Setting up solar panels

100meg over 40km via an RF link on Wimax..

Interesting, I thought Wimax's max throughput was 70meg... so they've revised the technology then?

and do you even BEGIN to realise how expensive it is to remove your reliance on eskom for electricity wifybabycakes... NONE of the solutions are economically viable on a small scale.

The public may not understand that its possible.. but thats irrelevant, at the moment its not economically viable to do so.

WTF does Altech have to do with energy?... Eskom yes, but Altech? or is this more of your Naspers conspiracy tripe?
 
rebel998 said:
But copying a patent is only illegal if you do it commercially isn't it? Let's say I reproduce a routerbord and use it for personal use, is that still illegal?:D
Click to expand...

I cannot see how it can be. As long as you did it for yourself. If you can do it though, why not license the technique and go into business. :)
 
I see folks are getting personal on topics that can either be ignored or perhaps replied to with a counter argument. I have removed the posts in question and their responses. Keep it fair and clean folks. :)
 
Our new office has gone green and we have storage batteries (a stack of them), high end regulators and solar panels.

What we learn't about solar panels is your grid is only as good as your weakest panel !!!

So if one panel is only producing 30% then your entire grid drops to 30%, makes no sense but that is just how it works. Thats why these things are so friggin expensive for home/office use as they all have to be of the same quality/grade.

We also have 2 DC air-conditioners that can run up to 4 hours on their batteries - friggin awesome stuff :)


BTW: We had ours installed by a german fella who did the Cape Town German School according to German Government standards - my boet-in-law works for Eskom (top senior engineer) and told me how green-energy advanced the Germans are.
 
Its awesome to see companies doing that.... big up to your company cbrunsdonza....

I would love to be able to do it at home, just keep looking at the sums and seeing how expensive it is and how it would cost me more in the long run...
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Our new office has gone green and we have storage batteries (a stack of them), high end regulators and solar panels.

What we learn't about solar panels is your grid is only as good as your weakest panel !!!

So if one panel is only producing 30% then your entire grid drops to 30%, makes no sense but that is just how it works. Thats why these things are so friggin expensive for home/office use as they all have to be of the same quality/grade.

We also have 2 DC air-conditioners that can run up to 4 hours on their batteries - friggin awesome stuff :)


BTW: We had ours installed by a german fella who did the Cape Town German School according to German Government standards - my boet-in-law works for Eskom (top senior engineer) and told me how green-energy advanced the Germans are.
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The germans are really ahead of the pack. They have an incentive where the government buys back power you generate from solar at a higher rate than whats it sold for if I am not mistaken. This is fixed for the next 10 years. This has resulted in it actually becoming economically benefitial for the public to actually instal panels. Farmers are now using their land to farm sun and sell the power to the grid.
 
metalcore said:
The germans are really ahead of the pack. They have an incentive where the government buys back power you generate from solar at a higher rate than whats it sold for if I am not mistaken. This is fixed for the next 10 years. This has resulted in it actually becoming economically benefitial for the public to actually instal panels. Farmers are now using their land to farm sun and sell the power to the grid.
Click to expand...

Yup. We are actually investing alot of cash to do the same here at our office once regulations allow it. Its also just cool to live in a green office, especially when Eskom goes down and we still have power and aircons.
 
Those of you with water and large area such as farms should consider using a Turbine to generate power.

http://quasiturbine.promci.qc.ca/ Has nice picture as well
This is the patent http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6899075.html

actually it is this patent: http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/pdfs/patent_id/6164263.html from http://www.gizmag.com/go/3501/picture/7183/
The quasiturbine patent expires 2023, commercially they are not available , only single units for around $9000. Thus we will hack the patent. Any component can be scanned with a 3d laser scanner to get the design on auto-cad.

If the parabolic is large the construction costs go up. Smaller units allow heating smaller Stirling engines, which each creates small current that can be added. What seems to be most efficient are parabolic troughs that heats a pipe running its length to generate steam and the steam turns the turbine. Huge amounts of watts can be generated like this because the sun focuses 1kwatt per square meter.

http://www.pritchardpower.com.au/technology.aspx
The patented boiler does not use any form of 'pressure' cylinder but rather is a 'flash' boiler. We call it a 'steam generator'. If the mechanical power of the engine is not needed, the small and highly efficient steam generator can be used directly to produce either wet or dry steam, and thus deliver sterilizing, distillation, process heat, hot water and space heating depending on how the steam/water circuit is configured.

The patented engine of the S5000 has done for steam engines what IBM did for the computer, made it (PC) personal. The Pritchard Power stationary engine has the potential to deliver a system that could comfortably power and heat an average suburban home, providing hot water, electricity and space heating, all from pelletised wood fuels. This is referred to as CHP, or combined heat and power.

Using high quality pelletised fuels a Pritchard CHP system should produce no visible smoke, be able to be largely automatically controlled like other modern home heating system. A program of work is also underway to develop a system that would run off natural gas for those applications where use of renewable solid fuels was not practical and where gas is available.

