| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| RichardW |
Woohoo & June resultsWooHoo.Our solar hit over 2kwh for the first time today. Has done 2.2kwh (175ah) today. Previous best was 1.9kwh which it has done a few times this month. If your grid connected thats about 30p worth but off grid is worth a fortune lol. Once it gets to 3kwh per day we are 100% solar powered. Panel array is 800w In contrast the wind has done 60ah this month (560ah this year). Richard |
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| woodsprite |
How very satisfying for you Richard, well done. 
One of the many regrets that I have about not owning our own home is that we will never be able to be off grid. Ironic as my hubby installs solar alongside the woodburners and wood pellet boilers. 
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| RichardW |
Yeh its a good feeling.
Do a low level install in the garden. Then simple pipe runs to connect to the existing system so it can be removed if needed. Or seek permission from the landlord. Richard |
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| ksia |
That's great.
Do you mind me asking how much your solar set-up cost? |
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| RichardW |
10 x 80w panels £2.3k inc del
1 x 80 amp Outback FX80 controller £450 wire, crimps, fuses, about £100 shunts, meters, disconnects about £300 inverter charger (3000w 120amps) £1.2k battery bank (1550ah @ 5C) £228 (used) back up / winter / power tool (inc being able to run the welder) genny £2.4k wind turbine (200w) £260 Aprox £7300 So not cheep & at 15p per unit would take a long time to pay back if grid connected, but it would have cost us over £12k to get connected. Richard |
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| ksia |
Very full answer - ta.
Something to think about ..... |
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| RichardW |
Dep on your latitued you should get much more power per watt of panel than me. My install site is far from ideal as its not south facing, the panel in not inclined nearly enough & we have shade for part of the day. I would estimate a 30-40% increase in power if sited better.
Do you know what your solar iradiance is for your latitude for each month? If you do I can esitmate the likely numbers. Richard |
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| Lorrainelovesplants |
very interested in your breakdown for solar - it was something we thought about, but it was the cost that put us off.
OH is thinking up some Heath Robinson type 'solar invention' that may or may not  include black painted radiators.......
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| RichardW |
Thats solar thermal which is a completely different ball game. Black rads & other home brew panels work well for 2 season of the year but not year round. Pukka round tubes are getting quite cheap now & they give much better year round performance. Richard |
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| ksia |
Ta again. Is there some way I can easily know my solar iradiance? Like a knowyoursolirad.com or something? |
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| towerhill |
This may be able to help... http://www.stella-maris.org.uk/maxsolar2.php |
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| RichardW |
Yep there is one HERE
Set the location & choose the months one by one. If you click on PV estimate you can set the size of the array & get an estimate of the likely power produced. Richard |
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| ksia |
Thanks towerhill and RichardW. May you receive plenty of this:
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| RichardW |
WoohooooHit 3kwh today |
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| Northern_Lad |
Re: Woohoooo
Tasty. |
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| vegplot |
Re: Woohoooo
That's a fraction under our average daily usage. A good result. |
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| RichardW |
3kwh is about what we use most days but you also need to add in the battery charging & inverter losses. So I would need about 3.6kwh to cover it all.
Richard |
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| RichardW |
Land mark day todayI would like you all to raise a glass & join me in a toast to my solar panels.
We use 3kwh per day. About 2kwh during the day for fridge, freezer & laptops etc & about 1kwh at night for tv & lights. Today we made 3.6kwh so the 2kwh day usage was covered but also the night 1kwh & the charging losses were also covered so today was are first truly totally off grid day WOOHOO |
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| towerhill |
Well done. Another thing on my to do list. | ||
| Treacodactyl |
Congratulations, and luckily I've just filled my glass. 
As we're almost at the longest day is this about as much as you expect to get or do you think you'll get a bit more into July due to better weather? |
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| RichardW |
We should get slightly more later this & next month & poss Aug too. On the 1st I removed the main morning shade problem & on the 14th I did the same for the pm shade. We still get shade AM & PM but for the prime 9-4 slot we dont get any.
