Solar Power Sound System

[DanKegel]

To answer your question "how much extra income could I make if I had a visibly and attractively
"green" power solution for my gigs?" I don't know for sure? I do know that I like the idea of using solar power after getting a taste of it at the festival where I got to experience it. I have been spreading the word about my plans to have this type of system and the people I have been talking to are very receptive to the idea even to the point of having full promotion for the shows using solar power. I am now getting involved with others who are hosting solar power events and are reaching out to me as they know I am trying to go green with my business and now with the solar sound system they are very excited.

So there's demand, at least

What percent of the time is it sunny *during* your events (such that your car is fully hit by the sun)? (Wondering if you could get by without serious batteries for some events?)

Do you currently use a generator? (I forget if you mentioned that.)

On the theory that getting feet wet without jumping all the way in is wise (since you might end up throwing away the first system after you figure out how to do it right), what's the smallest part of your load that makes sense to split off and power with the sun?

[posplayr]

>i am sorry as i have probably been guilty of this at least one of those times (maybe both) but i am also trying to understand the differences. My kill a watt meter for what i assume is kilowatts has in capital letters KWH. I understand that to be kilowatt hours. So that is the value i thought i was referencing when i tested the sound system.*

> thanks for the examples, it may sound easy, and i will do my best to understand it.

> i believe i understand what you are saying in the last paragraph, i am just not sure how to apply it for my application?

[/QUOTE]

So long as you know when to use KWatts or Watts (power which is "rate of energy usage") v.s. KWatt-Hours or Watt-Hours(energy which is "accumulated power") you are fine. The reason you need to know is it is critically important to to sizing your system.

[SolarSoundMan]

So there's demand, at least

What percent of the time is it sunny *during* your events (such that your car is fully hit by the sun)? (Wondering if you could get by without serious batteries for some events?)

Do you currently use a generator? (I forget if you mentioned that.)

On the theory that getting feet wet without jumping all the way in is wise (since you might end up throwing away the first system after you figure out how to do it right), what's the smallest part of your load that makes sense to split off and power with the sun?

I can never be sure about how much sun I will have for any show? This year has been one of the rainiest years I can remember. With that said I have somehow lucked out and had mostly nice days when I also had shows. As others have said sun or wind are not things that are so predictable that you can actually count on them being there when you need them.

I do use a generator for some shows but not allot. For shows that I do use regular power for I would want to use the solar power when possible (only if the panels would not keep up with it). I feel that the more it is used and people see and know that I use it the hope is to be able to do more shows.

Yes, I do not want to make to many mistakes on the first try at doing this as it could be rather costly. I think if I have the right size inverter, the correct size of battery to last through the shows, enough panels to help supplement it throughout the show, and the option to use shore power I should be good to go. I would carry a small generator to help keep things charged up if shore power would not be available but would not want to use it unless I REALLY had to. Using a generator is defeating the purpose of going green.

[SolarSoundMan]

So long as you know when to use KWatts or Watts (power which is "rate of energy usage") v.s. KWatt-Hours or Watt-Hours(energy which is "accumulated power") you are fine. The reason you need to know is it is critically important to to sizing your system.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the simple clarification on this, I think the bell is finally ringing in the mass above my shoulders now and the difference of the two! Thanks to you and everyone else helping me understand these things and bearing with me until I do.

[posplayr]

I can never be sure about how much sun I will have for any show? This year has been one of the rainiest years I can remember. With that said I have somehow lucked out and had mostly nice days when I also had shows. As others have said sun or wind are not things that are so predictable that you can actually count on them being there when you need them.

I do use a generator for some shows but not allot. For shows that I do use regular power for I would want to use the solar power when possible (only if the panels would not keep up with it). I feel that the more it is used and people see and know that I use it the hope is to be able to do more shows.

Yes, I do not want to make to many mistakes on the first try at doing this as it could be rather costly. I think if I have the right size inverter, the correct size of battery to last through the shows, enough panels to help supplement it throughout the show, and the option to use shore power I should be good to go. I would carry a small generator to help keep things charged up if shore power would not be available but would not want to use it unless I REALLY had to. Using a generator is defeating the purpose of going green.

