Really nice videos and I really appreciate your hard work put in here, but I see a mathematical flaw in this video. When you add up percentage losses you just sum it up like 2%+10%+5%+3%+7%+30%=57%, but that is wrong, because if let's say you have 100W of energy - 2% power tolerance = 98W, then 98W gets 10% heat loss = 88,2, then 88,2 - 5% because of dirt = 83,79, then those 83,79W go through wires and loses 3% more and go down to 81,28 then - 7% = 75,6W - 30% (batteries) = 52,9W left (100 - 52,9 = 47,1W and 47,1% lost from 100), so instead of sum of 57% this should be around 47,1%. You just can not sum up %, because your next loss will always lose some part only from that amount which is left from previous losses not from full primary amount. It can look like a little mistake, but sometimes numbers can differ radically if you just sum up percentages, just imagine if you have four losses of 25% each in a row, then by adding up you get 0 energy left, but in reality there is still 31,64% of starting energy left after it goes through all those four losses of 25% in a row.
Inga Ramaskaite Interestingly the way his mistake ocurred, it means that his loss calculation is more conservative than doing the correct math. So his calculated loss is higher than the actual loss. That would be good news once I get up a solar system going. However the proper way would be what you indicate Inga.
The mistake could also have been from the individual percentages too making the overall at 57%. Either way he is taking losses into consideration and adding it to the total consumption. In addition he did inflate at a few stages of the calculation. Better safe than sorry. Better a little more than a little less.
I am still enjoying watching these videos...i am aiming to install my own solar panel in my house after all these videos...let me come back and comment once i have finished..so far so good.
You hit the nail directly on the resonating head with this! This is a very comprehensive presentation on the big loss variables. Thank you for continuing to share this information. Nice job!
Completely thorough and exceptionally communicated to the laymen. Brilliant. I am learning and studying all the knowledge you are sharing with all of us including careful research and planning prior to investing into a home solar system to maximize my ROI. Thank you. Steve & Michelle South Florida USA
this is the most thorough explanation i`ve heard so for on this subject,,,well said !,,,people dont understand the variations of solar panel systems,with battery bank or grid tye,,or direct invert,,as you said 3 to 1 ratio is a safe bet,,,better over kill as under kill on the size of your array
This is a great video, I have just set up / setting up a small grid tie setup @ 600w and a separate 800AH battery bank and MTTP controller. The info you have given here has made things much easier to understand. Thanks for the video. Paul.
I worked at Siemens Solar, Shell Solar, and Solarworld for over 17 Years. At the time they where the largest manufacturer of photovoltaic solar modules in the Unites States. Heat and air cause more loss (and damage) in solar arrays than anything else. Solar cells are tested for output at 24 to 25 degrees Celsius (75-77 F). They produce about 0.6 volts with no load (Voltage open circuit) and put out their most power at about 0.484 volts. I will post more on the forum if there is interest.
Great video. In addition to issues already raise about the math, to compensate for 40% loss you need to divide 8200Wh by 60% which equals 13667Wh. Not 11480Wh. So when you remove 40% from 13667Wh you get 8200Wh.
Correct, thanks for pointing that out..some of the losses need to be calculated after the initial losses. I will put something together for that. Cheers, Martin.
I'm off grid with 30-33kwhluthium ion battery, and 4.4kw solar, and working on a DC generator, to charge batteries through a midnite classic150, limiting it to about 90 amps, in an emergency. And plan to build a few wind turbines, to hopefully generate around 1kw on breezy days, and about 2.5kw on windy stormy days, but I hope to get some hydroelectric going, even if it's only 200 watts, but 24/7!
Hi MJ, I don't know if anyone has pointed this out previously, but you can't add percentages together to come up with the total power loss. You have to consider the power loss over each item. For example, a 40% loss on 100 units leaves 60 units. A further 25% loss (on 60units) leaves 45 units. However, you added the percentages together which would have given the result as 65% loss leaving only 35 units. So the overall losses are not quite as bad as you calculated. Hope this helps.
I must admit that your video is on point and one of the best I have seen so far. Only one noticeable misquote is your mention of "Liquid Crystal Batteries" at and after 26:11. I believe it you mean Lead Acid Batteries.
