My Latest Projects - Page 2 - Electronic Circuits Projects Diagrams Free

mramos1 · 26th September 2006, 12:55 PM

Bryan1,

Please post pictures and plans. We have plenty of Sun where I live. 3Kw would be nice. I have items in my house that run all day and would like to knock them off the electric bill. I could power my computer room with it for sure.

bryan1 · 28th September 2006, 09:17 AM

Hiya Mramos,
I got those panels home today and this weekend i'm borrowing the digital camera from work so I'll be able to take some photo's. I'm looking for a mppt to put on these panel and the morining star looks like the one I'll get as it's only $199 US whereas the Aerl-900b one I have on my current solar array is over $1,400 Oz. Hopefully my 3 kw inverter will turnup before the weekend as I'm keen to get it up and running so I can finally utilize those 6 volt 105 amp/hour batteries I got a couple of months ago and their just sitting there floating at the moment.

Anyway give me a couple of days and I'll get some photo's up here.

Cheers Bryan

mramos1 · 28th September 2006, 12:32 PM

Glad you got them. And thank for future pics. I think I need to build something as well. $400 US electric bills are getting old. Mostly kids and computers. Maybe flip hot water to solar. Bought a 3'x4' fesnel lens and can not think of a good use for it, unless melting pennies counts. Maybe hot water, but it gets really hot. I have no wind, to I have to count on the sun.

bryan1 · 30th September 2006, 05:14 AM

Hiya Guy's,
Well here's a pic of those solar panels I got, I've taken the photo beside my 5,000 gallon rainwater tank to show a size relationship. Sometime this weekend i'm going to put all 4 panels in parrallel to see how much short circuit current I get to establish what size charge controller I'll need.

Cheers Bryan

mramos1 · 30th September 2006, 12:07 PM

That is nice.. Wish I could find a deal like that here. If I found the deal, the shipping would kill me.

audioguru · 30th September 2006, 05:11 PM

The panels are rated for 65W at noon on the equator during a sunny day. I wonder what is the average output per day.
You aren't on the equator.
Noon is only for about 1 hour each day.
The panels don't follow the sun's position in the sky.
They obviously don't work at night.

bryan1 · 1st October 2006, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioguru

The panels are rated for 65W at noon on the equator during a sunny day. I wonder what is the average output per day.
You aren't on the equator.
Noon is only for about 1 hour each day.
The panels don't follow the sun's position in the sky.
They obviously don't work at night.

I'd like to where you got that 65 watt figure from Audioguru

. The panel on the back clearly states 175 watt @ 35.6 volts. Anyway before I put in my ute to bring home we short circuit tested them at 5 pm on a cloudy day. Now the figures were 42 volts @3 amps on average for all 4 panels. Now thats equates to an average of 126 watts and like I said that figure was taken at 5pm. I'll be placing them beside my existing solar array on the roof facing north where they will see the sun from sunup to sundown and by putting an mppt on I'll be getting the most out of the panels short of making a solar tracker.

Cheers Bryan

audioguru · 1st October 2006, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryan1

I'd like to where you got that 65 watt figure from Audioguru

Sorry Bryan. I read about the 65W panels in your 1st post. I see later when you talked about these 175W monsters.

bryan1 · 2nd October 2006, 10:56 AM

Well Guy's I finally got around today to hooking up those 4 -175 watt panels in parrallel. I did it just after lunch in full sun and the voltage reading was open circuit 43 volts and when I short circuited them I saw nearly 16 amps before the fuse on my multimeter blew. Now working those figures out I got 668 watts which in my opnion will outdo my kaneka panels on a sunnyday. I can't wait to find a decent charge controller and get these babies on my roof and hooked up to those new batteries I got.

Just an Update guy's

Cheers Bryan

bryan1 · 4th October 2006, 09:37 AM

Hiya Again Guy's,
Well the bargin's keep coming my way it seems

. Tomorrow morning I'm going to pickup the solar hot water in the picture link below. It's only costing me $200 Oz and there is a leak somewhere in the tank so with my skills I can easily fix any leak I find. Now this system was used as a mains water pressure system but i'll be changing it to a gravity fed open system. The Current hotwater service I'm using is an instant gas hotwater system and I'm using 1 45 kg of gas every month which now costs over $100 a bottle. So with my solar hot water system and the extra battery power not only will I be cutting down on monthly gas expenses but having the extra solar and battery power as we're in for a long hot summer I'm going to see the daiken bloke about a 2hp cooling inverter aircon so my family can stay cool thru the day when I'm at work but also when I get home it will be nice to have a cool house to have my after work beer

.

Cheers Bryan

williB · 31st October 2006, 03:21 AM

Hey Bryan ,
this is what i've been up to lately

in the background is my breadboard , with the 16F877A in the lower right , not shown is the 16F88 in PWM mode , driving a fet and the DC motor which is powering my mini gen , in testbed mode .
picture 2 is a close up of the new minigen i just got the three bolts on it
the last photo is the bearing that i am going to use when i'm done testing it, 5/8-11 threaded rod shoud hold it together, it will replace the 3/8-16 threaded rod going down the center

ljcox · 4th November 2006, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryan1

I'd like to where you got that 65 watt figure from Audioguru

. The panel on the back clearly states 175 watt @ 35.6 volts. Anyway before I put in my ute to bring home we short circuit tested them at 5 pm on a cloudy day. Now the figures were 42 volts @3 amps on average for all 4 panels. Now thats equates to an average of 126 watts and like I said that figure was taken at 5pm. I'll be placing them beside my existing solar array on the roof facing north where they will see the sun from sunup to sundown and by putting an mppt on I'll be getting the most out of the panels short of making a solar tracker.