It would seem that your real intent is to have a "mostly" solar powered sound system and advertise it as such. In that case, you should decide on the maximum amount of panel area that you are willing to support for that. For example, I assume you have a van of some sort for sound system equipment transport. From a marketing standpoint, you will make the point by having the roof of the fan filled with solar panels. You would probably want the panel mounted with some sort of tilting mechanism so they are visible from anybody at the event (pointing at the sun is also a consideration. 4-6 panels (depending upon the vehicle) might be all you can get which would be 1200-1800 watts if directed in bright sun light. I don't think that you would necessarily get more impact if you also had temporary ground mounted panels that you pulled out and in fact might make it seem like, you need to many panel to just run the show. The roof top vehicle mount is a cleaner concept.

You would still need to size the battery pack to run the show at night without the aid of solar, but you can always claim the sound energy is from the sun (even if you fudge a little charging from the van if the battery discharge is too deep). At some point (after several days even) the batteries will have been recharged, the shore power only being needed if the back to back gigs are consuming more power than the panels will collect in the same time.

[SolarSoundMan]

It would seem that your real intent is to have a "mostly" solar powered sound system and advertise it as such. In that case, you should decide on the maximum amount of panel area that you are willing to support for that. For example, I assume you have a van of some sort for sound system equipment transport. From a marketing standpoint, you will make the point by having the roof of the fan filled with solar panels. You would probably want the panel mounted with some sort of tilting mechanism so they are visible from anybody at the event (pointing at the sun is also a consideration. 4-6 panels (depending upon the vehicle) might be all you can get which would be 1200-1800 watts if directed in bright sun light. I don't think that you would necessarily get more impact if you also had temporary ground mounted panels that you pulled out and in fact might make it seem like, you need to many panel to just run the show. The roof top vehicle mount is a cleaner concept.

You would still need to size the battery pack to run the show at night without the aid of solar, but you can always claim the sound energy is from the sun (even if you fudge a little charging from the van if the battery discharge is too deep). At some point (after several days even) the batteries will have been recharged, the shore power only being needed if the back to back gigs are consuming more power than the panels will collect in the same time.

posplayr, yes you are correct in thinking that I want to have a "mostly" solar power sound system and advertise it as such. I do have a 14 ft box truck that I originaly thought I would mount the panels on top and sides for transport. Once at the show I would raise the panels on the sides to be level with the ones on the roof.

I finally ruled putting panels on the roof because my truck is parked in the garage at home and I really don't want to leave it outside to harvest power for my home when not doing shows. Another thing was if I ever sell the truck I would have to take everything off the roof and all the components and put them in/on another truck. Even though the holes could be sealed I just didn't want to deal with holes in the roof. Also, some of the shows I do will not allow me to park my truck at the stage area. This is why I thought I would keep the panels mobil to be used at home or at the shows.

I did consider a trailer after I ruled out putting the panels on my truck roof but still wasn't crazy about that either. I wouldn't be using this for many night time shows but maybe one here or there. I do know what you are saying about fudging things a bit to indicate everything is being run by solar and by supplementing charging of the battery's by a vehicle alternator or even a generator. The problem is, I don't want to have to do that except as a last resort.

Update today: I made some phone calls to a couple of the company's that DanKegal found for me to check out in post #37. THANKS AGAIN DAN! I was very in encouraged by the conversations I had with Iron Edison and Mobil Solar. I am reconsidering the use of a trailer as it just seems like the easiest way to have a plug & play system and to be able to take it anywhere and use it at home. The system has to also be a big enough solar power system to use at my house to hopefully get away from buring coal in the winter.

I am waiting for a quote from Iron Edison. One thing is, they do not offer a trailer so I would have to build the system myself. Mobil Solar has a turnkey setup and at this time I am liking what they have to offer. Travis is who I spoke with. He said they have tested their systems using sound systems at concerts. Testing and logging peak output (kick drum hits, etc), average KWH, etc, and they perform very well!

He told me the battery would run 10 or more hours no problem and would not need charging. This would be nice if doing night time shows! He said the battery's are lead acid fork lift battery's with a 2000 cycle life span using 80% DOD and would last even longer using 50% DOD. He went on to say that in 11 years being in the business they have yet to replace a battery. The system I am most interested in that should cover all my needs for both my business and at home is this: http://www.mobilesolarpower.net/ms-225/

[DanKegel]

Glad those links were helpful, but tread carefully.

