Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So, in the cold hard light of the day Tony, just what percentage of your daily needs do you generate from your solar array?

What's your all up capacity of your panels?

I'd take a guess at 14 x 80w panels.... about 1.1Kw.... close?

Yup, Close.
ATM,I have 15, 100Wp Panels, delivering around 1100W from around 10:30 to 2:00 and tapering both sides of that. I am putting in 130AH at 48V into my batteries on a sunny day in winter. (6.2KWH) Unfortunately, most days this winter have been cloudy and it takes at least 3 days to recover one day's usage if it is cloudy. I am probably getting around 50% from Solar, with sunny and cloudy days averaged. Another 300Wp would help, but the wind genny has much greater potential, if the wind blows fast enough.

In summer, I can put in much more due to longer day and lower cloud levels.
Tony

Nice spot Tony!
Not far from the big smoke but far enough!
Batch concrete for pioneer conc about '82
wungong(sp?) dam and stuff

So, you're meeting about 50% of your current needs?

Are there ways to run your AP system without using electricity? If you're looking at pumping water, there are windmill water pumps or aerators that could be used to move water through a system.

Or if you want to use solar, what about 12v water pumps?

You're far ahead of everybody else, sound like. Good on ya!

C1,
I am back to my roots,
In the '60's we lived on an orchard near Admiral Rd, while I was going to high school and then TAFE.
The family moved into Armadale and later I married ans moved NOR (north of the river for those not familiar with Perth terminology is like getting a passport to visit another country - not really, but we joke about it)
We moved back to Byford and then Armadale 20 years ago, later to Mt Nasura until 12 months ago, when we moved here. Less than 2 km from my childhood home.

Dan, I still have mains power available (and use it for the 3 phase water pumps we need for house water), but I am trying to become close to 100% independent for single phase power. Although wind/mechanical pumping is possible, I still like the reliability of solar/wind/battery/inverter 240V appliances and pumps to make things work. Less efficient, but more dependable, especially with mains backup.

I have plans of a WVO generator for winter battery charging. Perhaps I can use it to heat a tilapia tank.

Tony

Hi Tony

I've gone the Wind generator path, and experiencing simular problems with Wind Turbulence. ( trees and I live at the base of a low hill)
( it's disappointing to see the hills hoist spinning in the wind and the wind generator not )

My Wind generator ( 24v x700w) is a different make and model than yours and is mainly used on marine craft, so overall smaller in size ( blade diameter ect.) plus I'm 500 metres above sea level so air is a fair bit thinner than what the wind generator was designed for. ( different shaped blades with larger wind catching area would help but there is only 1 type available for my model and I have no idea how I would be able to manufacture different ones cheaply)

I have been experimenting on changes to the tail section, the best result I have had so far has been extending the length of the tail area by about 300mm then the last 25mm I've split and bent at about 45deg
see attached diagram ( red line orginal, yellow line added section, Blue split and angled.) this appears to have stop it swinging on it's axis as much and facing the true direction of the wind and producing more power.
at present I can successfully run about 400watts for 10 hours per day with favourable winds. (batteries maintaining fully charged state) unfavourable winds, batteries run down fairly quick and takes a few days to recharge when favourable winds return.

I'm still in the expermental stage and still have some tail assembly ideas I would like to try but with only my eye as a measuring tool (+amp and volt meter) only major improvements are noticable, but when I think I am getting the most from the wind generator I'll be lifting it from its present 5 metre height to 12m. to clear some of the nearby trees and should be about the same height as the small hill giving me about 320deg's of favourable wind directions from it's present 200 ( now only to lob a few meters from the neighbours trees to get those strong westerly's)

( At 5m height I can lower and raise and secure in less than 30mins, to go to 12m I will be building a tower hence any changes will take considerably longer)
( Building permits need not apply )

Cheers
Ron

canards on the end will give more drive IMHO but you will need to strengthen them(blades) and the canards will allow less wash off the blades

Tony,
You already are thinking along the lines I am. I was going to query if you had thought about building or buying a fuel oil fired boiler and using it to supply heat to your house, any outbuildings you want heated, the domestic hot water supply and to your fish tanks and using it to also supply you with electrical energy by using a steam engine to provide mechanical power for a generator to help recharge your battery bank. You can use bio-deisel to fire it, and would only need to run it on a demand basis. (When wind speed or overcast/inclement weather is inadequate to meet your needs.) The down side is you would have to be present to do periodic maintenance and safety checks during the periods of operation of the steam engine, but the boiler could be set up to fire automatically for heating.
Kevin

Kevin,
My preference would not be to use steam due the the high pressure and temperatures achieved. I would prefer to use a diesel generator running on used coking oil, to provide electricity, and to provide low grade heat (<70°C) to provide hot water for room heating and BYAP pond heating.

