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Besides the power demands of ac, which could easily be 10 hrs a day, how are these homeowners then going to charge up their electric cars;solar panels at night?? What about the appliances, tv etc, at night or in winter?
Buy more panels until you meet the peak power need and the overall energy need. A stand alone system can meet it's peak power need drawing on batteries, if the inverter is sized appropriately.
Most people will be grid connected and in a net metering environment so actually meeting your total energy needs might not be the most cost effective. Many net metering tariffs allow you to "bank" excess energy, but if you don't use it within a year, it has no value to you. Roof size and design may also affect how large an array you install.
Starting to seem them in all kinds structures here. Our local library built a roof over the entire parking area and covered it with solar panels. Lots of apartment complexes here have extensive arrays of solar panels that supply all the outdoor lighting. We have some of the highest electric rates in the country so every alternative energy source helps.
Just looked it up. We are using 40KWh. This is our comfort level and I am not prepared to change anything. Is there a solar option to cover me?
You have your units confused.
It's unlikely that you use 40 kW. That would be 166 amperes and indicate a 200 amp circuit.
You might use 40 kWh per day.
Your best bet is to find a local solar company and get them to evaluate your house. They will know what hoops you need to jump and what incentives there are.
Besides the power demands of ac, which could easily be 10 hrs a day, how are these homeowners then going to charge up their electric cars;solar panels at night?? What about the appliances, tv etc, at night or in winter?
This seems like a good place to jump in.
I was lying on the bed at sunset today, thinking about some energy conservation with the power company. Some, mind you, for things like the AC and refrigeration in Texas are needed, aren't that easy to find other ways.
Light during the day can be done with sunlight but how much would one need in solar fed batteries for things like lights, TV, perhaps the microwave (stove is gas), and the computer, items that are more variable to our control. What's the next solar grid for that?
There are other grids such as for the gate opener but still in the box because the project has been held up.
Could another such solar grid provide for night time solar batteries? I don't know, I have not researched into it, but one thing my installer for the company that is no longer around noted was that the grid system referred to above is on when it is told to pump water but otherwise, just spends time collecting energy that goes nowhere.
Maybe that system should be storing that energy in batteries to use at other times. Perhaps but water is life and I am not sure how much I want to mess with that primary system as oppose to building a second one for the additional systems.
Finally, about solar energy at night? We-ll, if one could build a system where sunlight heated water into vapor that then rose through pipes into a collection tank where it condensed and formed a kinetic head over a turbine, one might have a solar system that provided power at night........conceptually.
I was lying on the bed at sunset today, thinking about some energy conservation with the power company. Some, mind you, for things like the AC and refrigeration in Texas are needed, aren't that easy to find other ways.
Light during the day can be done with sunlight but how much would one need in solar fed batteries for things like lights, TV, perhaps the microwave (stove is gas), and the computer, items that are more variable to our control. What's the next solar grid for that?
There are other grids such as for the gate opener but still in the box because the project has been held up.
Could another such solar grid provide for night time solar batteries? I don't know, I have not researched into it, but one thing my installer for the company that is no longer around noted was that the grid system referred to above is on when it is told to pump water but otherwise, just spends time collecting energy that goes nowhere.
Maybe that system should be storing that energy in batteries to use at other times. Perhaps but water is life and I am not sure how much I want to mess with that primary system as oppose to building a second one for the additional systems.
Finally, about solar energy at night? We-ll, if one could build a system where sunlight heated water into vapor that then rose through pipes into a collection tank where it condensed and formed a kinetic head over a turbine, one might have a solar system that provided power at night........conceptually.
You bring up some good points to be considered.
I too have solar for my well pump- for security reasons. It will cost me ~$1000 extra over the next 20 yrs, but I consider that a good value for the potential benefit rendered. The pump is only drawing juice a short time each day, so the system wastes a good deal of generation without storage, but to store the relatively small excess would provide other problems- potentially toxic, expensive batteries that would have to be kept warm in the winter-- self defeating proposition.
