What-A-One-Kilowatt-PV-System-Does-In-Eco-Reductions

DID YOU KNOW...

A one kilowatt PV system each month:
Prevents 150 lbs. of coal from being mined
Prevents 300 lbs. of CO 2 from entering the atmosphere
Keeps 105 gallons of water from being consumed
Keeps NO and SO 2 from being released into the environment or an equivalent system that produces 150 kWh per month

It's more than just a luxury, you are helping look after our planet by reducing your carbon footprint whilst living a more sustainable lifestyle.

Renewable-Energy-Discussion-Forum

Just a reminder about the HomeBrewPower - Renewable energy free forum.

Please visit the following link and be sure to bookmark it for future reference.

http://apps.homebrewpower.co.uk/Forum/TopicGroup/

NanoSolar-Printed-Solar-Cells-Cheapest-In-The-World

NanoSolar Inc - Printing Solar Film

For a number of years I have been watching the development of a Californian based company NanoSolar Inc (Nano Solar Inc). My interest started when I realised that the cost of solar cells were so high it would never become viable for every rooftop to have a solar panel array. I have thought of various ways and means to bring cheap renewable energy to the masses but always strayed back to Solar PV cells.

What they have come up with is a way to print (Screen Print) Solar Substrate straight onto a thin foil material which means no more expensive silicon wafer based panels which are thick, heavy and expensive to produce. The new technology opens up a whole new dimension for end users.

Imagine an all electric vehicle with a Solar PV shell? How about solar slates that are cheaper than roofing tiles? A parking lot for electric vehicles with a solar roof? The new uses are endless!

NanoSolar Inc are fully booked with orders for the next 2 years (Correct as of July 2009) The demand is huge, they are gearing up for more production capacity already!

I would love to see a time when renewable energy can directly compete with fossil derived fuels (Coal, Oil & Gas) I think the Printed Solar Panels are a step in the right direction.

Semiconductor Printing

Printing is by far the simplest, highest-yield, and most capital-efficient technique for depositing thin films. Printing is extremely fast; the equipment involved is easy to use and maintain; and it works in plain air (no vacuum chamber required).

Another key advantage of a printable CIGS ink is that one can print it just where one wants it to be, achieving high materials utilization of the semiconductor material.

Printing is much simpler and more robust than vacuum deposition techniques such as sputtering or evaporation which have conventionally been used to fabricate thin-film solar cells; the process cost of vacuum techniques is so high that the result is not an inexpensive cell relative to the per-square-meter economics that the solar industry requires.

Solar-Panels-For-Shed-Summerhouse-How-To-Calculate

Renewable energy in your shed / workshop / out house / barn / stables or similar.

Below is what you need to know!

How much power do you require?

What you have to look at is how much power you want and for how long per day. Start off by listing everything electrical you are going to be using in your shed, for example:
1 x 600 Watt Power Drill
1 x 60 Watt Light Bulb
1 x 10 Watt Radio

Next thing to do is work out how long per day you are going to be in your shed per day, also whilst you are in your shed, how long are you going to be using each of your electrical appliances. Example below:

2 Hours per day in my shed on average. (Total time per day in Shed)
1 x 600 Watt Power Drill for 1 hour per day.
1 x 60 Watt Light Bulb for 2 Hours per day.
1 x 10 Watt Radio for 2 Hours per day.

Now for the simple math behind it all!

Drill - 600 Watts x 1 Hour = 600 Watt Hours or 0.6 KWA (Kilo Watt Hour)
Light - 60 Watts x 2 hours = 120 Watt Hours or 0.06 KWA (Kilo Watt Hour)
Radio - 10 Watts x 2 Hours = 20 Watt Hours or 0.02 KWA (Kilo Watt Hour)
Total use per day = (0.6 + 0.06 + 0.02) = 0.68 KWA Per Day

My rule of thumb is to double your estimate therefore 0.68 KWA x 2 = 1.36KWA

Calculating your Solar Panel size.

Lets assume that on average a typical location in the UK will receive 5 hours of bright sunshine per day (Wishful thinking I know!) Notice we are working with 2 known quantities now 1. Power (Watts) and time (Hours) this enables us to work out what we need easily.
Take our total load (1.36 KWA) and divide it by sunlight hours (5) = (0.272) This is the figure in KW that are panel will need to provide for 5 hours to enable us to place enough power in our battery bank to let us use our electrical equipment for designated time above (2 Hours per day) 0.272 KWA can be converted into Watts by x 1000 so: 0.272 KWA x 1000 = 272 Watts or a 272 Watt Solar Panel Is required!

Calculating your battery bank size.

