Video: Solar Water Heating Test

March 22, 2010

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video clip might be thirty-thousand words per second.
Here’s a video explanation of my solar hot water test setup.
I don’t mention it in the video, but there was actually a layer of ice (below freezing the night before) on the tub of water only about three [...]

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Decided on a solar tank

March 22, 2010

Yesterday, some of the guys came over to help on my Diesel S10 conversion project. While they were here, I also showed them what I was doing in my solar experiments, what I had to work with, and what the limitations are.
Everyone really seemed to like the steel pressure tank, in that it is in [...]

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“Box of water” Heat Exchanger Test

March 19, 2010

I recently tested solar hot water heating with a my 4′ x 10′ solar hot water panel hooked up to a copper coil wrapped around a steel tank. While the panel itself was able to generate plenty of hot water, it didn’t transfer well into the steel tank. I think there are several factors figuring [...]

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Pressure tank re-purposed for new solar heat!

March 14, 2010

A while ago, a neighbor had several item on the curb, with a sign marked “Free”. Most of it was typical large junk, a projection TV, an old fridge, but was WAS appealing was a steel pressure tank in good condition!
This was the “old-fashioned” style with no rubber bladder. Instead this “maintenance-style” tank has to [...]

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Kaneka 60 Watt PV Panel walk-around

March 8, 2010

Several people on a few web forums were considering buying this same brand of solar panel, and wanted my opinion on my 60-watt Kaneka panel.
So, here’s a little video doing a walk-around of the panel, pointing out its construction.

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Computers have bugs, PV Panels have mice.

March 6, 2010

I checked my single-panel PV test panel setup this morning.
When I opened the garage door, a rodent scurried away – he was small, some sort of vole or mole.
I pulled out the voltmeter to check the batteries.
The four batteries are not perfectly matched, so the voltage was a little higher on two batteries than the [...]

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Panel tests good at 48 volts!

March 4, 2010

I had a little time this afternoon, and it was nice and sunny, so I decided to see if I could get just ONE of the PV panels hooked up to the controller and a battery pack.
I wired up the panel to the C40 solar charge controller through a basic disconnect with a built in [...]

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Solar Water Panel gets a makeover.

March 1, 2010

Yesterday, I trekked over to visit Tim, who runs EcoRenovator.org.
Both he and I have had our own homes for not too long, and are working on improving their energy efficiency, and adding renewable energy.
He and I teamed up to repair the old solar panel I have kicking around. We wanted to see what would be [...]

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Solar PV Charge Controller Arrives!

March 1, 2010

My new Xantrex C-40 Charge Controller just arrived!
This device is a battery charger powered by solar panels. It is designed to run 12, 24, & 48V power packs. Setting this to 48v, I should be able to use it to charge batteries that are part of a 48V UPS, or directly charge the main battery [...]

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Rehab for an old solar panel

March 1, 2010

A while back, I picked up an old solar hot water panel from my cousin. He has several of them out behind his garage, which were once upon a time hooked up to his house, although never done properly.
After an outrageous quote from a plumber for the cost to get them hooked up right, he [...]

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