Joe Blake
15th January 2007, 08:49
G'day from Perth, in Western Australia,
Probably one of the sunniest capital cities in the world. (Certainly feels like it lately, temperatures in the high 30's - Centigrade).
Been interested in solar power since my apprenticeship as a radio mechanic back in the mid-60's. (Working with valves - remember them? Ahh....)
(Oh, by the way a Sandgroper is a person who lives in Western Australia, the largest state in Australia - occupies the entire western third of the country from top to toe).
Although I started about 15 years ago with just a recumbent Greenspeed tricycle,
http://www.greenspeed.com.au/
I've moved on slightly. As at today's date, I have achieved the following:
(1) Transport. The (Greenspeed) recumbent tricycle (2x20" front wheels, 1x26" rear wheel) has, in December 2005, been fitted with a Heinzmann 250 watt "in-hub" 24 v DC electric motor.
http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/the_motor.shtml
This is supplied by 2x12 Amp/Hr wet cell (sealed) 12 v batteries in series. These are kept trickle charged by an array of 4 Uni-Solar 2.4 watt 12 v solar panels in series to give sufficient voltage for the job. They're about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, and moderately flexible.
http://www.12volt.com.au/redirect.html?a=/General%20Htmls/webcat2003/solarpage.html
The trike has not been charged on the "mains" since Dec 05, and has been great for short distance shopping trips (up to 50 Km out and back) plus the occasional "recreational ride" of up to 100 Km (That doesn't mean that the batteries will give 100 Km - it's only an electric assist.)
The motor was designed as a "Hi-torque/Lo-speed" set up because I live in the hills behind Perth and unless I stay on "The Scarp", I have to finish every ride with a long, hard climb up Kalamunda (or Welshpool) Road . The motor takes about 30 mins off my ascending time, and doesn't flatten the batteries (I've never managed to flatten the batteries, although I've caused the overheating cut-off to activate in the motor. Being lazy, me.)
Oh, yeah, I can fit a BoB trailer, which has a carrying capacity of about 30 Kg.
http://www.bobtrailers.com/trailers/
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/saxeharp/general/?action=view¤t=nuc.jpg
(2) Home/Business. About 3 years ago, I started off with a couple of solar-charged garden lights, then moved up and up and up, until I presently have
(a) 2x64 watt Uni-Solar framed arrays, and
(b) 16x Uni-Solar 2.4 watt panels (similar to the trike chargers) mounted on a frame constructed of PVC water pipe, feeding into 2x12 volt car batteries (A/H capacity unknown) and 2x6V hi-amp/hr deep cycle batteries in series. (I know, I know, that isn't a good idea, but all the batteries are still in good nick so I'll keep going until one set starts to give out, then set them as separate systems.).
This feeds into a couple of voltage regulators (The 2x64 w panels have their own regulator, and the 16x2.4 watt panels are separate, with their regulator). I have the batteries (in parallel) feeding to a terminal board with several separate fused feedouts, one goes to a 12 v camping fluoro lantern so I've got about 6-7 hours of reliable "reading" light in the event of a power failure (not unheard of - sometimes twice a month), 2 separate 12v DC/240 AC inverters (150 w and 500 w). (Piccolo and Tempo).
http://www.solaraustralia.com.au/html/standalone.htm
Further, I've an Engel 40 litre 12 v DC/24 v DC/240 v AC 40 litre freezer.
http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/cgi-bin/specific_item.cgi?id=2814-2021689867-1168870905&item=MT45F-S&category=
I am lucky to be able to work at home, using computers, and the Piccolo (150 w) runs my TV/DVD/Stereo when necessary, and the Tempo (500 w) runs my computer, screen and audio transcriber.
(c) Water. A tricky one, but sorting itself out. I bought an "air-from-water condenser".
http://www.airwatercorp.com/detail.aspx?ProductId=1
This, as the name implies, condenses pure, sterile water from the air (up to 30 litres per day), and draws 450 watts of power. I'm hoping to upgrade my solar array to be able to generate sufficient power to run this machine during daylight hours. (Watch this space.)
So, in all, taking it over the entire period from 1992 when I bought my tricycle, I've probably spent less than $10,000 (Australian) to give me a great degree of independence, and to reduce my "environmental footprint" on the planet.
I just hope it will be worth it.
I'd be interested in hearing what others have done to "live green".
Regards,
Joe
PS
Did you know you can build a "house" from PVC water pipe? This particular frame has been standing since 1997, and as at 6 January 07, has been defying the worst weather possible in Western Australia. It won't resist fire, but it's still flexible enough to withstand the high winds (the frame, not the covering) and bounce back.
