Fun with solar power
Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to set up my own solar/wind/geothermal energy system to run my house, partly because it would save money, but mostly because I've thought it was a cool idea. My parents had a heat-pump system installed about 15 years ago, so maybe that's what sparked it.
At any rate, I finally got my butt in gear and bought some intro-level solar panels. It helps that Maplins was having a sale on 4.8W panels - £30 instead of £60 (ok so they're amorphous but that's still not a bad deal). I doubt I'll be anywhere near saving money here, but I just wanted to set up a small scale off-grid circuit to try things out.
Of course, you can't just buy solar panels and do anything useful with them... you've gotta splash out and get some other kit. Unless you're planning to power a fan whenever it's sunny or sell the power you generate back to the grid, you'll need some batteries. And if you want to run anything you'd normally run off the mains, you'll need an inverter (fortunately Maplins had a sale on them too!). All in all, here's what I ended up getting:
Setting it all up was fun... The wiring was pretty easy once I managed to dredge the basics of electricity from my memory, but seeing as I live in a rented property I can't just drill holes in the roof willy-nilly (which is a bit of a shame as I like drilling holes, but I'm pretty sure what my landlord would tell me to do if I even asked). So I settled for sticking the panels out on the railing of the terrace, attaching them with garden wire so they don't blow away. That unfortunately means they're not ideally positioned, but life goes on.
Here's how things are set up:
+------+ +------+ +------+
| pv | | pv | | pv |
| cell | | cell | | cell |
+------+ +------+ +------+
| | |
|_________|__________|
|
|
+------------+
| charge |
| controller |
+------------+
|
+------+ |
| bats |------+-- 12V appliances
+------+ |
|
+----------+
| inverter |
+----------+
|
|
mains appliances
I found this article on wiring batteries really useful.
What I'd really like next is Steca PR1010 Solar Regulator / Charge Controller to tell me how the batteries are doing. Until then, I can see measure the output of the system with one of those special plugs that tell you how much energy whatever's plugged into it is consuming, and I can also use my multimeter to check the voltage of the batteries.
But even with this pretty simple setup I'm already able to charge my phone & run few lights through it! Ok, so that might be trivial compared to running a whole house, but I'm taking it as proof this works and is worth investing more in.
At any rate, I finally got my butt in gear and bought some intro-level solar panels. It helps that Maplins was having a sale on 4.8W panels - £30 instead of £60 (ok so they're amorphous but that's still not a bad deal). I doubt I'll be anywhere near saving money here, but I just wanted to set up a small scale off-grid circuit to try things out.
Of course, you can't just buy solar panels and do anything useful with them... you've gotta splash out and get some other kit. Unless you're planning to power a fan whenever it's sunny or sell the power you generate back to the grid, you'll need some batteries. And if you want to run anything you'd normally run off the mains, you'll need an inverter (fortunately Maplins had a sale on them too!). All in all, here's what I ended up getting:
- 3x 4.8 Watt solar panels
- 1x charge controller
- 2x 12 Volt 12 ampere-hour sealed lead acid batteries
- 1x 600W power inverter
- a few meters of wire & some connectors
Setting it all up was fun... The wiring was pretty easy once I managed to dredge the basics of electricity from my memory, but seeing as I live in a rented property I can't just drill holes in the roof willy-nilly (which is a bit of a shame as I like drilling holes, but I'm pretty sure what my landlord would tell me to do if I even asked). So I settled for sticking the panels out on the railing of the terrace, attaching them with garden wire so they don't blow away. That unfortunately means they're not ideally positioned, but life goes on.
Here's how things are set up:
+------+ +------+ +------+
| pv | | pv | | pv |
| cell | | cell | | cell |
+------+ +------+ +------+
| | |
|_________|__________|
|
|
+------------+
| charge |
| controller |
+------------+
|
+------+ |
| bats |------+-- 12V appliances
+------+ |
|
+----------+
| inverter |
+----------+
|
|
mains appliances
I found this article on wiring batteries really useful.
What I'd really like next is Steca PR1010 Solar Regulator / Charge Controller to tell me how the batteries are doing. Until then, I can see measure the output of the system with one of those special plugs that tell you how much energy whatever's plugged into it is consuming, and I can also use my multimeter to check the voltage of the batteries.
But even with this pretty simple setup I'm already able to charge my phone & run few lights through it! Ok, so that might be trivial compared to running a whole house, but I'm taking it as proof this works and is worth investing more in.