[p2p-research] Fwd: ((photos)) // Re: Living with solar energy (learning notes)

[marc fawzi]

For some reason this bounced back...

These are photos of the ranch in Arizona where I'm staying (for a while)

The old solar system is being replaced but the new "gel cell" batteries were
out of stock due to huge increase in demand and are being manufactured. We
should get them soon so we can install the new solar tech, which I believe
is Gallium based (I'll check the spec soon)

The ranch is not on the USPS, FedEx or UPS database of postal/physical
addresses. It is literally in the middle of nowhere, but only a few miles
from the Mexican border. The big industries in the closest town are: Copper
(abandoned now... was major contributor to higher cancer rates), Solar
Energy (as a market... most of the components are made elsewhere),  and
border surveillance technology including unmanned airplanes.

Anyway, new learnings re: solar tech:

1. Technicians will install panel array pointing to magnetic south pole.
This has to be corrected to point to the actual south pole.

2. The angle at which the panels have to be during the summer is 20 degrees
and 40 degrees for winter. It's best to set it at 30 degrees if you don't
care to adjust it once installed, but every degree makes a difference, so
it's best to adjust the panel at least twice a year.

3. The cost of a tracker (to move the panels to track the sun in the sky) is
equal to the cost of two new solar panels which provide a larger power delta
than the tracker, so there is a market opportunity here for someone to
design a tracker that costs $200 as opposed to $2000. It's all timer based,
not actual optical tracking, so it should be doable for $40-$80 in used
parts.

4. The gel cell lead-acid batteries last about 12 years on average, and they
require a deep cycle charger.

5. A watt meter is essential tool to test all appliance for power usage but
there is an opportunity to develop a meter that is in sync with the battery
charge status such that it could tell you that at night time when you're
coasting on stored energy the meter could tell you how much time you will
have left before the energy store runs out if you plug in a given appliance.
For now, I have to go up to the shed where the batteries are and measure the
charge after the sun sets and then calculates based on that which appliance
we can have turned on so that we don't lose power in the middle of the
night.



---------- Forwarded message ----------

The attached photos are:

1. The old solar system (being replaced this weekend with newer solar
tech): the photo shows the water tank, the solar panels, and another
set of solar panels hiding behind the water tank which power the water
pump. The shed where the power inverter, charger and all power
electronics.

2. View from back porch

3. Solar powered electric shock fence (to keep the horses from running
away... which is something I don't understand)

4. Another view of the surrounding desert area from higher elevation

5. Picture of Music, the horse

Learning a lot of things about owning and operating solar power
stations. More about that later....

Marc


On 3/6/09, marc fawzi <marc.fawzi at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm currently staying at a ranch near the Arizona-Mexico border urrounded
> by
> amazing mountain views with no sight of any human artifact (besides the
> ranch itself)... Illegal Mexican immigrants cross the border near the main
> town here and the border patrol has been having gun fights with drug
> traffickers. The ranch where we are is inaccessible on foot and only way
to
> get to it is by trucks with really good suspension. The postal address is
a
> single mailbox located 10 miles away on Route 80. Everything runs on solar
> except the hot water and stove which run on propane.
>
> I'm upgrading the current solar energy infrastructure with the 'latest
> commercially available' solar technology for about $15,000, which isn't
> economical. The cost makes solar economically feasible only where no other
> cheaper source of power is available. This may explain why I see a lot
more
> houses (or ranches) with solar power here than in Florida, which is
another
> state where the sun is abundant.
>
> I will have some pictures soon to post to this thread.
>
> Running on the existing system, which uses standard lead-acid (wet cell)
> car
> batteries and silicon-based solar panels, the system is no way able to
> sustain normal daily usage so all appliances (currently just one
> refrigerator) are on 6 hour/day cycles (in 15 min intervals) and still the
> batteries can be drained by 4pm.
>
> Using a generator to charge the batteries is painful since the generator
> does not automatically shut off when the batteries are charged and
> overcharging can be dangerous. The charger for the new "gel cell" system
> has
> automatic shutdown and I suppose I could build a switch to shut off the
> generator when the charger shuts off.
>
> The new batteries are 24 X 2V "gel" cells, which are supposed to last much
> longer than wet cell batteries in terms of their lifetime. They are also
> supposed to hold much more power so we can hook up the freezer, which is
> currently not possible.
>
> Yesterday, we had clouds all day so the batteries were depleted by 4pm.
> Today, same deal and I can't do much about it until the new system
arrives.
>
> This thread shall be continued with more info and photos.
>
> Losing power any minute now ... which sucks.
>
> Marc
> p.s. very weird that i had spent 3 months thinking about p2p energy and
now
> i'm actually faced with what it means in practice
>
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