|
PV Basics |
|
Step One -- Avoid the scams |
There are some very heavily advertised guides for sale on the Internet in
the $50 range that promise that you can make PV panels that will provide
"80%" of your homes power for a couple hundred dollars.
You can be sure that anyone making these kinds of claims is a scammer --
don't waste your money. You will find plenty of free and honest information below
for reputable sources. |
|
Solar Site Survey ...
The Site Survey is particularly critical for PV projects. |
 Before
you embark on any of the solar projects listed below, you MUST do a solar
site survey.
This will ensure that you actually get enough sun on your collector to make
it worthwhile.
It only takes an hour, its fun, its easy and you will learn something about
how the sun moves.
Solar Site Survey... |
|
A Consumers Guide to Buying A Solar Electric System
EERE PV Guide (pdf)
|
 A consumer guide for selecting a PV system.
Quite a bit of useful information whether you intend to have the system
installed, or install it yourself. |
|
A couple basics articles from Home Power:
Solar Electricity Basics:
http://www.homepower.com/basics/solar/
Solar-Electric Systems Simplified,
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
Scott Russell, issue 104 |
 A
couple of introductory articles from Home Power magazine
A very basic description of each of the different styles of PV systems (grid
intertied, off-grid, …). |
Solar Power 101,
Jeffrey Yago, Backwoods Home Magazine, 3 parts starting in May 2004 issue.
Solar Power 101, part 1...
There are two more parts in the following 2 issues. |
 This
is a set of articles by Jeff Yago that goes through the basics of designing
and installing a solar electric system. |
| Renewable
Energy Design Guide and Catalog
http://www.alt-energy.com/online-solar-catalog.html
|
 This
is a very helpful reference and catalog for renewable energy systems.
It covers PV, wind and small hydro with emphasis on PV.Right up to date
and with lots of information on PV system components and lots of good
reference material.
PDF version is a free download. Hardcopy can be ordered
here ... |
| Home Power Magazine
www.HomePower.com
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home Power magazine has published many articles
on PV basics, PV systems, and PV components.Home Power is a very good
source for hands-on PV information. |
PVWatts -- A Performance Calculator for Grid-Connected PV Systems
From NREL
PVWatts Version 1...
This is a really useful tool
I find Version 1 to be the most useful, but if you want to try the other
versions, just Google PVWatts.
|
 An easy calculator you can use to find out how
much power you will get from a PV installation in your area. Also very
helpful for panel aiming studies.
It calculates PV system performance based on hour by hour records for sun in
your area.Version 1 is very easy to use, and works worldwide.
Version 2 allows more detailed inputs, but seems rather complex and puzzling
at times to me. |
|
BP PV System Economics Calculator
http://bpsolar.cleanpowerestimator.com/bpsolar.htm
|
 This
appears to be a good tool for estimating the economic return for installing
a PV system for your area.
Allows you to change location, size & cost of array, and financing.
Shows details on power output, cost savings, and return on your investment.
While it is offered by a company selling PV equipment, it does not appear
(to me) to be overly optimistic on power generated or savings. |
|
PVGIS -- PV sizing tool for Europe and Africa
PVGIS sizing tool:
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps3/pvest.php#
PVGIS home page:
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/ |
 Very
nice PV array sizing tool and solar radiation tool for Europe and Africa.
Includes effects of local weather, obstructions, ...
|
Photovoltaics Economics Calculator,
Karen Pease and Elaine Mahler
www.daughtersoftiresias.org/progs/insolation/insolation.html
|
 This
is a brand new and very comprehensive calculator for solar electric (PV)
systems.
Based on your inputs, it provides monthly power generation and dollar
savings. It also provides the payback period and investment return for
the system.The calculator takes into account local
weather, panel orientation, and temperature -- can do systems with tracking.
The calculator is new, and I'm sure the authors would appreciate your
comments and helpful suggestions. |
|
Taking the Plunge! An
Off-the-Grid Home Tour to Learn the Basics of a Renewable Energy System,
William Kemp (pdf)
|
 A
good primer on what's involved in planning for an living in an off-grid home
with solar electricity generation.
A lot of emphasis on the conservation steps needed to get demand down.
Not a lot of hands-on, but a very good introduction. |
|
Backwoods Solar Catalog
www.BackWoodsSolar.com
|
 The
printed version of the Backwoods Solar Catalog has a lot of good educational
and reference material. Available on request from their website. |
|
Simpler Solar Power – Grid-Tied Solar Systems Make
Choosing Clean, Renewable Electricity Easier and More Affordable Than Ever
Mother Earth News
Doug Liningston and Scott Hollis
http://www.motherearthnews.com |
 Mother
Earth News ArticleGood article explaining the basics of grid-tied PV
systems. Not a lot of “how-to”, but good explanation of the basics. |
|
Plug into the Sun
Rusty Haunes and Lindsey Hodel
Mother Earth News
http://www.motherearthnews.com |
Mother Earth News Article, Issue
199 This article provides an overview of the financial aspects of building
a solar PV system. Concentrates primarily on obtaining government grants to
reduce the cost of the system. |
|
List of good discussion forums... |
This is a list of discussion forums I like. You can post questions on
these forums and get answers. As always on the Internet, the level of
expertise varies from very high to very very low, so be careful to confirm
the advice you get in some way. |
| What is the actual output from a "1
KW" PV rig? Home Energy Magazine article
www.homeenergy.org (pdf)
|
 So,
how much output will a (say) 1 KW rated PV setup produce? This Home
Energy Magazine article reports actual measurements for 19 real PV systems. |
| Wind Sun
www.windsun.com/General/Library_Index.htm |
Solar electric library and buyers guide.
