Continuing on the subject of a backup power supply for your house, I want to discuss the inverters a little more. There are things to look for and things to watch out for! I have owned lots of inverters, ranging from 150 watts to 12,000 watts. Some were high end and some were junk. I have even built my own inverters like the 5548 that is on my 48v system and a 3648 for the […]

Coming out of last weekend, the network news guy told us how many HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of homes were without power in the wake of a big snowstorm, which included a lot of area where people were not accustomed to dealing with such. It looks like a little more of the same this weekend. Here on the coast, we have to deal with hurricanes knocking out power every few years, on average, but we aren’t […]

Remember when you were a kid and you always had to ask Mom or Dad permission before doing anything so you wouldn’t get your bottom smacked? Boy, you couldn’t wait to grow up so you could do anything you wanted to do! Then you grew up and found out you still had to ask permission to do things. Bummer. Building your own solar power system might well require you ask permission in the form of […]

For some months, the wife has been grudgingly patient about the Trace 2524 in the living room. Why was there an inverter in the living room? I’ve been engaged in a multi-year evolution in my power system, so lots of new stuff has been coming in and out of service. In our Southern climate we have humidity to spare and when you add temperature swings you get condensation. Stuff sweats, especially stuff containing heavy transformers. […]

After playing phone tag the other day, John and I were having a conversation about all things solar and my Solar Shed phase 3 performance. He asked how well the modules were performing as these are all recycled salvage panels in the form of roof tiles. I replied that they are doing well, having seen around 8kw with a 10kw nameplate rating. That concerned him and he seemed a little surprised when I made the […]

I looked for that article we were talking about, regarding fracturing cells for greater output. I found lots of articles on how fracturing can reduce output, but not the one for which I am looking. I did find a patent for manufacturing cracked cells to increase output. Patent for fracturing cells. Link Here are my observations on the subject. I test my panels with an ammeter instead of a voltmeter. A tiny section of a […]

I started taking old radios apart as a very young kid, began my career in electronics at 16, was a licensed broadcast engineer at 19. That led to computers and all kinds of electronic gimcrack design. Having been making sparks for so many years it is easy to forget that some of the basic stuff might seem scary or mystical to folks just getting started. Today, let’s look at a couple of very basic and […]

The other day we talked about series and parallel connections of batteries. You know, getting 24 volts using four 6 volt batteries in SERIES and getting lots of amps at 24 volts by using 2 of those 24 volt strings (8 batteries total) in parallel. What about connecting your solar modules? Yes, it applies there, too. These roof tiles John is giving away, put out about 4 volts under load, so you use 3 of […]

Can you get too much solar power? Spend too much time on Pensacola Beach and you’ll think so, and have a red face to remind you. But, no, I am talking about photovoltaic power. In the case of grid tie, it has gotten to the point in some places that they are having to add battery storage systems to balance things out. The lack of battery saw the advent of the “duck curve” in utility […]

I want to talk about the Solar Lifestyle and what that means. Elsewhere, I have given links to the Home Power Magazine Archive. That is a treasure trove of information and each issue is a time capsule of where the state of things was at that time. Early on, solar panels were small and expensive. I have paid up to $11/watt for solar panels and I was not exactly a pioneer. Early adopters would have […]