We know from our calculation's above that our electricity demand is 1.36 KWA worst case, so our battery bank is required to put out a minimum of 1.36 KW for 1 hour (KWH) If we are going to use a 12 V (Volt) battery bank then we can start looking at the figures:
We know we need 1360 Watts for one hour.
We know we have 12 Volts DC from the battery bank.
Ohms Law states that P (Watts) = I (Current In Amps) x V (Volts)
So we have 1360 (Watts) = ? (I - Current In Amps) x 12 (Volts)
So without boring you too much if we divide 1360 by 12 We get 113.33 Amps!

Batteries are measured in AH (Ampere Hours) But note that the specified AH on a battery is normally measured over a 10 hour period so the drain on a measured AH is 1/10th over 10 hours!
Lets assume for our rule of thumb and to be sure we are going to double our needs so we require 113.33 * 2 = 226.66 AH (Amp Hour) at 12VDC. Easy!

Calculating Your Inverter Size.

(The thing that takes battery DC and makes domestic AC for use with household electrical equipment!
We know that we are going to be using a 12V DC battery bank to power the inverter so we know we require a 12V DC inverter!
We know we require a Max of 1360 Watts or 1.36 KW of power and lets factor in 100% to allow for losses and inefficiencies, this gives us 2.72KW.
So We would choose a 12V DC inverter at 3000 Watts or 3 KW.

Choosing a Solar Charge Controller.

There are many different kinds of solar charge controllers available in the current market, PWM controllers (Pulse Width Modulation Controllers) Electronic controllers and MPPT (Maximum Point Power Tracker) to keep this section simple you are best sending me an EMAIL with info on what you are wanting to do and I will suggest the best solution for your needs.

If you want more information please do EMAIL me and I will provide you with a free quotation for either supply only or supply & installation.

Welcome-To-Renewable-Energy-UK-www.homebrewpower.co.uk

HomeBrewPower Project Mission Statement:

HomeBrewPower is dedicated to providing interesting projects, reviews and case studies for Renewable Energy Projects. Many renewable energy projects can be applied to homes and businesses. Wind Turbines are a great DIY project to start off with for producing some of your electrical needs. Of course some may want to learn about Solar Hot Water, Micro-Hydro turbines, Geothermal Heating, Energy Saving or running your Diesel Car on 'Carbon Neutral' Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) We are constantly updating each and every page and adding new ones all the time here at HomeBrewPower, check back regularly to see what we are working on.

HomeBrewPower Installation Services:

Specializing in the design & installation of UK Off-Grid power for Remote homes, buildings & boats. Systems include Solar PV, Wind Turbines, Micro CHP & Solar Hot Water. 12, 24 36, 48 & 230V Systems tailored to suit the clients power requirements.

We like to work on bespoke / one off domestic living spaces such as: Woodland Low Impact Houses, Eco Houses, Boat Homes, Isolated Properties, Custom Built Homes, Yurts, Dome Houses, Straw Bail Homes, Reclaimed Building Material Homes. Anything that requires all the creature comforts of a traditionally built home but without the restraints of Grid-Tied Electricity.

If you are looking for either a complete package or just a helping hand. design or advice

then please contact us by clicking here

Our areas of expertise are listed below

Solar PV Installations
Wind Turbine Installations
12VDC Installations
Micro-Hydro Installations
230VAC Off Grid Installations
Energy Saving Lighting Installations
Carbon Neutral Energy Points (Small solar setup to provide power to 1 of more sockets at home)
Eco Product Reviews
Eco Evaluations

Solar-Photovoltaic-Regulations-BS-7671:2008-Section-712

BS 7671:2008 includes a new Section 712 providing additional requirements for safety applicable to solar photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems.

The additional requirements in BS 7671:2008 along with some explanations are discussed in this article. As with any low voltage installation, the general requirements in Parts 1 to 6 of BS 7671:2008 have also to be met which include in Part 5, Section 551, requirements for low voltage generating sets.

The risks

The particular risks associated with solar photovoltaic systems are:

PV systems cannot be switched off. Modules produce electricity when exposed to daylight. Hence, unlike most other electrical installation work, the installation of a PV system typically involves working on a live system. Regulation 14 of the Electricity at Work Regulations gives requirements that must be met. Special precautions should be made to ensure live terminals are either not accessible or cannot be readily touched during installation and maintenance. Such terminals will be live at all times during daylight hours. It is important that anyone opening an enclosure is aware of this.

An electrician who has come to work on the electrical installation needs to be aware that there is a second source of energy which will also need to be isolated.

PV modules are current-limiting devices which require a nonstandard approach when designing fault protection systems for the dc side, as fuses are not likely to operate under short-circuit conditions. A different approach to fault protection is often needed, such as sizing the conductors for the maximum fault current that can flow at any given point in the circuit.