A very good video and thank you. I have done so much research myself. Prior to seeing this video, I have had installed 20 panels and have done calculations every day on our consumption. I agree that a good professional install is worth the extra cost. We live in Thailand and are lucky as our hours of sun light per day is high plus the roof on the back of the house is due south, so the install is ideal. I will add to your blog and yes, I want the spreadsheet you did and if you wish I can share my information that I created on a spreadsheet.
excellent info!!!.......ive fabbed 3 tracking solar arrays for the back yard and your numbers will definatly help in the tweaking of the system....what the heck..its a hobby...Lol
You're simply adding up percentages which somewhat gives an order of magnitude, but correctly accumulating the percentages of the individual losses 2%, 10%, 5%, 3% 7% and 30% would be to do 1 - (0.98 * 0.9 * 0.95 * 0.97 * 0.93 * 0.7) ~= 47% losses But aside from this nitpick: thanks for the info, I didn't realize that there are so much losses in the battery.
Hello good man...I appreciate the nag. I have just posted the 1st working version on the forum...there is a link to it in the video details as well. Cheers, Martin.
Well you have an efficient one! One I have is a so called efficiency rating of 98% and it uses 1/3 more. It runs around 1.5-1.8kw per day. So I would say stick with your fridge you have!!!
All info is educational but I'm a licensed master electrican through out California and have been installing solar for about 15 years now i have done commercial and residential solar jobs and have assisted in that solar project as a solar consultant for the Mojave desert solar project plant ,that supply's power for the city of Riverside Ca . but when all is said and done you will loose what you loose but for the most part if you size it correctly and add deep cycle batteries for a home all will be A OK at most you will have more worries when a solar panel breaks and having to wait a week for another one to get ordered in.
The other worry is paying five times more for the batteries and long-term replacement costs than you's pay for grid power :-) That's what takes some of the fun out of it.
Great info. hopefully in the future i plan to build a portable generator for power outages. Probably I get a 100ah lead crystal battery from ex solar. Those batteries sound safe.
Check out the ZenithZolar Z20, a hybrid solar-thermal-photovoltaic device with autodirectional mirror array! They claim 70+% efficiency (15.5Wp) and low costs! AMAZING!! Thumbs up so people know. Go Solar!!!
from what I understand a pwm to mppt charge controller is a major difference ... a pwm will need the battery charge requirement to start ,,, or generation of about 14v or close to peak solar hours .... while an mppt will sy=tart to charge your batteries sooner as it can begi battery charging at a lower input wattage input or lower voltage thus starting earlier i the day and lasting longer .. thus giving you an actual longer charge time and a battery bank that is charged sooner and excess power for longer ... great time to do laundry and house cleaning etc.
I suppose it requires elaborate products and agreements but it should be possible to give your excess electricity to your neighbors and use them as buffers instead of battery storage. But of course your grid should also allow back flow, that would be much easier.
I've been debating on whether to buy a grid tie inverter or batteries. It sounds like grid tie might be the best way to go. I've seen on ytube people saying you must size your grid tie at least twice that of the panels because the efficiency loss of the grid tie is much more when the size is closely matched to the panel size. Thanks for the info!!!!
Thanks a lot for the videos sir.. quite informative.. When it comes to any form of free energy my thinking is focused simply on this: How much "Instantaneous Power" will my house, office, environment etc. need? I mean to really enjoy the comfort of free energy one must have a system that can support the potential maximum electric needs of a place at any given time. In other words, the desire is, if I would switch on all the electrical equipments in my house at the same time, I would like to have no issues no matter what (may it be day or night). Therefore I would need to know what my peak kW needs should be (not kWh). Considering today's solar/wind/etc technologies the prices are still extremely high for such desire. Therefore (for now) I prefer to stay away from all the complications and headaches of the way you try to make it easier for people. I would focus more on how I could increase my income to pay my bills, since it seems to be less complex than installing and maintaining any free energy system. Sorry, but in my opinion it is still nonsense for 2017. Oh and looking from the bright side, I hope and pray that at least 100 times cheaper free energy technologies come out soon to make my dreams come true. Kindest Regards
If you don't have an electric grid to earn credit on you could use that spare energy make Bitcoins then spend them instead. As they charge 15p in the UK but only pay 5p for your production, it still works out better to turn the excess energy into Bitcoins!
Martin, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and insights with such generosity, patience and eloquence. You're a great teacher! I would love to see an index to your many youtube vids - the regular youtube interface doesn't do justice to your series and topics. (Maybe there is such an index and I've missed it!) Cheers!
I only use a computer and one Led Light at night. But I have a fridge and a water heater that run all the time. I spend at least 5 hours on my computer when I get on my computer. I don't use a microwave like many people. It might take 3 minutes to heat my food. If I use it. Most of the time I head my food on a stove. I use an oven maybe once a week. I think I would do well on solar, just getting it all hooked up, and the price I wonder about.
great series on solar. In 2014 , in South Africa, let Eskom be your battery. If you have an old spinning disk kWH meter , then you can feed back into the grid , when you have more power than you need and use your utility at night when you need power. Just one question , why do display 15 Multimetes behind you ? One is enough.
