Solar Systems




Large Remote System (Backhome Magazine September - 2000)

Solar Power and selling to Grid (Backhome Magazine June - 1997)

Plan Ahead to Save Money on Solar Electric

Multi - Cabin Hook Up

Transportable Solar Systems

Do I need all those Switches and Fuses on a Solar System?






Remote system
© Copyright 1999 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published September 2000 Backhome Magazine

Dear Mr. Solar:

We are just getting really interested in living off the grid. Our question is, how do you properly figure out how much energy you need to operate your home appliances. Is there a formula you use? We are a family of four and my wife wants to keep her kitchen electric things and her computer. We would also like to keep the stereo and TV. Are we asking too much, or what? We want to be self-sufficient but don't want to return to the dark ages. Please help if you can.

Sincerely,

T.O.A. Jackson, Tennessee Hello T.O.A

You asked about a formula to use ­ well we started with only one solar panel and a sears battery. We have gone from that to a life of luxury and all of the grid. We do use a propane stove for cooking however we do have all of the other kitchen appliances as you will note below.

At this time the only way that solar is economical is in VERY remote locations where the power company charges upwards to $10.00 per foot to bring power - this is equal to over $50,000.00 per mile. We live in such a location and many people are wanting to escape from the "safe city life" and this is a great option for them.

The cost of setting up a solar system including batteries + inverter and solar panels amortized over 10 years will cost you about $0.40 per KWH. For a house you can have a complete system for from $10,000.00 to $30,000.00 pending on exactly what your needs are using solar, however wind or hydro is much less.

It is economical to install a wind generator and sell your excess to your power company, however you must install it in a windy location, and if you feel that you have such a location we will be very happy to give you the details - we also recommend that you install a wind meter (as on our catalogue wind page) to give you a good idea of what you will be able to produce.

It only costs about $0.05 per kwh for hydro if you have the water and proper fall -

You have asked a very simple question, however to explain it in this short article is rather hard. You see we teach an accredited college course as well as a non accredited one on the net and this is a 3 hour course taking about 45 hours of study for the student. For more information about this please go to www.doithomestead/education and you will see an outline of both courses.

Well Fran and I do not live in the dark ages ­ as we have and use the following electrical equipment that the power is generated 100% by solar panels. After getting a "little" frivolous we now have both AC and DC power in our home. Originally we only had DC current and have added the AC back in the late 80's. We have the following

DC appliances:

We use a Trace SW4024 inverter for most of our AC needs and a small Exeltech inverter for critical loads such as our laser scanner and printer. We have AC power for the following:

I have been told by our visitors that we have more than our "city" friends, so we realize that even though you live beyond the gird there is no need to suffer.

We have gone from our first solar panel to currently generating 12,500 watt hours per day on a clear day. To generate this amount of power we have:

The most that we have used in the past 14 years is 43 hours total one year due to no sun or wind.






Solar power and selling to Grid
© Copyright 1997 "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published BackHome Magazine June 1997



Dear Mr Solar -

Please forgive my many questions but I am just learning about solar, wind, and hydro electric systems. I want to start a home from scratch. I don't know what the best system to use is. Would it be better to use both solar and wind or is solar good enough?

I would also like to start a small business with the power company selling extra power to them. Is this possible?

If so, for starters, I would like to have a system that generates at least $1,000.00 per month or over 17,000 kwh's per month. What approximately would a system cost to produce this amount of electricity? Thanks you so much for your time. I love reading your a articles in Back Home.

Sincerely, Travis Bieberitz

Hello Travis Bieberitz

We are glad that you enjoy our articles in BackHome, as we enjoy writing them. Your question sounds like us some 25 years ago when we wanted to get out and away from the city.

We have lived off the grid for the past 22 years and still enjoy the many benefits which our "city" friends have. Yes it was rather completed at first as 22 years age there was little information and equipment available for "off the grid living" but with a little ingenuity and perseverance we have acquired a very comfortable life style today.

The basic solar electrical system consists of three major parts.

You will need to generate you power from solar electrical panels, wind, or hydro turbines.

You will then store your generated electrical power in very large battereis so that you will have electricity 24 hours a day.

Then you install an inverter which is a device which changes your stored DC electricity into fuser friendly AC power.

This is a very simple description of our system, however it is complete as outlined, however we have some gadgets so that we are aware of what is happening. The meter gadget is as easy to understand as your auto gas gauge. It lets you know when you have plenty of stored gasoline for your cursing as does our Emeter tell us that we have plenty of electricity to do what we wish. Our system is completely automatic that means that our solar panels automatically charge our battereis to their maximum load level and that our inverter is available for providing us with our needs when we flip the switch.

We installed our system because the local power company wanted us to pay a very large hook up charge and then agree to buy electricity for many years at a minimum monthly amount. Currently I understand that they want to charge a remote customer $10.00 per foot to bring electricity. In our case this would be well over $100,000.00 for their hook up. Since we wanted to live on 240 acres atop this mesa over-looking Zion National Park we had no real choice but to go with some form of alternative energy.

