll get the amount of WATTS that this battery holds.

For more information about batteries for your renewable energy system, click here.

4 – How much power does a 60 Watt light bulb take ?

you wouldn’t believe how often I see questions like this. I almost wish I was making this up.  It takes 60 WATTS ! (Per hour of run-time)   Watts is a universal way of calculating power consumption because it takes into account the voltage it works at and the current that it draws.  Volts * amps = Watts.

As crazy as this sounds, a 100 watt bulb takes 100 watts, and a 75 watt bulb takes 75 Watts.  Spooky eh ? 

5 – How many solar panels to power my house ?

Read questions 1 and 2

6 – Can you help me set-up my system ?

Yes, simply send me an email to digitalmind (AT) techienation (DOT) com.  I give lots of free tech support and help by email and chat.  I’m open to travelling to certain places and helping with solar setups in exchange for simply being taken care of while i’m down there.  (A place to sleep and food to eat, i’m not picky ) I am located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

If you’ve made it this far, you’d probably be interested in reading about my small $600 solar power installation by clicking here.  OR, read about SolarSuno’s recent installation in Spain (with a little tech support help from TechieNATION) by clicking here !.

If you’re looking for LOTS of information on solar power and wind power systems, you might consider buying these sets of e-books that are filled with tips and tricks for solar and wind power.

If you have any more questions, please contact me at the address above or leave a comment here. Thanks for reading and visiting TechieNATION !

Daily Eco-Tips in your mailbox !

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living
• Date: Sep 2,2008

TechieNATION loves being eco-friendly.  I recently found this site that sends me an email every day with a “green” living tip !  It’s great !  I love reading about ingenious ways of getting things done with only the things nature provides you.  Sign up to the newsletter, you won’t regret it !

This site has been featured in lots of women’s magazines such as Elle, Oprah magazine, Vanity Fair, and many more !

Solarsuno Solar Power Installation in Spain

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living
• Date: Aug 16,2008

Over the last few weeks I’ve been exchanging emails with Maria from SolarSuno in Spain who is in the process of installing a solar system with her husband Emileo at one of their customers.  I’ve been helping with little details by email and Maria was kind enough to send some pictures of the installation so far.

They installed four 210 Watt, 24 volt solar panels. Total power being generated equals 840 Watts of power per hour of sunlight ! The solar panels are connected to a Tri-Star 60 Charge Controller.

They connected 10 12 volt 200 amphour batteries into a 24 volt configuration.  So, 5 pairs of 12 volt batteries are put together in series.  With that we now have five 24volt cells of 200 amphours.  They connect those five cells together in parallel and now have a 24 volt 1000 amphour battery bank !  That’s a total of 24000 Watts inside the batteries !  If they only use the top 40% of the batteries (in order to keep them alive MUCH longer) that still means they have 9600 Watts of usable power just from the batteries.  (Lets not forget that the solar panels are recharging these batteries at a whopping rate of 840 Watts per hour of sunlight, and Spain gets lots of sun !)  The batteries are connected to a 3000 Watt, 24 volt Outback Invertor. (Model VFX3024E)

The “Solar House” in Spain.  Solar Panels are by the top left of the picture, to the right of that is the Solar Hot Water heater.  I’m curious as to what the tower is for though.  Wind turbine ? Antenna ? Hopefully Maria will clear this up for me.

Maria and her husband are doing a great thing.  They’re spreading the word about alternative energy and are reducing the worlds carbon footprint one house at a time ! Keep up the good work !

If you’re interested in alternative energy, you may also be interested in these articles :

Kingston, Ontario Solar Power Installation

Solar Power Basics

How to calculate how many solar panels you need

Wind Turbine basics

Thanks for visiting TechieNATION !  If you need help / advise please feel free to leave a comment and I will reply ASAP.  If you have pictures of your own alternative energy installation I would love to get them and any details you have about it.

Lastly, if you would like to learn how to build your own inexpensive wind turbine, or how to put up solar panels,  you may want to consider getting this set of e-books. (Or you can read all my articles and ask me your questions which I will answer to the best of my knowledge, for free ofcourse.)

Understanding Wind Power (Wind Generators / turbines)

• Author: DigitalMind
• Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living, Uncategorized
• Date: Aug 14,2008

What seems like a long time ago, I decided to learn how to create my own power from scratch.  Partially because my little sister lives in an off-grid home, but mostly because it’s just plain cool ! It took a few months of intensive studying, but I figured out Solar Power pretty fast.  At the same time that I started learning how to generate power from the sun, I was learning how to generate power from the wind.  It took me until now to finally understand JUST THE BASICS of this subject enough that I feel confident writing about it and starting to work on my own set of wind turbines.  This article is about the very BASICS of wind power, as I understand it.

Read the rest of this entry »