Tag: solar

Using PV solar when the grid goes down?

It is my understanding that when the grid goes down our newer solar PV panels will stop producing electricity. On one hand it makes sense because we don’t want people working on them to get electrocuted, but in the event of a prolonged power outage then what will we do?

Shown is a modified grain grinder running off of a 12 V panel to grind up some freshly roasted coffee beans. The coffee came out not too bad.

I suspect it is possible in the event of a collapse to disassemble those banks of panels remove them from being grid tied, and use them individually off grid to power at least some of our appliances.

Current panel prices are dropping to now under $100 for a 100 W panel. While it is very hard for someone like me on a fixed income to put out thousands of dollars for a PV roof, it is possible to buy a single panel from time to time throughout the year. And no you do not have to put up an expensive array on your roof, you can play with them in your yard off grid and use them to run many small appliances.

I have gathered about a dozen PV panels from various places, and while they are not tied into the grid I am finding that they are very usable. I use them to charge my 12 V lead acid batteries, to recharge my small but growing collection of old used lithium ion batteries, and can even use them directly to power 12 V and 24 V motors.

Below showing modified pasta maker running off a 12v motor and solar panel to make crispy crackers in solar oven. Need more salt…

Using panels direct you can Play with electrolysis, remove rust from old tools, make colloidal silver, in theory plate metals with other metals, and directly run fans, etc. I am working on making an evaporative cooler powered directly by solar panels which will use old computer fans as the air movers. This will include a small 12 V pump to trickle the water on to the cooler pads. It kind of makes sense to power a swamp cooler when the sun is shining, because that is generally when it is hot.

Making CBDs with the Sun

Originally I created this as a photo since I am not well educated on blogging yet. The idea was that this is something you can download as a picture and either print out or copy onto your memory stick survival library for use after peak oil or any sort of emergency or disaster situation . Fortunately I just joined word press and I’m now reading through the material to learn how to blog. Rather than re-write the above I thought it would just be a good idea to paste this photo here.

I’m finding that learning how to blog is kind of like going back to school, and at 70 years old this is quite a challenge. And a lot of work. Thank you.

Experimental solar stills

 The Ft2  cooker and the mini Ft2 testing a new type of solar distiller.

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You need a dark glass inner jar as the container for your materials. It fits inside a larger clear glass jar which not only helps contain and concentrate the heat, but also acts as the collector.   Of course you need a top cover otherwise all your good stuff would be lost into the atmosphere. I like to use glass or ceramic as shown by the white bowl setting on the larger collector.

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As the concentrated sunlight from the reflectors heats the dark jar  vapors will form  and start collecting as little droplets on the inside of the clear drawer  and top cover.  When the unit gets hot enough these drops will fall to the bottom of the larger jar.  I like to keep the white bowl cover empty until I see moisture gathering. Then I put some water into the bowl and it provides cooling which helps the drops form more quickly. Note that this thing will even continue to work for a while after the sun goes down and this is probably because of the residual heat .

 

When it cools you remove the inner container jar and then pour out the contents of the larger jar which have collected throughout the day into your Stash.

If you want to just eliminate moisture, then put a top cover on with a hole in it and this will concentrate your solution and allow the vapors to escape into the atmosphere. This works great for desiccating and drying any herbs or plant material that you want to dry.

 

The three mirrored reflector (Ft2 cooker) is inexpensive, easy to build, and very portable. I prefer glass because of its great reflectivity and the fact that it lasts a very long time unless you accidentally crack or break one of the mirrors. It is always a good idea to put some kind of backing onto the mirror. You can use plywood, or plasticized cardboard, and a little bit of glue. Even if you cracked the mirrors it is still quite usable even though it may not be as aesthetic as you like. Many of my reflectors have cracked mirrors but I am not ashamed of that nor do I think I will have seven years of bad luck. Oh wait, with all the cracked mirrors I may have several lifetimes of bad luck. But anyway it is wonderful to be using free sun energy and playing with something that you don’t have to constantly tend to.

Dangers of parabolic reflectors

There are horror stories about solar reflectors catching things on fire. Even a standard commercial solar box oven is as dangerous as a mirrored parabolic.

The two Sun Ovens (above right) were cooking away on a nice sunny day, and I noticed a warm spot as I walked by. I searched around and finally found it.

It’s pretty easy to see the burn mark. It started on the right and moved toward the left as the sun passed across the sky.

Pretty easy to find the focal point and it gets real hot real quick.

And then I noticed that the two ovens were pointing at a wooden bench in the yard. When I looked closer I saw a little bit of smoke and then found that they were starting the bench on fire. It’s probably a real good thing I was paying attention, because I might’ve burned down the house.


It is always best to put your parabolic‘s away when you are not using them. Somewhere out of the sun or at least turn them upside down so that the sunlight cannot get at them. If you must leave them set up in the yard then make sure they are away from any combustible material. As the sun travels from east to west the reflected image moves from west to east and anything within that focal point is liable to catch fire. Be careful and be safe. Thank you.