My small solar panel system

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emexes

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cklester said:
heh. I thought there were going to be planets and a sun. ?
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My precise thought too.

At school I had a ripper book, the "The Great International Math On Keys Book" with various physics formulae in it including gravitation attraction between two bodies, and then when we did centripetal/centrifugal force in year 11 and I thought: heck, if you combine those two formulae then you can calculate satellite orbital periods and heights. Turned out the book was ahead of me on this, but I hadn't remembered that bit. So I mucked around on the school's Apple ][ simulating that, then realised it would be easy to have more than two bodies. Next thing I knew, had earth, moon and geosynchronous satellite dots circling about the screen (all glorious eight green inches of it), and it was a small step from there to the entire solar system. Hardest bit was finding the masses and orbital radii, pre-internet.

It ended up being remarkably simple to program (in 2d, at least: I never went to 3d because I could see it would work just as well). Only needs basic plot-a-dot graphics to display. If you have a kid doing high school physics, it might be worth pointing them to the idea. Simulation worked for gravitational slingshot effect too.



Confession: ok, my book was actually the Radio Shack printing of it, with the much less attention-grabbing name of "Understanding Calculator Math".
 
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JGParamo

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This could be the moment to develop a device that switches solar power and utility power seamlessly so the connected loads would not experience any interruption and vice versa as day and night cycles, if that transfer device is still not available elsewhere.. by then helping reduce fossil fuel used in power plants, save capacity of utility renewable power source, and help slowdown global warming..
 

TILogistic

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I would like to know how much was the cost (USD).

I am thinking of doing something similar at home.
 

TILogistic

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Filippo said:
I spent about 450€ for the solar panel system, plus the accessories for the installation in the garden.
I know the payback takes a few years, but I just wanted to do it to gain experience.
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That cost was very good.

With that cost or more I recover the investment in 6 months.

The energy costs of my house are approximately 80 euros per month.
 
H

Hamied Abou Hulaikah

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Filippo said:
it wouldn't make sense.
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No, it is, because battery life span depends on its charging/discharging cycles, it is around hundreds of cycles, after cycles depleted it'll die, so if you operate your system for sunny period without battery, it will extend battery life span, because it decreases charge/discharge cycles.
There are many kinds of inverters in the market did this trick.
 
E

emexes

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Leandro Vaufran Esteves said:
And to think that the government of my country is thinking of creating a new tax on those who generate their own energy
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Here, the water company charges more if you have rainwater tank system. I couldn't believe it when a friend told me that's what happened, but he showed me his water bills and sure enough: the price had gone up.

(I won't spoil the story by pointing out that there was a half-reasonable explanation for doing so; the water company here not only supplies water, but also takes care of the wastewater and sewerage)
 

MichalK73

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@Filippo great job.

In May I made my own solar panels at home. On the roof of the outbuilding, I made the structures myself at an angle of 35 degrees (required for my latitude). I put 6 panels of 340W each, so I have 2kW. 5kW offgrid inverter. I turned on everything behind the energy meter. Principle of operation. The inverter is supplied with 230V from the mains and power from the panels. At the exit I put on the slatted section of the house. The inverter always takes some part from the utility grid. For example, 1.5kW flows from the panels and the receivers are 1.3kW at the moment. This 80-100W comes from the power grid and the rest from the panels. This way I reduce my electricity bills. I can connect the batteries to the inverter but it is completely not worth it at the moment. They're terribly expensive and wear out quickly, so little return.
My costs:
1. 6x340W (1mx1.7m) HalfCell panels - 2000 PLN
2. 5kW inverter - 1950 PLN
3. Cables, terminals, fuse box 400 PLN
4. Own construction made of recycled materials - PLN 0
5. Labor, own - PLN 0
Total: PLN 4350 - $ 1048 (as of today)
Payback: 3 years
Same installation by the company: approximately PLN 12,000 - $ 3,000
 

rabbitBUSH

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Leandro Vaufran Esteves said:
And to think that the government of my country is thinking of creating a new tax on those who generate their own energy
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Good Grief I knew our Government lot / electricity utility company (state owned - ESKOM) couldn't have thought that up all on their own.
They want to do the same here - but we're not impressed.
 

rabbitBUSH

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emexes said:
but also takes care of the wastewater and sewerage)
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the assumption on the council's part would be that MORE water / sewerage is entering their system BECAUSE you have rain tanks installed. Here - in this town - you can't survive Without rain tanks - the supply dam is dry (100%) - water supply is on a rotational basis per city zone* - so its a cheek to raise the bill - either because one has rain tank storage AND/OR solar power installed.

(* supplied from up-country storage through a scheme built by the past nationalists in '80s anticipating 21st C droughts.)
 
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