Solar Dependable

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Can I Depend on Solar for All my Electrical Needs?

How Should I Start with Solar?

Does Solar Electrical Power Fluctate?

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Can I Depend on Solar for All my Electrical Needs?
© Copyright 1995 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 1/29/95 Daily Spectrum

Question: I have heard a lot about Solar electricity, however I am wondering if it is dependable.

Doris H, Apple Valley, UT.

Mr. Solar: Doris, yes you can depend on Solar electricity for all of your needs as we do here on the Do It Homestead.

We all have become dependent on Solar electric energy sense the end of the second World War. We use solar power for our telephones as our signals are bounced off the satellites, our hand held calculators, watches, as well as we all watch television. The signal received at our local station from sattlelights, for far away sports or news events. As you know these sattlelights are powered by solar electricity, and no one goes up there to replace or repair them. Those solar panels are exactly like the ones I use and enjoy daily.

I know that solar electric power is the safest and most dependable form of electric energy there is today. As a bonus it is pollution free, meaning that it does not pollute our environment as fossil fuel or atomic energy does.

We have been using non pollution electric energy here on the Do It for over 18 years and have not been one minute without electricity for lights, radio or television. About a year ago we installed a computer and to the surprise of our friends in town we have never had a second of power interruption and therefore have had no loss of our work due to power loss.

So you see Doris, we completely depend on solar electric energy and are very happy that we have found such a dependable source of power. The system that we have designed and installed is completely automatic. When the batteries have become fully charged the in coming power from the solar panels is reduced. This is by means of a controller to protect the batteries from over charging. Our home is wired for AC as well as DC power. We use the DC for lights as well as for radio, telephone, answering machine, tape recorder and other small solid state equipment. When AC power is needed we turn on an appliance then the invertor supplies the needed power. We leave our system on unattended for months at a time and it just does its thing.

I know that when you build your home with using solar electric power you will find you will enjoy using the same toys that your friends do. You will not have to pay a monthly power bill, have no brown outs or black outs. In addition to being self reliant is you are helping the environment by not adding to the pollution.

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How Should I Start with Solar?
© Copyright 1993 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 9/26/93 Daily Spectrum

Question:I hve recently built a cabin in the mountains. I currently am using a gas powered generator and it is very nosy. Can I install solar in my cabin that will not cost an arm and a leg?

George S., Cedar City, Utah

Mr. Solar: George, you can have a starter cabin package for less than $1,000.00. This is a very reasonable amount to spend for a small electrical system. This system would consist of a new electric solar panel, fuses and switches and two 6V lead acid golf cart batteries. The solar electric panels are very well made to last for years and actually are warranted for 10 years. This means that during that time frame the manufacturer will replace them free should they fail to produce 90% of their rated power.

We normally only recommend Nickel Iron batteries, however we realize that they are rather expensive and we feel that you are looking for a low price, therefore we would use lead acid batteries in this case. In using lead acid batteries you will need to take special caution in order for the power not to become completly drained or you will find that they will not accept a full charge and thus you can consider that they are ruined.

Your whole system would be for DC power usage, the same as in your car. You will then be able to have lights, radio and even a small TV all powered by 12V DC current.

When you use solar electricity you will not have to listen to and maintain your generator. With this economical system you can add on to parts of it very easy, such as more solar panels to give you more generating power for your usage. You will also be able to install a inverter to change your power from the stored DC to user friendly AC.

George, when you have a solar professional design your system you will find that you will have usable power for years to come. You will be able to increase your usage, storage and power generating whenever you feel that you want more, or your wife wants some of the modern toys such as a microwave or whatever.

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Does Solar Electrical Power Fluctate?
© Copyright 1995 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 10/4/92 Daily Spectrum

Question: I have heard that running appliances on Solar electricity may damage them because where the grid power is a steady current solar is not. Is this true?

Cindy McCortney, Las Vegas Nv.

Mr. Solar: Cindy, this is completely untrue. If anything your appliances will suffer more by using the grid power than solar power. You see the voltage from solar electricity is much more constant than from the grid. This is because when you have a solar power system you are the sole user of your own power. What this means is that you will not experience spikes and brownouts as so very common from the grid power. The brown outs or voltage drops in what causes problems with electrical motors, as when the voltage drops it is extremely bad on them and will greatly shorten their life. Also it is true of spikes or over voltage from the power company.

With a properly engineered and designed solar electrical system you will have a uniform voltage to your appliances as it is impossible to have brown outs or surges of power. Also you will enjoy using your computer much more on solar power as you not experience any unplanned shutdowns and no memory loss.

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