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DIY Solar Resources?
TihSon writes "I'm building a large shed out back and I want to power the lighting using a surplus solar panel. In searching for information on how to go about this, I have found a lot of rough DIY guides for various projects that are close to my goal. But none seem to explain the reasoning and theory behind using solar panels, so hacking their project to suit my own needs could be pretty much hit-and-miss. I don't want to do a hacked-up job, and future solar projects are not out of the question, so something a bit more in-depth is required. Do you have suggestions for books or Web sites you have used to learn the ins and outs of using solar panels? Something that starts with basic theory and ends with the ability to wire a house would be perfect."
Generally speaking, if you already have on-site utility power, that's going to be cheaper over the long run than solar cells.
...About that "wiring a house" business... There's not a lot of people out there who have solar+battery storage systems to run all the junk in their houses, 24 hours a day. Most of the residential systems (in the US) use solar panels with no storage batteries, the solar panels instead feed back into the electrical grid, which gets you credit off your electricity usage but usually not your total electricity bill (you still have to pay the line maintenance charge and the natural gas charge, if it exists).
But say you just want to do it 'cause it's nifty? One web forum is
http://www.solarpowerforum.net/forumVB/
You can set up a solar panel to charge a car battery, and run small things off that. Basically it goes like this: solar panel->battery regulator->battery->invertor-> small-wattage wall current appliance. Alternately, you can use 12-volt RV lights that can be run straight off the battery; there's LED lights now that don't draw squat for power. The battery regulator is a necessary device that prevents the batteries from overcharging.
The only states where these are common is southern California and Arizona, with Nevada and New Mexico being two more possible candidates. It takes a lot of sun before solar panels are even financially worth considering. Also,,, Cali and Arizona have the biggest gov't rebate programs--and if it weren't for that, NOBODY there would have a solar setup. For what they cost, it simply wouldn't make sense.
Because solar systems are so expensive, most people who want a whole-house system start by building a house that is as energy-efficient as practically possible.... So you see, there's no way to do this cheaply. Either you spend a lot of money to build a new house, or you spend a lot of money on the greater amount of solar panels to run a "typical" house off of.
...And even having done that, solar cells are generally not considered "cheaper" than utility power, even over the long-term. It will cost very close to what 30 years of utility bills would have totaled. What you get with a whole-house setup is--you're basically paying your 30 years of utility bills "up front", and you aren't dependent upon the utility company's reliability.
In certain circumstances, a solar+battery setup can be cheaper than utility power. If you buy very remote property that is literally miles from the nearest power line, the fee that the power company may charge to extend the line to your property can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
In this rare instance, it can be cheaper to go solar.
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When I eventually move to the desert, I'd like to play with using some solar panels to run an air-cooling setup. Using solar power to run air conditioning in the desert just makes sense, and I don't know what else I'd run every day. Will probably try Peltiers first; I know their poor efficiency but the mechanical and electrical simplicity makes them attractive for a stand-alone setup, and easy to try on a small scale. In particular--they can be run basically straight off a battery, and need no invertor. The 3-phase invertor and the amount of solar panels you'd need to run a good-sized room air conditioner would cost six or seven thousand dollars, at least.
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The fact that you think low current 120/240v is dangerous, but very high current 12/24V is safe, throughly proves the point that you do NOT understand electricity, and should certainly NOT be giving advice to others.
With amateur-installed T-Bars, I would fully expect the frame of your house to start slowly roasting itself in short order, if you're lucky, and not using quite enough current, it might not catch fire until the next heavy rain.
Automotive cables are designed to carry the current of ONE small car battery over just a meter or perhaps two. Drawing power from multiple batteries, or over much longer distances, and those cables will be getting very hot. It won't take long for the insulation to melt off, and start cooking adjacent objects.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Yes, and I'm sure that no licenced car mechanic would ever advocate that you do your own car repair and maintenance. Guess what - the last time I took my car to a "professional" to have new tires put on, the retard over-torqued the lugnuts so much that they warped my rotors.
What did I learn from the experience? That since there's no way for a layman to tell good professionals from bad "professionals", you may as well skip them altogether and do the work yourself. It's either that or go and pay another guy from a totally different company to check over the first guy's work.
They're not energy sinks. They're financial sinks.
The analysis makes the premise that every penny spent on energy will be spent on energy regardless of source. This is false. Some people are willing to pay extra for energy from a specific source that they value more. Think of it as a sunglasses budget: someone might spend $300 for a pair of hand made Italian sunglasses, but if they couldn't get those specific hand made Italian glasses, they won't go and buy 100 pair of the $3.00 special on the counter at Seven Eleven.
I sure the parent and many slashdoters understand basic electricity, but I want to warn against just connecting a marine battery and charger together.
Improper use of these can, and have, cause fires, acid explosions, and serious burns from shorting a high current supply.
DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING.