Archive for October, 2007
DIY Solar Panel
On October 26, 2007 in Uncategorized
Well I finally got around to wiring together some of these solar cells I got on eBay back in August. First up is the .5v 1750mA silicon cells.
Unfortunately it was late and I wired them up so that it will only be putting out 3v in its current configuration. I’ll fix that tomorrow after work. The strings of cells will be connected as shown in red on the image, and the long strips along each side will be removed. That should give me a healthy 18v for charging a 12v battery.
Soldered these together Thursday night but I haven’t been at home while the sun was shining since then, and won’t be again until Sunday afternoon. I’ll get some data up about how it performs sometime on Monday.
Keep in mind that this is not in its finished state. It will be resoldered to produce 18v, 1750mA and placed in an aluminum frame with double glazing. End cost will be around $70.
Not bad even if it only puts out 20 watts. If you try to buy a 20w panel from anyone online it is going to cost you way more than that and you might as well buy a bigger one for a few hundred bucks.
Like I read somewhere earlier today, you can get a 10w panel for a little more than a 5w panel, and you can get a 20w for a little more than a 10w. If you spend a little bit more than you would on the 20w you can get a 30w, and so on and so forth.
I figure that I learned something and didn’t spend nearly as much as if I just bought a panel (unless it was a small one)
“Solar Hot Water Set To Go Mainstream with California’s AB 1470″
On October 17, 2007 in Uncategorized
From www.renewableenergyaccess.com
Sacramento, California [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
It’s a technology that has been used in California in one form or another since the 1800s. But, like its photovoltaic counterpart, solar hot water heating in the state is about to ramp up production in a big way with the signing of bill AB 1470 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week.
“The goal of the program is to install 200,000 hot water systems on businesses and homes throughout state of California, see reduction in price and similar to the California Solar Initiative…the vision of this program is to create a mainstream market for solar water heating technologies as well.”
– Bernadette Del Chiaro, Clean Energy Advocate, Environment California
Known as The Solar Water and Heating Efficiency Act of 2007, the new legislation is designed to create a broad market for solar water heating technologies by offering $250 million in rebates for the state’s consumers over the next ten years.
The rebate fund would come from a $0.13 per month surcharge on gas bills and be implemented by the California Public Utilities Commission and individual municipal utilities.
“The goal of the program is to install 200,000 hot water systems on businesses and homes throughout state of California, see reduction in price and similar to the California Solar Initiative that we passed last year—to support solar electric technologies—the vision of this program is to create a mainstream market for solar water heating technologies as well,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Clean Energy Advocate for Environment California, during an interview with Inside Renewable Energy host Stephen Lacey.
Authored by California Assemblymember Jared Huffman (Marin) and sponsored by Environment California, AB 1470 was originally envisioned to be included as part of the Million Solar Roofs bill, SB 1, which was signed into law by Schwarzenegger in 2006.
Fast forward one year. In an effort to diversify California’s solar market, supporters successfully pushed AB 1470 through the California legislature as a companion to the Million Solar roofs legislation.
“California can achieve greater energy independence, fight global warming, and save homeowners and businesses money by encouraging a mainstream market for solar water heating,” said Assemblymember Huffman.
A report released in April by Environment California Research & Policy Center showed that a mainstream market for solar water heating could cut 6.8 million tons of global warming pollution per year, while cutting natural gas demand in each home by 50-75%.
“Launching a mainstream solar water heating program is really beneficial to consumers as well as the environment. The estimates show that if we were to take advantage of California’s potential solar water heating market, we could see a 25 to 35% reduction in wholesale prices of natural gas and that is simply because demand for natural gas is going nowhere but up, and supplies worldwide are going nowhere but down,” said Del Chiaro.
“By signing this bill into law, Gov. Schwarzenegger is placing yet another solar power technology in the spotlight, harnessing for it California’s growing demand for renewable energy,” added Del Chiaro.