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/saxeharp/general/?action=view¤t=dome05.jpg
Probably one of the sunniest capital cities in the world. (Certainly feels like it lately, temperatures in the high 30's - Centigrade).
Been interested in solar power since my apprenticeship as a radio mechanic back in the mid-60's. (Working with valves - remember them? Ahh....)
(Oh, by the way a Sandgroper is a person who lives in Western Australia, the largest state in Australia - occupies the entire western third of the country from top to toe).
Although I started about 15 years ago with just a recumbent Greenspeed tricycle,
http://www.greenspeed.com.au/
I've moved on slightly. As at today's date, I have achieved the following:
(1) Transport. The (Greenspeed) recumbent tricycle (2x20" front wheels, 1x26" rear wheel) has, in December 2005, been fitted with a Heinzmann 250 watt "in-hub" 24 v DC electric motor.
http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/the_motor.shtml
This is supplied by 2x12 Amp/Hr wet cell (sealed) 12 v batteries in series. These are kept trickle charged by an array of 4 Uni-Solar 2.4 watt 12 v solar panels in series to give sufficient voltage for the job. They're about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, and moderately flexible.
http://www.12volt.com.au/redirect.html?a=/General%20Htmls/webcat2003/solarpage.html
The trike has not been charged on the "mains" since Dec 05, and has been great for short distance shopping trips (up to 50 Km out and back) plus the occasional "recreational ride" of up to 100 Km (That doesn't mean that the batteries will give 100 Km - it's only an electric assist.)
The motor was designed as a "Hi-torque/Lo-speed" set up because I live in the hills behind Perth and unless I stay on "The Scarp", I have to finish every ride with a long, hard climb up Kalamunda (or Welshpool) Road . The motor takes about 30 mins off my ascending time, and doesn't flatten the batteries (I've never managed to flatten the batteries, although I've caused the overheating cut-off to activate in the motor. Being lazy, me.)
Oh, yeah, I can fit a BoB trailer, which has a carrying capacity of about 30 Kg.
http://www.bobtrailers.com/trailers/
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/saxeharp/general/?action=view¤t=nuc.jpg
(2) Home/Business. About 3 years ago, I started off with a couple of solar-charged garden lights, then moved up and up and up, until I presently have
(a) 2x64 watt Uni-Solar framed arrays, and
(b) 16x Uni-Solar 2.4 watt panels (similar to the trike chargers) mounted on a frame constructed of PVC water pipe, feeding into 2x12 volt car batteries (A/H capacity unknown) and 2x6V hi-amp/hr deep cycle batteries in series. (I know, I know, that isn't a good idea, but all the batteries are still in good nick so I'll keep going until one set starts to give out, then set them as separate systems.).
This feeds into a couple of voltage regulators (The 2x64 w panels have their own regulator, and the 16x2.4 watt panels are separate, with their regulator). I have the batteries (in parallel) feeding to a terminal board with several separate fused feedouts, one goes to a 12 v camping fluoro lantern so I've got about 6-7 hours of reliable "reading" light in the event of a power failure (not unheard of - sometimes twice a month), 2 separate 12v DC/240 AC inverters (150 w and 500 w). (Piccolo and Tempo).
http://www.solaraustralia.com.au/html/standalone.htm
Further, I've an Engel 40 litre 12 v DC/24 v DC/240 v AC 40 litre freezer.
http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/cgi-bin/specific_item.cgi?id=2814-2021689867-1168870905&item=MT45F-S&category=
I am lucky to be able to work at home, using computers, and the Piccolo (150 w) runs my TV/DVD/Stereo when necessary, and the Tempo (500 w) runs my computer, screen and audio transcriber.
(c) Water. A tricky one, but sorting itself out. I bought an "air-from-water condenser".
http://www.airwatercorp.com/detail.aspx?ProductId=1
This, as the name implies, condenses pure, sterile water from the air (up to 30 litres per day), and draws 450 watts of power. I'm hoping to upgrade my solar array to be able to generate sufficient power to run this machine during daylight hours. (Watch this space.)
So, in all, taking it over the entire period from 1992 when I bought my tricycle, I've probably spent less than $10,000 (Australian) to give me a great degree of independence, and to reduce my "environmental footprint" on the planet.
I just hope it will be worth it.
I'd be interested in hearing what others have done to "live green".
Regards,
Joe
PS
Did you know you can build a "house" from PVC water pipe? This particular frame has been standing since 1997, and as at 6 January 07, has been defying the worst weather possible in Western Australia. It won't resist fire, but it's still flexible enough to withstand the high winds (the frame, not the covering) and bounce back.
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/saxeharp/general/?action=view¤t=dome05.jpg