OK, I spent days learning about solar cells, to get to the point where they actually made some sense, mostly because I didn't get a basic concept. The cells themselves are all about surface area, and they are about as simple in construction as it is possible to be. The entire front of the cell is the 'positive side' and the entire back of the cell is the 'negative side'. So if I take a solar cell out of its package, drag it into the sunlight, and touch the positive probe from my multimeter to anywhere on the front, and my negative probe to anywhere on the back, I can get the voltage of that cell. The cells that I ordered have 2 parallel stripes down the front, where I can solder the tabbing wire (a special thin, flat wire that will lie flat under the cell), and there are 6 solder points on the back (little squares of pre-applied solder, I believe) 3 on each side line up with the parallel stripe on the front. So if I were to connect 5 cells together, the first cell's positive wire would be connected to nothing (later on, it connects to the positive terminal on whatever we are powering) The negative side will be soldered to the positive on cell 2. The negative side on cell 2 will be soldered to the positive side on cell 3 and so on, until cell 5 where the negative wires will be nothing, to form the negative terminal to whatever we are powering.
So, to design my panels, I had to understand parallel and series wiring. Read below, or visit the wikipedia entry.
The first is wiring in series. If you connect several cells, + to -, then the voltage goes up while the current stays steady. For example, if connect 10 cells together, in series (cell 1 negative terminal connects to cell 2 positive terminal. Cell 2 negative terminal connects to cell 3 positive terminal and so on), and each has a voltage of .5, this means you will get 5 volts (10*.5 volts) out of the cells. I actually tested this out, by taking 6 AA batteries, and lining them up, positive to negative. Each one is rated at 1.2 volts, but in actuality produces 1.4-1.5 volts fully charged (there are electronic rules that tell us that when we place the batteries under 'load' this will drop to 1.2, so this is actually a proper voltage reading). The voltage reading was 7.8, so the 'series' wiring was proven out. This is called wiring in series. Incidentally, this explains why, if you are jump-starting your friend's car, and connect positive to negative, instead of positive to positive, you blow up both your electrical systems. Doing so essentially drops 24 volts through both cars, frying everything in sight.
Second is wiring in parallel. When we do this, the current increases, while voltage stays the same. In this case, we are connecting the leads from positive to positive. in the car battery example, the voltage will end up being 12 volts, while the wattage is the sum of the 2 batteries' wattage.
These 2 concepts are important to understand, because the solar panel has to be of a sufficient voltage and wattage to run the grid tie inverter, which will be explained in a later post.
I'll get through a couple more 'concept' posts, then start posting pictures of what I've done. I'll also post cost information, as well as establish some baseline of what the break-even point is on a photovoltaic system.
2010/03/23
2010/03/22
Solar array DIY stuff
Hey, I've started up a new hobby; I'm going to be attempting to create a home-built photovoltaic solar panel system for my home. I've been watching prices for commercial solar installations for years, and the price has never been right. The cheapest system I've seen was $13,000, with about a 25 year payback period, which is just far too long. But then I got the idea to search ebay for the components of a solar array, and found that the price dropped pretty significantly. So I ordered some 'solar cells, similar to this ebay item. The trade-off in building your own photovoltaic system is, number one, the learning curve, and number 2, there is a LOT of soldering work. So my plan is to build a couple of panels as a test case, mount them on my roof, and then share the results. If it's a big failure, I'll post my mistakes here, and whatever I learn, I'll share that as well. Thanks, more posts coming soon.
2010/02/16
A stingy man's desk
(reposted partially from facebook)
I have projects ranging from 3 minutes ago to 3 years ago, totally covering the surface of my desk (and the floor of my office, and scrawled on the mirrored surface of the sliding closet doors). My desk is a 3-foot by 5-foot table, the kind you would see at a church potluck, and has a stamp on the bottom, 'Made in Mexico 1987'. I love the way it fits my personal 'green' philosophy (reduce, reuse, recycle as they say). Now if I could just get through some of these old projects, I'd be able to see it's cheap wood-grain veneer again.
I have projects ranging from 3 minutes ago to 3 years ago, totally covering the surface of my desk (and the floor of my office, and scrawled on the mirrored surface of the sliding closet doors). My desk is a 3-foot by 5-foot table, the kind you would see at a church potluck, and has a stamp on the bottom, 'Made in Mexico 1987'. I love the way it fits my personal 'green' philosophy (reduce, reuse, recycle as they say). Now if I could just get through some of these old projects, I'd be able to see it's cheap wood-grain veneer again.
