My Latest Projects

[audioguru]

The panels are rated for 65W at noon on the equator during a sunny day. I wonder what is the average output per day.
You aren't on the equator.
Noon is only for about 1 hour each day.
The panels don't follow the sun's position in the sky.
They obviously don't work at night.

 

[bryan1]

The panels are rated for 65W at noon on the equator during a sunny day. I wonder what is the average output per day.
You aren't on the equator.
Noon is only for about 1 hour each day.
The panels don't follow the sun's position in the sky.
They obviously don't work at night.

I'd like to where you got that 65 watt figure from Audioguru . The panel on the back clearly states 175 watt @ 35.6 volts. Anyway before I put in my ute to bring home we short circuit tested them at 5 pm on a cloudy day. Now the figures were 42 volts @3 amps on average for all 4 panels. Now thats equates to an average of 126 watts and like I said that figure was taken at 5pm. I'll be placing them beside my existing solar array on the roof facing north where they will see the sun from sunup to sundown and by putting an mppt on I'll be getting the most out of the panels short of making a solar tracker.

Cheers Bryan

 

[audioguru]

I'd like to where you got that 65 watt figure from Audioguru

Sorry Bryan. I read about the 65W panels in your 1st post. I see later when you talked about these 175W monsters.

 

[bryan1]

Well Guy's I finally got around today to hooking up those 4 -175 watt panels in parrallel. I did it just after lunch in full sun and the voltage reading was open circuit 43 volts and when I short circuited them I saw nearly 16 amps before the fuse on my multimeter blew. Now working those figures out I got 668 watts which in my opnion will outdo my kaneka panels on a sunnyday. I can't wait to find a decent charge controller and get these babies on my roof and hooked up to those new batteries I got.

Just an Update guy's


Cheers Bryan

 

[bryan1]

Hiya Again Guy's,
Well the bargin's keep coming my way it seems . Tomorrow morning I'm going to pickup the solar hot water in the picture link below. It's only costing me $200 Oz and there is a leak somewhere in the tank so with my skills I can easily fix any leak I find. Now this system was used as a mains water pressure system but i'll be changing it to a gravity fed open system. The Current hotwater service I'm using is an instant gas hotwater system and I'm using 1 45 kg of gas every month which now costs over $100 a bottle. So with my solar hot water system and the extra battery power not only will I be cutting down on monthly gas expenses but having the extra solar and battery power as we're in for a long hot summer I'm going to see the daiken bloke about a 2hp cooling inverter aircon so my family can stay cool thru the day when I'm at work but also when I get home it will be nice to have a cool house to have my after work beer .

Cheers Bryan

 

[williB]

Hey Bryan ,
this is what i've been up to lately
in the background is my breadboard , with the 16F877A in the lower right , not shown is the 16F88 in PWM mode , driving a fet and the DC motor which is powering my mini gen , in testbed mode .
picture 2 is a close up of the new minigen i just got the three bolts on it
the last photo is the bearing that i am going to use when i'm done testing it, 5/8-11 threaded rod shoud hold it together, it will replace the 3/8-16 threaded rod going down the center

 

[ljcox]

I'd like to where you got that 65 watt figure from Audioguru . The panel on the back clearly states 175 watt @ 35.6 volts. Anyway before I put in my ute to bring home we short circuit tested them at 5 pm on a cloudy day. Now the figures were 42 volts @3 amps on average for all 4 panels. Now thats equates to an average of 126 watts and like I said that figure was taken at 5pm. I'll be placing them beside my existing solar array on the roof facing north where they will see the sun from sunup to sundown and by putting an mppt on I'll be getting the most out of the panels short of making a solar tracker.

Cheers Bryan

Bryan,
As a matter of interest, some years ago, Telstra had a solar powered exchange at Glen Valley in Vic. It could charge the batteries in bright moon light or in sun light even with 50 mm of snow on it. Its probably still there given that Glen Valley is in the middle of no-where and an long way from grid power. The next time I'm over your way, I would like to drop in and see your gear - if you don't mind.

 

[simoin]

fisher and paykel

How is the F & P wind Generator coming along this week? What size blades did you make/use again?

 

[bryan1]

How is the F & P wind Generator coming along this week? What size blades did you make/use again?

The F&P wind genny project has come to a stall as the comany I work for has sold us out and I have to setup a workshop by the end of the month while doing the backlog of work with the present company. Basically it's all finished and ready to erect and I made a 3 blade 8 foot wood setup for the genny. I'm going to put some winglets on the base of the blades so it can start easier as cogging will be an issue. Anway I tried that new 3kw inverter out on my 2hp 4' lathe and it ran fine for about 20 minutes and the batteries only dropped 1 volt after that time. I need to get a 200 amp fuse array before I use the inverter seriously and I'll grab that next week hopefully.

Cheers Bryan

 

[ljcox]

Well Guy's I finally got around today to hooking up those 4 -175 watt panels in parrallel. I did it just after lunch in full sun and the voltage reading was open circuit 43 volts and when I short circuited them I saw nearly 16 amps before the fuse on my multimeter blew. Now working those figures out I got 668 watts which in my opnion will outdo my kaneka panels on a sunnyday. I can't wait to find a decent charge controller and get these babies on my roof and hooked up to those new batteries I got.

Just an Update guy's


Cheers Bryan

Bryan,
Your calculation of 668 Watt is not really valid. The short circuit current is not very helpful. You need to connect a dummy load such as some light globes in parallel. Measure the voltage across the globes and the current through them. The voltage will decrease as the number of globes increases.

I think the most meaningful power level is at the point where the voltage has dropped to the minimum voltage that your inverter can operate properly.

