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switching between mains and off grid supply

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  • #31
    As donkey07 explained, each particular situation is different. I have a friend in the US who also had a tough choice: go off-grid or pay a fortune to run power to his house. He elected to go off grid and found that 3 forklift batteries were an economical solution to nighttime power. They aren't sexy and won't last forever. But in his case, they worked out.

    "...Is this a British thing you got brained washed with in school?" <= Sorry, but to me, that is rude and insulting. It's fine to disagree with the approach, but to blame your nationality or a stereotype of that nation is misplaced.
    7kW Roof PV, APsystems QS1 micros, Nissan Leaf EV

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    • #32
      Originally posted by bob-n View Post
      As donkey07 explained, each particular situation is different. I have a friend in the US who also had a tough choice: go off-grid or pay a fortune to run power to his house. He elected to go off grid and found that 3 forklift batteries were an economical solution to nighttime power. They aren't sexy and won't last forever. But in his case, they worked out.

      "...Is this a British thing you got brained washed with in school?" <= Sorry, but to me, that is rude and insulting. It's fine to disagree with the approach, but to blame your nationality or a stereotype of that nation is misplaced.
      That post from Sunking is almost 6 years old so I wouldn't expect an answer. He was a little anti PC, so most people offended by his comments were told to let it go and just try to learn something from him. There were just too many thin skinned people that showed up thinking they were solar experts only to be exposed as nuisance posters. He may not have expressed himself nicely but he was usually trying to keep someone from wasting their money before they learned about solar technology.

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      • #33
        Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post

        Unless I'm screwing something up, it looks like donkey7 may live in a place that doesn't get many clouds. If he's near a place called Cobar, an 8.5 kW system will produce ~ 19kWh/day for all but 30 or so days/yr. and > ~ 14 kWh/day for all but maybe 15 of those 30 days. 3 day min. ave. totals are about the same. Looks like a place with a high clearness index (~ 0.63 or so) and not a lot of seasonal variability.
        I live a few hours east of Cobar and we do get a number of cloudy days (When not in drought). On cloudy days we generally run the house as normal unless we have 3-4 in a row forecast in which case we adjust the usage accordingly as it takes the PV system considerably longer to charge the battery. I might add we hang our clothes outside meaning we don't use a dryer, we use propane to boost the hotwater system, we have an electric oven but propane cooktop, No d which lightens the load on the system.

        The only time thus far when i needed to use a different power source (the generator) to charge the battery was after 3 days of snow and heavy cloud (fairly rare here) and the snow had covered the PV panels affecting generation. I might note that this weather also created an interesting issue with the lithium ion battery as the core dropped to below -6 degrees Celsius which meant the battery management system shut it down to 50% of its capacity to protect it, which caused a few headaches until we worked out we just needed to warm the battery up with a blow heater on low (positioned at a safe distance) to get it back up to full capacity.

        I know i gave more info than you asked but i am enjoying the conversation and the difference between countries. It's really fascinating. Thanks

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        • #34
          Originally posted by donkey07 View Post

          I live a few hours east of Cobar and we do get a number of cloudy days (When not in drought). On cloudy days we generally run the house as normal unless we have 3-4 in a row forecast in which case we adjust the usage accordingly as it takes the PV system considerably longer to charge the battery. I might add we hang our clothes outside meaning we don't use a dryer, we use propane to boost the hotwater system, we have an electric oven but propane cooktop, No d which lightens the load on the system.

          The only time thus far when i needed to use a different power source (the generator) to charge the battery was after 3 days of snow and heavy cloud (fairly rare here) and the snow had covered the PV panels affecting generation. I might note that this weather also created an interesting issue with the lithium ion battery as the core dropped to below -6 degrees Celsius which meant the battery management system shut it down to 50% of its capacity to protect it, which caused a few headaches until we worked out we just needed to warm the battery up with a blow heater on low (positioned at a safe distance) to get it back up to full capacity.

          I know i gave more info than you asked but i am enjoying the conversation and the difference between countries. It's really fascinating. Thanks
          G'Day.

          You've most welcome. It looks to me that your climate might be similar to that of the American desert Southwest in the higher elevations such as New Mexico. About 300+ mostly clear days with lots of sun and with warm to hot summers and moderate winters with some snow in the higher elevations but still lots of sun. I lived in Albuquerque for several years. One of the best solar climates on the planet. Passive solar architecture has a home in such places.

          Many around here may not be aware of it, but Australia has been a hot bed of alternate energy and particularly solar energy advances for a long time, particularly since the days of the founding of the International Solar Energy Society by providing some gov. funding through CSIRO and thus helping to stave off staving off bankruptcy for the fledgling society. But even before that at CSIRO, a guy by the name of Roger Morse and a few others pretty much single handedly kick started the solar energy industry in Australia. Morse wrote the solar water heater installation manual that served as the bible for many years and also got two major solar thermal firms off the ground. One of them - Solahart - had a large hand in bringing back and updating the idea of thermosiphon systems. Their systems are still around as are they.

          Over the years, Australia's contributions to the body of solar energy knowledge and advances has been way out of proportion in both quantity and quality to the country's population, but that tends to happen in places with lots of sun and also fewer fossil fuel resources or less fossil fuel resource development.

          As for too much information, among other purposes, this is supposed to be a place to exchange information and ideas. Besides, I figure if I don't like/need some information, no one has a gun at my head forcing me to read it.

          On warming that battery, try not to use an electric hairdryer. (I'm a retired engineer so I know this stuff).

          Good Luck

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          • #35
            Thanks for the heads up on the hair dyer. I'm using a blow heater but might look into other alternatives which might be more practical and/or safe.

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