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New golf cart batteries

gcb1

Today was the first full day on the new batteries, we had everything hooked up to them, including the new chest freezer to refrigerator conversion, about a month (or so) ago our old one smoked on us, fortunately it happened during the day and I was there to catch it, it might not have gone any further, but as far as I’m concerned, when you see smoke, fire usually comes next. I’ll do another writeup on the new fridge very soon, until then you can read about how I DIY’d the conversion here and here.

Our previous batteries were marine type deep cycle batteries, I’ve been told on more than one occasion that those types of batteries aren’t true deep cycle batteries, in fact the newer ones being sold have cold cranking ratings on them instead of amp hours, and that has little (or nothing) to do with being deep cycle, that has to do with starting motors and such. Those are a hybrid of regular and deep cycle batteries, more robust than a standard car or truck battery but not as heavy duty as a true deep cycle battery.…

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April 20, 2014 2 Comments
Communities

Off-Grid hiccups

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A while back my current deep cycle batteries began to get weak, they would charge up quickly and not hold much of a charge, unfortunately the batteries are the part of the off-grid system that need to be replaced on a semi-regular basis. I am hard on my batteries, that has never been a secret. This next week I plan on buying four 6-volt deep cycle golf cart batteries. In the past I have used marine type deep cycle batteries, they are more heavy duty than regular automotive batteries, but aren’t near as hearty as golf cart batteries.

As my current batteries began getting weaker and weaker, it began creating problems with my inverter, causing it to go into fault mode for a few seconds, meaning it would cut off the power during that time, it only did it during the day when the batteries were charging or fully charged, never at night, it took me a while to figure out where the problem was.…

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April 13, 2014 8 Comments

Chinese solar farm $2m crowd-funding

A state-backed firm teamed up with Chinese online financiers to fund off-grid solar facility in Qianhai, near Shenzen, southern China.

United Photovoltaics Group, controlled by state-backed finance-to-logistics conglomerate China Merchants Group, aims to raise 10 million yuan through what it claims to be the world’s first megawatt-scale, off-power-grid solar farm project funded by an internet “crowd fundraising” platform.…

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February 20, 2014 2 Comments

Power giants hate solar in Australia

The Australian solar industry is preparing for what it calls a “David and Goliath” battle against the country’s biggest generators and network operators. The outcome will likely decide the immediate fate of rooftop solar in Australia, and the pace of the so-called “democratisation of energy” — a contest that pitches households and their solar modules against the centralised utilities that have dominated the industry for a century or more in Australia and across the developed world.…

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February 7, 2014 1 Comment

Most solar panels are facing wrong direction

Extra revenue generated by pointing panels Most solar panel installers follow conventional wisdom handed down from architects, which holds that in the northern hemisphere, windows and solar panels should face south.

This makes intuitive sense since it would seem to maximize the amount of sunlight a panel will get as the sun tracks from one horizon to the other. But it isn’t true, at least according to a single study of homes in Austin, Texas. The Pecan Street Research Institute found that homeowners who aimed their panels toward the west, instead of the south, generated 2% more electricity over the course of a day.…

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November 19, 2013 3 Comments
Communities

Underground home in Cumbria

Underground house

From what I have read, the underground house is often considered the holy grail of off-grid living, it’s known to be warm in winter, cool in summer, making life more self sufficient for the occupants of the home. I ran across this video recently about a family creating an underground home, taking advantage of a former sandstone quarry, most of the “hole” their home would go in was already there.…

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November 3, 2013 1 Comment
Solar

Solar Thermal System for Heated Swimming Pool

Imagine taking a dip in your outdoor swimming pool in late October, even November as the ground hardens and the frost thickens. The steam is coming off of your heated pool, and its not costing you a cent – apart from considerable installation costs that is.

There are some design factors to be considered, including proper sizing and location. But there are many web sites to help you, as well as the off-grid technical forum for advice. It’s not imperative to have your solar pool heater configured and installed by experts.…

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October 31, 2013 No Comments
Communities

Solar powered pyramid

Pyramid power

Ever see an off-grid pyramid? Well you are about to. This is the video story of Greg Grant, who began his off-grid existence slow and small.

He didn’t put a lot of money into his project. What he had was land, lots of natural materials, a great bunch of talented and helpful friends, and a unique vision. He chose to make his off-grid home out of short straw-bale walls, but with a steeply pitched, pyramid shaped roof.…

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October 27, 2013 2 Comments

UK solar homes pass 500,000

Recent data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) shows that nearly 460,000 homes across the UK have solar panels installed, and that does not include off-grid homes, since these do not show up in official stats.

The data was released recently by DECC and published on the website of the Solar Trade Association (STA). It represents a combined peak capacity of 1.3GW, making domestic solar the largest sub-sector of the solar market.

The popularity of solar in the UK has largely resulted from huge subsidies that have now been scaled back. The result of intensive lobbying by the green movement, it has made a few companies super-profits and further enriched some wealthy householders, but done little to decarbonise Britain.…

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October 21, 2013 No Comments

Ted Turner goes off-grid

Ted Turner’s hunting and fishing resort, Vermejo Park Ranch, has installed a new $1 million solar system that will take the lodge off the power grid.

Turner, the 239th richest man in the US with a fortune of $2bn bought the 578,000 acre ranch in New Mexico in 1996. It stretches into Colorado and reportedly is one of the largest privately owned ranches in the country.

In 2007 Turner partnered with New Jersey-based Dome Tech Solar to create DT Solar, a renewable energy company focusing on solar power.…

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June 14, 2013 No Comments

A Liter of light

MANILA, Philippines – A hole-in-the-wall establishment in coastal Dumaguete City has a new come-on for its local and foreign tourist-diners, aside from food and brightly colored seats.

“You wanna take a look?” goes Mifune Japanese Restaurant’s teaser on its website. “Feel free to ask our waitresses to have a look in our back kitchen! Picture-taking is allowed. School classes, students, (and) researchers are welcome…. ”

The attraction? Three 1.5-liter plastic soft-drink bottles, filled with water and a little bleach, poke out of the restaurant’s back kitchen roof, illuminating the whole room without using electricity from morning till sundown.

The not-so-secret ingredient: The upper-half part of each plastic bottle juts out above the restaurant’s metal roof and catches sun light; the water’s refractive property then disperses the light 360 degrees inside the restaurant’s back kitchen, …

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June 11, 2013 1 Comment

Power decentralised in Germany

Perhaps its because of the political structure, with powerful local government, but Germany’d centralised energy system is quickly dissolving.

Germany’s power companies are closing power plants and scrapping plans for new ones. The nation had a freak-out after the Fukushima disaster and decided to abolish nuclear power by 2023. Meanwhile, energy prices continue to sink, and solar installation continues to grow. By decentralizing power generation, the renewables boom could do to the power industry what the internet did to the media: put power in the hands of the little guy, and force power companies to rethink how they do business.
As soon as the sun comes out, that is.…

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June 2, 2013 1 Comment