No More Power Bills
This seems so much like the impossible for urbanites, that
we don't even give this notion a second thought.
The Problems :
1) Producing enough power for daily use.
2) Connecting battery power to 240 volt household electrical
wiring.
3) Daily supply charge you are lump with even if you don't
use any power.
Firstly if we use gas or other power sources for our cooking
and hot water we can easily make do with 2 to 3 kilowatt of power a
day. Lights will take up less than a kilowatt with the rest going to
the fridge, washers and entertainment systems. When the batteries are
low you could easily not watch TV or pospone the wash to another day.
Secondly, the DCAC1 green plug connects your battery bank
into the switch board and your household power circuits. This solves
the problem of running 12 volts wiring or cables round the house from
your inverter.
Thirdly if you disconnect yourself from the grid you will
not be lump with the supply charge. A better idea will be to opt for a
card prepay system. The daily supply charge would be factored into the
prepay.
If you can do all these you will not have to see a power
bill ever again. You will save between $2500 - $3000 on your ever
inflationary power bill.
Think of what it does to your carbon footprint, not to
mention the increase capital value and marketability of your home.
Surely this can't work if everybody does it. Rest assured it
will work even if everybody does, no one can and should stop you from
making your own power. However not everyone will and
those that don't end up paying even more for power.
2 KW Solar System : $7385
8 X BD40 solar panels ($3200)
1 X MPPT 24volts 30 amps controller
($995)
1 X BB20 Combiner box ($395)
DCAC1 Green Plug ($695)
5 KW Inverter ($1500)
6 X 220ah 6 volt 7.5 KW reconditioned
battery bank ($600)
Allowing for installation this system will still come under $8000. This
cost is recoup within 3 years. You can of course add more panels up to
a total of 20 without changing the controller setup.
2 - 3 KW Wind Solar System : $7875
4 X BD40 solar panels ($1600)
1 X RB200 240 watt Aerotek wind generator ($1495)
1 X MPPT 24 volt 30 amp controller ($995)
1 X wind controller ($395)
1 X BB20 Combiner box ($395)
DCAC1 Green Plug ($695)
5 KW Inverter ($1500)
8 X 220ah 6 volt 10 KW reconditioned
battery bank ($800)
The RB200 Aerotek wind generator is
designed to bolt to the roof of houses and rise a few meters above
the roof like an arial. This same machine is used in houseboats and
launches.
Installation cost is higher than a solar
setup. The wind generator is capable of generating 4 KW a day by itself
so a larger battery bank is recommended.
5 KW Wind Solar System : $10775
4 X BD40 solar panels ($1600)
1 X RB900 Aerotek wind generator ($3995)
1 X MPPT 24 volt 30 amp controller ($995)
1 X wind controller ($395)
1 X BB20 Combiner box ($395)
DCAC1 Green Plug ($695)
5 KW Inverter ($1500)
12 X 220ah 6 volt 15 KW reconditioned
battery bank ($1200)
5000 watts is enough to power a small household. The wind solar combination is capable of exceeding this figure as in a good windy location the power generated a day can reach 18 kilowatt hours.
Solar cells are made from dope semiconductor materials like silicon design to produce electrons or photons. Pure silicon doped with phosphorous releases electrons when agitated and are called - N Type. Pure silicon dope with boron produce the positive holes when agitated and are called - P Type. When sandwich together and connected to each other electrons flow from the N-Type to the holes in the P-Type creating a current which we can tap and use.