Quite a few downloadable PV equipment specs, brochures, manuals. |
| PhotoVoltaics: Design and
Installation Manual |
 A
very good and detailed reference on designing and installing PV systems --
the best that I know of.
About $60. |
A Guide To Photovoltaic (PV) System
Design and Installation,
California Energy Commission, 2001
http://www.energy.ca.gov (pdf)
|
 A
lot of helpful and fairly detailed information on planning, designing, and
installing a PV system that is safe and meets codes.Provides information
on sizing, wiring, component selection, ... Also, provides a detailed
check list.
Some of the information is specific to California installations, but most id
broadly applicable. |
| PV
Power System Designer
http://systemdesigner.pvpower.com
|
 This
is a very easy to use calculator to get several alternative actual system
definitions based on your available PV panel area, climate, and power range
you are interested in.
It will pick several alternative actual systems based primarily on lowest
price. The definition includes specific PV panels and a specific
inverter with prices, but does not include other details that make up the
system -- so, there are still a lot of things to add to get to a full
system. |
| 1BOG
-- one block off the the grid -- group discount program
http://1bog.org/
|
 The
1BOG organization puts together a group of people in a city who want to
install PV systems, and negotiates a group discount.
It seems like a potentially good concept that is worth looking into.
If you have had a good (or bad) experience with the program, please
let me
know...
(Thanks to Michelle for suggesting this) |
| Leasing PV Systems |
There are companies that will lease you a PV system to mount
on your house. They make the deal sound very attractive. I have
zero expertise on this, but
this article says there are some large potential gotcha's in the fine
print... So, be very very careful. On the
other hand,
this NREL analysis finds at least some of the lease programs to be more
attractive than other forms of ownership...
My alternative thought would be to look at the
Half Plan, and do the energy
saving projects that will cost you little and save you a lot -- then, buy
your PV system from the savings on other projects.
Our experience with PV economics compared
to other energy project economics... |
Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles,
Vasilis Fthenakis, Huung Chul Kim, and Erik Alsema,
ASAP Environ. Sci. Technol, Feb 200
The Energy Blog article this came from ... |
Every once in a while you still find people saying that the energy and
pollution involved in making PV cells exceeds the energy use or pollution
they prevent during their life. This is completely and totally false
-- here is the latest paper verifying this. Conclusion of the study:
"Using data compiled from the original records of twelve
PV manufacturers, we quantified the emissions from the life cycle of four
major commercial photovoltaic technologies and showed that they are
insignificant in comparison to the emissions that they replace when
introduced in average European and U.S. grids." |
|
Small
Standalone PV Systems (cabins, mobile, and startup systems) |
Installing Your Own Small, Remote
Off-Grid Solar System,
Jeffrey Yago, Backwoods Home Magazine, Mar 2009
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago116.html
|
 Jeff
describes how to go about designing and installing a small, 12 VDC solar
electric system for a cabin. |
Solar Power Trailer, Jeffery Yago
Backwoods Home Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago108.html
|
 Interesting
article by Jeff Yago on putting together self sufficient trailer mounted PV
rig. It can be used for camping or emergencies.Part 1 of 2 in the
Nov/Dec 2007 issue of
Backwoods Home
Magazine -- all issues can be viewed online. |
|
A 320 Watt Truck Mounted PV System
Full construction details... |
 This
is a really nice system that fits into a pickup truck. The 320 watts
of PV fit on the existing roof rack, and the 400 amp-hours of batteries in
the side compartments. A pair of
Morningstar charge controllers complete the system.
Great system for camping, tradesmen, RVs, power outage emergencies, ...
Full details on the construction and wiring... |
Walden Pond -- The Solar Version,
Jeffrey Yago
Backwoods Home Magazine
Part i:
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago99.html
Part II:
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago100.html
Issue 102 article on solar fridges:
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago102.html |
 Good
basic article on setting up a small cabin so it can be powered by a small PV
system.
Mostly about minimizing electric loads so that the PV system does not end up
costing more than the cabin.Backwoods Home Magazine issues 99 and 100.
The issue 102 article is a rundown on efficient solar fridges that run off
simple PV systems. |
| Ron's
Small, Inexpensive Standalone PV System
http://epweb.angelfire.com/solar-pv-system.html
|
 This
is another example of putting together a small, standalone PV system on a
shoestring.
Ron's system makes use of inexpensive used PV panels, a kit charge
controller, and low priced sine wave inverter to build a 300 watt system
that he uses to power some loads that are independent of the grid, and also
to provide some backup when the grid power goes out. Its
also a great way to learn about solar electricity without spending a lot of
money. |
Small and Simple in the North Woods
Joan R. Surber and Roberta L. Corrigan
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home Power Magazine article, issue
75Design and implementation of a DC only PV system for a small cabin.