PV systems include dc wiring, with which few electrical installers are familiar.

PV presents a unique combination of hazards – due to risk of electric shock, falling and simultaneous manual handling difficulties. All of these hazards are encountered as a matter of course on a building site, but rarely all at once. While roofers may be accustomed to minimising risks of falling or injury due to manual handling problems, they may not be used to dealing with the risk of electric shock. Similarly, electricians would be familiar with electric shock hazards but not with handling large objects at heights.

Nanosolar-Solar-PV-Cost-Breakthrough

Their mission: to deliver cost-efficient solar electricity. The Nanosolar company was founded in 2002 and is working to build the world's largest solar cell factory in California and the world's largest panel-assembly factory in Germany. They have successfully created a solar coating that is the most cost-efficient solar energy source ever. Their PowerSheet cells contrast the current solar technology systems by reducing the cost of production from $3 a watt to a mere 30 cents per watt. This makes, for the first time in history, solar power cheaper than burning coal.

These coatings are as thin as a layer of paint and can transfer sunlight to power at amazing efficiency. Although the underlying technology has been around for years, Nanosolar has created the actual technology to manufacture and mass produce the solar sheets. The Nanosolar plant in San Jose, once in full production in 2008, will be capable of producing 430 megawatts per year. This is more than the combined total of every other solar manufacturer in the U.S.

Kind regards

Andy Mahoney

Home Brew Power

(Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)

www.homebrewpower.co.uk

Off-Grid-Solar-PV-Project-UK

Project;Wood Forge Off-Grid Power To Remote Forge.

Home Brew Power comes across many bespoke projects in the alternative / renewable power generation business. Odian Wood Forge in Kent is a fine example worth a mention.

We are providing a solar setup to supply the forge with single phase 230VAC power to feed the extractor fan and forge fan motor. the Solar PV panel will charge a bank of SLA batteries via a charge controller which in turn powers a PSW (Pure Sine Wave) inverter. The system has been designed to allow additional sources of power to be added, if required, in the future.

The forge will be in use approximately 4 hours per week. The remainder of the time the autonomous RE (Renewable Energy) system will replenish the batteries.

Breif-Explanation-Of-Alternative-Power-Sources

The majority of the electrical power used throughout the world is produced by generators containing a rotating magnet usually powered by steam created from burning fossil fules. Renewable sources of energy, however , are becoming more commonly used across the globe. The government has set a target to generate 10% of the UK's electricity needs from renewable sources by the year 2010.

Alternative energy sources include solar panels, wind generators, hydro-electric power and nuclear power. Solar panels convert sunlight directly to electricity but in general have low efficiency. Wind power is used directly to rotate turbines to generate electricity. Hydro-electric power converts the kinetic energy from falling water into electricity and nuclear power uses the energy locked in the nuclei of atoms instead of fossil fuels.

Hologram-Prism-Solar-Panels-By-Prism-Solar-Technologies

The main limitation of solar power right now is cost, because the crystalline silicon used to make most solar photovoltaic (PV) cells is very expensive. One approach to overcoming this cost factor is to concentrate light from the sun using mirrors or lenses, thereby reducing the total area of silicon needed to produce a given amount of electricity.

But traditional light concentrators are bulky and unattractive -- less than ideal for use on suburban rooftops.

Now Prism Solar Technologies of Stone Ridge, NY, has developed a proof-of-concept solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light, possibly cutting the cost of solar modules by as much as 75 percent, making them competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels.
The new technology replaces unsightly concentrators with sleek flat panels laminated with holograms. The panels, says Rick Lewandowski, the company's president and CEO, are a "more elegant solution" to traditional concentrators, and can be installed on rooftops -- or even incorporated into windows and glass doors.

The system needs 25 to 85 percent less silicon than a crystalline silicon panel of comparable wattage, Lewandowski says, because the photovoltaic material need not cover the entire surface of a solar panel. Instead, the PV material is arranged in several rows. A layer of holograms -- laser-created patterns that diffract light -- directs light into a layer of glass where it continues to reflect off the inside surface of the glass until it finds its way to one of the strips of PV silicon. Reducing the PV material needed could bring down costs from about $4 per watt to $1.50 for crystalline silicon panels, he says.

The company is expecting to pull in another $6 million from interested venture capitalists and start manufacturing its first-generation modules by the end of the year, selling them at about $2.40 per watt. Next-generation modules with more advanced technology should bring down the cost further.

In their ability to concentrate light, holograms are not as powerful as conventional concentrators. They can multiply the amount of light falling on the cells only by as much as a factor of 10, whereas lens-based systems can increase light by a factor of 100, and some even up to 1,000.