But while normally the trendsetter when it comes to implementing solar policy legislation in the U.S., California is not the first to create a mass market for solar hot water heating. That title actually belongs to Hawaii.
“In the United States, Hawaii is actually out competing, out installing solar water heaters compared to California 4 to 1. So they’re installing about 4,000 domestic solar water heaters in Hawaii every year where as California is installing about 1,000,” said Del Chiaro, noting Hawaii has a rebate program for consumers.
“In this case we’ll be following Hawaii’s lead in some ways, but we want to basically show the rest of the country that solar water heating—just like solar electric—is a good technology to invest in and something that is ready for mainstream.””
My only hope is that this doesn’t turn into a way to line the pockets of industry leaders a la all the other “energy rebate” programs out there. Most seem to rely on the fact that you plan to pay a company of the government’s preference to design and install the system for you. It is my opinion that we need to get rebates for people willing to go the extra mile and design/install their own systems.
If it comes down to it they can send an inspector out (code enforcement officer perhaps) to make sure the system is sound, but again, it is my opinion that this is the government stepping on my toes. Understandably, they don’t want people using single walled heat exchangers with toxic glycol solutions in a drinking water system, etc etc, but it is my experience that most people willing to go through the effort of installing such a system will have done at least a small amount of research beforehand.
At least it is another step in the right direction.
“SunPower Teams With RAcell and Danfoss to Power Largest Scandinavian Solar Installation”
On October 17, 2007 in Uncategorized
From money.cnn.com
“125-Kilowatt System Offers Environmental and Modern Architectural Design for the New National Danish Radio and Television Buildings in Copenhagen
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — SunPower Corp. , a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced that it has joined forces with RAcell Solar and Danfoss Solar Inverters to power the largest solar installation in Scandinavia. The 125-kilowatt system provides solar electric power to the New Danish National Radio and Television (DR) buildings in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“Denmark has always been a leader in innovative building designs that are both beautiful and functional,” said Yakov Safir, managing director for RAcell Solar. “The partly transparent panels for the DR buildings not only generate electricity, but they also act as a sun shield, creating beautiful shadows that provide a unique, artistic effect.”
The unique installation was designed by Copenhagen-based Dissing+Weitling Architects together with panel manufacturer and systems integrator RAcell Solar. SunPower’s A-300 high-efficiency solar cells were used in the panels that cover 1200 square meters (about 13,000 square feet) of the building’s roofline, and Danfoss Solar Inverters provided the 24 inverters for this project. The solar electric system powers the ground water pumps that cool the building and the technical equipment located in the television studios. By combining fresh air, ground water and solar energy, two-thirds of the cooling needed is now generated by renewable energy, which is expected to reduce the annual carbon emissions by 40 tons.
“By combining SunPower’s high-efficiency solar cells with our high-efficiency inverters, we are maximizing solar-electric output,” said Henrik Raunkjaer, managing director at Danfoss Solar Inverters. “The unique solar array and outstanding artistic design add an exceptional building to the Copenhagen skyline. We compliment the vision and cooperation between all companies involved with this project.”
The solar panels are integrated on the rooftop above the main television news studio and form a type of striping effect that is visible from both inside the newsroom and from the street level outside. The panels offer different looks and colors depending on the viewing angle, and there are no visual wires or junction boxes as specified by the design criteria.
“We are pleased that SunPower was chosen to provide the solar cells for this architecturally attractive and historic building,” said Joern Juergens, director, component sales for SunPower Corp. “With the limited roof space available, the use of SunPower’s high-efficiency solar cells made it possible to meet all of the power requirements and design features.”
DIY Solar Tracker info
On October 05, 2007 in Uncategorized
DIY means not shelling out way too much money for something you can easily put together yourself if you have the patience and time. In this spirit, I’ve started compiling a list of resources for DIY solar trackers for PV panels.
Increasing PV output sounds good to me. Here is a site that has some information about what solar trackers are and how they work.