The system has 150W of PV panel, 660AH of battery capacity, and cost $2500. |
|
My Solar Casita – solar pumping, Heating, Cooking, and
More!
Samuel Gray
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 100Description of a small
off grid PV system with solar pumping.
700 WH per day demand. 110 Watts of PV panel total.
Good construction detail. A solar passive design adobe Casita – 120
ft^2. |
|
Portable Solar-Powered Workshop
Jon Haeme
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 47Article on a complete, PV powered,
workshop in a trailer. |
|
Backyard Solar Electricity, Made Simple
Mickey Mestel
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 93Good article on a very small PV system
that can be easily removed and taken along to a new house. 32 W PV panel,
64 AH of battery capacity in a box, and a 1700 W inverter make up the
system. The total cost is $1350. |
|
Office-Sized Solar-Electric System for Renters
Eric Grisen
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 96Interesting article on a “moveable” 300 W
PV system with batteries. Most of this system fits in and on a wood box.
Covers load analysis, component selection, and building and installing the
system. Cost $4K. |
|
90 Solar Powered Portable Workshop
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 90Interesting article on
a portable, PV powered workshop in a trailer. Uses one 120W PV panel, 2
Trojan T105 batteries, and an 1800 watt inverter to power a wide variety of
tools. System cost $2600. |
|
PV Systems On RVs
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm
|
 A
good write-up on designing, installing, and maintaining a PV system
for an RV. Lots of emphasis on choosing and maintaining the batteries.
While its RV oriented, most of the information is applicable to and small PV
system.
Note that the PV material is in Part 2 of the article.
thanks to Mark for suggesting this) |
|
Off Grid PV
Systems
-- Homes powered by these systems are not connected to the utility grid at
all. The systems have PV panels for generation of power, and batteries
to store power for when the sun is not shining. In some cases fossil
fuel powered generators are used to supplement the solar power. As you
can see from the examples below, these systems can range greatly in size,
complexity and price. |
|
Off the Grid Starting Small
Daniel Bisbee
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 92Good article about an off grid house PV
system that started very small and grew to a modest 240 W of PV panels,
660AH or battery capacity, and a 1500 W inverter that meets all their
needs. The system cost $3K and avoided a $37K charge from the utility
company to extend the power grid. Maybe you really don't need to use
30KWH per day? |
| RE Earthship Design:
on-the-job-training Linda Brotman-Evans & Jeff Evans
HP article on Earthship PV (230K pdf)
|
 A
good Home Power magazine article on sizing and living with an off grid PV
and wind system for an Earthship.
Good material for planning how to live on a relatively small PV system --
1997. |
|
A Simple Solar Solution
Mother Earth News
http://www.motherearthnews.com
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 199Good article on planning, building and
living with a solar PV system in an off grid house in Colorado.
|
|
HP99 Solar Comfort in the Idaho Wilderness
Ed Marue
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 99Good article on an off grid system for a
mountain cabin. The system has 960 W of PV panel, 530AH of battery storage,
and a 7KW backup generator, all at a cost of $15K. The owner of the system
covers planning, designing, and installing the system in good detail. |
|
Taking the Off-Grid Plunge
Dane Wigington
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 98Article describes a large, off-grid
system capable of supporting large electrical loads. 5.1KW of PV panels and
2400 AH of battery capacity. Supplemented with two wind generators. |
|
Off Shore and Off Grid – Island Life Unplugged
John McNicholas
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 106Good detailed description of a large,
off grid PV system for a Florida island house with large loads. 3600 W PV
panels, 2500 AH battery system, 20KW generator. $61K worth of components. |
The Care and Feeding of Solar Batteries,
Jeffrey Yago, Backwoods Home Magazine, Sep 2005 |
 An
article by Jeff Yago on batteries for off-grid solar electric systems.
The article covers battery types, and goes into caring for and maintaining
batteries for a long life.
Batteries are a high ongoing cost for off-grid solar and its very easy to
kill an expensive battery set before its time, so this is good stuff to
know. |
|
Grid Tie PV
Systems Without Battery Backup -- Homes on these "grid-tied" systems are
connected to the utility grid. When the PV panels are producing more
electricity than is being used in the house, the meter runs "backwards", and
the excess power goes into the utility grid. These systems do not have
batteries for storage of electricity. When the utility power fails,
the lights go out in these houses, even if the sun is shining. But,
the significant cost and maintenance issues owning batteries are avoided. |
|
Designing and Installing Your Own Grid-Tied PV System
Much detail on our system...
Near real time performance records...
The one year report...
|
 This
is a very detailed account of planning, designing and installing our own new
2150 watt grid-tied PV system.
A lot of detail is provided on the full process, including deciding on type
of system, how big to make it, where to put the panels, solar site survey,
what kind of mounts to use, building the mounts, installing the components,
doing the wiring, and the performance and economics of the system.
