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Initial Solar Panel Setup #9

Open mynameisfiber opened 11 years ago

mynameisfiber commented 11 years ago

We need power. We'll probably need power while doing #1 and #3 so we should get something set up as quickly as possible. I'm also planning on getting a little mifi thinger to help with internet right off the bat, and it'd be nice to be able to power laptop!

So, I propose getting:

So that we can start the process. This also is not a wasted purchase... these elements can be used as parts of the larger solar setup once we get the money and the need to expand.

From my research on amazon, this will cost about $235 (including shipping), however we can probably get things cheaper if we shop around (http://amzn.com/w/2C5WI1JSWHHEY). I would love to shop around (and craigslist things as to repurpose things people are throwing away), but it may be critical to have these items for our May 17th trip.

One big questions is where we are going to store these things while the structure is still being built. We could haul it back and forth (or potentially the Varila's would be willing to hold onto them).

Anyways, what does everyone thing? Does anyone already have some of these items (namely the battery)? We should act fast so we can get everything in time!

wannabeCitizen commented 11 years ago

I don't think I have any of the items, but I'd be willing to help order/pay for some of these things. As far as storage I do think the Varela's would be fine with us leaving anything there. We may also want to consider getting some kind of lock box to put other things in too. We going to buy a lot of tools while we're down there as well. Do we want to haul those all back with us? We could also leave those at the Varela's since the next time we come down there, we will have a building to put them in :)

I'm good either way. @mynameisfiber if you want to order any of this, we could do a quick phone call or skype and I'd be willing to order some things, but we should look at them together since you did the research.

mynameisfiber commented 11 years ago

I'll make a project with all of these details tonight and we can vote. That way I can make the order tomorrow. I'll also call you, @wannabeCitizen (and whoever else wants to be on), later tonight and we can go through the details.

coopaloopster commented 11 years ago

we have you included in the dinner reservation at 9pm just so you know Micha. You can bail if you'd like, just let us know so we have a good idea of the head count.

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 12:54 PM, Micha Gorelick notifications@github.comwrote:

I'll make a project with all of these details tonight and we can vote. That way I can make the order tomorrow. I'll also call you, @wannabeCitizen https://github.com/wannabeCitizen (and whoever else wants to be on), later tonight and we can go through the details.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/mynameisfiber/thefreedomfoundation/issues/9#issuecomment-17239533 .

mynameisfiber commented 11 years ago

@coopaloopster @wannabeCitizen I'm going to delay the project writing and phone call for tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to put the information I had found in the "Buildings and Electricity" e-mail here for a more public digestion of the information:

Solar Panels

Inverters

General

If we are using 3 laptop chargers for 3 days, one router and turn all that off when we are using a tool (let's say we use the tool for a total of 2 hour continuously a day), then we are using a total of (60 3 watts) * (3 days) + (1500 watts) \ (2 hours) = 15960 watt hours with 2500W surge wattage, 200 normal and 1500W peak. Assuming we are using the 12V inverter, that means we need a 1330 Amp-hour battery bank in order to power our weekend (and that is assuming we charge during the week and unplug the panels while using the batteries, so really this is an upper bound). From what I see, that would take about 7 batteries to do (this all depends assuming we are using 200amp-hour golf cart batteries!). I've found a shit ton of ~100Ah batteries on craigslist for ~$60/each (ie: http://nashville.craigslist.org/fod/3646441702.html). Now, this is a HUGE upper bound for a couple reasons... first, it assumes we don't have the solar panels on during the weekend. It also assumes that our laptops are constantly out of battery, which isn't the case. In the end, we'll have more than enough power to have some lights going.

To start with, I think 2 or 3 batteries will suffice. We could even keep one as a dedicated battery for tools that way we don't run out of power at an important point in building. With one 130 watt solar panel (http://www.solar-electric.com/sosp130wamum.html) we can charge one battery in about 10 hours with ideal sunlight (using this: http://www.csgnetwork.com/batterychgcalc.html). This means that with one solar panel, we will be able to charge at most 5 batteries comfortably during the week. As a starter I think this is perfect.

So, I say our initial setup is:

I estimate that it'll cost about $1000 including spare wires and whatnot.

coopaloopster commented 11 years ago

This all looks amazing. I'd also like to suggest we find an old exercise bike and convert it into a generator for emergencies since our little calculation in the kitchen revealed that an autobelay device on a tree attached to a flywheel will probably be inefficient, especially since you newbs couldn't mantle a sloper to save your slack line. Noam sayin' noam chomskies?

boom.

but seriously, nice work micha.

yours in freedom. coop.

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 11:29 PM, Micha Gorelick notifications@github.comwrote:

@coopaloopster https://github.com/coopaloopster @wannabeCitizenhttps://github.com/wannabeCitizenI'm going to delay the project writing and phone call for tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to put the information I had found in the "Buildings and Electricity" e-mail here for a more public digestion of the information: Solar Panels

  • if the panel puts out 1/60th or more per day of the rated battery amp-hour capacity then we need a solar charge controller
  • we can make our own charge controller... http://www.freechargecontroller.org/ (open source project!)
  • for a good idea of the things needed, check out this UN-POWERED kit. It was made to be plugged into power and used as a backup power source... it is also 600watt which seems like around what we'll need... http://www.solar-electric.com/bakitwi56amb.html
  • A 130 watt/12 volt solar panel will cost us about $250.

Inverters

General

If we are using 3 laptop chargers for 3 days, one router and turn all that off when we are using a tool (let's say we use the tool for a total of 2 hour continuously a day), then we are using a total of (60 3 watts) * (3 days) + (1500 watts) \ (2 hours) = 15960 watt hours with 2500W surge wattage, 200 normal and 1500W peak. Assuming we are using the 12V inverter, that means we need a 1330 Amp-hour battery bank in order to power our weekend (and that is assuming we charge during the week and unplug the panels while using the batteries, so really this is an upper bound). From what I see, that would take about 7 batteries to do (this all depends assuming we are using 200amp-hour golf cart batteries!). I've found a shit ton of ~100Ah batteries on craigslist for ~$60/each (ie: http://nashville.craigslist.org/fod/3646441702.html). Now, this is a HUGE upper bound for a couple reasons... first, it assumes we don't have the solar panels on during the weekend. It also assumes that our laptops are constantly out of battery, which isn't the case. In the end, we'll have more than enough power to have some lights going.

To start with, I think 2 or 3 batteries will suffice. We could even keep one as a dedicated battery for tools that way we don't run out of power at an important point in building. With one 130 watt solar panel (http://www.solar-electric.com/sosp130wamum.html) we can charge one battery in about 10 hours with ideal sunlight (using this: http://www.csgnetwork.com/batterychgcalc.html). This means that with one solar panel, we will be able to charge at most 5 batteries comfortably during the week. As a starter I think this is perfect.

So, I say our initial setup is:

I estimate that it'll cost about $1000 including spare wires and whatnot.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/mynameisfiber/thefreedomfoundation/issues/9#issuecomment-17267147 .