I would love to see you do a video on how to pick a solar installer all the folks I've had come by my house or like used car salesmen are all real sleazy
Sorry for not being clear. I meant that no-frost or frost-free or auto-defrost systems do use heating elements in order to melt ice covering the internal heat exchanger. (at least some of them, can't speak for all defrost systems out there) I know it sounds counter intuitive, but the heat exchanger is placed it a way so it affects the freezer temperature only when a fan forces air through it. Though, In high energy class fridges, the defrost cycle runs once every 6-12 hours. on the rest I agree.
13:05 - i am sorry, i think that at STC in the lab the panels tested at 1.5Am where the light not perpendicular on the panel bet tilted at 48.2 degrees
I knew a guy in the states who walked me through his set up. I literally was at his house. Here's what he did. He had a metal freight container on the side of his house with 12 forklift batteries inside it. Each forklift battery hooked to each other with cables and they ran to a digital read out on the the freight container wall. He used to produce enough he sold back to the electric company. He never paid for electricity from the electric company.I think he had 24 panels on his rooftop. Might have been 12?
Hi MJ. Excellent vid. I'm planning a modest home in Elgin in the Cape and need to design my home as energy efficient as possible. Part of this process is deciding on a PV system setup and I believe integrating a heat pump for geyser. I'll study the rest of your vids ... mind if I call on you for fine-tuning?
Thanks for the informative videos sofar. However The VA calculation seems incorrect. I have a 2000VA inverter that ends up with 1200 Watts so with a 5000VA inverter you end up with only 3000 Watts and it is also important to note whether you use a pure sine wave or modified sinewave inverter and explain the difference between them as far as what you can/cannot use on them
It would be great if someone could make a spreadsheet with the power loss formulas along with a power meter to measure energy used in sampling the daily, weekly and annual consumed energy. It would help to figure out the power needed. On the other hand I read a average household uses 80kw a year. Maybe work it out by each countries average energy consumption figure and take it from there...
I have a portable solar generator I bought from Solutions From Science. It has 2 - 100 watt panels and 3 - 80 AH batteries. I was trying to get it to run a chest freezer and a battery backup sump pump charger, it provided power for both of them for about 3 days when it showed the batteries starting to weaken. the unit can be expanded up to 4- 100 panels and 4 - 80 AH batteries. Just was trying to figure out how much power I can get from this setup without using the AC charger the unit comes with to charge the batteries. Thanks for the video !
It depends on where you are located and the time of year (Google "Solar insolation" for your area). It will probably vary from around 5 sun-hours in the summer to 3 sun-hours in the winter (Seattle is much worse, Arizona much better). If you have a PWM charge controller (most likely), you'd get from 300-500 Watt-hours per day of energy. That's like running a 60 watt light bulb from 5 to 8 hours if you have an efficient inverter converting your power to AC. You'd need to figure out what your loads require in watt-hours per day. An easy way is with a "Kill a Watt meter". I think they cost around $25 and they are perfect for figuring out how much energy your stuff uses. I have one and like it a lot. As far as battery size, typically it's done like this: Figure out the daily watt-hour usage, multiply that by five, and that is your battery size in watt-hours. Divide that by the battery voltage to get the amp-hour size you need. That gives some extra battery capacity to account for 2-3 cloudy days.
Have you though about fabricating a mount for a car window washer and wiper on your solar panel? when they starting to get dirty just flick the switch and let the wiper clean it, i think this would come in very handy if your panel is mounted high up and hard to reach. Just a though.