The system uses the same Enphase micro-inverter scheme as Guy's system (just
below), so between these two entries there should be enough detail to keep
you busy for quite a while! |
Installing a grid-tie solar electric power system,
Guy Marsden
Full, step by step description of the system:
http://www.arttec.net/SolarPower/index.htm
Real time output data:
http://www.arttec.net/SolarPower/9_Stats/index.htm |
 Guy
Marsden describes the whole process of selecting, designing and installing
his new grid-tie PV system. Since Guy and friends did the whole
installation, there is a lot of detail.
Guy's system uses the new Enphase micro inverter system in which each PV
panel gets its own inverter. The Enphase system reduces installation
labor, and allows easier future expansion. Guy also provides
real time system output stats.
Guy has done several fine renewable energy and solar projects, and has
detailed tutorials on each one -- a look through his whole website is
very worthwhile. |
The tinkeringcaveman Solar Project
https://sites.google.com/site/tinkeringcavemansolarproject/
|
 This
is a very nice and detailed five part blog from Kevin on planning,
permitting, and installing a micro inverter based 3.84KW grid-tie system.
Kevin worked in partnership with a local electrician -- I think this is a
good approach and likely makes for less to learn and a smoother install.
Lots of good detail on the whole process. |
|
Mick and Janet's Photovoltaic Solar System
http://www.users.on.net
|
 Nice
personal website describing a grid tied PV installation. Provides over
a year of performance data. Pictures of installation with good detail
on panel mounting. |
|
Grid-Tied Soar In Small Town, USA
www.andykerr.net/Energy/KerrSystemHP101CD.pdf (2.3MB pdf)
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Good
Home Power Article on authors attempt to be "Carbon neutral" through
conservation, less fossil fuel, solar active and passive strategies, and a
grid tied PV system. Most of the article details his experiences with
installing a grid tied PV system in Ashland, OR -- a pretty positive
experience all-around. |
|
Getting Off the Lifetime Utility Payment Plan
Daren Webster
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 95Good article on a large, suburban
California, grid tied, batteryless system. Covers load estimation, system
design, and installation (by owner). The $28K system has 4KW of PV panels. |
Grid-Tie Solar Powered Farm,
Jefferey Yago,
Backwoods Home Magazine, July/August 2005
The full article ... |
 An
article in Backwoods Home magazine by Jeff Yago on a grid tie system with
some useful design and install information.
Note how simple the modern grid-tie inverters make these systems. |
|
Solar Electricity in Spite of the Fog
Greg Bundros
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 99Good article on an grid tied PV system in
Northern California. The system has 1320W of PV panels and cost $22K before
rebates. The author installed the system, and covers design and
installation of the system. He also provides very detailed performance
records for the system. |
|
Solar Electric Vision Becomes Reality
Alan Stankevitz
www.scribd.com/...
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 105Description of a 4KW
grid intertied, batteryless PV system. A full description of the system is
provided including costs. The system was installed by the owner, and some
of the details of the installation an permitting process are described. |
|
From The Ground Up – My RE System Design Choices
Linda Pinkham
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 106Good article on going through all the
decisions to be made in implementing an medium size, grid tied PV system.
Size, siteing collectors, tracking or not, batteries or not, component
selection, … |
|
Solar Solidarity – An IBEW-Supported PV System
Vincent Endter
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 97Good article on installation of a 5KW,
grid-tied, no batteries system for a residence in California. Quite a bit
of detail on the design and installation of the system. |
|
Illustration of 8 KW (DC) GT Solar PV System Install
for Residence in Urban Area
www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?t=6394
|
 This
is a many page post on Northern Arizona Wind & Sun forum. It covers
the installation of an 8.1KW grid-tied PV system.
Lots of detail is provided, and there is some good discussion of the system. |
|
Video: Photovoltiaic Power -- One Homeowners Solution
Google Video |
 Pretty
good home owner video on planning for and installing a small, grid tied PV
system.There is a long intro on the benefits of PV, followed by some
detail on the installation. |
| Construction Details for a PV Array at Craters of the Moon Monument |
 Some
detailed pictures of a large PV array at Craters of the Moon National
Monument. The clean mounting system and simple wiring and equipment
mounting might provide some helpful ideas for your system.
Construction Details for a PV Array at
Craters of the Moon Monument... |
|
Cold Springs Solar Power
|
 This
is a huge solar electric installation at the Cold Springs Station on Hwy 50
in a very lonely part of the Nevada desert. It is a 30KW grid
tied PV installation that sells excess power to the utility.
Some nice construction details in the photos. |
|
Clarian SmartBox Plug-In the Wall Grid-Tie PV system
My blog entry on the system...
The
Clarian website...
|
 This
is an interesting grid-tie, microinverter system that literally plugs into a
wall outlet.
It can start with one 200 watt PV panel and be easily expanded with
additional panels.
Prices are projected to be about $4 per watt -- it is supposed to "be in
stores in 2011". |
|
Grid Tie PV
Systems With Battery Backup -- These homes are connected to the utility
grid, and work in the same way as the "grid-tied" homes above, but they also
have batteries, which allows the lights to stay on when the utility power
goes down. On the negative side, the systems are more expensive, and
the batteries must be carefully maintained. |
|
Note that new inverters that are designed specifically for grid-tied with
battery backup systems have recently come out -- these include:
Outback GVFX
series
Xantrex XW series |
|
|
Bob's Solar Project
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ebgoodsel/solar/blog.htm
|
This is Bob's blog on installing a grid tied with batteries, Unisolar PV
shingle system. It is very detailed and should be very helpful to
anyone considering doing this.
