Posted on 07/31/2009 12:08:23 PM PDT by LuxMaker
Trial deployment being started to test the waters
Interest in solar power remains high -- as do the costs associated with deploying the technology. The field is an interesting case; costs have been progressively dropping as efficiencies have been rising. However, there's also concerns about materials and potentially easier to harvest alternatives such as wind and nuclear energy to consider. Ultimately, major adopters could help to tip the scale in solar power's favor by offering the kind of funding needed to create mass production on the massive scale needed to drop cost.
One such major adopter may soon commit to solar power -- Walmart. Known for its financial savvy and cutthroat competitive nature, Walmart has started a trial deployment at a few stores. If it deems the results acceptable, it plans to roll out solar panels on the roofs of all its stores.
That makes for a deployment of approximately 35 square miles. That in turn would result in -- estimating conservatively 3 watts per square foot -- about 3 GW of total capacity.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailytech.com ...
/johnny
Where is your location, if you don't mind saying in a general sense (desert, mountain, plains, etc.)? Available sunlight and average annual hours of sunshine have a big impact on feasibility. Where I am, I sure don't want to be caught without a reliable energy source in the dead of winter. A fireplace won't do it for heating needs when it's zero or so for days on end with snow and no sun.
Going off-grid is one way to defeat it. Going "guerrilla" is another (i.e., finding ways around the rationing mechanisms). That is where I am looking right now and, believe me, as someone who has spent time in the power dispatching center "hot seat", I have some pretty good ideas on how to do it.
One way to overcome crappy sunlight is to use series ganged panels for up to 96Vdc, to feed a 12Vdc battery system.
I used the 12Vdc battery bank because I had the inverter for free/low cost.
The Outback charge controller manages the 96v PV to 12v battery bank very well. I get a charge even on cloudy days.
Given unlimited funds, I would have a 48Vdc inverter with better than the stepped square wave.
/johnny
First thing I did was to go through the house and kill the inductive loads or change the starters for soft-start and measured the PF of everything.
I looked at every device that consumed electricity in the house. I have a spiral notebook full of notes.
We achieved 40% savings by upgrading/deleting crap that was designed in the 1950s.
I have carried that to an extreme, perhaps, as NASCAR has done, but tried to do it at low cost, and NO change in my expected lifestyle. When I want to read, I don't want dim light. When I want a computer, I don't want 30 bogo-mips.
I could preach about energy and stewardship all day long. ;)
/johnny
Thanks, I think. Does that mean I'm old?
BTW, after glancing at your website, my first thought was that you should not defend conservatives being green, but use Biblical quotes to defend how conservatives (however badly) have been CONSERVING and STEWARDING the resources that God gave us. And we haven't done that badly.
We should defend the stewardship role assigned by God and that the left has tried to co-opt with their "green" movement.
That segues nicely into the fact that humans are expected to use their resources.
/johnny
No, it means I am a newbie, with only bookish experience. My girlfriend and I are architects and are currently designing our off grid home. I have worked on several projects, but have yet to live under the roof.
Good point on stewardship. Matter of fact, there is a quote from Voltaire about not losing a connection with nature and how it provides for us.
“We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest.” There is more to it, but it fits somewhat.
I always reflect on my grandfather and how he made the most of what he had, and would not pollute or mistreat his environs, for it provided for him.
The picture on your website is picturesque, but not sustainable or livable.
Imagine going to feed or care for critters in the pre-dawn hours in that locale. First (as you get older, this matters) you have to get down the hill in snow and ice without busting your ass.
Live in a tent in a spot for 16 days, 4 days each in the middle of winter, spring, summer, and fall, and then tell me that you can't find a better spot nearby.
I'm all about practical. But I chose a spot at the base of a 200 ft hill that moves about 2 inches a year. I'll be dead before it over-runs the house, or my descendants turn it into a hill-side root cellar.
It's little things like that that you have to live to understand.
/johnny
Yes, it was chosen purely for looks. I would probably choose the same as you, just on or at the bottom of a slope in a valley. Need some fertile ground for gardens, and protection from harsh winter winds.
Ummmm, they should sell them to their customers too...
Are you building new? You would be surprised how a well design home with modern insulation can hold heat. Some small super efficient cabins can stretch a cord all winter.
I have some good calculators for solar hours, what’s your zip? I also have a great program that allows you to enter all of you loads, and all of your inputs (wind/solar/micro hydro/generator) and it will show at what times of day/year you are short on input or storage. Contact me if you would like to know more. andrew@acronymdesigns.com
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It also met my food prep training for having a spot for slaughter, butchering, sanitation, garbage disposal, food preparation and storage, including slow smoking, outdoor bread oven, and cold house for meat and root veggies. Not to mention, a good possibility for an ice house.
On the engineering side, it met my requirements for a clear wireless shot to my network connection and good solar and wind conditions.
Hydrological considerations, it was near, but not too near a seasonal creek. Substrata water is divided into two clear layers, potable, and non-potable. I worked hard for the hydrology. Data was scarce, I had to do field work that I've not done in years, and I had no-one to second-guess my decisions.
Land use, I was more comfortable with. When I started turning soil and doing the test digs, I was very happy with the soil. It just needs stewardship.
A lot of disciplines went into making my decision. It was like a permanent final exam. Double check everything, hit the books, since it's an open-book test, but get it right.
/johnny
For an older neat thing that folks don't tend to know about, check out pyecrete. I use it structurally in the dead of winter, and all summer long for cooling.
/johnny
Any particular books you recommend? Site work is my weakest point, and is one of the areas where generic advice just doesn’t cut it.
Most of my books are 1860s to 1940s. They had very practical advice, but you have to work for it.
I have a DuPont book from 1918 that shows how to use their product for everything from breaking pan soils, moving tree stumps, sealing broken substrata to curing hemorrhoids and digging drainage ditches. Their product, back then was explosives.
/johnny
There's a book on doing survey work in the late 1800s that describes what chains, rods, and the other measurements are. It even has a primer on Trig, in case you didn't pay attention in class.
It's not one book, or even a few, it's hundreds, including books on raising hogs and bee-keeping.
And lots of field work. Get in the field. Screw up. Fix it. Learn from it. Find a mentor. Learn from your mentor.
/johnny
Much thanks. I have a decent collection on construction, gardening, livestock, and practical trades, but lean on surveying and ground water. Also have the Foxfire series which is great.
'Living on 5 acres' is good, too, but leaves out important details.
/johnny
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