| Re: [GMCnet] Bought-Solar Panels [message #153888] |
Wed, 21 December 2011 09:05  |
Dan Winchester
Messages: 61
Registered: August 2006
Karma: 0
|
Member |
|
|
The problems with large wind farms are not an issue with use on a GMC or boat as the power generated is stored in local batteries that are then the source of power for end use.
For the small home system there is currently no problem if your utility buys power back from consumers which is getting to be common. The utility's system serves as the storage and the fluctuations are lost in the continuous fluctuations in the system. Problems would only become a problem if home generators were supplying I significant portion of the systems power.
Dan Winchester
www.dwinchester.com
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
|
|
|
|
| Re: [GMCnet] Bought-Solar Panels [message #153969 is a reply to message #153888] |
Wed, 21 December 2011 19:10  |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
|
Senior Member |
|
|
| Dan Winchester wrote on Wed, 21 December 2011 09:05 |
The problems with large wind farms are not an issue with use on a GMC or boat as the power generated is stored in local batteries that are then the source of power for end use.
For the small home system there is currently no problem if your utility buys power back from consumers which is getting to be common. The utility's system serves as the storage and the fluctuations are lost in the continuous fluctuations in the system. Problems would only become a problem if home generators were supplying I significant portion of the systems power.
Dan Winchester
www.dwinchester.com
|
Actually it is a major problem with a parked GMC because your daily energy consumption is pretty much constant from day to day while the wind power may disappear or be reduced from one day to the next. To make up for this you need to carry extra storage capacity which transfers into more weight and more real estate and more expense, or you need to carry an alternative means of generation to take over when there is little or no wind.
I have seen the hams at field day try to use wind power to gain extra points. Some years it works and some times it doesn't.
The availability problems are the same at 200 watts or 200 megawatts when using wind power. One added problem with a GMC trying to use wind is geography. You are not always parked in the same spot. The ambient wind changes from camping spot to camping spot.
Some remote ham repeater sites, usually mountain tops, use wind and solar combinations. It works but in the winter time they have to reduce services due to less sun and freeze up problems with wind generators.
Like I said before. Neat to play with, but not very practical.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
|
|
|
|
| Re: [GMCnet] Bought-Solar Panels [message #154043 is a reply to message #153888] |
Thu, 22 December 2011 09:29 |
RadioActiveGMC
Messages: 1020
Registered: November 2010
Location: Hot AZ desert
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
I think its super practical. If your not worried about the expensive. RV people pay THOUSANDS for custom paint jobs, kitchen upgrades, and that list can be 1000 pages long. While a wind turbine cost $500-$700 for the ones we'd use. If the money is a issue I totally understand. Using it as a "BACK UP" to solar, I can't imagine their is a argument. Solar panels weight 25lbs usually and work during the day. Wind works when there is wind. If its your only source of power ok maybe not the smartest. Hams using it during a field day doesn't really = using it in a GMC. Hams during field day need power at a specific time, a repeater needs constant power. But as mentioned with the use of a battery bank unless you live where it never blows more then 7mph is a awesome alternative. People add batteries on the drivers side of GMCs as well as the passenger side. The weight is already there for many, why not wind to keep them charged when its effective.
I'm sure a alternative energy like solar and wind could allow ones to remove that big fat smelly SUPER HEAVY, hot, Onan that uses gas, oil, and makes the air stink!
***"Gettin There"-1973 23' Sequoia-
Michael, Onans smell, "Go solar/wind power!"
|
|
|
|
| Re: [GMCnet] Bought-Solar Panels [message #154048 is a reply to message #154043] |
Thu, 22 December 2011 10:50 |
 |
Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
|
Senior Member |
|
|
| Mr.RadioActive wrote on Thu, 22 December 2011 10:29 |
I think its super practical. If your not worried about the expensive. RV people pay THOUSANDS for custom paint jobs, kitchen upgrades, and that list can be 1000 pages long. While a wind turbine cost $500-$700 for the ones we'd use. If the money is a issue I totally understand. Using it as a "BACK UP" to solar, I can't imagine their is a argument. Solar panels weight 25lbs usually and work during the day. Wind works when there is wind. If its your only source of power ok maybe not the smartest. Hams using it during a field day doesn't really = using it in a GMC. Hams during field day need power at a specific time, a repeater needs constant power. But as mentioned with the use of a battery bank unless you live where it never blows more then 7mph is a awesome alternative. People add batteries on the drivers side of GMCs as well as the passenger side. The weight is already there for many, why not wind to keep them charged when its effective.
I'm sure a alternative energy like solar and wind could allow ones to remove that big fat smelly SUPER HEAVY, hot, Onan that uses gas, oil, and makes the air stink!
|
Michael,
There are some real world issues that will come bear.
I sail boats. I have done this on my own for a little over fifty years. Except in some very special locations few of which are on land), wind is at best an unreliable power source. Even when there is air movement, it frequently is outside of a very small easily usable velocity band.
As a celestial navigator, I can promise you that the sun is only visible part of the day. At the latitudes where it is visible more than an half a day, it is so low and the azimuth is transiting so fast that tracking gear is required to make any use of it at all. And that does not include bad weather that can make the solar contribution almost nill.
Long range cruisers are all equipped for wind and solar power. Our little coaches could not bear the weight that they carry as a house battery bank. (A ~40'[~20T] cruising boat may have 4ea-8D = 700#+) They most all still carry a generator, but to them, fuel load is a critical issue.
One ocean racer wanted to carry a wind turbine as a backup to his solar and little diesel. We finally worked it out so the unit could be stowed below and assembled when needed. It could be assembled in less than 4 hours. It had to be assembled on deck because of the blade size. When he did need it, he was hard pressed to get time and weather to assemble it.
At one time, I was part of a group called Lambert/Vector that were consultants to those looking for environmental power systems (long before green was all the rage), and I collected a lot of data about the ROI on such things. That is why I cringe every time politicians say we have to go to wind/solar because they are going to outlaw coal.
So, if you are willing to give up anything that requires electric power, you can get by without a generator at all. As it is, I lived most of my young life without any line power at all. Sometimes we could use the electric lights below, but never for long. Most of the time, nights in the cabin and the navigation set were illuminated with oil lamps. Fresh water and the head were hand pumped. The refrigeration was powered by a huge block of ice (usually pond ice). We did have a radio, it used three different batteries and they didn't last very long.
So, until Costco has a "Mr. Fusion" on the self, the alternatives don't look real good for most of us.
I am not eager to live that way again.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
|
|
|
|
| Re: [GMCnet] Bought-Solar Panels [message #154091 is a reply to message #153888] |
Thu, 22 December 2011 18:46 |
RadioActiveGMC
Messages: 1020
Registered: November 2010
Location: Hot AZ desert
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
I've been at this for a over a year and am far from a expert, prob even dumb at times. But no reason on the planet can tell me that as a BACK UP wind is a bad idea. A bad idea is smell and noise emitted from a stinky generator. Wind for a back up will make a nice alternative power option. Sure will I add more then 200w for my solar panels, yup. I hope one day to have at least 6 KW being made from my GMC in solar/wind. I want to one day remove that Onan and never hear it or smell it again. I'd buy a small super light generator in case of emergency but one day that Onan is going to be a thing of the past. And when I'm camping the only sound you'll hear is me snoring, and my turbine spinning!
***"Gettin There"-1973 23' Sequoia-
Michael, Onans smell, "Go solar/wind power!"
[Updated on: Thu, 22 December 2011 18:47] Report message to a moderator |
|
|
|
|
|
GMCforum
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
