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    Solar Energy on a Shoestring Budget
    Solar Energy on a Shoestring Budget
    Solar Energy on a Shoestring Budget
    Ebook116 pages1 hour

    Solar Energy on a Shoestring Budget

    By Jay Hamilton

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    About this ebook

    This is a book about installing a small solar energy system on a minimal budget. It is an off-grid system, intended to be expandable to run the whole house when enough solar panels and batteries have been added, but it can be expanded on a monthly basis for very little money each month, perhaps as low as $200 per month, depending on the quality of batteries you buy--and considerably less than that if you have a source for used golf-cart or fork-lift batteries, or perhaps even automotive batteries, as long as you are prepared to replace them soon. We discuss the basics of solar energy, how it works, and how it all goes together, and we discuss the building of a suitable structure to hold the parts. We devised a very inexpensive system to mount the panels to the structure, and we tell you how to do that, and why you may or may not want to use this system, which requires access to the underside of the roof. We discuss the life of the system, and how much money should be set aside each month for replacement items, and how you can set aside more than that, so that the replacement fund can be self-sustaining in the future. We include diagrams and photos where necessary, and a list of suppliers in the appendix. We discuss series and parallel circuits, and how to choose what voltage your system should be, and other decisions which should be made early in the process.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJay Hamilton
    Release dateMay 27, 2018
    ISBN9781386851387
    Solar Energy on a Shoestring Budget

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      Book preview

      Solar Energy on a Shoestring Budget - Jay Hamilton

      This book copyright 2018 by

      Crossroads Publishing of Florida

      P. O. Box 222

      Worthington Springs, FL 32697

      www.cpubfl.com

      All rights reserved

      This document is geared toward providing exact and reliable information regarding the topic and issue covered. The publication is sold with the idea that the publisher is not required to render legal, accounting, officially permitted, or otherwise qualified services. If advice is necessary, legal or professional, a practiced individual in the profession should be ordered.

      —From a Declaration of Principles which was accepted and approved equally by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations.

      In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

      The information provided herein is consistent, in that any liability, in terms of inattention or otherwise, by any usage or abuse of any policies, processes, or directions contained within is the solitary and utter responsibility of the recipient reader. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the publisher or author for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

      The information herein is offered for informational purposes solely, and is universal as so. The presentation of the information is without contract or any type of guarantee assurance.

      The trademarks that are used are without any consent, and the publication of the trademark is without permission or backing by the trademark owner. All trademarks and brands within this book are for clarifying purposes only and are the owned by the owners themselves, not affiliated with this document.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Copyright Notice

      Chapter One: General Discussion

      Chapter Two: What you Need and What you need to Know about it

      Chapter 3: Calculations

      Chapter 4: Efficiency

      Chapter 5: Start by Planning

      Chapter 6: Construction Tips

      Chapter 7: Hooking it Up

      Chapter 8: Following the Sun

      Chapter 9: Lifetime and Set-Aside for Replenishment

      Appendix: Design Drawings, Sources, and Such

      About the Author

      Other Books by Crossroads Publishing of Florida

      Bonus Reading from HOW TO BUY A CAR

      Bonus Reading from PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION

      Chapter One

      General Discussion

      Solar Energy. Everybody is talking about it, but few people have actually done anything with it, though some progressive power companies have started generating their own solar energy to augment what they produce from older technologies. Can you use it in your home? How does it work? Is it here, yet, or is it still some far-off dream?

      Surely you have seen those solar-operated garden path lights. That is the simplest form of a solar system. You need a solar panel, a charge controller, a storage device, and a load. The garden light contains basically a small solar cell, a battery, and some electronic components, which basically serve as a charge controller, to prevent draining the battery when there is no sun, and overcharging the battery when there is abundant sunshine; and a small LED to provide light.

      A solar cell is a wafer of a particular form of silica that is photosensitive—that is, it produces electricity when exposed to light. Technically, light excites the electrons, which then move. To make the electrons all move in the same direction, two layers of silicon material are often fused together, one coated with boron, and the other coated with phosphorus. Then, since the electrons all move in the same direction, electricity is generated. There are two principal forms of solar cells, called monocrystalline, and polycrystalline. Mono cells use a silicon that is more pure, and so they are more efficient. But poly cells have been getting better, and they cost considerably less, thus you are more likely to buy polycrystalline modules. There are also thin-film solar panels, which are less efficient, and they can be bent slightly, so they are frequently used for recreational vehicles and boats. They are probably not sturdy enough to use them for a home system, however. On our system, we are using polycrystalline panels, though we have seen monocrystalline panels recently that are not a whole lot more money than polycrystalline panels. The voltage produced is generally uniform, usually one half a volt per cell. The current (amperes) produced is dependent on the size of the cell and the strength of the light falling on it. A solar panel is a collection of solar cells in an array. The most common size for home use is a 100-watt panel. That would normally consist of 36 cells wired in series, yielding 18 volts, which is about what you want to charge a 12-volt battery. Such a panel is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 wide and 40 high. Larger industrial panels are likely to produce two to four times that voltage and power. The bottom of one cell is wired to the top of the next cell by a flat wire called a tab wire. There are normally four columns of nine cells each. Each string of nine cells is wired to the next string by a larger flat wire known as a bus wire. You can buy all of the materials you need to make solar panels, at pretty cheap prices, until you get to the frame and glazing. That stuff is expensive to buy in small quantities, and so you will find that while you COULD build your own panels, it is a whole lot of work, and it will cost you more in the long run than buying completed panels—unless, of course, you wish to make wooden frames and use an inferior glazing product. At the time of this writing, it is almost impossible to tell what if any, effect the tariff imposed by #45 will have on the price of solar panels, but they have been retailing for under $1 per watt. We have paid as low as $85 for a 100-watt panel, from NewPowa America Corp, and we pay for them through John’s PayPal Credit account, which gives us 6 months to pay for anything over $99, with no interest. We therefore try to buy two at a time.

      You then need a Charge Controller. There are two principle types, Pulse Width Modulation and Maximum Power Point Tracking. The MPPT is more efficient, and often considerably more expensive, but that is generally considered the better one to buy, of course, although that may not always be the case. MPPT controllers work by reducing the voltage and increasing the amperage available to charge the battery. The power from the panel to the battery, in watts, remains constant, but by dropping the voltage, they can send more current to the battery, resulting in a faster charge. We have found one that we consider good, and very inexpensive, listed as the CMPT02. Only the latest version at the time of this writing, is a true MPPT controller, however, so you must look for the red stripe across the center of the front cover. There is another one that is not too much more money, that also looks good to us, but we have no experience with it at this time, and that is the one in the center photo. We have ordered one each of that one and MPT-7210A to check them out. The MPT-7210A (the one in the last photo) is a bit more money, but has more features, though it is only ten amps. It is, however, designed for higher voltage units, and can handle up to 600 Watts of power, so it should be capable of working with a 12-volt system, though the sellers only list it for 24 to 72 volts. We have determined that this one WILL work on a 12-volt system, but we may also decide to go to a 24-volt system for

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