Gasing Up on Sunshine

[Gale Hawkins]

Using sunshine for our energy needs is as old as man. Stored sunshine in the form of trees and coal was our sources of heat as a child. First it was coal (fossil fuel) then dad got a gear driven McCullough chainsaw when I was about 3 or 4.

My interest in capturing sunlight directly for electric needs is long termed but like early electric cars a solar powered home was cost prohibited in my case. Seeing the 45 watt solar system in the Harbor Freight catalogs for $150 kept solar energy on my mind.

Like the cost of EVs, home solar power options are better and lower in cost than every. DIY solar options are common place. My first objective is to learn how to put together a solar solution with an output of 120 volts of AC at 15 amps for charging our Nissan Leaf.

Watching this video yesterday got me off of top dead center.

 

[ponytug]

I would consider making it 240V; with a 6-8 hour window for peak solar, ideally you would want the solar energy to straight into your Leaf as fast as possible. Your Leaf supports high current DC charging which might be the most efficient, but I don't know if it can do lower / variable current DC charging to save DC-AC-DC conversion losses.

I had looked at using an old Leaf battery to back up our solar as the grid here is less than reliable...

If you aren't trying to go off grid, you could just put in grid-tie solar and charge your Leaf via that. Many utilities will give you net metering credit. Mine lets us use energy in January against credits earned in June. We are in the process of installing batteries to let us generate solar energy during the day and discharge it in the evening, when the demand for power is greater. (Which also earns us more $/kWh)

FWIW: For most rural folks, a ground mount solar system is much, much less expensive.

Good luck!

All the best, Peter

 

[Gale Hawkins]

7 points to first consider

 

[Oaktree]

Seeing the 45 watt solar system in the Harbor Freight catalogs for $150 kept solar energy on my mind.

If that unit is anything like their solar maintainer run, don't walk away. In full sunlight with no load, I measured 12.2V on it. That POS ain't gonna charge anything!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

If that unit is anything like their solar maintainer run, don't walk away. In full sunlight with no load, I measured 12.2V on it. That POS ain't gonna charge anything!

Now you tell me years after I bought it! Well it's still in the box unopened so maybe I could take it back. It was meant to be a homeschool project for electrifying the horse run in but that never happened the kids got older and everything else took their interest.

I need to get it out and get it ready on a frame on Wheels so I can rotate it 180° and check about different angles and those kind of things to learn more about efficiency issues related to collecting solar energy before I start dumping new money into solar in my current state of solar ignorance.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Huge Supply of Water is Saved From Evaporation When Solar Panels Are Built Over Canals

Killed two birds with one stone.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Generac announces acquisition of Chilicon, a solar technology company

Chilicon specializes in advanced technology microinverter systems — technology installed underneath solar panels to convert the power from DC to AC.

www.jsonline.com

That explains a lot of the recent ads I've been seeing.

Perhaps new back up generator sales are on the skids to the downside due to better and cheaper solar panel options?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Solar panel technology is very varied and evolving like crazy and that solar panels like EV batteries do degrade over time.

 

[Roric]

Gale- The title "gassing up on sunshine" compels me to add my comments:
About 20 months ago we put in use a 7500 watt solar array on the rooftop
of a garage at our home. The output averages about 24.6 Kilowatt hours per day.
This is a "grid-tied" system.

Earlier this year the boss of all things got a new Mitsubishi Outlander
Plug-in-Hybrid Electric. It runs on battery for 24 miles or so and when
out of charge, runs on the gas motor.
Most of her trips are less than 24 miles round trip and I've only been to
the gas station to fill up 3 times. It had a full tank when we got it
in March.

This has truly been gassing up on sunshine, and it can be done...

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Sounds more affordable is all I currently know but has the chemistry that I currently prefer.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Battery geeks will love this but should be of interest to anyone wanting to store solar energy. Over all cost wise LiFePO is the way to go.