We sized the system so that in summer we would not be wasting to much power but that does mean in winter you dont make enough. That said we are just about to increase the size by 50% as that will reduce the "pay back" time even though we will have spent more. Richard |
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| Treacodactyl |
What will you do with the surplus power? | ||
| RichardW |
It will go towards the days that dont produce as well. Plus it will also help reduce the days that I run the genny to power the power tools whilst working. All my tool apart from the welder (which would up to about 100amps weld current so ok for thinner stuff) will work on the inverter if needed. | ||
| Penny Outskirts |
That's excellent Richard. Does that mean you'll be closer to total off-grid in the winter too? |
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| RichardW |
Not even close. Dec produced less than 1/2 of one days power all month & Jan produced just under one days power all month. You get 4-6 times more power in summer than winter. You could be 100% solar IF you can afford it but then in summer you will be making far to much power. Its about finding a happy medium. I am trying to balance the lack of solar with wind turbine but our site realy is not any good for wind unless I put a very tall tower up that currently (hopping for changes in rules soon) would need planning. Richard |
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| Bodger |
You can come for a round of toast here Richard, going by the weather and the forecast, you're going to get BA today.
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| RichardW |
I know its very overcast today. | ||
| RichardW |
Got slightly more than BA in the end. Only 0.9kwh but every little helps. |
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| resistance is fertile |
Richard, are you aware that if you mount the base of your pole on a small trailer you need no planning permission? |
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| RichardW |
Yes but cant see a small trailer holding a 10m plus pole. Would have to weigh a few ton's.
Did consider mounting it to the side of the tractor we use to split logs. |
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| resistance is fertile |
There is nothing to stop the trailer having wind down feet at each corner and the pole having guy ropes with detatchable shackles. | ||
| RichardW |
HeHe I like your style. I was thinking of lattice towers or even self braced ones where the guys go out from the top to braces back to the pole & then down to the bottom of the pole & highly tensioned. Sort of like this but up & down not sideways -<>- |
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| Nick |
Is mounting such a device on top of a tree at all possible? Clearly, they've got the height, don't need planning and have spent years surviving the wind. It may not be for you, Richard, (cos you might not have an exposed tree), but as a general point? Clearly, not a massive one, but potentially it'd be cheap to install several small 'propellors', because the height's paid for. | ||
| resistance is fertile |
The main problem, Nick, is the effect even exposed trees have on wind patterns which make typical wind turbines less effective.
Eddies and swirls and the movement of the tree itself all reduce efficiency. |
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| RichardW |
Quite happy today.
We have just managed to further reduce our electrical consumption. Did need to spend some money to do so but it still made sense. Old TV, digi box & DVD combo used 160w & we have them on for 6 hours per day MAX. So used .96kwh per day. New TV with DVD & digi box built in uses less than 65w so only 0.39kwh per day max. That small reduction will reduce our red diesel use by £140 per year so it will have saved its cost in 1 year & 6 months & 25 days. Richard |
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| Penny Outskirts |
That's quite a saving  It really does show how the little things make such a difference.
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| RichardW |
Yeh but on mains it would not save any where near as much (about £25 per year on grid power). You have to remember that genny power is very costly. Its also why my solar install will "pay back" quickly but for grid connected it would not. |
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| Nick |
Yeah, I can see that, but might the price saved on the towers make it considerable, especially with multiple installations? Just idle curiosity. |
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| RichardW |
I guess if you are talking a single exposed tree it should work ok. But for a woodland install with a tree canopy you still need to get at least 6m above the highest tree in the wood to get into cleaner airflow. Treat the tree top as a false ground level.
Out next targets for power saving are the fridge & freezer but savings are smaller & more costly as we already have new ish ones with low ish consumption. Will have to look at supper insulating the freezer. |
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| Penny Outskirts |
So would that be wrapping the dead sheep round it then? |
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| RichardW |
Well the skinned fleece bit any way. | ||
| Nick |
Certain bits need airflow, and other bits are needed for access, but simple measures like discarded polystyrene as added insulation should help, even on the more modern ones, I guess. | ||
| RichardW |
Here are June's results
1st of June I removed the am shade 14th June pm shade 25th June increased array by 400w to 1200w
Wind did 1ah total all month The genny was on for 33 hours most of which was for running power tools (but would also be topping up the bats at the same time) With our new reductions we are using less than 2kwh per day so on average we are just making what we need once system losses are accounted for. More importantly we would have only needed to run the genny for the bats twice for about 4 hours each time between 5th & 11th due to having to many low performance days in a row. Richard |