2010/02/12
My stuff owns me
Over the course of my adult life, I've ended up with a lot of things, from old picture albums, to old tech items (2 meg DIMM anyone?). I hold onto some of it for sentimental reasons, and some of it for 'just in case' reasons. After all, who knows when I'll need that x486 laptop, that I can't even load an OS on at this point, because the 3.5 inch floppy drive destroys floppy disks, instead of reading them?
A couple months ago, I read a post about how our stuff owns us. How every time we look at an item, and try to decide what to do with it, we use up our precious energy doing so. So I actually followed the column's advice and just threw out a bunch of obsolete computer cables, 40 meg hard drives and sound cards. I didn't really make much of a dent, as a lot of stuff just felt useful to me, but now when I need a part for a computer, I'm much more likely to actually to find it in my box o' parts downstairs.
Then a few days ago, I decided to start weaning myself off of purchased cable television nd shopped around for an s-video cable to connect my computer to the television. The first one I found was 25 feet long, and only 10 dollars, but I though 'nah, I'll drive to the store. It can't be much more expensive there.' After visiting 3 stores, I found a 25 foot cable, but they wanted 45 dollars for it. So I drove home, did another search, and found a similar gold-plated cable for only $2.08. I ordered it, and for a measly $2.99 S&H I'll be receiving that cable in a couple of days.
This was exciting to me, but it wasn't the first time I got a great deal on the internet. I mentioned it to my wife, and she said "That's why the economy is in the toilet". So since I paid about one tenth of what I would have paid in a store for this item, I devastated the economy. But on the other hand, since I got a cable that was most likely either used, or bought in lots after some computer store went bankrupt, it's probably a limited resource that won't be replenished. Had I bought it from the store, I would set in action a chain of events (low inventory, re-order, make cable, ship to cable to store) that would have consumed quite a bit of resources.
It's an understood rule in our society that, if I haul a bunch of stuff out to the curb, and just leave it there, people will scavenge through it, and take what they want, thereby relieving me of stuff that isn't worth storing, but still useful. It's the trite-but-true $15 furniture set nearly every American child gets when they move out of the parents' house.
This reminded me of a 'tool co-op' idea that I had heard about on npr a couple of years ago. Basically, as a man gets older, he slowly collects tools. Hammers, power saws, power washers, miter box etc. Each of these tools usually sees a period of usefulness of about 15 seconds over its life. The idea of a tool co-op is that you would borrow tools from a community tool set, so that they would get more of a use, rather than sit in the garage for years for every minute of actual use. He may think of passing them on to a son when he dies, but the generation gap is usually too big to bother. My dad, for example, is still using his tools, and will be for another 20 years, at which point I'll have a set of tools for myself. Hence, no need to pass it down.
So what is the point of this article? Maybe it's ok to sell stuff on amazon or ebay at a discount, or at a break-even price, in order to just be rid of it. If I ever need that gewgaw again, I can always re-buy it from the community co-op that is ebay, probably for a great discount, especially if we all throw away the concept of owning a full set of tools by the time we die, or of having a box full of computer parts from the early nineties. Reselling these items at a discount will keep someone who needs whatever you're selling from buying a brand new one, and it keeps stuff out of landfills unless it is truly broken.
Of course, re-using stuff, rather than sending it to the landfill, does hurt the consumer economy. Cell phone companies make a lot of money because we all have a drawer full of used phones, that outlived their usefulness to us, but aren't actually broken. People get rid of old cars well before they are actually worn out, buy new cars off the lots, and pay crazy amounts of interest for the 'new car smell'. It seems that we have a lot of disposable income, and we are more than willing to dispose of it. But what if we were to start buying stuff cheap, spending 5 dollars for a 45 dollar cable and such? Would we no longer need to get those big paychecks? Could we cut down on the very size of our houses, so that we could stop making huge mortgage payments, or empty out that 'storage room' downstairs, and rent it out to a college student instead?
More expensive cell phones typically come with a 'lock' code on them, so that they can only be used by a certain vendor. Typically though, you can get them 'unlocked', if you can present a case that you are going to use them overseas. I went through the process of unlocking a Treo 650 a couple of years ago, because my cell phone provider wasn't something I could choose at the time. With a couple of google searches, I found someone who would unlock the phone for $300. I kept looking though, and finally found a company that would unlock it for $15. I stopped searching then and bought the unlock code, but I've always wondered; if I had kept searching, would I have found a site that would have done it cheaper? Essentially I 'named my price', what I thought it was worth to unlock the phone, but I don't believe I got the best possible deal. In fact, if I had called the cell company, they probably could have been talked into unlocking it for free, since my employer almost immediately paid for me to get internet access on this phone, for which they paid $39.99 per month.