If you do it on a cloudly day, it will give you the worst case figure, ie. how mich power your appliances can consume on a bad day.

 

[simoin]

Air Conditioner

Hiya Guy's
Well I've been busy...
So here's a topic revelant to alternate energy and I love love some comments to come in as I'm totally reliant on R.E. and I would like this part of the forum to be more Alternate Energy rather than scams like sterion etc.

Cheers Bryan

I see on another thread, (https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/air-conditioner.23403/) That you were having a crack at making an 12 Volt Evaporative Air-Con, how did that end up going or has it stalled behing the new workshop and various other projects?

Adelaide is heating up a few of these systems would be nice, I'm renting so I would probably just setup a small scale one.

 

[bryan1]

Adelaide is heating up a few of these systems would be nice, I'm renting so I would probably just setup a small scale one.

Hiya Simoin,
I remember seeing an evaporative cooler project years ago that worked off a 12 volt solar panel. Basically a minimaximer kit powered a heap of computer fans and a small 12 volt water pump replaced the 240 volt one. This would be an easy project to do providing you could find an old evaporitive cooler and a heap of computer fans. I'll have a hunt around and see if I can find the link that explains it better but like I say it was years ago when I saw it.

OK here is the link to the minimaximer with plenty of info on building it http://www.suburbia.com.au/~mickgg/minimax/minimax.htm you can even build it on veroboard so basically when the sun is shining the evaporitive cooler will be working without the need of any batteries. And here is the kink to the air cooler I was talking about above http://www.voltscommissar.net/competitive_edge.htm

Cheers Bryan

 

[audioguru]

Do you guys live on the moon?
No electricity, running water, natural gas, telephone, cable TV and all the other comforts of home?
Where does your internet come from?

 

[ljcox]

Do you guys live on the moon?
No electricity, running water, natural gas, telephone, cable TV and all the other comforts of home?
Where does your internet come from?

Audio, has global warming reached the wilds of Canada yet?

These blokes are trying to do their bit to reduce green house emissions.

 

[audioguru]

Audio, has global warming reached the wilds of Canada yet?

I don't go into the wilds but I saw a deer near my house a few days ago.

My part of Canada is warmed by the air pollution from United States.
My electricity comes from water wheels (hydro turbines) at Niagra Falls and some nuclear ones.
My heating is with clean natural gas that is from the ground.
My car runs on cheap gasoline from Canadian tar sands mixed with bourbon from United States.
I have two solar powered garden lights that is my contribution to reduce global warming.

 

[simoin]

Well, we don't quite live on the moon and I don't know about anyone else but I just like making stuff if I can. I enjoy making little projects as and find the electrical and constructions skills I learn from the little project/challenges that I undertake are very useful in the rest of life. It helps me think outside my square for neat and simple solutions... Mostly!

Whilst I like the idea of being totally off-grid I recognize that it is both expensive and it would take a long time to pay for itself in terms of money and carbon emissions.

Someone once asked me why you would use solar panels and explained that the Aluminum used to make the frames and the whole process of making the solar panels would probably produce more carbon than the panel would counter-act in a long time. Not sure how right they were but I'd say it has a touch of truth about it.

But anyway, I like to tinker, that's why I build stuff.

 

[audioguru]

I noticed that the land in Oz looks dried up like in a desert. Most of Oz looks like the moon in Google Earth. Its few towns are pretty small.

I saw a huge rain water holding tank on a post here so I thought you might have a well to get water from.

 

[bryan1]

I noticed that the land in Oz looks dried up like in a desert. Most of Oz looks like the moon in Google Earth. Its few towns are pretty small.

I saw a huge rain water holding tank on a post here so I thought you might have a well to get water from.

Hiya audio,
Eh mate that tank you saw was the 5,000 gallon rainwater house tank. This tank is one of 3 that I have and I have a 2,000 gallon header tank 1/2 way up the hill. So you might think we're backwards over here with no mains power, mains water, pay tv etc. My internet is only isdn thats the best I can get. But atleast we can go out and leave the house open, just go cut some firewood wood if we're running short and not have to worry about pesky noisy neighbours. Now just to give you an idea the size of my property compared to suburbia down the hill it's equivilant to about 3 suburbs where about 10,000 people live. The best part is I'll never get built out and in summer when the mains power goes off on a regular basis we'll be sitting nice and cool watching tv with the aircon running. So you still think this is backward living? In reality I pity the poor people living in dog box's where if you shout the person 4 doors away can hear you clearly.

End of Rant

Cheers Bryan

 

[audioguru]

Hiya audio,
Eh mate that tank you saw was the 5,000 gallon rainwater house tank.

My tap water is very cheap and comes from a pipe under my street. The city pumps it from nearby huge Lake Ontario.

But at least we can go out and leave the house open

I can also go out and leave the house open because America's gettos are far away.

...and not have to worry about pesky noisy neighbours.

Our neighbours are our friends.

Now just to give you an idea the size of my property compared to suburbia down the hill it's equivilant to about 3 suburbs where about 10,000 people live.

You can live on a farm or on the moon away from civilization if you want.

... in summer when the mains power goes off on a regular basis

Why don't they fix your intermittent mains power?

 

[ljcox]

I don't know why Bryan's power goes off in SA, our's doesn't in Melbourne.

However, in summer most people switch on their air cons and it creates a large load on the power grid. So I presume SA does not have enough spare capacity.

Yes, Australia is mainly desert except for the east coast and the south west coast of WA and the tropical north. But the desert is very scenic. But a long way between drinks.

We use natural gas for heating also. I intend to install a solar hot water system when our gas fired one dies. We thought about solar power, but the cost is large.