Thanks for the offer. I rarely get down that way, but I'll give you a holler if I do.
Thanks for the offer. I rarely get down that way, but I'll give you a holler if I do.
I have not heard if the solar tax credit will be renewed for next year, if you are going to buy something, you might want to get it before the end of the year.
If anyone is interested in some HUGE 1550 amp hour AGM cells, let me know. I know where there are some brand new ones from a pallet the got damaged. Only a couple of the 48 cells got damaged. They were asking $350 for each 2 volt cell. You would need 6 cells to make a 12 volt string. This is major league stuff, not for a beginner. This string would be enough to run the whole house for days. The problem, is you have to be able to recharge it also. And they weigh 250 lbs each. I just don't have the room, and the time to deal with them now. I would love to make an electric truck out of them.
If anyone is interested in some HUGE 1550 amp hour AGM cells, let me know. I know where there are some brand new ones from a pallet the got damaged. Only a couple of the 48 cells got damaged. They were asking $350 for each 2 volt cell. You would need 6 cells to make a 12 volt string. This is major league stuff, not for a beginner. This string would be enough to run the whole house for days. The problem, is you have to be able to recharge it also. And they weigh 250 lbs each. I just don't have the room, and the time to deal with them now. I would love to make an electric truck out of them.
This is a topic I've become interested in recently. Our new house is all electric and we're in a rural area on a co-op. Pretty sure this neck of the woods, as it were, was one of those without power well past Christmas back in '07.
Questions: Is there/could there be a big power drop if your panels and batteries are not on/near the house but, say, about 150' feet away in a shop building? If so, what can be done to mitigate that or is it best to just plan on being close? What if you can't get closer?
Questions: Is there/could there be a big power drop if your panels and batteries are not on/near the house but, say, about 150' feet away in a shop building? If so, what can be done to mitigate that or is it best to just plan on being close? What if you can't get closer?
I believe 150' is going to be too long of a run. You can use larger size wire to help mitigate the drop but I'm not sure you can go that far. Here is a tool I found to calculate wiring size. http://www.solar-wind.co.uk/cable-sizing-DC-cables.html. Be aware this site uses meters for length so you may need to convert.
The big thing is keeping the panels, batteries and inverter as close as possible. From the inverter to the load is just normal 110 wiring. It can still be costly for that long of a run, depending on how many amps you want to draw.
This is a great thread. I have been pondering this also. Thanks to all who have contributed.
How long could these be stored before using? How long do these typically last?
Thanks,
How long could these be stored before using? How long do these typically last?
Thanks,
Just to add to my previous post about long runs. The last outage I decided to run the TV's, DVR's, and computer off my solar system in my shop. I had about 125' of 12 gauge extension cord and did not have any problems to to much voltage drop. Of course I was just pulling about 250 watts. As long as I don't try and pull much over 1200 watts it will work fine. One of the reasons for the size solar system is to keep one freezer cold even if I run out of gas for the generator.
That's great info, guys. Thanks! My ideal situation in an outage would be to be able to run a fridge/freezer, some LED backup lighting strips, a space heater, and my fireplace blower. I'm also thinking of running one solar well pump setup as well as maybe a small setup for my storm shelter. I figure that in the shelter it'd be nice to have some LED lanterns on a float charger and to be able to run a small fan. Can you guys recommend any good write-ups/tutorials on wattage/amperage, loading, power draw, etc.?
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