Using biodiesel or even used cooking oil for a steam producer would be inappropriate in my mind as a fuel because there are better sources of fuel for burning in an external combustion device (sawdust, wood chips, etc). I would prefer to keep liquid fuels for internal combustion engines.

Just my preference.
Tony

Hi Tony

I also have the same problem with a wind turbine and trees. Rather than hoisting it further and further up...I have decided to shelf it for a project down the line and instead am on the look out for a good, cheap vertical windmill (cheap being the problem) that has less problems with turbulent air flow than conventional horizontal turbines. I suppose if you could find a cheap tracker, you could also gain another 30% of overall solar input - but cheap again is the tough thing here. The only other way is to increase efficiency.

Buying a 'sparrowmeter' or some other device to measure energy output is invaluable and you'd be amazed at how much energy is wasted and what actually wastes it - stand-by for appliances is a battery killer. For our system (1500w solar system (windmill is hidden by trees now) and 1600ah x 24v deep cycle batteries) we have found the following output: Fridge 1147w per day; TV 108w per hr; Satellite Internet 50w per hour; Freezer 834w per day (this is now gone in order to save energy); Water Pump 791w per day (using a pressure tank helped lower this figure); the dishwasher does not use much power as the dry stage isn't used - dishes dry by opening door about 3cm or so; and, sewerage system is set to come on only during sunny hours and has a 90w aerator (15min every hr) and 300w submersible pump with float switch. Additionally, when the battteries come off boost/charge, we will normally do our washing, bread baking and other energy intensive activities, so the excess power not used for charging the full batteries, is still utilised rather than just wasted - normally at around noon in summer. I reckon there is a well worn path to the plasmatronic regulator.

If I had to save power quickly, I could try to get a tank stand and hopefully get enough pressure to do away with the house pump altogether. Also, when the TV kicks the bucket, I could get a cheap, smaller LCD tv - they seem to be coming down in price a bit now. Additionally, if building a new house, I would use a Biolytic sewerage system and save a great deal of energy on sewerage. The thing that always comes to mind though is, the money spent on a stand or new sewerage system, could also be spent on more solar panels or batteries...in any case, I have an easy decision as there's no money to spend.

Regarding an AP system running on a RAPS (and I am only a novice in this, so could be way off the mark), I reckon the two paths (technology and behaviour) are the way to go again. Sourcing a low power pump (Rio hyperflow seem pretty good) and utilising a one pump AP system design, in conjunction with lengthening the flood/drain cycle to every 60-90 mins, would seem one way to possibly lower the power usage. At least with solar power, there is no worries about power outage, so it might be also possible to forgo an aerator for the fish tank.

Anyway, just my two cents worth and I hope it helps.

gav

PS: I just remembered that WA's energy rebate system might still be in effect, so if you want to upgrade you might be able to get 50% of new components: http://www1.sedo.energy.wa.gov.au/pages/raps.asp

have you seen the vertical axis wind turbines? i remember reading an article about them being developed for urban situations where wind is much more turbulant. i couldn't find the original article but i found a few links... aparently in a normal situation they produce 50% the energy of a regular turbine but they turn irregardless of wind direction. honestly i know very little about capturing wind power but thought it was interesting.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/01 ... ertica.php

http://www.7gen.com/book/what-happens-w ... rbines/619

This one runs a 12 volt gegerator

one of the local high schools has a Savonius motor out the front

S-rotor, it will be the one i build if i get the chance

Actual windconversion % is much lower, but the fact that it does not waste time in re-directing in turbulent or gusy wind and the fact that it has a very wide usable wind speed tolerance puts the final "efficiency" quite high. and easy peasy to make with unwanted blue barrels that you've cut in half