My roof is 32'from the bottom to the peak and 104' long and I think it faces the sun just about right for solar power. I delivered firewood to guy that had solar pannels in his yard. He told me that the goverment payed 60% of the cost for solar pannels and it cost him 0 out of his pocket to get them. He said he has to pay about what he paid for electric each month for 10 years then they are paid for. He said the first day he got up at sunrise and watched the electric meter spinning then slow down then start spinning backwards at whitch he was selling power back to power and light. I'm going to look into this as my power bill has gotten pretty steep with 2 kilns running and all the moters and air compressor in the mill. Does anyone have solar power at there home ? Can anyone give me some insight on this govt. program for alternative energy. I really hate getting involved with anything with the govt. But hay if it cuts the bills back you gotta do what you can
Buyback laws and government rebates are run state by state....It is not a federal program.....yet
Last time I counted there where only about 5 states with buyback laws. The fed rebates are up to 30 % but capped at 2000.00 I think...you have to watch the companies selling and installing as they sometimes forget to mention the cap.
I saw a show on some new solar cell technology that could significantly reduce the cost of solar power. The cells were incorporated in a thin plastic like material which could be rolled out on a flat surface. If I remember correctly, they thought once it was mass produced it'd be half the cost of current solar cell technology. Unfortunately, I deleted the link to the company that's developing it. It was really interesting and they were talking about incorporating it into roofing materials. The developer thought they might get it into production in the next couple of years. I hope it works, because we could really use a boost in solar technology and I hope this is it.
I read an article recently where they already had solar cells incorporated into roofing material. Can't remember if it was Mother Earth News or a Solar Power magazine I found online. It is real interesting technology, but still quite expensive.
If you have a location with wind, That is much more cost effective.
Stonebroke
A guy about a mile away wanted to set up an old windmill and one of his neighbors had a fit so the town put a stop to anyone wanting to put up windmills. The worst part is this guys house couldn't be seen from any road or that neighbors house that stopped him. He's a half mile away from anything. Dang yuppie from the city. I own two mountains on my farm that would be perfect for windmills. But whats got my attention about solar power is the fact that the govt (either state or federal)will pay 60% of the cost to promote it.
In NYS the state will pay up to 60% on wind power also.
Stonebroke
And people think California is bad.. ::)
I would go after that idiot. Far as cost the best bang for your buck in power generation starts with:
1. Hydro
2. Wind
3. Solar
One thing solar has going for it is no moving parts, and quality panels if not broken are looking like a lifetime shelf life. Can't wear em' out.
We are supposed to have a company near here making those film type solar cells, but I don't have any info on the company, it's been a good while since it was on the news.
Is this Powerfilm company what you are discussing?
http://store.sundancesolar.com/powulflexthi.html
The company that I watched and read about started with a "K", but it sure looks like the stuff sold by powerfilm. The machines were making rolls of the stuff about three feet wide. They had one roll on a machine that looked like a roll of roofing felt and it was enough to cover a big roof.
I'm a year or two away before I get to build a shop and I'd really like to put solar panels on the roof if I can afford to. It will be interesting to see where the price is on this stuff when I'm ready to build.
I saw one on Scientific Frontiers on PBS that had Stan Ovshinsky on. They have been making thin film photovoltaics for a rather long time. They have been using it in roofing materials. They were putting them onto rolls and making them up to a mile long. I have no idea where it is available on a commercial basis. Here's a link to their site:
http://www.ovonic.com/eb_so_united_solar_ovonic_greenville_plant.cfm
I also saw one on NOVA where a guy is working on having paint that acts like a solar cell. His work isn't quite there yet.
Here is a link to the material I refered to earlier.
http://www.oksolar.com/roof/ (http://www.oksolar.com/roof/)
It's raining and blowing like crazy and I just got back in from covering up the mill. I got soaked in about 20 minutes, so it looks like I'll be inside today. At least the links will give me something to read for awhile or at least until the power goes out :o
Here's another great study for anyone wanting to learn about solar and components:
http://www.backwoodssolar.com/
....... 8)
This past spring I read some about solar shingles. They seem very justifyable for the fact they take the place of the shingles. These solar shingles (forget the name of em) come in 10 ft long strips and are just simply linked together with a simple plug. Can't remember how many watts of power they collected or put out but I will see if I can find the info as I am seriously thinking about purchasing enough to do the south side of our house roof when the shingles need replacing in a year or two.