At the bottom of the article is this:
Useful Solar Tracker Links
My Homemade Solar Tracker - “If you have enough carpentry skills to make a bird house, you can build this tracker.”
Redrok - A collection of DIY electronic projects including solar trackers, solar charge controllers, shunts and much more. Complete solar tracker circuits are available for sale.
Sun-Tracking Circuit for Solar Arrays.
Wattsun - Manufacturers of Wattsun Solar Trackers
The most “DIY” of the bunch looks to be the “My Homemade Solar Tracker” page, but these didn’t quite match what I was looking for, so I dug a little further.
As usual the people at BuildItSolar.com came out on top with this $35 solar tracker built with an LED tracker from http://www.RedRok.com/
“Old C band satellite dish and actuator - free
3″ steel pole found in neighbors scrap pile - free
Bed frame found in alley - free
Telco AGM battery from buddy at Qwest -free
Assorted scraps of wire -free
Pickle jar -free (Mmmmm, kosher dills)
Redrok LED tracker $35
20% gain on 160w panels, five sun hours/day…160WHR/day…. Priceless! ”
They also had a link to THIS article about PV tracking basics.
Just a moment ago I found this one, which rivals the BuildItSolar tracker. Coincidentally, this is on the green-trust site which I have linked, as the author is quite close to my general area.
MAKEZINE has a post about a passive solar tracker that sounds like an excellent idea…
“It is a new type of ‘passive’ solar tracker that uses a combination of direct sunlight (radiant heat) and shade (ambient air temp) to affect the thermal expansion and contraction of a liquid to make the solar panel rotate. The expansion of the liquid causes the panel to rotate toward the west during the day and the contraction causes the panel to rotate back towards the east at night, ready for the morning sunrise. The simple hydraulic system, ensures that the solar panel is angled towards the sun from dawn through to dusk - all year round.”
“Concentrating Solar Power by Solucar Power”
On October 05, 2007 in Uncategorized
Found an interesting article while doing some research on parabolic troughs. My favorite quote from the article would have to be this little gem of knowledge I wasn’t aware of: “At least 30 million Chinese households have a solar thermal system; and, 4 of every 5 systems sold in the world in 2005 were in China.”
You can read the article Here
Solar Water Heaters
On October 04, 2007 in Uncategorized
I still have not committed to a final design for my solar space heater. Continuing research leads to ever-changing ideas.
Today I found a document with a list of references as long as my arm, with some information that I haven’t found in other places. The article is available on ScienceDirect.com. Here is a direct link to the article.
“Integrated collector storage solar water heaters
M. Smytha, P.C. Eamesa and B. Nortonb, 
, 
aCST: Centre for Sustainable Technologies, School of the Built Environment, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, UK
bDublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
Received 18 November 2004; accepted 22 November 2004. Available online 8 January 2005. ”
Just to wet your whistles, here is the Table of Contents listing:
1. History of the integrated collector storage solar water heater
- 2. Technologial development of the ICSSWH
- 2.1. Vessel design
- 2.1.1. Vessel size and shape
- 2.1.2. Configuration and interconnection of vessels
- 2.1.3. Inclination and orientation of vessel(s)
- 2.1.4. Vessel materials
- 2.1.5. Spectrally selective coatings
- 2.2. Glazing
- 2.2.1. Vessel enclosure
- 2.2.2. Glazing layers
- 2.2.3. Glazing coatings
- 2.2.4. Storage volume/aperture area ratio
- 2.3. Insulation
- 2.3.1. Opaque insulation
- 2.3.2. Transparent insulation
- 2.4. Reflectors
- 2.5. Evacuation between cover and vessel
- 2.6. Baffles in heat store
- 2.7. Inclusion of phase change materials
- 2.8. Icsswh performance characterisation
- 3. Conclusion
- References
There is some EXCELLENT detailed information in here, with some of the most detailed illustrations related to “The Integrated Collector Storage Solar Water Heater (ICSSWH)” that I have come across.
I will go ahead and add the link to the Water Heating Links page as well.