Dear i am thanking you for such informative video i think it would be completed if you are telling me that would that save money by the end , and how much these devices would cost and how much the return am i going to stop paying for electricity waiting for your kind reply thanks
What about a rectifier as most things use 12 watt to power them and solar batteries so I power all things with batteries nearer all things to reduce losses and you will need a technician to take out the ac adapter out so my tv uses 21 wH one solar battery powers the tv for 4 hours my fridge use 3 batteries trough to night and 5 batteries during to day I also use alarm batteries for lights which are 6 w so ten batteries for the lounge and two for every other room that also catteries for charging cellphones using a rectifier to exactly what your phone needs
Hello MjLorton. I am facing a problem. My array size is 29kW and my grid tie size is 37kW(array size +30%). I cant find a suitable grid tie converter for this size and i am wodering can i use multiple grid tie converters attaches to the same solar panel system. For example 4 grid tied connectors with a rating of 11,500 W tied together. Thank you
I heard on the video that in cold climates you can get a 30 % plus solar panel gain.Does this mean that at - 40 celcius a 250 watt solar panel will potentially put out 325 usable watts. I live in Canada and we do occasionally see this temperature. If so it is a nice bonus
Hi Martin! Great tutorials! Appreciate the power usage calculation suggestions! Just a thought about the overheating effects of the solar panels - would it be helpful if one could either a) redirect the cooling air from a heat pump to help cool off the solar panels or b) Temporarily place for example a 30% shade net or similar cover in place to minimize the overheating effects that one may incur? We live in Potchefstroom and during the summer months - November to March we have average temperatures of between 15˚C and 29˚C and in Winter - May to August we have average temperatures of between 2˚C and 18˚C.
+Albert van Heerden. Pardon, I neglected to mention that it does get much colder in winter and hotter in summer. I have experienced temperatures from -13˚C in winter to 37˚C in summer. Hope to get your response.
hi, i am currently doing some computation for my home (to be built) and i ended up looking at 5kw inverter. i am planning to go hybrid while doing best effort not to push electricity back to the grid (as much as possible). since financing is a concern right now, my initial plan is to lay all the pv first and plus using an all-in-one inverter/with built-in battery charger. this is so, so if time comes that i'd have enough cash, then i can add the batteries, then next would be the generator (the generator will be auto initiated by the inverter). at the moment, i am not sure what good brands that are available market currently, that addresses my requirements. and... this is the part where i listen to your valuable input. many thanks, GaryS>
Hello Mjlorton - Good job done on solar setup. I am impressed. What i reckon from your video is that you are running your house at night through battery banking and in day through on-grid direct supply to your house. I am bit confused. Could you please help me in understanding.
I have a 250W solar panel and 150ah 12v battery, and I want to know what I need to use,a 20A charge controller or 10A charge controller? ,and what wattages of inverter I need to run a TV or an electric fan?
I dont understand what if i live in South cali and i have a 1000Watt System and its around 80F or 100 on a high in the summer what would my loss be if they get hit by the sun from Noon - 7 at night please Help Let me know if you need more info
Hi Martin. I have checked the forum and cannot see it there yet. Please take this as a very, VERY, humble "nag" (as you pointed out to someone else in the forum to do). Kind regards
Hi there, I a bet confuse about how to calculate my needs from off-grid solar syetem, by the end of this year I want to start my farm in South Sudan and I want to use several electronics items such tv, ps3, small forge , dish receiver, computer and self phone. I want you to advise me how much kw I will need to have. Thanks.
Really nice videos and I really appreciate your hard work put in here, but I see a mathematical flaw in this video. When you add up percentage losses you just sum it up like 2%+10%+5%+3%+7%+30%=57%, but that is wrong, because if let's say you have 100W of energy - 2% power tolerance = 98W, then 98W gets 10% heat loss = 88,2, then 88,2 - 5% because of dirt = 83,79, then those 83,79W go through wires and loses 3% more and go down to 81,28 then - 7% = 75,6W - 30% (batteries) = 52,9W left (100 - 52,9 = 47,1W and 47,1% lost from 100), so instead of sum of 57% this should be around 47,1%. You just can not sum up %, because your next loss will always lose some part only from that amount which is left from previous losses not from full primary amount. It can look like a little mistake, but sometimes numbers can differ radically if you just sum up percentages, just imagine if you have four losses of 25% each in a row, then by adding up you get 0 energy left, but in reality there is still 31,64% of starting energy left after it goes through all those four losses of 25% in a row.
Thanks Inga, big mistake on my part so I appreciate your post. I'll add an annotation to note this. Cheers, Martin.
thank you Inga and you too Martin, for the constructive criticism
Inga Ramaskaite Interestingly the way his mistake ocurred, it means that his loss calculation is more conservative than doing the correct math. So his calculated loss is higher than the actual loss. That would be good news once I get up a solar system going. However the proper way would be what you indicate Inga.
The mistake could also have been from the individual percentages too making the overall at 57%. Either way he is taking losses into consideration and adding it to the total consumption. In addition he did inflate at a few stages of the calculation. Better safe than sorry. Better a little more than a little less.
Very informative for this 71 year old Geezer to try to self diy & pay less to energy thieving companies!!! Thank You very much!!!!