I'm a little scatterbrained today, so I might come back and edit this article for clarity, but the general idea, "Caleb is a cheapskate" is pretty evident, I think.
A couple months ago, I read a post about how our stuff owns us. How every time we look at an item, and try to decide what to do with it, we use up our precious energy doing so. So I actually followed the column's advice and just threw out a bunch of obsolete computer cables, 40 meg hard drives and sound cards. I didn't really make much of a dent, as a lot of stuff just felt useful to me, but now when I need a part for a computer, I'm much more likely to actually to find it in my box o' parts downstairs.
Then a few days ago, I decided to start weaning myself off of purchased cable television nd shopped around for an s-video cable to connect my computer to the television. The first one I found was 25 feet long, and only 10 dollars, but I though 'nah, I'll drive to the store. It can't be much more expensive there.' After visiting 3 stores, I found a 25 foot cable, but they wanted 45 dollars for it. So I drove home, did another search, and found a similar gold-plated cable for only $2.08. I ordered it, and for a measly $2.99 S&H I'll be receiving that cable in a couple of days.
This was exciting to me, but it wasn't the first time I got a great deal on the internet. I mentioned it to my wife, and she said "That's why the economy is in the toilet". So since I paid about one tenth of what I would have paid in a store for this item, I devastated the economy. But on the other hand, since I got a cable that was most likely either used, or bought in lots after some computer store went bankrupt, it's probably a limited resource that won't be replenished. Had I bought it from the store, I would set in action a chain of events (low inventory, re-order, make cable, ship to cable to store) that would have consumed quite a bit of resources.
It's an understood rule in our society that, if I haul a bunch of stuff out to the curb, and just leave it there, people will scavenge through it, and take what they want, thereby relieving me of stuff that isn't worth storing, but still useful. It's the trite-but-true $15 furniture set nearly every American child gets when they move out of the parents' house.
This reminded me of a 'tool co-op' idea that I had heard about on npr a couple of years ago. Basically, as a man gets older, he slowly collects tools. Hammers, power saws, power washers, miter box etc. Each of these tools usually sees a period of usefulness of about 15 seconds over its life. The idea of a tool co-op is that you would borrow tools from a community tool set, so that they would get more of a use, rather than sit in the garage for years for every minute of actual use. He may think of passing them on to a son when he dies, but the generation gap is usually too big to bother. My dad, for example, is still using his tools, and will be for another 20 years, at which point I'll have a set of tools for myself. Hence, no need to pass it down.
So what is the point of this article? Maybe it's ok to sell stuff on amazon or ebay at a discount, or at a break-even price, in order to just be rid of it. If I ever need that gewgaw again, I can always re-buy it from the community co-op that is ebay, probably for a great discount, especially if we all throw away the concept of owning a full set of tools by the time we die, or of having a box full of computer parts from the early nineties. Reselling these items at a discount will keep someone who needs whatever you're selling from buying a brand new one, and it keeps stuff out of landfills unless it is truly broken.
Of course, re-using stuff, rather than sending it to the landfill, does hurt the consumer economy. Cell phone companies make a lot of money because we all have a drawer full of used phones, that outlived their usefulness to us, but aren't actually broken. People get rid of old cars well before they are actually worn out, buy new cars off the lots, and pay crazy amounts of interest for the 'new car smell'. It seems that we have a lot of disposable income, and we are more than willing to dispose of it. But what if we were to start buying stuff cheap, spending 5 dollars for a 45 dollar cable and such? Would we no longer need to get those big paychecks? Could we cut down on the very size of our houses, so that we could stop making huge mortgage payments, or empty out that 'storage room' downstairs, and rent it out to a college student instead?
More expensive cell phones typically come with a 'lock' code on them, so that they can only be used by a certain vendor. Typically though, you can get them 'unlocked', if you can present a case that you are going to use them overseas. I went through the process of unlocking a Treo 650 a couple of years ago, because my cell phone provider wasn't something I could choose at the time. With a couple of google searches, I found someone who would unlock the phone for $300. I kept looking though, and finally found a company that would unlock it for $15. I stopped searching then and bought the unlock code, but I've always wondered; if I had kept searching, would I have found a site that would have done it cheaper? Essentially I 'named my price', what I thought it was worth to unlock the phone, but I don't believe I got the best possible deal. In fact, if I had called the cell company, they probably could have been talked into unlocking it for free, since my employer almost immediately paid for me to get internet access on this phone, for which they paid $39.99 per month.
I'm a little scatterbrained today, so I might come back and edit this article for clarity, but the general idea, "Caleb is a cheapskate" is pretty evident, I think.