Batteries wear out quickly (check the warranty!); could you achieve your goals using just
a one-hour battery supply, and kicking in a generator if the solar panels weren't
generating enough to keep the battery charged? That might be the most
economical way to start, since you have or need the generator anyway.

Very few people have battery-backed solar systems for their houses, it's not
very economical at the moment, and it's hard on batteries. So you'd be
treading a less-travelled path.
Have you done all the low-cost things you can do to increase your house's
energy efficiency? That would cut your current energy bill, and reduce the
size of the solar system needed to power your house.

[bcroe]

The system has to also be a big enough solar power system to use at my
house to hopefully get away from buring coal in the winter.

That is a very tall order. The practical way to heat electrically is with a heat pump,
and the buried coil type is twice as efficient. The idea of storing the more plentiful
summer energy up for minimum sun winter only works if you use a grid tied system,
entirely different from the previous discussion.

27 KWH = about a gallon of propane, not sure how that converts to coal. But I'm
heating with a new heat pump and this system, which generates 27,000 KWH a
year. Do the numbers. Bruce Roe

[SolarSoundMan]

Glad those links were helpful, but tread carefully.

Batteries wear out quickly (check the warranty!); could you achieve your goals using just
a one-hour battery supply, and kicking in a generator if the solar panels weren't
generating enough to keep the battery charged? That might be the most
economical way to start, since you have or need the generator anyway.

Very few people have battery-backed solar systems for their houses, it's not
very economical at the moment, and it's hard on batteries. So you'd be
treading a less-travelled path.
Have you done all the low-cost things you can do to increase your house's
energy efficiency? That would cut your current energy bill, and reduce the
size of the solar system needed to power your house.

Hey Dan, I did talk to the guy today about using the MS-225 solar generator in this link http://www.mobilesolarpower.net/ms-225/ to power some things through the winter. Actually my thouhts were not to power electric heaters . I would use the solar power to power most of my lights and other small draw items to make the electric bill less. I would use grid power for electric heat. He said this unit would have trouble keeping up if I use it for electric heat. From what he said the sunny days are less and it would be hard to keep the battery's charged up enough to keep up with electric heat.

I did ask him about the warranty on the battery (7 years on the battery) and them wearing out quicklyand he said he would be glad to talk to anyone about the longevity of the battery's. He said these are industrial battery's with a 12-15 year life and after 11 years of being in business they have yet to replace one. As far as replacing all the low cost things to increase my house efficiency, a couple things I have done, but could probably do more.

[SolarSoundMan]

That is a very tall order. The practical way to heat electrically is with a heat pump,
and the buried coil type is twice as efficient. The idea of storing the more plentiful
summer energy up for minimum sun winter only works if you use a grid tied system,
entirely different from the previous discussion.

27 KWH = about a gallon of propane, not sure how that converts to coal. But I'm
heating with a new heat pump and this system, which generates 27,000 KWH a
year. Do the numbers. Bruce Roe

Yeah Bruce as you will read in my last post it doesn't look like it will be enough to power the big draw items through the winter. I will have to look closer at the heat pump to try and get away from coal. Oh well, next year is another year, maybe a heat pump then? This years agenda is to get the solar sound system in place and supplement a few things around the house with solar. Thanks also for the comparison you gave for the propane and coal.

[DanKegel]

I would use the solar power to power most of my lights and other small draw items to make the electric bill less... As far as replacing all the low cost things to increase my house efficiency, a couple things I have done, but could probably do more.

Might be a challenge to set up separate circuits so you could power the small things with solar.

Glad you've done some of the efficiency stuff. Have you gone all LED yet?
And have you tried your Kill-a-watt on your fridge and other things in the house yet?

[SolarSoundMan]

Might be a challenge to set up separate circuits so you could power the small things with solar.

Glad you've done some of the efficiency stuff. Have you gone all LED yet?
And have you tried your Kill-a-watt on your fridge and other things in the house yet?

My thoughts for setting up separate circuits would be to have my brother in law (he is an electrician) install a separate fuse panel for the solar system in the house and wire up separate receptacles in each room I wanted to use the solar power in. Mainly for lamps fish tank, some clocks, electric razor, etc.

