Charging your electric car at home or work is already totally feasible from a standard grid connection. Many already do so. Small electric cars, such as a Nissan Leaf, require a usually existing standard 230 volt ac 15 amp power point and a power cable that plugs into the car’s on-board charge.
Upgrading an existing solar system has unexpected traps. It is often better to scrap, use elsewhere, or attempt to sell that existing, and install a new one. This is particularly so with grid-connect systems and doing so with stand-alone systems is still tricky.
Fuel cells for homes and properties provide clean silent electricity. High current prices hinder their acceptance, but this may soon change. Fuel cells enhance solar. Furthermore, they may all but eliminate our need for battery storage. Fuel cells hugely reduce harmful emissions.
This vital easy to read guide shows you how to convert to your own all solar home at minimal cost. You can readily do this in much of the world between 50-degree latitudes north/south. This easy to read article shows that doing so can save you thousands of dollars.
It is often feasible to have portable solar in your rented home. Here’s how to do it simply, safely, legally and cheaply using readily bought parts. It requires space that faces the sun for some daylight hours year-round. It must also be within 50 degrees latitude north or south. You use high efficiency maximum-size solar modules to maximise input
We always wanted to stop paying for electricity, and now we have. It getting easier to free yourself from dependence on the grid. We decided against going off grid. Why waste excess electricity when someone is willing to pay for it!
Inverters for homes and properties convert the typical 24 or 48 volt battery bank’s output into grid-like 110 or 230 volt alternating current. Consider only those marketed as sine-wave (not modified sine wave etc). High quality sine wave inverters produce electricity that is ‘cleaner’ than the average grid supply. Other types do not. Their output is likely to wreck sensitive electronics.
Grid connect solar problems include, false promotion and vendor claims, incompetent installation etc. Here’s what vendors may not tell you.
Solar shadowing is like blocking a water pipe. If one cell is fully shadowed, it does not just block current through that cell, it blocks the entire string. Because of this, only a few shadowed cells can block your total solar output. If partially shadowed, (e.g. by light cloud) the loss is proportional to the amount of sunlight being blocked. The higher quality solar modules produce some output unless clouding is severe. It is, however, rare to have zero during ‘daylight hours’.
Top quality solar modules for homes and properties catch 18% to 20% of the solar energy available. This is typically 140 watts-180 watts per square metre in full sun from about 10 am to 2 pm. Input tapes off before and after. The most efficient are priced accordingly.
A backup generator is close to essential for home and property stand-alone solar. You can choose to down without but doing so may triple the cost of that system.
Solar Success explains how to design and build home and property systems that ensures affordable solar success first and every time. Making renewable solar power work effectively involves more than purchasing lots of solar panels. It’s a process that involves reduced...
Some solar scams are widespread while others are rare. It’s vital to keep yourself informed. Here are 10 scams. There are more to come.
This excellent USA system assisted USA’s residential and commercial solar installation to increase by over 1,600% since 2006. That’s a compound annual growth of 76%. It enables home-owners to use the credit to offset their personal income tax. It applies when home-owners buy the systems outright and have them installed on their homes. In the case of the Section 48 credit, the business that installs, develops and/or finances the project claims the credit.
We’ve recently upgraded our system. It now produces three to four times more electricity than we use on almost all days. We are thus not entirely free of the grid – but have yet to draw from it. At night, (or when overcast) we run from battery power. During each day we sell 15-30 kWh (at a current 20 cents per kWh).
Knowing the best batteries for stand-alone solar saves huge sums. This guide explains how and why. It’s all to do with having enough energy and having enough power. Energy and power, however, are different concepts. For stand-alone solar it is mostly energy, not power, that matters.
Our all solar house was self-built in five months. Hi-tech construction resulted in a superb and workable waterfront home in Australia’s remote far north. It was even built using mainly solar energy. Here’s how we did it.
Knowing refrigeration basics is vital! Doing so can literally save you thousands of dollars on the energy needed to drive them.
Solar regulators for home and property systems manipulate the energy that solar modules produce. They connect between solar modules and the rest of the system and ensure batteries are optimally charged. Most solar regulators for home and property accept a range of solar input voltage: typically 12 – 110 volts dc.
This article explains the battery capacity required for home and property solar during periods when there is no solar or other energy input. Solar capacity is now cheap. Battery capacity is increasingly costly. Quality solar modules produce usable energy even under light cloud. Install as much solar as you can. This ensures batteries fully charge most of the time.
When determining the battery capacity required for home and property solar – never skimp on solar. Excess battery capacity is like having multiple bank accounts. It increases the cost of storage.
Solar that Really Works! covers the design, installation and use of solar in cabins, camper trailers, caravans, fifth wheelers, campervans and motor homes.
The book retailers set their own prices which can vary substantially. We'll aim to keep a selection of the better prices above.
Any bookshop, whether online or bricks and mortar, can order copies of Solar That Really Works! Just ask.
ISBN: 978-0-6483190-3-0
The Caravan & Motorhome Book covers every conceivable aspect of campervan and motorhome usage. If you own a camper van or motor home, you'll want this book.
The book retailers set their own prices which can vary substantially. We'll aim to keep a selection of the better prices above.
Any bookshop, whether online or bricks and mortar, can order copies of The Caravan & Motorhome Book. Just ask.
ISBN: 978-0-6483190-5-4.
How to Choose and Buy an RV is the ultimate guide for those times when you want to, well, choose and buy an RV.
Prices for the paperback version including delivery can vary dramatically. RVBooks recommends you shop around. We've included a number of reputable booksellers you may wish to consider. Any bookshop, whether online or bricks and mortar, can order copies of How to Choose and Buy an RV. Just ask.
ISBN: 978-0-6487945-5-4.
Solar that Really Works! covers the design, installation and use of solar in cabins, camper trailers, caravans, fifth wheelers, campervans and motor homes.
The book retailers set their own prices which can vary substantially. We'll aim to keep a selection of the better prices above.
Any bookshop, whether online or bricks and mortar, can order copies of Solar That Really Works! Just ask.
ISBN: 978-0-6483190-3-0