Solar Power Setup

Anniekay said:
I have never seen nor heard of one of these before. 😮 It's very cool and seems so easy to use !!
Thanks for the tip on starting the Barbie without fluid. I would never have thought of twig shavings and cooking oil .
Click to expand...

They are easy, used to make a cup of tea with just twigs in minutes. It did put me in hospital when it boiled over though. It splashed my leg which I cooled down quickly but I didn't realise it had soaked into my sock. Once the nerves are burnt off you can't feel anything. Took weeks to heal.
 
Zigs said:
I like the sound of that, wonder if there's a UK version? :)

Do you guys still use CB these days?
Click to expand...
You would think that the UK would have a weather broadcast frequency, wouldn't ya?
Some people have CB's at home but it's mostly truck drivers that have CBs in their trucks so they can warn each other of speed traps and such .

That hot water must've reeeeeally hurt !! 😱
 
Anniekay said:
You would think that the UK would have a weather broadcast frequency, wouldn't ya?
Some people have CB's at home but it's mostly truck drivers that have CBs in their trucks so they can warn each other of speed traps and such .

That hot water must've reeeeeally hurt !! 😱
Click to expand...

We do have the shipping forecast on Long Wave and VHF


That was the trouble, it didn't hurt so it took all the skin off :eek:
 
Well our "Government" has announced that we'll have to expect power cuts in their insane, one sided drive towards "Net Zero" :rolleyes:

Households could be forced to restrict when they boil the kettle to help Labour achieve 2030 clean energy targets​

Click to expand...

If you get rid of all the coal fired power stations and don't add any more storage to the power grid then what do they expect to happen when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow?

The whole system was nearly shut down by AI last week when they took a Nuclear power station off line to change the fuse while the wind wasn't blowing. The AI detected a huge drop in the power grid and nearly switched the whole thing off.

So bearing this in mind, we've made plans to connect the 30 amp circuit on the house (the circuit with all the 13 amp sockets and the gas boiler on it) to the emergency generator.

This will involve isolating the house from the grid before switching it on. If it works ok then it should power the fridge and freezers as well. Not the lighting or the shower circuit though. We have lighting from the solar batteries which are on a separate circuit.

We're going to try to test it out tomorrow so we can iron out any faults before we actually need it 🙂
 
I read somewhere that the Orkneys produce enough surplus wind power to give real security, but the cable connecting to the mainland isn't heavy enough to take it all. Apparently most people there have personal generators and feed surplus into the grid after charging the car etc.
It beats me why they don't exploit tidal power, regular and predictable.
 
olly-buckle said:
I read somewhere that the Orkneys produce enough surplus wind power to give real security, but the cable connecting to the mainland isn't heavy enough to take it all. Apparently most people there have personal generators and feed surplus into the grid after charging the car etc.
It beats me why they don't exploit tidal power, regular and predictable.
Click to expand...

We don't feed back into the grid as they now charge you to take it back out :eek: When we have a surplus then we use it to charge batteries, lights, phones, lawnmowers, strimmer, chainsaw and the hedgecutter.

Tidal power has been used sucessfully in the past to power corn grinding mills. Trouble is (as any fisherman knows) there is so much debris and seaweed floating around it clogs up the mechanisms. It seems to be worse in May, you get so much seaweed on your fishing line you're cleaning it off every 5 minutes, and it only takes one drifting log to mess it right up :eek:
 
olly-buckle said:
I read somewhere that the Orkneys produce enough surplus wind power to give real security, but the cable connecting to the mainland isn't heavy enough to take it all. Apparently most people there have personal generators and feed surplus into the grid after charging the car etc.
It beats me why they don't exploit tidal power, regular and predictable.
Click to expand...

A company in the Orkney's are producing 'machinery' for tidal power. Sorry I can't remember it's name but I'll see if I can locate it. The first one produced a few years ago was being tested in the Inverness area but I haven't heard any updates on it. You might find the article below interesting @olly-buckle.

www.orkney.com

New tidal energy project in Orkney waters | Orkney.com

Plans for a new tidal energy project in Orkney that could create a dozen permanent jobs locally have been announced by Orbital Marine Power.
www.orkney.com www.orkney.com
 
We had a few power cuts over the past few days. After the total blackout we had what is called a "brownout". Some voltage was coming through but not enough to power up freezers and things. The internet box came on but went off when we tried to charge the laptops so there was a very restricted supply.

We found out this can damage electronics so unplugged things like the boiler.

We've now got the generator on standby nearby with power leads to go to the freezers as one started to defrost.

We were ok for lighting as the solar setup was already in place.

Being winter the sun is low in the sky and hits just about every hedgerow & trees before disappearing about 3pm, but even so we were still getting some charge from it today.

DSC07481.webp

The shadow is from the big Scot's pine tree, this was about mid day.

DSC07483.webp

14 volts is good for the battery array and we were getting nearly 2 amps in, not bad for late November. When I was living in the caravan I used to call the 3 weeks either side of the Solstice the Doldrums. Often there would be enough power to run my laptop and mifi box or the lights, but not both :rolleyes:
 
Zigs said:
We had a few power cuts over the past few days. After the total blackout we had what is called a "brownout". Some voltage was coming through but not enough to power up freezers and things. The internet box came on but went off when we tried to charge the laptops so there was a very restricted supply.

We found out this can damage electronics so unplugged things like the boiler.

We've now got the generator on standby nearby with power leads to go to the freezers as one started to defrost.

We were ok for lighting as the solar setup was already in place.

Being winter the sun is low in the sky and hits just about every hedgerow & trees before disappearing about 3pm, but even so we were still getting some charge from it today.

View attachment 1932

The shadow is from the big Scot's pine tree, this was about mid day.

View attachment 1933

14 volts is good for the battery array and we were getting nearly 2 amps in, not bad for late November. When I was living in the caravan I used to call the 3 weeks either side of the Solstice the Doldrums. Often there would be enough power to run my laptop and mifi box or the lights, but not both :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I know you're far, far north but that's not much sun for noon time !! Down here we still are told to wear sunscreen in winter, the sun is still quite strong.
 
Anniekay said:
I know you're far, far north but that's not much sun for noon time !! Down here we still are told to wear sunscreen in winter, the sun is still quite strong.
Click to expand...

The angle of the sun is very low at this time of year, that's why it's catching the tops of the trees. I'll take a pic of it at mid day tomorrow so you can see :)
 

Similar threads

Jersey Devil
Hydrangea
Replies
2
Views
73
Jersey Devil
Jersey Devil
Mike
Photography Competition
2
Replies
27
Views
665
Anniekay
Anniekay
Mike
The Fall Garden
Replies
10
Views
94
Anniekay
Anniekay
Back
Top