I have not gone all LED yet in the house but have been using energy saver bulbs. They don't seem to last very long. I am using some LED lighting in light shows for my business. I have been using the kill a watt meter on different things around the house. It has been interesting to find some things such as AC still draw power even when it is off, so I make sure to unplug it now.

[bcroe]

Home Conservation

My thoughts for setting up separate circuits would be to have my brother in law (he is an electrician) install a separate fuse panel for the solar system in the house and wire up separate receptacles in each room I wanted to use the solar power in. Mainly for lamps fish tank, some clocks, electric razor, etc.

I have not gone all LED yet in the house but have been using energy saver bulbs. They don't seem to last very long. I am using some LED lighting in light shows for my business. I have been using the kill a watt meter on different things around the house. It has been interesting to find some things such as AC still draw power even when it is off, so I make sure to unplug it now.

If the subject is switching to conservation at home, you can divide loads into those you
are actively using, and phantom loads that draw power when they are "off". I found the
latter were a very large part of my total, 300 watts 24/7 with everything off, furnace &
fridge not running. Thats 2600 KWH a year. It was nothing big, but a hundred little
things that were always warm. By replacing them, redesigning them, or working out
automatic disconnects, I got it down to 50W. The Kill-A-Watt will find them if you look
hard enough. good luck, Bruce Roe

[solar pete]

[QUOTE=SolarSoundMan;165161]posplayr, yes you are correct in thinking that I want to have a "mostly" solar power sound system and advertise it as such. I do have a 14 ft box truck that I originaly thought I would mount the panels on top and sides for transport. Once at the show I would raise the panels on the sides to be level with the ones on the roof.

I finally ruled putting panels on the roof because my truck is parked in the garage at home and I really don't want to leave it outside to harvest power for my home when not doing shows. Another thing was if I ever sell the truck I would have to take everything off the roof and all the components and put them in/on another truck. Even though the holes could be sealed I just didn't want to deal with holes in the roof. Also, some of the shows I do will not allow me to park my truck at the stage area. This is why I thought I would keep the panels mobil to be used at home or at the shows.

I did consider a trailer after I ruled out putting the panels on my truck roof but still wasn't crazy about that either. I wouldn't be using this for many night time shows but maybe one here or there. I do know what you are saying about fudging things a bit to indicate everything is being run by solar and by supplementing charging of the battery's by a vehicle alternator or even a generator. The problem is, I don't want to have to do that except as a last resort.

Update today: I made some phone calls to a couple of the company's that DanKegal found for me to check out in post #37. THANKS AGAIN DAN! I was very in encouraged by the conversations I had with Iron Edison and Mobil Solar. I am reconsidering the use of a trailer as it just seems like the easiest way to have a plug & play system and to be able to take it anywhere and use it at home. The system has to also be a big enough solar power system to use at my house to hopefully get away from buring coal in the winter.

I am waiting for a quote from Iron Edison. One thing is, they do not offer a trailer so I would have to build the system myself. Mobil Solar has a turnkey setup and at this time I am liking what they have to offer. Travis is who I spoke with. He said they have tested their systems using sound systems at concerts. Testing and logging peak output (kick drum hits, etc), average KWH, etc, and they perform very well!

He told me the battery would run 10 or more hours no problem and would not need charging. This would be nice if doing night time shows! He said the battery's are lead acid fork lift battery's with a 2000 cycle life span using 80% DOD and would last even longer using 50% DOD. He went on to say that in 11 years being in the business they have yet to replace a battery. The system I am most interested in that should cover all my needs for both my business and at home is this "mobile solar power"

I took out the link...people please be careful with links we (the forum) dont like them as a general rule. especially links to sites that sell things. Our forum has impoving traffic and falling page ranking, some of that is due to non reciprocal links being posted, it has to stop.

[SolarSoundMan]

I took out the link...people please be careful with links we (the forum) dont like them as a general rule. especially links to sites that sell things. Our forum has impoving traffic and falling page ranking, some of that is due to non reciprocal links being posted, it has to stop.

I am sorry solar pete please take out any I have used no problem, I will not do it again. I would like to add that the links that were provided to me were very helpful and I would not have been able to find the solution of finding moble solar power for my sound system as quickly as I have. I am very greatfull for having them provided to me! This is a wonderful site I am happy to be part of, thanks for doing such a good job with it!