Dont reinvent the wheel
Look at how India deals with the problem: http://www.tinytechindia.com/steampowerplan.htm
 
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Just an aside. According to various suppliers and knowledgeable insiders I've spoken to, panel prices are at record lows owing to a glut. Now's the time to buy, if you're planning PV.
 
save up for those solar panels now!!!

hooooooooooooooooooo boy people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*** en betaal is die wet van transvaal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=79333

if i understand the first para correctly, WE ARE GOING TO GET ESKOM OUT OF THE RED!!!!!!!

how about cutting down your electricity account by changing your lights to LED lights,
and in the process giving eskom less money per month?

LED lights SAVE MORE ENERGY than "energy saving" bulbs.

http://www.c2r.co.za/html/comparative_table.html
 
Switching tracks a little ... since the topic is "Setting up solar panels" ... I'm recabling the house and want to make provision for PV panels to be placed on large flat roof on 2nd floor at some future date. The 12kVA MLT Drives Power Star (with integrated solar regulator) is in the Facilities Room some 15m away. What size conduiting and cabling should I put between the roof/PV panels and the Facilities Room? I forseesee the equivalent of about 10 x 240W panels.
 
MontyPython said:
hooooooooooooooooooo boy people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*** en betaal is die wet van transvaal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=79333

if i understand the first para correctly, WE ARE GOING TO GET ESKOM OUT OF THE RED!!!!!!!

how about cutting down your electricity account by changing your lights to LED lights,
and in the process giving eskom less money per month?

LED lights SAVE MORE ENERGY than "energy saving" bulbs.

http://www.c2r.co.za/html/comparative_table.html
Click to expand...

Make sure BEFORE you buy ...

1. How much heat they give off
2. How bright the light is they emit
3. How COSTLY they are to buy
4. What their life span is

The energy saving lights available in SA as an example.

The don't give off as much light as the advertise, they get dimmer as time goes by.

And I can almost guarantee you that if you keep your receipts for the energy saving lights they will blow/die before their warranty is over....

Now try to get is replaced under warranty.

Think carefully before you leap. The same goes for solar water heating and solar panels.

PS: The NEW slim SA designed solar panels will be manufactured in Paarl soon.

There's a chap who's been building solar water heating tanks in Mosselbay for ages - long before all the hype of solar hit SA. The system is inexpensive...costs way less that the R15000 units sold elsewhere.
 
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Arthur said:
Switching tracks a little ... since the topic is "Setting up solar panels" ... I'm recabling the house and want to make provision for PV panels to be placed on large flat roof on 2nd floor at some future date. The 12kVA MLT Drives Power Star (with integrated solar regulator) is in the Facilities Room some 15m away. What size conduiting and cabling should I put between the roof/PV panels and the Facilities Room? I forseesee the equivalent of about 10 x 240W panels.
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What voltage are the panels, and will you be connecting the two panels in series or parallel?
 
BCO said:
What voltage are the panels, and will you be connecting the two panels in series or parallel?
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BCO, I envisage about 10 (not two) panels, and have no idea whether to go in series or parallel - the panels have not been bought, but I need to make provision for the conduiting and cabling so connection to the MLT Power Star (12kW system) in future is easy. The DC side of the Power Star is 48V.
 
Arthur said:
BCO, I envisage about 10 (not two) panels, and have no idea whether to go in series or parallel - the panels have not been bought, but I need to make provision for the conduiting and cabling so connection to the MLT Power Star (12kW system) in future is easy. The DC side of the Power Star is 48V.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, 10 panels - I misread there. So the input side of the inverter (very nice inverter, with built in regulator/charger, BTW) is 48V, meaning you'd need some combination of series/parallel with your panels to get a 48V input to the regulator. So 15m at 48V and a 2400W array equals around 50 amps of current in your wiring. You'd need 13mm2 wiring.

http://www.freesunpower.com/wire_calc.php

http://www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpage.php?aiocp_dp=guide_awg_to_metric
 
warranties

DeSLAM said:
Make sure BEFORE you buy ...

1. How much heat they give off
2. How bright the light is they emit
3. How COSTLY they are to buy
4. What their life span is

The energy saving lights available in SA as an example.

The don't give off as much light as the advertise, they get dimmer as time goes by.

And I can almost guarantee you that if you keep your receipts for the energy saving lights they will blow/die before their warranty is over....

Now try to get is replaced under warranty.

Think carefully before you leap. The same goes for solar water heating and solar panels.

PS: The NEW slim SA designed solar panels will be manufactured in Paarl soon.

There's a chap who's been building solar water heating tanks in Mosselbay for ages - long before all the hype of solar hit SA. The system is inexpensive...costs way less that the R15000 units sold elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Let me quote from the opening page of the website:"C2R also has available a 6W down-lighter lamp (12v or 220v) that produces the same light as the traditional 50W halogen down-lighter while having a longer life span. This specific bulb comes as standard with a 2-year warranty, the first year of which is unconditional against manufacturing defects. The second and third years are on a “return-and-repair” basis."

The website has been re-designed and updated with a lot more products. 130+ bulbs, 190+ downlights, 30+ street lights,
70+ wall lights, to mention a few.

Please don't mistake LED lights for CFL(compact fluorescent) or "energy saver" lights. The 2 are worlds apart. LED's last minimum 40 000 hours, don't flicker, contains no mercury, gives off little heat.
 
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