Alternative Power Suply Project Help Wanted

[Eng_MC]

Hi guys,

I am trying to setup an alternate power supply project for a farm and house, it could be wind power or solar power, i would think solar would be more convenient and they are located independently of each other.

The house is 5 bedroom house with two living rooms, 4 refrigerators, 7 airconditioning units and a borehole. an inverter is already in place in the house charging from mains power supply and generator. I am looking for help in where i could get quality solar or wind power quality devices and what specific size i would need to setup an efficient system.

The farm's e;ectrical needs are smaler it has a borehole, and needs electricity to keep the chicks warm in the hatchery as well as fishponds.

amy help would be highly appreciated.

 

[tpetar]

Best is to use both, sun and wind. One can be primary and second smaller but like backup.

I will choose sun, but in near future I think there will be some prices falldown, caused by Chinese massive production of photovoltaic cells.

Inverter should be compatible with solar panels power and voltage, the same is with battery banks.

Look to have higher voltages of system on primary side, to eliminate high currents.

 

[BradtheRad]

The big expenses are the battery bank, PV panels, wind turbine w/generator, and inverter. The accessories will include a charge controller, changeover switch from grid power, cables and connectors.

To power everything you mentioned will cost a small fortune. You will probably decide to reduce your needs to the well pump, a couple of refrigerators, lighting, and minimal heating for animals.

How do you presently bring up water? Shallow well pump? Deep well pump? A DC powered positive-displacement pump is more efficient than an AC powered fan-type pump.

Do you have a stream that could power a hydro-generator? Doesn't freeze in winter? It would be worth looking into.

Each refrigerator might need 500 W power when running. 20 percent On time, makes 100W average continual power. That will require 4 to 6 PV panels to keep a refrigerator going in a blackout. And a few batteries each.

One air conditioner will need about the same amount.

Expect your power needs to draw a few hundred watts continual from the batteries. Per Tpetar's advice, consider a 24 or 36 or 48 V system. This might be divided into two systems, if it cannot be done efficiently all in one system.

Do you plan to run a furnace to heat the house? It will need electricity to run the pump, ignition, thermostats, etc.

Sometimes it is economical to heat a room by installing heat-absorbing panels on the roof, and circulating antifreeze through them to carry heat down to the interior. Example, chick nursery, fishpond.

A vat full of Glauber's salt is another medium used to capture heat and release it later.

Eventually you may be talking about a couple dozen batteries, a couple dozen PV panels, a wind turbine, one or two inverters, and accessories. The cost will easily add up to 15 or 20 thousand dollars, new.

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Joke's on me. The salt used is generally a nitrate, not Glauber's salt.

 

[tpetar]

One nice magazine called "Power Magazine" I recommend it for such things like solar panels, wind generators, water power, heating, cooling, heat pumps, .....

In that magazine I saw in one number, how to make Ice only and only with sun, without any movement parts.

 

[Eng_MC]

for the farm the electricity requirments would be for the bore hole for pumping water, heating for the poultry at night because i live in a tropical region so it is warm during the day, lighting and water cirulation for the fishery. so i could safely say the farms power requiremnts would not be so much.

for the house since cost is a major factor the rfegrigerators and air conditioning units might be excluded or turned off when the solar power would be in use.

for both instances how big a system would i need????

 

[tpetar]

We didnt hear our friend Eng_MC maybe he powering alternator on pedals.

 

[BradtheRad]

for the farm the electricity requirments would be for the bore hole for pumping water, heating for the poultry at night because i live in a tropical region so it is warm during the day, lighting and water cirulation for the fishery. so i could safely say the farms power requiremnts would not be so much.

These could be handled by a 12 or 24V battery bank.
There are well pumps made to operate on DC, at various water depths. (I once purchased a Solarjack brand, several hundred dollars.) If the water is deeper than 35 feet then you might consider a submersible pump (although not the inefficient type where fan blades push the water).

Heating and lights can work from 12V. You probably do not need an inverter for the above tasks.

You'll need a few hundred watts of photvoltaic panels.

Most of the power will go to create heat. You may find it is less expense to use a solar system that works by storing the sun's heat during the day, and releasing it at night.

for the house since cost is a major factor the rfegrigerators and air conditioning units might be excluded or turned off when the solar power would be in use.

for both instances how big a system would i need????

These use large amounts of energy. There are refrigerators made to run on either gas or electricity, which may be more economical in case you already have propance or natural gas.

It will cost a few thousand dollars if you want to power refrigerators and A/C from PV panels. You'll need:
* 400-800 watts of panels
* a much larger battery bank, probably 6 or 8 golf cart type (consider using 24 or 36 or 48 V system)
* inverter rated to handle the maximum load you will put on it. (Preferably a sinewave type rather than squarish waves, since you will run motors from it.)

 

[tpetar]

I'm fascinated with one article from mentioned magazine, I dont remember exact number of publication, but they talk about concetrate system of sun rays to make heat in pipe with ammonia gas which compress/decompress in closed system (refrigerator system process) and make ice without any needs for electrical power. Also compressed gas can be used for cylinder engine or turbine in some closed system also. In other hands if we have heat from sun and ice we can use temperature difference in stronger peltier to make electricity.