First of all a quick post with an answer to the question why?
Because it's a fun project!
And secondly it's good excuse to put in an hour of exercise a day!
20110128
20110126
Electricity usage
The third post in this series is about what i use the electricity i generate for, in short i use it to run two computers, most of my lights and some ventilators.
I've got two computers running 24 hours a day, both run on extreme low power: 150-250 mA each. That's needs approx 10 Ah a day (@ 12V). They're both headless AMD Geode LX800 500MHz, 256Mb, 16Gb (CF card).
The first one runs Voyage Linux (http://linux.voyage.hk/) and is used for:
- sensor readings from my 1-wire network (temperature, humidity, pressures)
- solar charger info
- my local wiki etc
The second runs Monowall (http://m0n0.ch/)
Lighting:
To reduce the amount of energy required i've replace the living room lights with 2x 480 led lightstrip (5 meter each), 1x 120 led lightstrip (1 meter) for general light (don't see the ones i got on ultraleds anymore).
As they're very bright i've added a dimmer (has the additional benefit of reducing power usage) which comes with a remote: http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/ct110rf-dimmer-with-remote-control-p-1999.html. Most of the time i run them at just under 2A @ 12V.
Then i've got a 24 led reading light: 150 mA @ 12V.
And the same as a desk light for the hobby room: 150 mA @ 12V/
I've got two computers running 24 hours a day, both run on extreme low power: 150-250 mA each. That's needs approx 10 Ah a day (@ 12V). They're both headless AMD Geode LX800 500MHz, 256Mb, 16Gb (CF card).
The first one runs Voyage Linux (http://linux.voyage.hk/) and is used for:
- sensor readings from my 1-wire network (temperature, humidity, pressures)
- solar charger info
- my local wiki etc
The second runs Monowall (http://m0n0.ch/)
Lighting:
To reduce the amount of energy required i've replace the living room lights with 2x 480 led lightstrip (5 meter each), 1x 120 led lightstrip (1 meter) for general light (don't see the ones i got on ultraleds anymore).
As they're very bright i've added a dimmer (has the additional benefit of reducing power usage) which comes with a remote: http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/ct110rf-dimmer-with-remote-control-p-1999.html. Most of the time i run them at just under 2A @ 12V.
Then i've got a 24 led reading light: 150 mA @ 12V.
And the same as a desk light for the hobby room: 150 mA @ 12V/
20110124
Storing electricity
This second post is about storing the electricity that gets generated.
I'm using a 125VA lead acid battery to store the energy.
To make sure the battery is properly charged i'm using a Morningstar Sunsaver MPPT (http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/sunsavermppt).
- the best feature is that it adjusts the voltage to the appropriate level, that is necessary as the solar panels go up to 17V and the generator bicycle up to 36V. A battery wouldn't like voltages like that and simply disconnecting when the voltage is too high would be a waste of energy.
- i've hooked up a http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/pc-meterbus-adapter to have a detailed log of how much energy went in and out,
- the MMPT also switched of the power to the load if the battery voltage gets too low. That came in handy when my old battery died after three years (at the end it needed a twenty hour charge to keep going for four hours at 500 mA).
I'm using a 125VA lead acid battery to store the energy.
To make sure the battery is properly charged i'm using a Morningstar Sunsaver MPPT (http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/sunsavermppt).
- the best feature is that it adjusts the voltage to the appropriate level, that is necessary as the solar panels go up to 17V and the generator bicycle up to 36V. A battery wouldn't like voltages like that and simply disconnecting when the voltage is too high would be a waste of energy.
- i've hooked up a http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/pc-meterbus-adapter to have a detailed log of how much energy went in and out,
- the MMPT also switched of the power to the load if the battery voltage gets too low. That came in handy when my old battery died after three years (at the end it needed a twenty hour charge to keep going for four hours at 500 mA).
20110122
Generating electricity
The first in a series of posts about green energy, this is about the different ways i generate electricity at home:
1. solar panels (http://www.sunshinesolar.co.uk/):
- covers basic electricity usage (well, some of the usage, i'll go into that in a later post) from March to September (as long as the sun shines a bit, mainly an issue in March-April and September).
- total of 200W, placed on the inside, half facing east, half facing west,
2. generator bicycle
- for when the sun doesn't shine (enough), more info in a later post.
3. and finally a 18V power supply
- for when there is not enough sun/i didn't use the generator bicycle enough...
1. solar panels (http://www.sunshinesolar.co.uk/):
- covers basic electricity usage (well, some of the usage, i'll go into that in a later post) from March to September (as long as the sun shines a bit, mainly an issue in March-April and September).
- total of 200W, placed on the inside, half facing east, half facing west,
2. generator bicycle
- for when the sun doesn't shine (enough), more info in a later post.
3. and finally a 18V power supply
- for when there is not enough sun/i didn't use the generator bicycle enough...
20110114
my first blog post!
Creating a blog is easy: go to www.blogger.com and within a couple of minutes you're all set with your brand new blog. Which is completely empty... no posts, no followers, nothing.
Time to do something about that!
Time to do something about that!
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