Cindy R. You are not alone. I will be installing my own. And these video are the best.
You are explaining very well. I have understood you more than the past
I am still enjoying watching these videos...i am aiming to install my own solar panel in my house after all these videos...let me come back and comment once i have finished..so far so good.
You hit the nail directly on the resonating head with this!
This is a very comprehensive presentation on the big loss variables. Thank you for continuing to share this information. Nice job!
Completely thorough and exceptionally communicated to the laymen. Brilliant. I am learning and studying all the knowledge you are sharing with all of us including careful research and planning prior to investing into a home solar system to maximize my ROI. Thank you.
Steve & Michelle
South Florida
USA
stevemichelle1203 Thanks for the feedback. ROI will be the next video in the series I do. All the best with your system.Cheers, Martin.
this is the most thorough explanation i`ve heard so for on this subject,,,well said !,,,people dont understand the variations of solar panel systems,with battery bank or grid tye,,or direct invert,,as you said 3 to 1 ratio is a safe bet,,,better over kill as under kill on the size of your array
This is a great video, I have just set up / setting up a small grid tie setup @ 600w and a separate 800AH battery bank and MTTP controller. The info you have given here has made things much easier to understand. Thanks for the video. Paul.
I worked at Siemens Solar, Shell Solar, and Solarworld for over 17 Years. At the time they where the largest manufacturer of photovoltaic solar modules in the Unites States.
Heat and air cause more loss (and damage) in solar arrays than anything else.
Solar cells are tested for output at 24 to 25 degrees Celsius (75-77 F). They produce about 0.6 volts with no load (Voltage open circuit) and put out their most power at about 0.484 volts.
I will post more on the forum if there is interest.
Just want to say how much I appreciate your video Martin, you're helping a lot as I try to get my head around this
Martin, I found your channel a few months ago and have really enjoyed going through a lot of these videos, some very educational gems here.
I am new to this stuff , and there's a lot to learn ... but this is good expertise
Thank you for your excellent explanation and how to calculate the needed array. Thank you again.
Great video. In addition to issues already raise about the math, to compensate for 40% loss you need to divide 8200Wh by 60% which equals 13667Wh. Not 11480Wh. So when you remove 40% from 13667Wh you get 8200Wh.
No problem. I had no idea about the magnitude of losses before this video though! Great video as usual.
Thanks. Hope to have it posted on my forum in a week or so.
I'm new at this idea and want to learn more. Thanks and will watch your videos to learn. Your easy to listen to.
My pleasure Robert, thanks for the feedback.
Correct, thanks for pointing that out..some of the losses need to be calculated after the initial losses. I will put something together for that.
Cheers, Martin.
I'm off grid with 30-33kwhluthium ion battery, and 4.4kw solar, and working on a DC generator, to charge batteries through a midnite classic150, limiting it to about 90 amps, in an emergency. And plan to build a few wind turbines, to hopefully generate around 1kw on breezy days, and about 2.5kw on windy stormy days, but I hope to get some hydroelectric going, even if it's only 200 watts, but 24/7!
Many thanks for your great lesson. You're an expert in your field and pedagogy also.
Hi MJ, I don't know if anyone has pointed this out previously, but you can't add percentages together to come up with the total power loss. You have to consider the power loss over each item. For example, a 40% loss on 100 units leaves 60 units. A further 25% loss (on 60units) leaves 45 units. However, you added the percentages together which would have given the result as 65% loss leaving only 35 units. So the overall losses are not quite as bad as you calculated. Hope this helps.
Hi Dave, thanks...and yes it has been pointed out in another comment and I added an annotation explaining that. Cheers, Martin.
I must admit that your video is on point and one of the best I have seen so far. Only one noticeable misquote is your mention of "Liquid Crystal Batteries" at and after 26:11. I believe it you mean Lead Acid Batteries.
25W is the defrost heater inside, along with the electronics in the thermostat and the circulation fan. Adds up to quite a bit.
My pleasure, thanks for the feedback. Try Exsolar, they sell and install in Africa.
My pleasure Cindy....thanks for the feedback.
A very good video and thank you. I have done so much research myself. Prior to seeing this video, I have had installed 20 panels and have done calculations every day on our consumption. I agree that a good professional install is worth the extra cost. We live in Thailand and are lucky as our hours of sun light per day is high plus the roof on the back of the house is due south, so the install is ideal. I will add to your blog and yes, I want the spreadsheet you did and if you wish I can share my information that I created on a spreadsheet.