The Federal Government has regulations now that make it possible to sell your excess electricity to the local power company. They must buy it from you, some utilities will et you run your meter backwards where as others will only buy your excess at a wholesale rate. Therefore I recommend that you check with your utility and see what they are willing to pay you for your excess electricity.

At this time the only way that solar is economical is in VERY remote locations where the power company charges upwards to $10.00 per foot to bring power - this is equal to over $50,000.00 per mile. We live in such a location and many people are wanting to escape from the "safe city life" and this is a great option for them.

The cost of setting up a solar system including batteries + inverter and solar panels amortized over 10 years will cost you about $0.30 per KWH. For a house you can have a complete system for from $10,000.00 to $30,000.00 pending on exactly what your needs are using solar, however wind or hydro is much less.

It is possible to install a solar system as we did or use hydro or wind for your power generation. What generating source that you decide on depends on your physical location.

As you probably noted in the last issue we had an interview with Don Harris of Harris hydro and went into depth about Hydro systems. If you have the water available then hydro is the most economical. The reason for this is that you do not have to have a large battery bank as you are generating 24 hours per day. You can set up a hydro system for about $0.05 per KWH.

As far as wind this an excellent choice if you have the wind blowing daily. There is a new large 50KW wind mill that is ideal for this type set up that enables you to have all the electricity that you need and sell the excess back the the power company. If you have the excess wind then this system will pay for it itself in under 8 years. However the initial cost of this type of system is in excess of $50,000.00 installed. The cost of this system pending on the wind can be as low as $0.03 per KWH for electrical power generation.

If we were going to do it today as you are considering it would be a piece of cake. Fran and I have adapted to this life style and wouldnąt want to go back to the grid life.

I say adapted as there are several misconceptions which many people have about this life style. We generate our electricity with solar electrical panels. We have found that this is a very clean form of energy for lights as well as it gives us the ability to use our washing machine, dish washer, bread machine, trash compactor, 19 cubic foot refrigerator, computors, and of course our home entertainment center. So I would NOT say that we are suffering any and certainly do not live in the "cave format" as it has been suggested by many.

Mr. Bieberitz, you see we did it and now we are VERY happy to have made the plunge. You can do it also as I am sure you are aware that your choices for property are much greater as well as cheaper beyond the grid. Now if you have any questions we will be happy to help you through the change of life from the grid to a self-reliance life style.






Plan Ahead to Save Money on Solar Electric
© Copyright 1995 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published week of 3/6/95 Daily Spectrum



Question:We are currently building as home in the Cedar City area and have learned to enjoy the standard appliances that we "modern" folks are accustomed to. We enjoy reading your column in the Spectrum and would be interested in using solar electrical power because of the number of power outages that we read about in that area and do not like the idea of being without "the convinces". What do you suggest we do to incorporate an electrical solar system in our new home?

Norman C., La Habra, CA

Mr. Solar:Norman, you have basically two types of storage batteries which are being used at this time for electrical home power storage. They either use an acid or alkaline solution in the batteries. Dear Mr. Solar; We are currently building as home in the Cedar City area and have learned to enjoy the standard appliances that we "modern" folks are accustomed to. We enjoy reading your column in the Spectrum and would be interested in using solar electrical power because of the number of power outages that we read about in that area and do not like the idea of being without "the convinces". What do you suggest we do to incorporate an electrical solar system in our new home?

Norman, you are wise to plan now to use solar as a backup in your new home, as there are several things which as you build you can incorporate at very little increased construction cost. I would recommend that you installing only energy efficient appliances which will be user friendly with solar electricity By this I mean that you should realize that solar electricity is more costly per kilowatt hour and therefore you need to use very efficient appliances in order not to waste electrical power. Another thing I feel that you should also consider having your home double wired, for both VAC and VDC power.

I would have all the lights on a VDC circuit along with one or two outlets in each room. Then I would wire the balance of the home with VAC. This should be done with two different colors of wire so that in later years they can easily be identify. In regards to the back-up system, I would install new "smart" inverter which will automatically start when there is a power interruption and also monitor your batteries and charge them when necessary. If they need charging you can use several options to charge them. You can install a propane or natural gas generator, solar electrical panels or use the grid power to recharge the batteries. I would plan on installing a set of Nickel Iron Batteries in a special vented room. This type are user friendly as they are almost non-destructable.

Norman, when you system is properly designed and installed you will find that you will never be without electricity for even a millisecond. Here at the DO IT we enjoy a automatic dish washer, clothes washer, trash masher, 19 cu. foot refrigerate freezer, micro wave oven, complete wood working shop and of course lights, TV computer, and other toys.




Multi - Cabin Hook Up
© Copyright 1992 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column published 5/3/92 - Daily Spectrum



Question:My friend and I have three cabins on Kolob mountain. They are located from 400 feet to 1000 feet from the main cabin. Is it possible to install a solar electric system to supply all three cabins from one central location?

Larry Adams, St George, UT

Mr. Solar: Larry, that is an excellent idea as well as a good question. If the three of you will combine your power generating, storage batteries and invertor in one location then you will be able to have an excellent set up without duplicating equipment at all three locations.