All the details on the design, solar shingle installation, wiring, and
equipment installation are covered in detail. Thank you Bob! |
|
Grid Tied PV and Wind System with Battery Backup
http://www.rockriver.us
|
 A
very good personal website on designing and installing a PV and wind system
that is grid tied with battery backup.
Lots of detail and helpful information on design, components, installing,
wiring, suppliers, permitting, ... |
|
Building a Grid-Tied Solar Electric System
http://altenergy.blog-city.com/gridinteractive_system.htm
|
 A
detailed account of the design and installation of a grid-tied PV system
with battery backup.A home built ground mount system from treated lumber
is also described. |
|
Grid Tie, Battery Backup, and System Monitoring
Brent Simons
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Article, issue 94Very good article on planning, designing and
installing a 4.8KW grid-tied PV system with 400AH battery backup, and a 4KW
inverter. The system also includes instrumentation to monitor the
performance of the system. Quite a bit of component and installation
detail. |
|
PV Tracking and Mounts and Soft Concentrators
-- Systems that track the sun or that use reflective surfaces to concentrate
more light on the PV cells make better use of the expensive PV cell
material. |
An HP Article on PV Tracker Basics,
Richard Perez
http://zomeworks.com/...
|
 An
article explaining the basics of PV tracking. Contrasts the passive
trackers with the electronic trackers. |
Field Test Results of the Archimedes Photovoltaic V=Trough Concentrator
System,
Klotz, Mohring, Gruel, Sherborne, Bruton, Albella, and Tzanetakis
Archimedes Paper (pdf)
|
 Very
good paper with results on testing a simple scheme that uses one axis
tracking coupled with high acceptance angle V troughs to provide average
daily concentrations around of around 2. Simple aluminum cooling
fins are used to keep cell temperature comparable to non-concentrating
commercial PV panels.
(My thanks to Greg for suggesting this) |
|
Low Cost Tracking Ridge Concentrator
http://www.pvpumps.com/
Picture Gallery of Examples:
http://www.solar-trackers.com/pictures.htm |
 Simple
tracker and concentrator design might nearly double PV panel output.The
website(s) are a bit confusing, but provide some useful material.
I'd like hear from anyone who has had experience with these. |
Pumping Water for Irrigation Using Solar Energy
H.J. Helikson, D.Z. Haman and C.D. BairdUniversity of Florida --
Extension Service
Pumping Paper (pdf)
|
 Interesting
1992 paper on PV powered pumping for irrigation wire. Good analysis of
system.Interesting reflector/tracking arrangement on the PV panels that
increases panel output significantly. |
|
RedRok.com LED3Xc3 Solar Tracker Assembly
http://www.redrok.com/led3xassm.htm#led3xforsale
|
 Duane
at RedRok.com offers a $35 tracker that can drive a simple satellite dish
linear screw actuator to make an inexpensive tracker for PV and other
applications.The page gives examples of many systems using the RedRok
tracker. |
|
$35 DIY PV Tracker |
 This
home made tracker for PV panels is made from a satellite dish antenna and
the RedRok.com $35 tracker, plus an old bed frame! |
Mother's Super-Simple Solar Tracker
Dennis Burkholder
http://www.motherearthnews.com
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 48, Nov/Dec 1977.
This article provides some how-to information on designing and building
solar array trackers that use canisters of refrigerant to passively track
the sun. This is similar to the very popular ZomeWorks trackers.
Several designs are discussed.
The trackers in the article use Freon -- in a new design you would, of
course, have to substitute a different refrigerant. |
| Canuckle Tracker
http://www.greenwatts.info/
|
 Light
duty solar trackers that you can make from computer parts and ABS tubing.
And, a simple Sun Switch sun sensor and motor driver. |
Water-Powered PV Tracker
Bill SpurlockHow to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power magazine article, issue 85
An interesting mix of high tech PV and low tech genius to implement a water
powered PV array tracking system. |
|
PV Array Mounts |
| A simple mount
using treated wood plus commercial rails... |
 This
is the simple set of mounts I used for my PV array. It uses
commercially available rails to mount the PV panels to along with simple
treated wood timbers and concrete footings. |
|
Another way of
doing treated wood supports with commercial rails... |
 This
is a nice and simple system that uses a combination of commercially
available aluminum rails attached to large treated timbers that anchor the
front and back of the PV array. |
| Construction Details for a PV Array at Craters of the Moon Monument |
 Some
detailed pictures of a PV array mount system using galvanized steel pipes
coupled with standard industrial fittings to make a sturdy, simple and clean
looking mount system.
Mount Details for a PV Array at Craters of the Moon Monument... |
| Home Built Solar Mount
http://altenergy.blog-city.com/mount.htm
My home built PV mount... |
 Pretty
good looking and well anchored wood mount for PV panels. |
|
Installing PV Systems -- How-To |
Some of the articles above that describe
example PV systems have some construction detail, so see these as well.