My pleasure, thanks for the feedback.
excellent info!!!.......ive fabbed 3 tracking solar arrays for the back yard and your numbers will definatly help in the tweaking of the system....what the heck..its a hobby...Lol
You're simply adding up percentages which somewhat gives an order of magnitude, but
correctly accumulating the percentages of the individual losses 2%, 10%, 5%, 3% 7% and 30% would be to do
1 - (0.98 * 0.9 * 0.95 * 0.97 * 0.93 * 0.7) ~= 47% losses
But aside from this nitpick: thanks for the info, I didn't realize that there are so much losses in the battery.
Hello good man...I appreciate the nag. I have just posted the 1st working version on the forum...there is a link to it in the video details as well.
Cheers,
Martin.
That ending... Conquered me.
Thnaks for the post Garry.
You're so knowledgable!
Well you have an efficient one! One I have is a so called efficiency rating of 98% and it uses 1/3 more. It runs around 1.5-1.8kw per day. So I would say stick with your fridge you have!!!
All info is educational but I'm a licensed master electrican through out California and have been installing solar for about 15 years now i have done commercial and residential solar jobs and have assisted in that solar project as a solar consultant for the Mojave desert solar project plant ,that supply's power for the city of Riverside Ca . but when all is said and done you will loose what you loose but for the most part if you size it correctly and add deep cycle batteries for a home all will be A OK at most you will have more worries when a solar panel breaks and having to wait a week for another one to get ordered in.
The other worry is paying five times more for the batteries and long-term replacement costs than you's pay for grid power :-) That's what takes some of the fun out of it.
Thank you for the tutorial. Very instructive and I cannot wait to build my own.
Great info. hopefully in the future i plan to build a portable generator for power outages. Probably I get a 100ah lead crystal battery from ex solar. Those batteries sound safe.
Thanks very much for the feedback.
Hi Martin, fantastic video, clear, up to the point, pragmatic and clearly explained: thanks!
Check out the ZenithZolar Z20, a hybrid solar-thermal-photovoltaic device with autodirectional mirror array!
They claim 70+% efficiency (15.5Wp) and low costs! AMAZING!!
Thumbs up so people know. Go Solar!!!
from what I understand a pwm to mppt charge controller is a major difference ... a pwm will need the battery charge requirement to start ,,, or generation of about 14v or close to peak solar hours .... while an mppt will sy=tart to charge your batteries sooner as it can begi battery charging at a lower input wattage input or lower voltage thus starting earlier i the day and lasting longer .. thus giving you an actual longer charge time and a battery bank that is charged sooner and excess power for longer ... great time to do laundry and house cleaning etc.
Very useful information, thanks for taking the time to share it.
Thanks, my pleasure!
I suppose it requires elaborate products and agreements but it should be possible to give your excess electricity to your neighbors and use them as buffers instead of battery storage. But of course your grid should also allow back flow, that would be much easier.
I've been debating on whether to buy a grid tie inverter or batteries. It sounds like grid tie might be the best way to go. I've seen on ytube people saying you must size your grid tie at least twice that of the panels because the efficiency loss of the grid tie is much more when the size is closely matched to the panel size. Thanks for the info!!!!
Thanks a lot for the videos sir.. quite informative..
When it comes to any form of free energy my thinking is focused simply on this: How much "Instantaneous Power" will my house, office, environment etc. need? I mean to really enjoy the comfort of free energy one must have a system that can support the potential maximum electric needs of a place at any given time. In other words, the desire is, if I would switch on all the electrical equipments in my house at the same time, I would like to have no issues no matter what (may it be day or night).
Therefore I would need to know what my peak kW needs should be (not kWh). Considering today's solar/wind/etc technologies the prices are still extremely high for such desire. Therefore (for now) I prefer to stay away from all the complications and headaches of the way you try to make it easier for people. I would focus more on how I could increase my income to pay my bills, since it seems to be less complex than installing and maintaining any free energy system. Sorry, but in my opinion it is still nonsense for 2017.
Oh and looking from the bright side, I hope and pray that at least 100 times cheaper free energy technologies come out soon to make my dreams come true.
Kindest Regards
Great explanations. I now have a better idea of solar energy. Thank you!
If you don't have an electric grid to earn credit on you could use that spare energy make Bitcoins then spend them instead. As they charge 15p in the UK but only pay 5p for your production, it still works out better to turn the excess energy into Bitcoins!
Martin, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and insights with such generosity, patience and eloquence. You're a great teacher! I would love to see an index to your many youtube vids - the regular youtube interface doesn't do justice to your series and topics. (Maybe there is such an index and I've missed it!) Cheers!
