Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Solar Power?

amc rulz said:
I believe 'grid tied' systems are normally tied to the power companies electrical grid; pulling electric when needed, and sending excess, unused solar-generated power back into the grid. No batteries used. Only time to be concerned would be during power outages?
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Thats right, but at night or during low light conditions during storms snows etc it would be handy to at least have some back up , I live in the tropics and no fan at night during certain times of the year is brutal
 
I have been researching solar for a couple of months now, plan on moving back to the states in the spring and want to do some boondocking in the south and west during the cold Pa winter months. gotta have a few batteries for that. The RV guys have it down to a science
 
hawgdawg said:
I've looked at those also . I'm wanting to try one out to . The ones I looked at didn't need a fan , but it may help , but worked off of a natural draft . I'm going try one this winter , let me know how yours works out for you.
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It would be nice if they were effective without a fan , but I just cant see how there would be any worthwhile circulation of the heat without one.

Hopefully I will get a chance to put one or two together before winter. Im gonna have to look up the fan free type and see what I can find out about them.
 
ohiochris said:
It would be nice if they were effective without a fan , but I just cant see how there would be any worthwhile circulation of the heat without one.

Hopefully I will get a chance to put one or two together before winter. Im gonna have to look up the fan free type and see what I can find out about them.
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It's worth looking into , it works with a natural draw much like a chimney , hot air rise's and will pull the cooler air up with it , my only concern with the fan would be pulling or pushing the warmer air out before it reaches its maximum temperature. But I will be practicing with one myself this year .
 
hawgdawg said:
It's worth looking into , it works with a natural draw much like a chimney , hot air rise's and will pull the cooler air up with it , my only concern with the fan would be pulling or pushing the warmer air out before it reaches its maximum temperature. But I will be practicing with one myself this year .
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I thought of that with the fan too , but if the tubes inside are long enough the air has plenty of time and surface area to get to temperature while the sun is continually heating them , from the tests Ive seen on videos the inside of the unit should stay hot enough that even forced air over a period of time shouldn't be an issue. I think that on a very cold day with a temp of 100 degrees + inside the unit , circulating a conservative estimate of around 60 degree air around a room all day long , or as long as there is adequate solar heat available , should be realistic. My only expectation is that it keep the furnace from kicking on as often , and that over time should add up to savings on the heat bill. If it works out I may just build one for almost every room in the house. Good luck on your experiments with it.

I just bought my house and have so much to do already , hopefully I can find the time to get started with mine. They look simple to build , my only problem is finding some affordable glazing ( glass or clear polycarbonate ) for it , there are a few options out there but some works better than others.
 
zeemang said:
Here it is a different system with the power company, two meter system, you produced x number of kwh's per month and you used y number of kwh's per month. They do not pay you the over production, but you can build up a credit say in the winter when you run your ac less and use that credit up in the summer.
I would not consider myself a big tree hugging kind of guy, just want to run more AC and ensure that my bill will always be the bare minimum is all. Power rates are going up here every year it seems so it seems like a solid option.
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We have the same "system" with the pow-co around here. They look at prior energy use/production and credit based upon that.

If power goes out, you CANNOT run off-grid. Wind and photovoltaic on the meter/grid system must shut down during any power outages. I don't know enough to say why, but assume it has something to do with power possibly being fed back into the grid - maybe making it difficult to pin-point the outage or making a line that should be de-energized live/unsafe.
 
Franz said:
We have the same "system" with the pow-co around here. They look at prior energy use/production and credit based upon that.

If power goes out, you CANNOT run off-grid. Wind and photovoltaic on the meter/grid system must shut down during any power outages. I don't know enough to say why, but assume it has something to do with power possibly being fed back into the grid - maybe making it difficult to pin-point the outage or making a line that should be de-energized live/unsafe.
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What exactly does that mean if you cannot run off-grid ? If power goes out you cant run off your own system ?
 
Basically if the power goes out everywhere you have to flip a breaker and just use the energy in your house instead of feeding the grid. if you send it in to the grid and the line workers think they are working dead lines it is very dangerous for them.
 
zeemang said:
Basically if the power goes out everywhere you have to flip a breaker and just use the energy in your house instead of feeding the grid. if you send it in to the grid and the line workers think they are working dead lines it is very dangerous for them.
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That makes sense.

I was going to say , why couldn't you flip the switch and be disconnected from the outside system for a while. I don't understand exactly how it all works , I just know there are switches made to interrupt you from the grid. I have one in my basement that I am trying to sell locally since I wont be using it , though its for using a generator. Until I was told what its for recently , I had no idea what that box and switch was for.
 
Renogy.com is where I got my kit. 100 watt panel, control charger and cable for around 180 shipped. It powers my garage. I bought a invertor and a couple batteries. Pm your number I can text a video of it. As I do not know how to put it on YouTube. You can hook it all up in less than a hour.
 
7centsworth said:
Renogy.com is where I got my kit. 100 watt panel, control charger and cable for around 180 shipped. It powers my garage. I bought a invertor and a couple batteries. Pm your number I can text a video of it. As I do not know how to put it on YouTube. You can hook it all up in less than a hour.
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Thanks. I went with the Renogy 50 Watt panel, cables and charge controller. Added a Cobra 400 watt inverter.

Picked up a Walmart 12v deep cycle marine battery.

Finally got around to putting together an adjustable frame for the panel today.

Will only adjust panel angle twice a year, 20 degrees for the winter, 58 degrees for the summer, based on my latitude.

Temporarily hooked up everything today to make sure everything worked ok.

Panel was putting out 21 volts, cloudy sky.

Should have plenty of power to keep my video camera charged, cell phone charged, run a small fan in the summer, wire up a 12volt bulb for an overhead light.

I like the Renogy Kit. Appears to be well constructed, came with all required hardware, clear instructions and plenty of cable.

Will post pics next couple of days.
 
Bill_Ace_350 said:
Thanks. I went with the Renogy 50 Watt panel, cables and charge controller. Added a Cobra 400 watt inverter.

Picked up a Walmart 12v deep cycle marine battery.

Finally got around to putting together an adjustable frame for the panel today.

Will only adjust panel angle twice a year, 20 degrees for the winter, 58 degrees for the summer, based on my latitude.

Temporarily hooked up everything today to make sure everything worked ok.

Panel was putting out 21 volts, cloudy sky.

Should have plenty of power to keep my video camera charged, cell phone charged, run a small fan in the summer, wire up a 12volt bulb for an overhead light.

I like the Renogy Kit. Appears to be well constructed, came with all required hardware, clear instructions and plenty of cable.

Will post pics next couple of days.
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Looking forward to your reviews of it . Thanks
 
Here are some pics.....

Hooked everything up to make sure it worked.....

Will cable tie/mount everything the next few days.

Oriented the panel due south, base on a westerly magnetic declination of 12.34 degrees. (glad I remember how to use a compass and map, thanks U.S. Army)

Panel can be adjusted form horizontal to vertical, but I will adjust twice a year: 20 degrees summer angle and 58 degrees winter angle based on my latitude.(glad I remember how to use a protractor, thanks to Mr. H., my high school trig and geometry teacher).

Battery was 90% charged at 13.8 volts....

Panel was putting out 19-22 volts under cloudy skies.
 

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I used a 12 v led corn light I got off eBay. Works great and bright. I have two inside my garage and one in the porch.
 
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