PV systems have become more straightforward to install as equipment has been
refined over the years -- grid-tie systems in particular have become much
simpler. But, this does not mean its an easy DIY project.
There are serious safety issues that you must fully understand -- even folks
with considerable AC system wiring experience should be very careful to
learn and understand the hazards of working with strings of PV panels that
will produce several hundred volts whenever the sun is on them.
In addition to the safety issues, there are permits and utility companies to
deal with -- some areas may not even allow a home owner to install his/her
own system. So, as always, do your homework! |
| See the entries in the other sections on "Off
Grid", "Grid Tied", etc. These articles contain lots of detailed
accounts of DIY installations. |
|
Solar System
Install Guide
The full tutorial:
http://www.pasolar.ncat.org/lesson01.php
The PV part starts in Lesson 5:
http://www.pasolar.ncat.org/lesson05.php |
 This
is a pretty good and detailed installation tutorial for installers.
Its about the most readable thing I have found that provides enough detail
to be useful in installing your own system. |
Photovoltaic Power Systems and the 2005
National Electrical Code: Suggested Practices
John Wiles, Southwest Technology Development Institute, New Mexico State
University
www.nmsu.edu/~tdi/PV=NEC_HTML/pv-nec/pv-nec.html
Suggested Practices for PV System Wiring 2005 ... (pdf) |
 A
set of quite detailed suggested practices for wiring PV systems to comply
with the National Electric Code.
Kind of tough sledding if you are not a code devotee, but accurate and
authoritative. |
Inspector
Guidelines for PV Systems,
Prepared by Brooks Engineering for PACE UniversityInspector Guidelines
for PV Systems (pdf)
Inspecting Photovoltaic (PV) Systems for Cod Compliance... |
 This
is a very helpful set of guidelines on PV system equipment, and particularly
on wiring of PV systems.
I found it helpful in both the planning of the details of the component
locations and the wiring, and as a good checklist on what inspectors will be
looking for.
The second link is 168 page presentation with lots of examples and photos.
Probably more detailed than most will need, but lots of examples of common
mistakes. |
| NABCEB (North American Board of
Certified Energy Practitioners)
NABCEB ...
NABCEB Resources... |
 The
NABCEB offers certifications for installers of PV systems.
Their web site Resources page has much information of interest to people
want to install a system or want to be knowledgeable about what a good
installation should look like.
The "Study Guide for Photovoltaic System Installers" is a good one.
(thanks to Doug for suggesting this) |
A Guide to Photovoltaic (PV) System Design and
Installation,
California Energy Commission, June 2001
www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2001-09-04_500-01-020.PDF
|
A
pretty detailed guide written for installers of PV systems in California.
largely applicable to other areas. |
Residential/Commercial Solar PV Installations,
Basic information and installation guides for roof mounted systems,
Ed Larsen, June 2008
City of Flagstaff/Project Review Section
Residential/Commercial Solar PV Installations ... (PowerPoint)
|
 A
Power Point set of guidelines for roof mounted PV installations.
Some good planning, design, and installation detail. Quite a bit of
detail on installation.
Written for Flagstaff, but generally applicable. |
| How to Install A
Pole-Mounted Solar-Electric Array How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power magazine two part article in issues 108 and 109 on installing a pole
mounted PV array.A very detailed how-to -- lots of good advice. |
PV Combiner Box Buyers Guide,
Lena WilenskyHow to
get articles from Home Power ...
This article covers a lot of the issues of wiring the
array to the inverter. |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 132, Aug-Sept 2009.Good article, not only
goes over available combiner box offerings, but covers the wiring, fusing,
and sizing procedures for the boxes.
Also tells you when you don't need one at all. |
| Picking the right wire
size
|
 PV
oriented wire voltage DC drop table...
General purpose wire voltage drop calculator...
More refs on wire
sizing... |
Maverick Solar DIY Workshop
http://www.mavericksolar.net/
|
 A
collection of helpful articles and references for DIYers on PV systems.
Includes some fairly detialed examples of several systems, and some good
"how-to"s on wiring etc. |
|
PV Components |
|
See also the list of
suppliers for PV systems ... |
|
| Renewable
Energy Design Guide and Catalog
http://www.alt-energy.com/online-solar-catalog.html
|
This
is a very helpful reference and catalog for renewable energy systems.
It covers PV, wind and small hydro with emphasis on PV. Right up to date
and with lots of information on PV system components and lots of good
reference material.
PDF version is a free download. Hardcopy can be ordered
here ... |
PV Combiner Box Buyers Guide,
Lena WilenskyHow to
get articles from Home Power ... |
Home
Power Magazine article, issue 132, Aug-Sept 2009. Good article, not only
goes over available combiner box offerings, but covers the wiring, fusing,
and sizing procedures for the boxes.
Also tells you when you don't need one at all. |
|
106 What’s Going On – The Grid? A New Generation of
Grid-Tied PV Inverters
Joe Schwartz
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 106Rundown on the latest in inverters for
grid tied PV systems. What to look for, and how they rate. |
|
Deep Cycle Battery FAQ
www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm
|
 This
is a good rundown on the type of batteries normally used in PV systems.
