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Building my own solar power system

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Re: Building my own solar power system

#181

Post by roflyear »

K0balt wrote: post #144

I’ve been running a solar microgrid on my coffee farm for the last 7years. We started with a few golf cart batteries and 4 panels, these days we’re powering 4 houses, 7 cabins, water extraction, treatment, and RO processing, campus-wide fiber network and switches, path lighting, security systems, and a small server rack. We’re running 6 inverters on our primary system in a three phase configuration, 35kw of panels an…

What's your farm? How can someone reach out to buy small amounts of coffee from you, say 2-3 70kg bags?

Re: Building my own solar power system

#183

Post by rz2k »

K0balt wrote: post #144

I’ve been running a solar microgrid on my coffee farm for the last 7years. We started with a few golf cart batteries and 4 panels, these days we’re powering 4 houses, 7 cabins, water extraction, treatment, and RO processing, campus-wide fiber network and switches, path lighting, security systems, and a small server rack. We’re running 6 inverters on our primary system in a three phase configuration, 35kw of panels an…

How has your experience been with the lithium-titanium-oxide batteries? Everything I read makes it sound like the optimal solution for safety and long life, but it doesn't seem like they have displaced other battery chemistries very much.

Re: Building my own solar power system

#185

Post by Evidlo »

nullpoint420 wrote: post #164
Aurornis wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s strange to me that people in rural areas pay for electricity. It makes no economic sense, at least here in the Caribbean. This comment was very confusing until I read the second sentence. Electricity prices in the Caribbean are very high, and I can only imagine that rural areas are even worse. Where I’m at in the United States a typical electric rate is around $0.10/kWh. Paying that nominal amount and avoiding…

I’m jealous. Where I live in California the off peak rate is $0.32/kWh and peak rates are $0.58/kWh.

$0.08/kWh here for central Illinois

Re: Building my own solar power system

#186

Post by Loughla »

baby_souffle wrote: post #177
Loughla wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rural area power co-op member here - flat rate 24/7 for residential is .13/kWh. Businesses/farms can get down to .10/kWh if they qualify. They proposed to update it to .15 so they could trim trees around the lines a little better, but it got denied by the co-op members as unnecessary.

> They proposed to update it to .15 so they could trim trees around the lines a little better, but it got denied by the co-op members as unnecessary. Pge felt the same way and it did t turn out so well for them. I hope your coop is never found to be at fault for the next record breaking fire…

So the increase was to buy spray equipment to attach to a helicopter. And a helicopter. One of the co-op ex-board members' son recently moved back to the area and had his license. . . It was a shameless cash grab by that family and was rightfully voted down by a wild majority of the co-op members. Every member of the board was replaced within 2 years of them proposing the increase as well.

They currently keep all the lines clear via bucket trucks, and when they spray, they use ATV's and trucks. It takes most of June to spray all the lines, but they get it done easily.

The actual physical infrastructure has been replaced almost entirely in the last 10 years through federal and/or state grants in combination with income from power charges.

Also, these are just fundamentally different entities. PGE is a private entity that operates for a profit. Our power company is a co-op owned and run by its members. If they have any profit at the end of the year (once infrastructure improvements and safety net investments are paid for), the money gets paid directly back to the co-op members. It's a WILDLY different incentive structure.

Re: Building my own solar power system

#187

Post by breakds »

Wow, what a fantastic write-up—thanks for sharing this! I’m a San Jose homeowner (and PG&E sufferer) with a homelab that pulls over 1 kW, and I’ve been down the DIY solar rabbit hole for the past two weeks. Based on my research, I’m planning a roughly 9 kW Signature Solar setup:

20× 455 W Canadian Solar panels (~$173 ea)

1× GridBoss MID V2 (~$2 400)

1× FlexBoss 21 (~$2 400)

4× Eco-Worthy 48 V 100 Ah LiFePO₄ batteries (~$1 500 ea)

18 U server rack (~$500) — total hardware ~$14 760

My big hang-up has been the rooftop work, permitting and inspections—almost no one I call will touch a true DIY system. If anyone here in the Bay Area has recommendations for installers or back-of-house permit-whisperers who’ll partner on a non-Tesla/Sunrun job, I’d love to hear how you made it happen. Thanks again for the inspiring guide!

Re: Building my own solar power system

#188

Post by komali2 »

robertlagrant wrote: post #120
isoprophlex wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Subsidy starts: prices drop. - Greed kicks in because capitalism: prices rise again, maybe not back to pre-subsidy levels, but they rise. - Subsidy gets axed: prices rise to above pre-subsidy levels. (Note: I'm personally entirely pro "subsidize things you want more of". But that requires a stable, trustworthy government that plans on longer timescales.)

> Greed kicks in because capitalism There were no greedy people before capitalism. Of that we can be sure.

Greed is a Bad attribute in basically every ethical system and religion throughout history.

Capitalism, on the contrary, rewards it. The best way to be under capitalism is greedy (sneakily so, if necessary).

So yes, it is uniquely new to have a value system that rewards greed.

Re: Building my own solar power system

#190

Post by nodesocket »

We’ve recently had some crazy storms and power outages and my Ecoflow units kicked in and worked perfectly. I have a River 2 which I use as a UPS for my Mac Mini + Monitor at my desk and a River 2 Pro as a UPS for all my Ubiquiti networking, Protect cameras, and severs in my racks. Then I have a Delta 2 I can hookup to the two Rivers to add additional charge. Just pulled the trigger on a 3600watt gas generator off Amazon as well incase of extended outages. While not whole home backup by any means it’s a solid setup for electronics and server gear.
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