For your power generating source you can either use solar electric panels, a hydroelectric system or a gas generator at your main cabin. The reason that we suggest the use of hydro is that since there is a lot of water on the mountain possibly you could hook into some and generate you power using that instead of solar panels. The use of water to generate electricity is much more economical than the use of the sun. The main reason for this is that a hydro system will produce water twenty four hours a day, where as the solar electric panels only produce when the sun shines.

You will need to use a large invertor at your main cabin to generate your AC power. You will then need to use a #4 wire to carry the power to the distant cabin which is over 1000 feet away. We recommend that you check with the local building inspector to see if he has any suggestions. You of course will need to install a fuse box at the main cabin and also at each of the other cabins.

Larry you see that this system will enable each of you all to enjoy having electric power all taken from one central location without each of you duplicating your equipment Therefore saving you considerable amount of money.




Transportable Solar Systems
© Copyright 1992 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 7/19/92 Daily Spectrum

Question: If I install solar electric in my home will it be possible to take it with me when I move?

Harry B. Sparks NV

Mr. Solar: Harry, I feel that one of the major advantages of solar electricity is that it is very easy to take your system with you when you move. It will be just like moving your other house hold articles. We have especially designed systems that are quite transportable. We developed this since we realized that we are a nation on wheels as the American family moves every three to five years. We are accustomed to calling a moving company to help us relocate and now moving our solar equipment is just as easy as our furniture.

Our especially designed transportable systems are made that all you will need to do is have your electrician disconnect your present system from your home, which normally takes about an hour. You then have your mover pack it all up and move it to a new location. Then you call a an electrician at your new location and have him install it for you, which should take about an hour.

Solar Electric equipment has only three major components, which are the solar electric panels, batteries, and invertor. After your electrician has disconnected all of the wires and labeled them you arrange to have all of your equipment packed. You then remove the solar electric panels which are mounted on a rack that is bolted to a concrete pad. You merely unbolt the panels from the rack and pack them along with the rack. Your batteries are installed in a vented container and they will have to be packed and if possible also take your battery container. All of the controls on your transportable system are mounted on a heavy plywood panel which was installed special with disconnectable plugs. You merely disconnect the plugs and take the whole panel with you.

It is hard for me to rationalize ones thinking when they spend over $20,000.00 for car which will depreciate greatly over a three year period. Then after that time frame they have to layout another large sum of moneys and buy another car. Now you are able to purchase your own power system for approximately the same amount of moneys. It will provide you with trouble free service for many decades without monthly power bills.

Should you like to see how a solar electric system works, please stop by at our next open house to be held this fall here at the Do It Homestead. If you send us a SASE us we will be happy to send you a map.

Harry , since we have developed this economical transportable solar power system you now can have your power at your present location and should you desire to move then you merely take it with you.




Do I need all those Switches and Fuses on a Solar System?
© Copyright 1993 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 2/7/93 Daily Spectrum



Question:We recently had a solar electric system installed and are having trouble with it. The salesman sold us a large array of solar electrical panels with two golf cart batteries and an inverter without any automatic low battery cut off. We have no controls or switches and do not know actually what we have other than the system seems to charge the batteries in about an hour and then there isn't enough power to have lights more than about two hours at night. What is wrong?

JBill C., Las Vegas, NV.

Mr. Solar: Bill, it appears that you have a completely unbalanced system. Your batteries are too small and you have way too many solar panels for your setup. This is the problem that many people have had when they get a system without any controls. You see it is cheaper to buy a solar electrical system and not include the proper controls and gages. It is like driving your car and not having a gas gage on it. How would you know when you are going to run out of gas. Well, that is the same as having a solar electric system and not having the proper controls, fuses and switches. Some salesmen feel that they are just a waste of moneys and time to have this, but we are a firm believer that it is just as necessary as having a fuel gage in your car. With the proper installed equipment then you at least know what is happening.

It also appears that you do not have a automatic switch that will cut off your inverter when your batteries are low. As we have pointed out in previous articles it is imperative that you do not run your lead acid batteries below the 25% level if you want them to last over a few weeks or even a few days. In regards to the large number of solar electric panels it appears that your system will not handle them, as well as your wasting moneys on them rather than spending it wisely on the rest of your needed equipment.

Bill, I am sorry that you are having trouble, however perhaps your friends will learn that if they invest their dollars wisely they will not have the same problems that you are now having. If you would like to send us a schematic of your system then we will be happy to discuss it with you in detail and give you some suggestions which should put your system on line and give you plenty of stored power to use as you desire.





Articles listing - Home page


Links to our Solar electrical course

1 - Introduction 6 - Generator 11 - Controls
2 - Power Needs 7- Battery Lead 12 - Eff. Appliances
3 - Hydro 8 - Battery Alk. 13 - Pump
4 - Wind 9 - DC 14 - My System
5 - Solar 10 -AC 15 - Exam


---Prof Charlie@thoughtscreate.com---