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The mtngeogeek home, office, and studio PV system consists of 18 solar panels (1,320 watts), L16 deep cycle batteries, charge controller, inverter, and meter. The system is sized so that if we have at least 1 partly sunny day in 5 we will have plenty of power. In a pinch we have a generator for backup, but we haven't used it since expanding our system to its present size 2 years ago. Configuration schematic.
The 18 panels are connected as 2 arrays. Both arrays feed power into the batteries (below). The charge controller regulates the flow of power collected into the batteries. The inverter (below) converts DC to AC and the meter displays the amount of power being collected and used by the home, office and studio in real-time.
mtngeogeek's host servers are owned and operated by aiso.net. They are powered by 120 solar panels (over 10,000 watts). The system uses batteries to store power, and can access grid power in case of an emergency (this has never been needed). Solar tubes in the roof allow natural light into the work spaces and thick insulated walls help keep the temperature constant and cool.
2 south-facing PV arrays power the servers in California.
Those of us using 100% solar power only hear about rolling black outs in the news. Our photovoltaic systems (PV) insulate us from the unreliability of the utility grid. As long as there is power stored in the battery banks our lights, computers, and power is always on.
Geologists think that we all will burn out of fossil fuel resources in the 21st century. The most abundant natural resources on earth are sun and water. Harvesting sunlight for electricity makes perfect sense. There is no air pollution, no water pollution, no brown cloud, no noise, negligible maintenance, and no monthly utility bills. We make excellent coffee with non-electric stove-top espresso makers, vacuum pots and French-presses. The kids remember to turn the lights off. Incentives to convert homes and buildings to alternative power systems vary by state and utility company and continue to increase. Incentives include State Incentives, Tax Credits, Grants, Net Metering (In many states you can sell your surplus electricity to the utility company), Rebates, and Loans. The Database of State Incentives or Renewable Energy (dsireusa.org) is an excellent place to start learning about which incentive programs are available to you.
How does it work? (Click here for the long version). Silicon crystals in the photovoltaic (PV) panels become semiconductive when exposed to sunlight. Solar cells contain the electrical charge produced by the silicon crystals and direct it from cell to cell. A PV panel consists of many solar modules which in turn consist of several solar cells. A PV array any number of panels connected together. The PV array is placed in an area that receives full sunlight year-round. The angle of the array is optimized to collect the most sunlight in every season at its location.
The PV cells produce direct current (DC). The DC current can be converted by an inverter to AC current to power typical appliances immediately with the excess stored in batteries (similar to car batteries) for later use. A voltage regulator or charge controller controls the flow of the DC current reaching the batteries to keep them from under- or over- charging.
PV systems are sized by determining how much electricity is needed. We looked at how much electricity we use averaged over a week. When we made a spreadsheet of our appliances and the amount of use they get we found that the biggest energy user over a 7-day period would be the clock radio (because it is always on). So we use battery powered clocks, and the clock radio is now just the kitchen radio. It is unplugged when we aren't listening to it. We have florescent lights which we have found to be just as bright as traditional. We just changed our first light bulb in our house. It was 14 years old (and cost $7 to replace)!
When we hooked up our PV system our meter (which shows how much power is being collected and used) showed that there was still a considerable amount of power being used even with everything turned off. It turns out all of the LED standby lights on our various appliances such as the satellite receiver, VCR, DVD, stereo components, and even surge protectors were still using a measurable amount of power, needlessly. All of our appliances with LED lights are now plugged into surge protectors that have an on/off switch, the kind of surge protector that allows its own LED lights to turn off when they are in the "off" position. We switched out the electric waffle maker for a stove-top model. We have two propane refrigerators (which use hardly any propane), a Staber washing machine, a gas-dryer, and heat year-round is provided by passive solar. In the winter months the angle of our roof lets full sun in to heat the house. In the summer months the same roof angle keeps direct sunlight out of the house to help us stay cool. We have a wood stove for back-up on cloudy winter days.
The PV system can be expanded at any time by adding more panels and batteries. We keep hearing that PV systems are too expensive. But we found that by being smarter about our appliances and lighting needs, and by having a home heated primarily by passive solar, we didn't really need as much power as we were using when we were on-grid, thus reducing the size and cost of the system. When we needed to expand the system we found panels that had were clearance priced because model numbers had changed. We made our own PV rack to hold them and found a lightly used inverter on EBAY. Our system cost about 25% of what we were originally quoted. More information on living and working with solar or green power can be found here or by checking out the National Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency web site and pamphlets below.
~ 7827 County Road 1, Montrose Colorado USA 81401 ~ 970-417-9901