2010/02/01
Long-overdue update
I've been invited to become an instructor at United Studios of Self Defense(www.ussd.com), as a part-time job. It's really neat to have the practice and effort I put into it pay off, and what a cool way to spend my spare time. Sensei Mike, who runs the Dojo here in Castle Rock, is a real disciple of the martial arts. He's been through a variety of training in addition to the normal curricula offered by USSD, including wrestling, Mixed Martial arts and such. Additionally, he's just a well-balanced, personable guy. I'm hoping to pick up a bit on his social skills, as he is really great at getting people to come out of their shells.
Also, I'm going through the insanity of refinancing the house. I actually bought a relatively cheap house, compared to my monthly income, and since we can afford it fairly easily, we are thinking of switching from a 30 year mortgage, to a 15 year one. I'm hoping to see some decent numbers on the final paperwork, as it almost seems easier to pay more on the balance each month, rather than go through the hassle of a refinance. Doing the math, I discovered that if I just increase my monthly payment to what the 15 year payment would be, the house would be paid off in 15 years, 8 months, versus 15 years on the refinance. I suppose it's worth doing, but just barely.
Also, I'm going through the insanity of refinancing the house. I actually bought a relatively cheap house, compared to my monthly income, and since we can afford it fairly easily, we are thinking of switching from a 30 year mortgage, to a 15 year one. I'm hoping to see some decent numbers on the final paperwork, as it almost seems easier to pay more on the balance each month, rather than go through the hassle of a refinance. Doing the math, I discovered that if I just increase my monthly payment to what the 15 year payment would be, the house would be paid off in 15 years, 8 months, versus 15 years on the refinance. I suppose it's worth doing, but just barely.
2009/10/05
The inner geek triumphs
http://www.phidgets.com/
Awesome! Now, if only I wasn't broke, I would be all over this. I want to revamp the controller on my heater, it's so old it doesn't have separate controls for just running the blower.
Awesome! Now, if only I wasn't broke, I would be all over this. I want to revamp the controller on my heater, it's so old it doesn't have separate controls for just running the blower.
2009/07/15
Karate update.
I'm still having a blast at karate. Sensei and I have even arranged a little barter, he is utilizing my Excel knowledge to design a worksheet to really manage his students' learning, and in return, giving me a couple extra private lessons. Normally I wouldn't say much about this, but since I'm 99% sure I'm the only one reading my blog, I think it's safe. The last thing I want to do is get a bunch of students standing at his door, trying to do barter for lessons, instead of paying cash!
Anyway, the ranking belts in this studio go white,yellow,orange,purple,blue,green,brown,black, with some gradations (for example, blue with green stripe rank, between blue and green) When I left, I was blue belt rank, and currently I have caught up to almost all of my orange belt material. I'm hoping to catch up in, say, 3 months, then start getting ready for my blue+stripe test.
oh, and in the last month, I have managed to put on a whopping 3 pounds, putting me at 125. Here's an interesting link regarding weight-gain nutrition:
http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Protein__Pros__Cons_and_Confusion.htm
There is a paragraph near the end that I thought was REALLY interesting:
begin quote here
Anyway, the ranking belts in this studio go white,yellow,orange,purple,blue,green,brown,black, with some gradations (for example, blue with green stripe rank, between blue and green) When I left, I was blue belt rank, and currently I have caught up to almost all of my orange belt material. I'm hoping to catch up in, say, 3 months, then start getting ready for my blue+stripe test.
oh, and in the last month, I have managed to put on a whopping 3 pounds, putting me at 125. Here's an interesting link regarding weight-gain nutrition:
http://www.active.com/
There is a paragraph near the end that I thought was REALLY interesting:
begin quote here
Question: How much protein should I eat right after I exercise?
Answer: A study with Marines during 54 days of basic training reports those who refueled with 100 calories of a recovery drink that contained only 10 grams (40 calories) of protein not only enhanced muscle protein deposition but also contributed to 33 percent fewer total medical visits, 28 percent fewer visits due to bacterial and viral infections, 37 percent fewer visits due to muscle and joint problems, and 83 percent fewer visits due to heat exhaustion. (Flakoll, Med Sci Sports and Exercise, 2004)
Seems amazing that just 100 calories of a recovery drink could make such a strong impact on health, muscle soreness and hydration, but the message is clear: proper fueling at the right times is worth the effort. Don't underestimate the value of refueling soon after you exercise. Cereal with milk, chocolate milk, fruit yogurt, turkey sandwich and spaghetti with meatballs are just a few suggestions that offer a foundation of carbs accompanied with some protein.
end quote here
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