Electricity
On June 09, 2007 in Uncategorized
Here are some links related to solar generated electricity. The list is getting long so scroll down if you don’t yet see what you are looking for:
GENERAL:
Ecocenter.org Solar Electricity Article
Solar Electricity and Solar Cells in Theory and Practice
Solar Energy Inverter Information
Choosing the Right Off-Grid Inverter
Huge List of Inverter Manufacturers
Solar Powered Wireless Laptop Web Server with great info
Solar Powered Web Site with great info
PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS:
DIY Solar Panel Kits and Projects
SOLAR TRACKERS:
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 TrackersThe 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/
BATTERIES:
Wiring Solar Panels and Battery Systems
Battery Reconditioning video from chinadepot.com
Batteries for Solar Energy Systems
How Lead Acid Batteries Work <— EXCELLENT
Solar System Battery Metering - Otherpower.com page about monitoring batteries for a solar system. Also has a good battery state of charge chart.
SYSTEM SIZING:
Load Sizing Worksheet <— You will want to use this worksheet first, to calculate your total system requirements.
Solar Module Sizing <— Use results from Load Sizing Worksheet to calculate solar module sizing.
Grid-tie Solar System Sizing <– Detailed and informative
Basic Grid-tie Solar System Sizing
Grid-Tie Solar System Sizing on Yahoo! Answers <—- good info
Grid-Tie System Size Estimator <- This page has a calculator, with interactive map to figure out sun hours per day. Will also recommend a system for you, and gives an “Environmental Benefits” metric that looks like this: You will eliminate 16740 lbs. of C02 per year and this is equivalent to planting 24 trees every year
Another Battery Sizing Worksheet <^— Use one of these once the load and module size has been determined.
Solar Wiring Size Reference Guide <– Useful for determining the size of conductor needed for your system.
RV and Camper Solar Electric:
Simple article on How to Install a Solar Panel
RV Boondocking Article about their 780w roof mounted system
RV Solararticle on RV Solar Electric Power. I like the way this one was written, and it has some excellent points.
HolySolar Article on 64w Unisolar Thin Film panel
12voltsolarpanels.netRV Solar Charger Article
SYSTEM OVERVIEWS:
Setting Up a Solar Electricity System
Ward’s Cheap (<$700) Solar System
Bob’s Solar Project - Simply the most detailed blog about installing and running a photovoltaic system in your home, that I have ever seen. Includes excellent pictures, graphs, and illustrations.
Maverick Solar DIY - excellent site detailing the author’s grid tied PV system. He even has a web interface so that you can see how much juice he is producing in real time.
VERY LARGE Home PV Installation <——– GREAT!! 48kWh per day! Completely DIY! Here is a discussion about it at The Solar Power Forum
Selection and Installation of 6.1kW grid-tie system Thoughts on system after a month