Lots of good information. |
|
Off Grid Cooling |
| Cooling for off-grid homes can be difficult due
to the need to minimize electrical power use. This section has a
couple of low electricity use cooling schemes. A whole house fan that
operates on DC would be another good one, but I have not seen one.
Many of the passive techniques listed in the
Cooling Section apply VERY well
to PV powered homes since they use no power at all. |
| Ceiling fans with aerodynamically designed
blades
http://www.fanworks.com/vari-cyclone.htm
|
 Ceiling
fans with "Gossamer
Wind" technology blades move about 40% more air for the same power use.
Models are available that operate at 12 or 24V, and can be operated direct
PV or battery.
FSEC paper:
Performance and Applications of Gossamer Wind™ Solar Powered Ceiling Fans |
| PV Powered Evaporative Coolers
www.nvo.com/southwestsolar/productcatalog/
Some notes on a DIY one:
www.voltscommissar.net/competitive_edge.htm |
 These
evaporative coolers use low HP 12V fans that can be powered by PV arrays. |
|
Off Grid Refrigeration |
Refrigeration is one of the major
electric loads for an off grid home.
Some of the solutions people are using:
- Use a modest size Energy Star rated conventional refrigerator.
This approach has a low initial cost, and pretty good energy efficiency.
See the Energy Star link below for for the best ones.
Conventional freezer above and fridge below are the most energy efficient
and make best use of space.
- Use one of the brands that specialize in high efficiency fridges for PV
use, such as SunFrost or SunDazer. Less energy use, but higher
initial cost.
- Also listed below are some less conventional solutions that use even
less power, and are inexpensive.
- Another option is a propane powered fridges. These are very energy
inefficient fridges, and (I think) are best avoided -- but some like them a
lot.
(as near as I can tell looking at energy stats from
sellers, propane fridges use about 5 times more energy than energy star
electrics of the same size)
|
| Energy Star
Energy Star
Ratings ... |
 Energy ratings and energy use for appliances.
Energy advice and online audit for homes. Energy star appliances
and homes.
In my view, the Energy Star program could be more aggressive, but its
certainly a good place to start. For example, they have no plans to
require more efficient refrigerators until 2012 at the earliest -- let them
know you would like to see a more aggressive approach. |
| Efficient Refrigerators for PV
SunFrost
http://www.sunfrost.com/refrigerators_main.html
SunDanzer
http://www.sundanzer.com/ |
A couple of brands that specialize in low power consumption fridges and
freezers for PV.
SunFrost SunDanzer |
| Very Efficient Chest Refrigerator
Chest Fridge Full Article
(68K pdf)
This article is from the Mt Best -- Australia solar house site:
http://mtbest.net/ A
very interesting solar house with several unique features, and a bit more
info on the chest fridge. Another approach here:
http://eveningrainfarm.com/?p=5
Uses added thermal mass and a simple timer switch -- the thermal mass is
intended to allow the fridge and inverter on an off grid site to be turned off
overnight to save the idle inverter load on the batteries. The thermostat shown on
this page is reported to allow you to use a chest freezer as a refrigerator
with large energy saving:
Beer Fridge Thermostat
|
 This
refrigerator, which is a converted chest type freezer uses only about 0.1
KWH per day. See the article for details. Latest update includes
a design for a low standby power thermostat.
Apparently not all chest freezers are created equal, as some do not report
quite as dramatic an energy saving as Tom reported in his paper -- so if you
are getting a new chest freezer for this, pick an efficient one to start
with.
One person reported 0.3 KWH per day (108KWH/year) on a newer Kenmore freezer
that was EPA rated at 279KWH per year. So, something like a
quarter of a typical, similar size conventional (upright) refrigerator seems
easily achievable. |
Solar Powered refrigerators,
Jeffery Yago, Backwoods Home Magazine
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago102.html
|
 Good
article on efficient, solar powered refrigerators.
Most run directly on 12 VDC, and are easy on solar PV systems. |
| Make a Fridge?
Description of the fridge making kit and instructions for making a fridge
from it ...
More Details (pdf)
Another kit fridge -- DIY System Kits:
http://www.rparts.com/Catalog/DIY_Kits/
(note that this one requires charging, which takes special tools) |
 This
is just a thought. NovaKool (maybe others?) offers a kit for people
who want to make their own fridges. It consists of a compressor,
evaporator, condenser, controls, and pre-charged tubing -- all the guts of a
fridge. It is intended for boat or RV owners who want a built in fridge.
It uses the DanFoss compressor, which is reputed to be efficient.
If you wanted to make a very efficient fridge, this kit would allow you allow
you to build the box with as much insulation as you want, it could be top
opening, and the compressor could be located in an optimal spot. On
just a rough guess from their specs, you might get down to 0.1 KWH per day
for a very well insulated 8 cubic foot fridge. Unfortunately the kit is
not cheap, but this still might pay well for off-grid PV users.