I only use a computer and one Led Light at night. But I have a fridge and a water heater that run all the time. I spend at least 5 hours on my computer when I get on my computer. I don't use a microwave like many people. It might take 3 minutes to heat my food. If I use it. Most of the time I head my food on a stove. I use an oven maybe once a week. I think I would do well on solar, just getting it all hooked up, and the price I wonder about.
Itz highly informative and helpful for newcomers in the industry!!!
Thank you very much, very helpful and intelligent video
My pleasure, thanks for the feedback.
Treasure trove: Here. Thanks for the great intro.
great series on solar. In 2014 , in South Africa, let Eskom be your battery. If you have an old spinning disk kWH meter , then you can feed back into the grid , when you have more power than you need and use your utility at night when you need power.
Just one question , why do display 15 Multimetes behind you ? One is enough.
+Renate Herbert Is it legal...
I would love to see you do a video on how to pick a solar installer all the folks I've had come by my house or like used car salesmen are all real sleazy
Thanks Jim.
Sorry for not being clear. I meant that no-frost or frost-free or auto-defrost systems do use heating elements in order to melt ice covering the internal heat exchanger. (at least some of them, can't speak for all defrost systems out there) I know it sounds counter intuitive, but the heat exchanger is placed it a way so it affects the freezer temperature only when a fan forces air through it.
Though, In high energy class fridges, the defrost cycle runs once every 6-12 hours.
on the rest I agree.
Very informative and excellent production. Well done
The above calculations to the sun every day is good, but the actual experience for several days of bad weather, how to calculate?
13:05 - i am sorry, i think that at STC in the lab the panels tested at 1.5Am where the light not perpendicular on the panel bet tilted at 48.2 degrees
I knew a guy in the states who walked me through his set up. I literally was at his house. Here's what he did. He had a metal freight container on the side of his house with 12 forklift batteries inside it. Each forklift battery hooked to each other with cables and they ran to a digital read out on the the freight container wall. He used to produce enough he sold back to the electric company. He never paid for electricity from the electric company.I think he had 24 panels on his rooftop. Might have been 12?
thank you so much for sharing this video.. its very interesting and very informative.. keep it up..
Thanks for your clarity!
Very nice and clear!!
Hi MJ. Excellent vid. I'm planning a modest home in Elgin in the Cape and need to design my home as energy efficient as possible. Part of this process is deciding on a PV system setup and I believe integrating a heat pump for geyser. I'll study the rest of your vids ... mind if I call on you for fine-tuning?
Thanks for the informative videos sofar. However The VA calculation seems incorrect. I have a 2000VA inverter that ends up with 1200 Watts so with a 5000VA inverter you end up with only 3000 Watts and it is also important to note whether you use a pure sine wave or modified sinewave inverter and explain the difference between them as far as what you can/cannot use on them
Thank you so much again for this awesome video.
It was very good informative and useful too, Thank you very much.
Verry good. Solar is nice.
It would be great if someone could make a spreadsheet with the power loss formulas along with a power meter to measure energy used in sampling the daily, weekly and annual consumed energy. It would help to figure out the power needed. On the other hand I read a average household uses 80kw a year. Maybe work it out by each countries average energy consumption figure and take it from there...
I have a portable solar generator I bought from Solutions From Science. It has 2 - 100 watt panels and 3 - 80 AH batteries. I was trying to get it to run a chest freezer and a battery backup sump pump charger, it provided power for both of them for about 3 days when it showed the batteries starting to weaken. the unit can be expanded up to 4- 100 panels and 4 - 80 AH batteries. Just was trying to figure out how much power I can get from this setup without using the AC charger the unit comes with to charge the batteries. Thanks for the video !
It depends on where you are located and the time of year (Google "Solar insolation" for your area). It will probably vary from around 5 sun-hours in the summer to 3 sun-hours in the winter (Seattle is much worse, Arizona much better). If you have a PWM charge controller (most likely), you'd get from 300-500 Watt-hours per day of energy. That's like running a 60 watt light bulb from 5 to 8 hours if you have an efficient inverter converting your power to AC. You'd need to figure out what your loads require in watt-hours per day. An easy way is with a "Kill a Watt meter". I think they cost around $25 and they are perfect for figuring out how much energy your stuff uses. I have one and like it a lot. As far as battery size, typically it's done like this: Figure out the daily watt-hour usage, multiply that by five, and that is your battery size in watt-hours. Divide that by the battery voltage to get the amp-hour size you need. That gives some extra battery capacity to account for 2-3 cloudy days.
