Solar Cell Array vs. 75m Wire

[WA1GFZ]

NICE set up Paul! I could fit about double that on the roof of the new place but can't see the investment yet.
must be very nice driving the meter backwards and a source of great satisifation.

[wa1knx]

great view out back paul, what do you back up to?

[Sam KS2AM]

great view out back paul, what do you back up to?

I think we're looking at some nice salty marshes close to the ocean, yes ?   So where are the 160 meter verticals Paul ?


Sam

[WA1GFZ]

if my yard was like that there would be a large VEE or Rhombic.

[W2JTD]

We live right on an estuary. It's insane to have all that area available for whatever wire antennas I want to drape. Can't put towers in the marsh, but who's gonna notice a few guyed poles?

I plan to get better skyhooks up as time permits.

Here's a link to a sky view of the gig:

http://home.comcast.net/~w2jtd/environs.htm

73,
Paul

[K6IC]

H Paul,

WOW,  5 KW is a nice sized array.   If the Grid is your battery,  then your system should be very reliable.

The only thing that I have observed are some Inverter Birdies,  which drift slowly through a given frequency.  The lower the frequency,  the greater the strength.  Still these birdies are usually are from S0.5 to about S3.  Not too bad.  My power distribution is currently on the ground wires,  which will soon be about 24 inches underground in PVC conduit,  which should reduce this noise.

The other noise is LOUDER,   it is from the switch-mode battery charge controller.  At times it is about S9,  clean carriers spaced at 25 Khz,  (worse on 160 & 80/75 Meters)  when listening on a 160 M dipole running parallel to the solar panels and with the on-ground power distribution wires.  These carriers are much weaker on the 80 M dipole which is farther away.
Line conducted noise seems to be the primary emission mode.


My system has just been upgraded from 2.1 KW to 3.15 KW of solar.  Completly off-grid,  with 1900 Amp-Hour 48 volt batery pack.  The off-grid location is very quiet -- the grid is about 5 miles away.  All of the wiring within the system is in EMT,  and the power room is a steel sea-going cargo conatiner.  Just need to get the AC distirbution into the ground.  The solar panels will probably still radiate some, as their interconnects are under glass and capable of acting as antennas.   Most inverters are just large switchers,  but any noises emitted from grid-tied systems may be masked by noises from the grid and your neighbor's switching thingies and doo dads.

Think that your system should be fairly immune to your radio transmissions.

Solar sure is magic,  it just sits there,  silently making a surprising amount of power,  and with rebates (which are not available to we off-gridders),  solar is very compelling.

73  enjoy your nice big solar system.    Vic  K6IC

[WA1GFZ]

Rebates in Ct. are bogus. It boils down to double the price of the parts and installer gets 1/2. How much brains does it take to mount a solar panel and connect a couple wires.
Then do your own install and get nothing. Either way you pay the same thing.
The installers are hand picked by the state. One I called wanted to charge me just to talk to them.
I have room for a large system but no motivation to pay big bucks to break even in 15 to 20 years.

[Sam KS2AM]

How much brains does it take to mount a solar panel and connect a couple wires.

I don't have a solar array installed but I do follow this stuff somewhat and I think that if you're serious about a system like this there is much, much more involved that running a couple of wires to a panel.
I read "Home Power" occasionally and they regularly run articles that document the requirements, schematics and $$$ involved in setting up some typical systems. Theres a nice sample article here on a fairly modest system.  Larger systems are more involved.

http://www.homepower.com/files/featured/CreatingABrighterFuture.pdf

Certainly alot to think about in terms of design, implementation and $$$.  And plenty of opportunity for the uninitiated to mess something up 


Sam

[W2JTD]

Update: Well now, it was a heap of cash up front, but here it is only 4 and a half years later, and the solar array has paid for itself. Our electric costs average $0, and a small profit is coming in through Solar Energy Credits (SRECs). All this in spite of the hot wx and central air running 24/7.

As more people install solar panels, the SRECs will be worth less due to competition, but the electrons are still free. The panels made it through several winters, riotous costal winds and small hail storms unscathed.

And I did move the antenna away from the house, mainly to get rid of electrical noise.

[WBear2GCR]

a few mins ago the links did not work - got the ol' 404 error...

                   _-_-

[K6JEK]

8 kWp here, two inverters
8 kWp at neighbor's, inverter per panel.
Antenna is not right over the panels.
Nothing interferes with anything.  I was careful about checking for noise from my inverters before I got them -- Xantrex OEM'd by SunPower.  Neighbor's panels with Enphase micro-inverters are near the receive antennas.  I don't hear a thing from them.  I thought I might.

Here's the last pricing information I've seen:

http://www.solarbuzz.com/facts-and-figures/retail-price-environment

Panel prices have come down enough in the last couple of years that the concentrating solar guys are on the defensive and must prove they are still cheaper per watt.  That's for big installations, many thousands of panels vs acres of mirrors pointing at troughs or towers running turbines.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/can-solar-thermal-be-cheaper-than-pv/

[Opcom]

It would be honest if the utility is required to buy your power at the same price you buy theirs. That is not the case in many places as they offer a token pittance.

Summertime here means 5KW all day long, maybe till 4 AM, then gets to a 50% duty cycle till sunup. I'm considering other ways to remain cool by becoming more efficient.

5KW is the house. +7 more for the lab with its own 3-ton unit, the lights, and a decent transmitter or some of the test gear running.

I love Texas winters.