X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Originally posted by hiteck View Post
    but it was funny
    Yes it was. Almost as funny when I burned the hair off the family jewels in college lighting farts on a beer binge.
    MSEE, PE

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by Sunking View Post
      Yes it was. Almost as funny when I burned the hair off the family jewels in college lighting farts on a beer binge.
      Way back when, I remember sitting in a physics class on electricity & magnetism, and reading a mimeographed handout that did a fair job with the idea that an electron volt contained roughly the same amount of energy as a flea fart.

      I think something similar has shown up in the original "Journal of Irreproducible Results".

      Comment


      • #18
        Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post
        Way back when, I remember sitting in a physics class on electricity & magnetism, and reading a mimeographed handout that did a fair job with the idea that an electron volt contained roughly the same amount of energy as a flea fart.
        Well, now we're getting somewhere. A flea fart contains 1eV, or 1.60217657 × 10-19 J. An ordinary flea weighs 220 x 10-6 g, or 7.8 x 10-6 oz.

        So, that's 0.2 J/oz fart energy for a flea. For a 170 pound human, there is 147/(170*16), or 0.04 J/oz ordinary fart energy.

        If we estimate that a beer fart is five times as powerful as an ordinary fart, we arrive at the interesting result that the fart energy per unit weight for the ordinary flea and average human expelling a beer fart are on a par. Fascinating.

        Comment


        • #19
          Originally posted by Living Large View Post
          Well, now we're getting somewhere. A flea fart contains 1eV, or 1.60217657 × 10-19 J. An ordinary flea weighs 220 x 10-6 g, or 7.8 x 10-6 oz.

          So, that's 0.2 J/oz fart energy for a flea. For a 170 pound human, there is 147/(170*16), or 0.04 J/oz ordinary fart energy.

          If we estimate that a beer fart is five times as powerful as an ordinary fart, we arrive at the interesting result that the fart energy per unit weight for the ordinary flea and average human expelling a beer fart are on a par. Fascinating.
          I'd up that from 5 times as powerful to 10 times for Guinness. Perhaps you saw my portrait hanging in the visitors lobby at St, James Gate before I quit drinking and they turned it to the wall in mourning.

          Comment


          • #20
            Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post
            I'd up that from 5 times as powerful to 10 times for Guinness. Perhaps you saw my portrait hanging in the visitors lobby at St, James Gate before I quit drinking and they turned it to the wall in mourning.
            Seat of the pants logic says that the flea's production should be more efficient, and the rough calculations confirm that the production of a human who abstains from alcohol consumption is inferior due to the law of diminishing returns.

            It is the introduction of non-natural alcohol that leads to the prodigious production and perturbs the expected result.

            Comment


            • #21
              Originally posted by Living Large View Post
              Seat of the pants logic says that the flea's production should be more efficient, and the rough calculations confirm that the production of a human who abstains from alcohol consumption is inferior due to the law of diminishing returns.

              It is the introduction of non-natural alcohol that leads to the prodigious production and perturbs the expected result.
              If so, then I'd wonder if beer loving tree huggers would support changing how solar panels are rated in terms of power potential from Watts at STC conditions to EHBF ( Equivalent Human Beer Farts) at hangover conditions. What a marketing coup. Sunpower could use a slightly different standard and use Guinness equivalents as their standard.

              I'm done.

              Comment


              • #22
                Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post
                If so, then I'd wonder if beer loving tree huggers would support changing how solar panels are rated in terms of power potential from Watts at STC conditions to EHBF
                How about STC to SBDF (Silent But Deadly Farts)?
                MSEE, PE

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by Sunking View Post
                  How about STC to SBDF (Silent But Deadly Farts)?
                  Since they seem stealthy by definition, perhaps the SBDF's could somehow be accounted for in the imaginary plane as part of any power factor loss.

                  This thread is sinking fast. Perhaps a moderator could put it out of its misery via thread euthanasia. I think we're way off topic.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Back on topic.

                    On the sunny days during peak times it looks like I'm getting about 2 amps out of the HF solar panels. I replaced the HF charge controller with a Windy Nation PL30 PWM. I bought the PL30 because it allowed me to see other than the single voltage reading from the HF controller. I have no idea how efficient or accurate it actually is.

                    If I did the math right. 2 amps at 12 volts [watts=voltsXamps] for the peak sun hours for my area of 4.5, I get a whopping 108 watt hours or 0.108 Kwh.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Originally posted by hiteck View Post
                      Back on topic.

                      I replaced the HF charge controller with a Windy Nation PL30 PWM. I bought the PL30 because it allowed me to see other than the single voltage reading from the HF controller. I have no idea how efficient or accurate it actually is.
                      Wow! You replace one cheap POS with another cheap POS. Windy Nation is a "run away from".
                      [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Originally posted by russ View Post
                        Wow! You replace one cheap POS with another cheap POS. Windy Nation is a "run away from".
                        Both purchases were made prior to joining this forum as indicated at the beginning of this thread. It had positive reviews on Amazon and at least provided more info than the controller that came with the kit.

                        So far I've got about $250 tied up in it. From the info I was reading before, (sources other than SPT) I was getting the impression that you didn't want to buy a panel or panels and then add to them at a later date. Same with your batteries. As stated before I don't have a specific Kwh goal at this time and am just trying to learn more about solar without dumping a ton of money while I learn.

                        Considering the panels I have, what controller would you buy to connect to them? I'm pretty sure there isn't one because the panels themselves are also POS. If I was to go back in time and do it all over what could I have done with the $250 in the way of a decent panel(s) and controller?

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Originally posted by hiteck View Post
                          ...If I was to go back in time and do it all over what could I have done with the $250 in the way of a decent panel(s) and controller?
                          Russ, Bueller, anyone?

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Originally posted by hiteck View Post
                            If I was to go back in time and do it all over what could I have done with the $250 in the way of a decent panel(s) and controller?
                            To start you would use Grid Tied panels at $1/watt or less instead of battery panels that cost $2 to $8/watt. Does that help clear things up?

                            You can get factory Seconds GT panels for as low as 63-cents per watt. You paid over $3/watt for a box for the kids to play with. Nothing in the HF kit is usable. Well you could use it to charge cell phones and a laptop. At best in TX generates less than 1-cent of electricity per day. But to make it useful requires a battery and inverter at additional cost.
                            MSEE, PE

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by Sunking View Post
                              To start you would use Grid Tied panels at $1/watt or less instead of battery panels that cost $2 to $8/watt. Does that help clear things up?

                              You can get factory Seconds GT panels for as low as 63-cents per watt. You paid over $3/watt for a box for the kids to play with. Nothing in the HF kit is usable. Well you could use it to charge cell phones and a laptop. At best in TX generates less than 1-cent of electricity per day. But to make it useful requires a battery and inverter at additional cost.
                              Thanks Sunking. I appreciate what you guys are trying to do. At this time I don't see me setting up a grid tied system that would be basically useless in the middle of the night during a power outage. I don't intend to run my house off-grid. I get that it's not cost effective.

                              At most a small backup system that I could use to power a coffee maker, charge a couple of cell phones, a laptop, or even run a tv or radio for short periods of time during power outages.

                              Maybe a battery bank, trickle charger and power inverter would be a better solution or small generator.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Originally posted by hiteck View Post
                                Maybe a battery bank, trickle charger and power inverter would be a better solution or small generator.
                                Now you are starting to use your head for something other than a hat rack
                                MSEE, PE

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X