For many of us who live on acreage, small, devoted solar installations can be cheaper than running wires to out buildings that don't need much power service. I've used small solar lites in sheds & coops.
The idea of using solar power to run pumps to store water at higher elevations, then use the head to generate juice via water power has been around a while, and I think there exist a few systems with fairly large reservoirs to produce power on an industrial scale already. Two problems: 2nd Law of Thermodynamics makes each additional step added less efficient, and land use problems- you need prohibitively large tracts of land to sacrifice to reservoir use for large scale applications and lack of adequate terrain-- you gotta have a lower water source near a spot where you can place the upper reservoir in a location with adequate daily/yearly sun. It's a niche solution, not a general solution.
I was rather visualizing natural circulation, like that used on the submarine Narwhal, and not pumps. Heat the water to vapor, let the vapor rise in pipes to a tank where it condenses. Could someone do it, I don't know.
The thing about solar batteries being self defeating could mean........find a way to build a different battery, conceptual or actual. Conceptual to me means a battery that is not lead-acid or even metal based and then actually, build on that theory. I have one approach (but they tell me someone already did it, doggone it!) and that is use biology as its primary science. Enough to drive a submarine? Not a chance but perhaps a possibility for space craft.
The thing is, try to think of solar power in different approaches to find answers.
Heating water to steam would take a lot more energy than just pumping it cold.
They've been trying to find a new paradigm for battery design for 3000 yrs (an ancient Babylonian jar with two metal bars hanging from the cover sure looks like a Leyden jar. Did they know about electricity?) No luck. I understand there's some new work being done with Buckey Balls & nano-chemistry. Will it ever translate to industrial sized applications? Chissa?
MotherNature has had the advantage of billions of years of trial & error and no penalty for making mistakes. We don't have that luxury. We're still no closer to figuring out bioluminescence than we were a century ago, and photosynthesis is something like 97% efficient. Our solar cells are no better than 25% efficient. We're a long way off.
This site LOW-TECH MAGAZINE may have some articles you'd find interesting about storing solar energy as compressed air. One entry examines how solar power can never replace fossil fuels-- solar energy is somewhat of a quest for The Perpetual Motion Machine-- because we can't efficiently store solar power, we'd have install something 10x needed capacity to provide for peak hours & reserve when the sun isn't shining.
We better just conserve now if we're worried about future generations.
I was rather visualizing natural circulation, like that used on the submarine Narwhal, and not pumps. Heat the water to vapor, let the vapor rise in pipes to a tank where it condenses. Could someone do it, I don't know.
The thing about solar batteries being self defeating could mean........find a way to build a different battery, conceptual or actual. Conceptual to me means a battery that is not lead-acid or even metal based and then actually, build on that theory. I have one approach (but they tell me someone already did it, doggone it!) and that is use biology as its primary science. Enough to drive a submarine? Not a chance but perhaps a possibility for space craft.
The thing is, try to think of solar power in different approaches to find answers.
Narwhal's natural circ was based upon the difference in water density between the hot leg and cold leg of the primary loop. There was no phase change.
If you need storage, your best bet is a chemical battery. The energy densities are increasing at impressive rates and costs are dropping. Anything else will end up being a Rube Goldberg.
It's actually harmful to a pv cell to have it exposed to sunlight and not have a load connected. If you are using it to pump water, I'd suggest having a tank that can be filled whenever there is power.
Heating water to steam would take a lot more energy than just pumping it cold.
.....
Is it different than heating water to water vapor for that is what I said. I did not say steam.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DCforever
Narwhal's natural circ was based upon the difference in water density between the hot leg and cold leg of the primary loop. There was no phase change. ....
Sort of what I was thinking at one time such as perhaps like an AC system or an AC fluid.
Quote:
.......It's actually harmful to a pv cell to have it exposed to sunlight and not have a load connected. If you are using it to pump water, I'd suggest having a tank that can be filled whenever there is power.
There is......2800 gallons to be exactish. Add to that my well installer suggested using the overflow to supply irrigation.
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