For 12 years I maintained an old UPS requiring 48 volts of lead acid batteries supporting the server room which was a trip.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

An option when you operate a high tech factory but lose grid power several times daily. I like the idea of the steel shipping container. A lot of home solar control rooms are built out of wood with everything mounted to blendex or plywood which I see as a potential fire risk.

 

[ponytug]

I would have a look at old Nissan Leaf battery packs or parts thereof. Very reasonable costs, good battery chemistry, and lots of folks have made pretty solid UPS systems out of them. (You could even upgrade the battery in your Leaf and use the old one for your solar system!)

All the best, Peter

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I would have a look at old Nissan Leaf battery packs or parts thereof. Very reasonable costs, good battery chemistry, and lots of folks have made pretty solid UPS systems out of them. (You could even upgrade the battery in your Leaf and use the old one for your solar system!)

All the best, Peter

I bought a mint inside and out 2015 Leaf SV for a parts car to rebuild our 2016 Leaf SL that got the first 18 inchs sheared off when a guy ran a red light. The parts car was totaled out by the insurance carrier and we bought it at an auction in DC Maryland because of electrical problems that we could not resolve so we can we could not look at the battery health with software to see it's quality but it only had 27,000 miles and 2015 was a good battery year for 24 kWH battery.

Our 2016 SL has surround cameras that I need. Huge is that it has a 2020 40 kWH battery from Nissan instead of the 30 kWH battery that failed at 25K miles.

We picked the parts car up 21st of December 2020 and I got a bad sinus infection working with it outside the next week or two followed by 5 months of blood clots in the left then right leg. Easter weekend was spent in the hospital to remove 28 + fragments in my lugs as results of the blood clots so my 2021 start was slow. Both cars are at the body shop.

After my first Covid-19 vaccination hit me hard 12 hours after getting it I expect the bad sinus infection that put me in bed was masking covid-19. That has been a bad trip but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it's not an oncoming train.

Last week I got caught up on Bush hogging and currently I am working at rehabing the 36 volts of deep cycle batteries in the golf cart in case I use them in a solar system storage setup.

 

[Jchonline]

I live off grid. There are a lot of variables, but the first thing to figure out is your max solar power generation. Global Solar Atlas

For instance if you have a 4 KW solar array you would make 17kw of power a day in June (your best month).
If you go to altestore on YouTube they have a bunch of intro videos on how to start sizing a system. It sounds like you are just trying to charge your car. The basics are a PV array, a charge controller, an inverter (if you need to go DC to AC).

My advice if you are DIY is to do something really small. Get a couple of panels, a charge controller, an inverter, a few car batteries. Set the system up to power something small.

 

[ponytug]

@Gale Hawkins sorry to hear about your health issues. (And the car travails!) It sounds pretty classic for covid, so it is good to hear that you are recovering. My two cents is to take it easy during recovery.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Gale Hawkins]

@Gale Hawkins sorry to hear about your health issues. (And the car travails!) It sounds pretty classic for covid, so it is good to hear that you are recovering. My two cents is to take it easy during recovery.

All the best,

Peter

Thanks for your concern. Long Covid-19 is a game changer. I follow this UK doctor daily as I manage my way forward. Thankfully I earned my OD deg6 many years which is helpful in wading through the medical noise of these times.

 

[cqaigy2]

Yes, be watching Dr Campbell for a year now. Now i take vit D.

 

[ericm979]

Huge Supply of Water is Saved From Evaporation When Solar Panels Are Built Over Canals

Killed two birds with one stone.

Out here they put panels over parking lots. It's a convenient place to put panels, the panels shield the cars from the sun and the panels don't heat up as much as the pavement does.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Do engineers dream of solar panel efficiency?

Cutting the number of solar panels needed in half or doubling the electric output down the road is exciting.

In my case I am starting think a ground based set-up with a movable fire resistant building for housing the equipment is worth planning for from the start.