Good Good Very Good .Excellent thanks
Yup...that will happen in a future video.
Have you though about fabricating a mount for a car window washer and wiper on your solar panel? when they starting to get dirty just flick the switch and let the wiper clean it, i think this would come in very handy if your panel is mounted high up and hard to reach. Just a though.
@Tim If you want a great solar energy system then go here now: HootPower.xyz
Very instructive.
Excellent video,very informative.Thank you.
This is Great stuff! Well done...
Excellent !
Thankyou for this informative presentation. Subscribed
My pleasure.
Dear
i am thanking you for such informative video i think it would be completed if you are telling me that would that save money by the end , and how much these devices would cost and how much the return am i going to stop paying for electricity waiting for your kind reply thanks
Yup...a turbine would help...something I intend testing in the near future.
Very helpful. Thank you very much.
You can find something like this on the Avasva page. Full step-by-step instructions right on your desk.
good educative video... thanks
What about a rectifier as most things use 12 watt to power them and solar batteries so I power all things with batteries nearer all things to reduce losses and you will need a technician to take out the ac adapter out so my tv uses 21 wH one solar battery powers the tv for 4 hours my fridge use 3 batteries trough to night and 5 batteries during to day I also use alarm batteries for lights which are 6 w so ten batteries for the lounge and two for every other room that also catteries for charging cellphones using a rectifier to exactly what your phone needs
Hello MjLorton.
I am facing a problem. My array size is 29kW and my grid tie size is 37kW(array size +30%). I cant find a suitable grid tie converter for this size and i am wodering can i use multiple grid tie converters attaches to the same solar panel system. For example 4 grid tied connectors with a rating of 11,500 W tied together.
Thank you
I heard on the video that in cold climates you can get a 30 % plus solar panel gain.Does this mean that at - 40 celcius a 250 watt solar panel will potentially put out 325 usable watts. I live in Canada and we do occasionally see this temperature. If so it is a nice bonus
Appreciate the lecture, looking legit! You got my like :)
Hi Martin! Great tutorials! Appreciate the power usage calculation suggestions! Just a thought about the overheating effects of the solar panels - would it be helpful if one could either a) redirect the cooling air from a heat pump to help cool off the solar panels or b) Temporarily place for example a 30% shade net or similar cover in place to minimize the overheating effects that one may incur? We live in Potchefstroom and during the summer months - November to March we have average temperatures of between 15˚C and 29˚C and in Winter - May to August we have average temperatures of between 2˚C and 18˚C.
+Albert van Heerden. Pardon, I neglected to mention that it does get much colder in winter and hotter in summer. I have experienced temperatures from -13˚C in winter to 37˚C in summer. Hope to get your response.
hi,
i am currently doing some computation for my home (to be built) and i ended up looking at 5kw inverter. i am planning to go hybrid while doing best effort not to push electricity back to the grid (as much as possible).
since financing is a concern right now, my initial plan is to lay all the pv first and plus using an all-in-one inverter/with built-in battery charger. this is so, so if time comes that i'd have enough cash, then i can add the batteries, then next would be the generator (the generator will be auto initiated by the inverter).
at the moment, i am not sure what good brands that are available market currently, that addresses my requirements. and... this is the part where i listen to your valuable input.
many thanks,
GaryS>
good share. thank you
Hello Mjlorton - Good job done on solar setup. I am impressed. What i reckon from your video is that you are running your house at night through battery banking and in day through on-grid direct supply to your house. I am bit confused. Could you please help me in understanding.
Very good video/ information.
Like the explanation. Great
I have a 250W solar panel and 150ah 12v battery, and I want to know what I need to use,a 20A charge controller or 10A charge controller? ,and what wattages of inverter I need to run a TV or an electric fan?
I dont understand what if i live in South cali and i have a 1000Watt System and its around 80F or 100 on a high in the summer what would my loss be if they get hit by the sun from Noon - 7 at night please Help Let me know if you need more info
I have a 120ah battery and a 124 watt panel, it wont power my 70 watt flat screen tv though, only router, phone charge, 1 cctv camera. thanks
Hi Martin. I have checked the forum and cannot see it there yet. Please take this as a very, VERY, humble "nag" (as you pointed out to someone else in the forum to do). Kind regards
Hi there, I a bet confuse about how to calculate my needs from off-grid solar syetem, by the end of this year I want to start my farm in South Sudan and I want to use several electronics items such tv, ps3, small forge , dish receiver, computer and self phone.
I want you to advise me how much kw I will need to have.
Thanks.