Re: Lightly OT: Solar Power

["eamonnogorman" <eamonnogorman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks John,

I was'nt talking about disconnecting from the grid, but more=20
something along the lises of what you described below. What i was=20
hoping, was that the end result woul dbe that my overall use of grid=20
supplied power would be equal to , or near to 0.

I am looking at a 1Kw wind generaotr system at teh mo  (=20
http://www.pet.ie/generating_electricity/elecsamplesyspricelist.htm
)
, which will cost arou 7k (Euro's) for the gear, excluding=20
installation cost.

Just wondering how far or close this will get me to my goal, or has=20
anyone done this. Am I just looking at a very expensive toy ?

Regards,
Eamon

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Benfield, John"
<john.benfield@r...>=20
wrote:
> >I was wondering if anyone here had gone down the rout of solar=20
> >power/wind power, and was wondering how they found it. Firstly,=20
did=20
> >they find it worked well with their automation set up (any
probs=20
> >with X10), and did it allow them become in any way energy self=20
> >sufficient.
>=20
> You will only become self sufficient in energy if you spend quite=20
a bit of
> money. Wind is okay in the winter, however you need to have a good=20
average
> wind speed (> 5 m/s, approx 13 mph). That is allot of wind. You=20
will need to
> have PV cells for the summer. Also, to become self sufficient and=20
not rely
> on the grid you need somewhere to store the energy produced. So=20
you need a
> battery bank, you also need and charge controller/inverter to run=20
it all.
> Even to power a modest house you are talking serious money, say=20
=A325K plus.
>=20
> A better way of doing it, if you are interested, is a grid tied=20
system.
> Basically your wind turbine/PV array are attached to an inverted.=20
This is
> also connected to the grid. When your system is producing=20
electricity you
> will run on this and be topped up by the grid. So on windless=20
nights you can
> still turn the lights on. During the winding/sunny days when you=20
are
> producing more electricity that you are using, you can then sell=20
the excess
> to the grid. In effect (and literally) you meter runs backwards.
>=20
> As for running X10 or anything else. This will depend of the=20
inverter that
> you are using. The grid produces AC on a real sign wave, however=20
inverts do
> not produce real sign ways. They step the out to produce the sign=20
wave. The
> more steps the better the wave and the better 'quality' the=20
electricity.=20
>=20
> A couple of things about the wind turbines. First the higher you=20
can get it
> the better it will perform. I can't remember the exact figures off=20
the top
> of head, but basically power doubles with height (within reason).=20
Also, you
> need to be aware of any turbulence near the turbine. You need=20
clear run with
> no buildings, trees etc for as far as possible. The best type of=20
wind is a
> strong steady one, turbulence will create too many dips and=20
trough. Also,
> the wind will change direction with the turbulence and so the=20
turbine will
> constantly be hunting for the wind.
>=20
> JB
>=20
>=20
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