If anyone has tried this (or similar), please let me know how it turned out
--
Gary |
| Refrigeration Off Grid
http://eveningrainfarm.com
|
An interesting technique for technique for powering a 9 cubic foot fridge
for only 0.35 KWH per day (130KWH per year), and at the same time going
easier on battery use. |
| Passive Refrigerator/Icebox
http://fourmileisland.com/IceBox.htm
Note: I would not try this unless you have a lot of time to
tinker -- I am guessing there is a significant learning curve
attached to getting one of these operating well. |
 This
fridge uses a well insulated 300 gallon water/ice container that is cooled by
an outdoor finned tube baseboard unit to supply year round refrigeration
with no energy use. No moving parts.Other interesting projects on
the same site.
|
|
Off Grid Appliances |
Finding efficient
appliances for off grid can be difficult, since the power draw is very
important, but you still want an appliance that does the job well -- this
section will collect a few appliances that off-grid people favor:
|
| How to build a wood fired clothes
dryer
Full details ...
Ray's site
has many other interesting projects... |
 Ray
was looking for a way to dry clothes in the winter for his off-grid home.
He came up with this design that captures heat from a wood burning boiler or
stove chimney so that the only electricity needed for the dryer is motor and
controls. He provides full details for converting an electric clothes
dryer to use heat from burning wood. |
|
Other Interesting PV Applications |
| Solar Scooter
Full Scooter Plans from Don
Article on the scooter in Tree Hugger with some additional pictures:
http://www.treehugger.com |
 A
solar scooter by Don Dunklee. Street legal, affordable and
dependable.
Thanks to Don for making the plans available! |
|
"Big Belly" solar powered trash bin
http://bigbellysolar.com/
|
"Big Belly" is a trash bin with built in compaction. It is solar
powered and requires no power connection.
The compactor reduces trash volume by up to 8 times -- this reduces the
number of garbage truck pickups, which in turn reduces energy use and GHG
emissions. Big Belly has very carefully designed power
management, and can go for many cloudy days without running out of power. |
|
Roof-Integrated PV From Sunbeam To Standing Seam
William Ball
How to
get articles from Home Power ... |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 105
Description of using Uni-Solar laminated PV bonded to a metal standing seam
roof produces an almost invisible PV installation. Detailed description of
the laminated PV installation and of the PV system |
Water Pumping PV with Interesting Reflector System To Increase PV panel
Output
H.J. Helikson, D.Z. Haman and C.D. BairdUniversity of Florida --
Extension Service
Pumping Paper (pdf)
(much more on PV water
pumping) |
 Interesting
1992 paper on PV powered pumping for irrigation wire. Good analysis of
system.The very simple reflector system used to increase solar radiation
on the PV panels increases output put 30% while adding little to the cost. |
|
Build A Simple Solar Powered Outdoor Light, Jeffery Yago, Backwoods Magazine
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago92.html
|
 Backwoods
Magazine Article on building a solar PV powered "street light". |
|
The Biggest Solar Electric Boat this Side of the
Mississippi
Steve Cooper
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 57Interesting article on using solar PV to
provide auxiliary power on a 30 ft sailboat. |
PV and EV -- My Solar-Electric House and Car
Mark Jensen
Home Power Magazine Article, Issue 113
How to
get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Good
Home Power article. Mark describes the large PV system that runs his
house, as well as keeping his Toyota RAV 4 EV (Electrical Vehicle) charged.
These EV's are no longer offered by Toyota, and after reading the article,
one wonders why? |
|
Energy Tile -- PV modules that look like roof
shingles
http://www.bp.com/...
|
 PV
modules that resemble roof shingles and tend to blend in with the roof. |
Make Your Own PV
Here are some detailed articles on how to build your own
PV panels from individual PV cells.
If you think that you want to roll your own PV panel, these are the best
descriptions I could find -- some of them are very detailed.
Careful weather sealing needs to be addressed. |
|
Caution: bogus books on making your
own PV panels |
I've noticed that a number of books have popped up on the Internet and on
ebay that promise to tell you in detail how to easily make PV panels (or
wind turbines).
Many of these are scams that contain little or no useful
information. I don't know how you tell the good from the bad, but
the two links below and the ones on the wind page provide quite a bit of
how-to detail for no charge, so I'd start with these. |
|
Home Build Solar System
Full Details...
(pdf)
|
 This
is a very well done article on building not only your own PV panels, but
adding the additional components to make a full system.
Home Build Solar
System is Hans website, and has additional materials on this and other
renewable energy projects. |
|
Solar Panel Do-It-Yourself
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hante/index-en.html
|
 This
website from Hante provides very detailed and carefully thought out
techniques for assembling your own PV panels from individual cells.There
is also material on adding the other components needed to make a full
system. |
How I built an electricity producing Solar Panel,
Mike
http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/index.html
|
 Another
quite detailed run down on making your own PV panels from individual solar
cells purchased on ebay. |
Homemade Solar Panels
Post on Fieldlines
http://www.fieldlines.com
Another Detailed How To on making PV panels:
Homemade Solar PV Panel... |
 This
is a fairly detailed post on the Fieldlines forum describing how to build
your own PV panels from individual solar cells.
I've also heard a couple stories about early failure of homemade panels from
moisture penetration due to weather exposure -- don't know what the design
of these panels was. |
|
Home DIY Solar
http://www.homediysolar.com
|
 Another
good and free source of information on how to make PV panels.Sean uses a
vacuum bag technique to seal the PV panel together.
|