Coon: do you know how snow & ice sliding down the roof might effect the connecting plugs ?? ???
The connecting plugs are concealed under the shingle above. The snow and ice should not effect them.
Radar is correct. The connecting clips are very thin to begin with and are covered by the shingle above. Think it would be a really good investment. ;)
thanx for the info guys 8)
A website that might be helpful in getting a small grant is www.greentagsusa.org
They have 58 small projects set up all over the US, and they take applications at any time.
I've never used them, just found this link on a websearch.
My Gempler's catalog handles solar panels. Find them on the 'net at www.gemplers.com
A 1-foot x 3 foot panel costs $149 and produces 15 watts when the sun is out. (15 volt strength).
The problem with solar is that it takes SO MANY PANELS to do much of anything.
If you have a battery bank of say, 4 car batteries, that is about 3200 amps at 12 volts, or 38,400 watts. If you were running a 5 hp. motor, you will drain about 10% of your battery bank in one hour. (746 watts = 1 hp). By then you need to be replacing that 10% to avoid low voltage. So you need enough panels to pump 3730 watts into the bank. That is about 248 panels of the size mentioned above, at a cost of $36,952.
I'm not talking from experience, just from theory, because I have considered solar myself.
One thing to consider...
If you are paying over $5 a watt for any solar powered panel you are getting ripped off. This includes most small cheap solar gizmo panels.
Large panels used for systems should be at least 75-100w or more. The bigger and more powerful the panel, the less cost per watt produced.
"If you have a battery bank of say, 4 car batteries, that is about 3200 amps at 12 volts, or 38,400 watts. If you were running a 5 hp. motor, you will drain about 10% of your battery bank in one hour. (746 watts = 1 hp). By then you need to be replacing that 10% to avoid low voltage. So you need enough panels to pump 3730 watts into the bank. That is about 248 panels of the size mentioned above, at a cost of $36,952."
This is not the way to look at solar/battery power. No offense here, and I'm trying to find the best way to explain how this is example is not even in the ball park.
There is no way you can run a 5hp electric motor on 4 batteries and drain only 10% in an hour. In fact 4 batteries wired in 12v will not even get the thing to grunt very long with a the huge inverter it would take to run it, which would need to be a 230v system sized to handle the amp surge. I think you're confusing battery amps with battery "Amp Hours".
If your 5ph consumed 3730 watts continuos power or about 16 amps in 230v yes you would need about 4000 watts of panels with continuos sun to refill what was drawn in actual running time. BUT this large of a solar panel array is not necessary. There are ways around this.
What is needed foremost needed to be considered in any system is an inverter sized to handle your power needs. Then even a battery bank of 4 batteries wired to match your inverter will work as a momentary holding point.
From there on you do need to keep those batteries filled to supplement the power drawn. I run large draws with only 1000 watts of panels and 12- L16 batteries and a 4000 watt inverter. Most of the time the large draws are not continuos. The batteries fully handle my use time, and later when the sun shines the 1000 watt array of panels catch up and charge the batteries.
Another way I supplement amps is I have a DC generating system I've designed- direct to battery bank charging system that provides 50 amps of pure power continuos, and only uses 1 gallon of diesel in 5 hours. Now that's efficient cheap power on demand.
Running a 5hp electric motor with alt energy is not going to be cheap, but can be done and there are many ways to do it. Some much cheaper than others.
I stand corrected. As I said, I've never done this type of thing, but have considered it. I know that a 5hp electric motor will require about 4000 watts of current, but I'm not sure how to figure the number of batteries I need to sustain that type of power. My assumption was that a battery with 800 cranking amps, at 12 volts, was delivering 9600 watts of DC power. I also assumed that DC wattage and AC wattage was the same, in terms of watts. I know that there are power losses in conversions, and I didn't know how long a battery can sustain this drain. I know a starter can render a battery useless in about 30 seconds.
If you can elaborate more on a setup for a 5 hp. continually running motor, I'd like to hear it. Thanks!
We could work on this. I'm just really busy right now.
Need more specs on the 5hp motor. What will it be used for? What phase, what amperage ratings- continuos, start up, etc. etc.
Then you have things such as wire run distances.
I still have to get the motor - it would be a single phase AC, 23 amps when running. Wire distance: 20 feet from solar panels to battery bank/converter, then about 10 feet from bank to motor. Running stationary chop saw for lumber.
Thanks for your time.