Cheers Bryan

Bryan,
As a matter of interest, some years ago, Telstra had a solar powered exchange at Glen Valley in Vic. It could charge the batteries in bright moon light or in sun light even with 50 mm of snow on it. Its probably still there given that Glen Valley is in the middle of no-where and an long way from grid power. The next time I'm over your way, I would like to drop in and see your gear - if you don't mind.

simoin · 16th November 2006, 01:36 AM

How is the F & P wind Generator coming along this week? What size blades did you make/use again?

bryan1 · 16th November 2006, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simoin

How is the F & P wind Generator coming along this week? What size blades did you make/use again?

The F&P wind genny project has come to a stall as the comany I work for has sold us out and I have to setup a workshop by the end of the month while doing the backlog of work with the present company. Basically it's all finished and ready to erect and I made a 3 blade 8 foot wood setup for the genny. I'm going to put some winglets on the base of the blades so it can start easier as cogging will be an issue. Anway I tried that new 3kw inverter out on my 2hp 4' lathe and it ran fine for about 20 minutes and the batteries only dropped 1 volt after that time. I need to get a 200 amp fuse array before I use the inverter seriously and I'll grab that next week hopefully.

Cheers Bryan

ljcox · 16th November 2006, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryan1

Well Guy's I finally got around today to hooking up those 4 -175 watt panels in parrallel. I did it just after lunch in full sun and the voltage reading was open circuit 43 volts and when I short circuited them I saw nearly 16 amps before the fuse on my multimeter blew. Now working those figures out I got 668 watts which in my opnion will outdo my kaneka panels on a sunnyday. I can't wait to find a decent charge controller and get these babies on my roof and hooked up to those new batteries I got.

Just an Update guy's

Cheers Bryan

Bryan,
Your calculation of 668 Watt is not really valid. The short circuit current is not very helpful. You need to connect a dummy load such as some light globes in parallel. Measure the voltage across the globes and the current through them. The voltage will decrease as the number of globes increases.

I think the most meaningful power level is at the point where the voltage has dropped to the minimum voltage that your inverter can operate properly.

If you do it on a cloudly day, it will give you the worst case figure, ie. how mich power your appliances can consume on a bad day.

28th September 2006, 09:17 AM	#17 (permalink)
bryan1 Experienced Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Adelaide Hills Sth Oz Posts: 754	Hiya Mramos, I got those panels home today and this weekend i'm borrowing the digital camera from work so I'll be able to take some photo's. I'm looking for a mppt to put on these panel and the morining star looks like the one I'll get as it's only $199 US whereas the Aerl-900b one I have on my current solar array is over $1,400 Oz. Hopefully my 3 kw inverter will turnup before the weekend as I'm keen to get it up and running so I can finally utilize those 6 volt 105 amp/hour batteries I got a couple of months ago and their just sitting there floating at the moment. Anyway give me a couple of days and I'll get some photo's up here. Cheers Bryan __________________ " The only way to avoid human error is to avoid the use of humans"

30th September 2006, 05:11 PM	#21 (permalink)
audioguru Experienced Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Canada, of course! Posts: 11,744	The panels are rated for 65W at noon on the equator during a sunny day. I wonder what is the average output per day. You aren't on the equator. Noon is only for about 1 hour each day. The panels don't follow the sun's position in the sky. They obviously don't work at night. __________________ Uncle $crooge

2nd October 2006, 10:56 AM	#24 (permalink)
bryan1 Experienced Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Adelaide Hills Sth Oz Posts: 754	Well Guy's I finally got around today to hooking up those 4 -175 watt panels in parrallel. I did it just after lunch in full sun and the voltage reading was open circuit 43 volts and when I short circuited them I saw nearly 16 amps before the fuse on my multimeter blew. Now working those figures out I got 668 watts which in my opnion will outdo my kaneka panels on a sunnyday. I can't wait to find a decent charge controller and get these babies on my roof and hooked up to those new batteries I got. Just an Update guy's Cheers Bryan __________________ " The only way to avoid human error is to avoid the use of humans"

16th November 2006, 01:36 AM	#28 (permalink)
simoin Experienced Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 40	fisher and paykel How is the F & P wind Generator coming along this week? What size blades did you make/use again?

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26th September 2006, 12:55 PM	#16 (permalink)
mramos1 Experienced Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boynton Beach, Florida USA Posts: 1,920	Bryan1, Please post pictures and plans. We have plenty of Sun where I live. 3Kw would be nice. I have items in my house that run all day and would like to knock them off the electric bill. I could power my computer room with it for sure.

28th September 2006, 12:32 PM	#18 (permalink)
mramos1 Experienced Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boynton Beach, Florida USA Posts: 1,920	Glad you got them. And thank for future pics. I think I need to build something as well. $400 US electric bills are getting old. Mostly kids and computers. Maybe flip hot water to solar. Bought a 3'x4' fesnel lens and can not think of a good use for it, unless melting pennies counts. Maybe hot water, but it gets really hot. I have no wind, to I have to count on the sun.

30th September 2006, 12:07 PM	#20 (permalink)
mramos1 Experienced Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boynton Beach, Florida USA Posts: 1,920	That is nice.. Wish I could find a deal like that here. If I found the deal, the shipping would kill me.