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Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

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Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#181

Post by foobarian »

dylan604 wrote: post #177
WillAdams wrote: post #77

Does anyone have a good link/step-by-step for doing some sort of home solar system where: - it's sufficiently small-scale that no building permit is required - it looks nice enough that neighbors won't complain - the wiring is essentially plug-and-play The best approach I've been able to come up with is to purchase a medium size battery pack such as is used for glamping (glamour camping), plug it into the wall and co…

How is "using poured footings with short posts" not a permanent structure? Are you pouring the footings into buckets and not into the ground?

Guessing that code doesn't mind the footings if they don't stick out, and then whatever is on top is removable.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#182

Post by eagerpace »

nfriedly wrote: post #171
eagerpace wrote: post #136

I would love to have just enough solar to flatten my peak usage on the hottest days of the summer. They naturally coincide with tons of sun. I don't need a huge system to be all solar all the time or even care about credits from the power company. I just don't want a $300 bill in the summer and a $50 bill in the winter. Has anyone designed a good solution for this?

I know this isn't what you're asking about, but my electric company has a budget billing program where they average out your usage and charge you the same amount each month. I use it mainly so that I can set it up and with my bank's bill pay system and then forget about it for a year. But it's also nice for avoiding those huge bills in the summer. It might be worth looking into.

I appreciate that! It's not the cost fluctuation that is a problem, just the fact that usage and price goes up in the summer and the cost scales so quickly. Battery storage is a hack that may work financially for now but I'm more interested in shedding the additional consumption at peak even if it's just the few hottest hours of each day.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#183

Post by lostlogin »

tencentshill wrote: post #91
brk wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a ton of DIY solar info online, but it is very much regionally dependent. Both for permits and system design. Here in Florida, I can get high output from an average panel, but there are a lot of permit issues (and rightly so, a poorly installed panel can become a severe hazard in a hurricane). Where I lived in Michigan, there weren't many permitting or zoning issues, but I'd need 3-4x the number of panels to…

True energy independence in even a small capacity has a value beyond just money.

The money aspect is interesting.

Where I am the companies charge a ‘line charge’. It’s about 20-25% of the monthly bill.

I generate somewhere between 80-110% of the power I need, but in winter I only get half what I need from solar.

A larger system would cover this and negate the need for the line charge, suddenly saving a lot.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#184

Post by _zoltan_ »

rtkwe wrote: post #106
kccqzy wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe it's somewhat common to have a small solar panel just on your balcony (i.e. not permanent attached to the building) and simply plugs into a nearby wall receptacle. https://www.theverge.com/24150901/ecoflow-powerstream-review... For those wondering, the article did discuss the safety matter of using a power outlet as an inlet. And the article also points out that while this is allowed in several countries in…

Wild. I wonder how they deal with the back feeding issue. Is there something about the home wiring in those countries that prevents it? (or do they just not care and line workers know to check if a line is truly dead?)

if there is no power, the inverter shuts down and doesn't feed power in.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#185

Post by eldaisfish »

rtkwe wrote: post #106
kccqzy wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe it's somewhat common to have a small solar panel just on your balcony (i.e. not permanent attached to the building) and simply plugs into a nearby wall receptacle. https://www.theverge.com/24150901/ecoflow-powerstream-review... For those wondering, the article did discuss the safety matter of using a power outlet as an inlet. And the article also points out that while this is allowed in several countries in…

Wild. I wonder how they deal with the back feeding issue. Is there something about the home wiring in those countries that prevents it? (or do they just not care and line workers know to check if a line is truly dead?)

it is actually simpler. The inverter stops power flow if it does not detect a grid voltage.

The actual power coming from a balcony setup is tiny, a thousand watts ballpark. The typical house will consume the vast majority of that capacity.

Even if some flows back to the grid, it will likely be consumed by losses in the transformer and wires.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#186

Post by eldaisfish »

Scoundreller wrote: post #173
whall6 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Michigan unfortunately represents a mismatch of when you need power vs when power is generated. Arizona, Texas, New Mexico are sweet spots. High power demand in the summer (A/C), relatively high proportion of sunny days.

Michigan is just like the south: highest electricity consumption is during summer. This may change with increased use of heat pumps for heating, but it’s still a while out before seasonal electricity consumption patterns invert. +/- on what effect electric cars will have: people drive more in summer but efficiency goes down in winter. Arizona, Florida, etc are not really in a sweet spot we all think it is because PV…

we are likely there already.

Ontario, just to the north of Michigan, already has a winter peak very close to the summer peak. The provinces subsidises heat pumps. Ontario will be a winter peaking region in a couple of years.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#187

Post by eldaisfish »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #118
closewith wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But batteries aren't, and batteries are both the key technology for load shifting and the biggest expense in modern installations.

5kWh of batteries is under $1000. That's enough for load shifting for most people. Even if you need several of them, that's still going to be cheaper than installation labor.

where are you buying 5 kWH of batteries for under $ 1,000? The typical 5 kWh battery in Canada is C$ 3,000 - 4,000.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#188

Post by caseysoftware »

WillAdams wrote: post #77

Does anyone have a good link/step-by-step for doing some sort of home solar system where: - it's sufficiently small-scale that no building permit is required - it looks nice enough that neighbors won't complain - the wiring is essentially plug-and-play The best approach I've been able to come up with is to purchase a medium size battery pack such as is used for glamping (glamour camping), plug it into the wall and co…

I have a massive array+battery (20kWh generation, 19kWh storage) and while it's great, some things to pay consider:

- if you need roof repair/replacement, do it before you get solar. Alternatively, make your array free standing

- prioritize the circuits you want to cover. Not every one is critical but health & safety (water, fridge, cooking capabilities) are key

- MOST jurisdictions won't require permitting for the grid (especially if it's not connected to your house) but MOST will require an inspection if you want to connect to the grid

- if you connect to the grid, make sure you understand how your electricity provider addresses net metering. I wrote about it here: https://geekamongthetrees.com/what-is-solar-net-metering-or-...

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#189

Post by hinkley »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #147
hinkley wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

India has had good luck building solar panels over irrigation canals. The shade substantially reduces the evaporation losses in the canal system. The framing is a bit tricky of course.

California announced they were going to do the same.

Yeah the channelized sections of the Colorado would be a good candidate as well, though I personally believe the bigger solution is reintroducing beavers into the upper water shed, to increase total average flow.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#190

Post by BerlinKebab »

kccqzy wrote: post #99
WillAdams wrote: post #77

Does anyone have a good link/step-by-step for doing some sort of home solar system where: - it's sufficiently small-scale that no building permit is required - it looks nice enough that neighbors won't complain - the wiring is essentially plug-and-play The best approach I've been able to come up with is to purchase a medium size battery pack such as is used for glamping (glamour camping), plug it into the wall and co…

In Europe it's somewhat common to have a small solar panel just on your balcony (i.e. not permanent attached to the building) and simply plugs into a nearby wall receptacle. https://www.theverge.com/24150901/ecoflow-powerstream-review... For those wondering, the article did discuss the safety matter of using a power outlet as an inlet. And the article also points out that while this is allowed in several countries in…

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