Solar power and/or wind power anyone?

Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
That's damned interesting! Side note: DIY Solar installs still get the Fed tax credits
 
st0wandgrow

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
That's just it- if a simple system were defined and could be ganged together, whatever and give access to the components. Make it easy and people will do it.

Buying the cells by the brick is one thing. Buying pallets of bricks maybe brings even more savings.
Click to expand...
There's a potential investment opportunity here too.

Funding the project(s) interest free for a cut of future excess energy gains made?
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
Just an update here. Without question a citizen may assemble his / her own energy producing device. DIY solar panels, DIY wind turbine, Water-wheel, hamsters on wheels, doesn't matter. You can do them all if you like. YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO BUY SOMEONE ELSE'S SOLAR PANELS AND WINDMILLS. This is a myth propagated by installers and small manufacturers of panels. I have confirmed this with several governing bodies, including a phone conversation with the man that wrote this section of the National Electric Code (NEC). He wondered how I found him lol. There is no question that no electrician, installer or even electrical inspector can tell you not to use your own panels.

The program to connect to your local Utility (Consumers) is called Net Metering. Lets you hook up your system to Consumers and sell them your leftover energy. All very well spelled out. Big tax rebates, even if you build your own. They encourage people to hook up anything they can. As a side note ONLY solar is viable. Wind has moving parts and a failure rate / maintenance cost that makes it a bad financial move (often). Much better return on investment is solar panels.

I'm looking at a system that would generate $250 worth of electricity a month, and have it all paid for in 6 years. After that, free juice,and what I don't use I sell to Consumers. That's what I'm talking about.

So... I'm looking to put together a recipe for panel assembly. 3' x 5' panels that you assemble yourself. The cells are fused to a glass panel in a vacuum oven. Sounds more difficult than it is. I'm building the oven, and will make it available to anyone who wants to build their own panels. I'll be the village SolarSmyth. Assemble the cells, load them in a pickup, and bring them to the oven and use it.

I'll have links / locations for all the parts and pieces to connect, or just have a local installer follow the recipe. This includes very low-cost mounts for roof or ground. I'm putting all mine on the ground.

The goal is to provide anyone with the tools to get into solar and start dropping our electric bills, regardless of what you're using the energy for.

EDIT: This is not to be a weed-only thing. This is open to anyone that may benefit. I'll be notifying local Green / Environmental Groups to spread the word. People who participate may or may not like the Canna- but that's not the point. It's better, since no one will worry about anything. It's open to all.
 
st0wandgrow

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
Just an update here. Without question a citizen may assemble his / her own energy producing device. DIY solar panels, DIY wind turbine, Water-wheel, hamsters on wheels, doesn't matter. You can do them all if you like. YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO BUY SOMEONE ELSE'S SOLAR PANELS AND WINDMILLS. This is a myth propagated by installers and small manufacturers of panels. I have confirmed this with several governing bodies, including a phone conversation with the man that wrote this section of the National Electric Code (NEC). He wondered how I found him lol. There is no question that no electrician, installer or even electrical inspector can tell you not to use your own panels.

The program to connect to your local Utility (Consumers) is called Net Metering. Lets you hook up your system to Consumers and sell them your leftover energy. All very well spelled out. Big tax rebates, even if you build your own. They encourage people to hook up anything they can. As a side note ONLY solar is viable. Wind has moving parts and a failure rate / maintenance cost that makes it a bad financial move (often). Much better return on investment is solar panels.

I'm looking at a system that would generate $250 worth of electricity a month, and have it all paid for in 6 years. After that, free juice,and what I don't use I sell to Consumers. That's what I'm talking about.

So... I'm looking to put together a recipe for panel assembly. 3' x 5' panels that you assemble yourself. The cells are fused to a glass panel in a vacuum oven. Sounds more difficult than it is. I'm building the oven, and will make it available to anyone who wants to build their own panels. I'll be the village SolarSmyth. Assemble the cells, load them in a pickup, and bring them to the oven and use it.

I'll have links / locations for all the parts and pieces to connect, or just have a local installer follow the recipe. This includes very low-cost mounts for roof or ground. I'm putting all mine on the ground.

The goal is to provide anyone with the tools to get into solar and start dropping our electric bills, regardless of what you're using the energy for.
Click to expand...
72 months x 250= $18,000. Is that what you're figuring this will cost to do this (less tax incentives)?
 
mrbungle79

mrbungle79

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
Just an update here. Without question a citizen may assemble his / her own energy producing device. DIY solar panels, DIY wind turbine, Water-wheel, hamsters on wheels, doesn't matter. You can do them all if you like. YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO BUY SOMEONE ELSE'S SOLAR PANELS AND WINDMILLS. This is a myth propagated by installers and small manufacturers of panels. I have confirmed this with several governing bodies, including a phone conversation with the man that wrote this section of the National Electric Code (NEC). He wondered how I found him lol. There is no question that no electrician, installer or even electrical inspector can tell you not to use your own panels.

The program to connect to your local Utility (Consumers) is called Net Metering. Lets you hook up your system to Consumers and sell them your leftover energy. All very well spelled out. Big tax rebates, even if you build your own. They encourage people to hook up anything they can. As a side note ONLY solar is viable. Wind has moving parts and a failure rate / maintenance cost that makes it a bad financial move (often). Much better return on investment is solar panels.

I'm looking at a system that would generate $250 worth of electricity a month, and have it all paid for in 6 years. After that, free juice,and what I don't use I sell to Consumers. That's what I'm talking about.

So... I'm looking to put together a recipe for panel assembly. 3' x 5' panels that you assemble yourself. The cells are fused to a glass panel in a vacuum oven. Sounds more difficult than it is. I'm building the oven, and will make it available to anyone who wants to build their own panels. I'll be the village SolarSmyth. Assemble the cells, load them in a pickup, and bring them to the oven and use it.

I'll have links / locations for all the parts and pieces to connect, or just have a local installer follow the recipe. This includes very low-cost mounts for roof or ground. I'm putting all mine on the ground.

The goal is to provide anyone with the tools to get into solar and start dropping our electric bills, regardless of what you're using the energy for.
Click to expand...
right on brother i may be looking to build my own as well and may be sending you a pm when you get yours going
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
Stowe- When I ran crude numbers I'm getting $12K. I bumped that to $18K as unforeseen expenses / shit luck / etc. Now that I have super-confirmation that a person can build their own, I'm drilling down on glass manufacturers, etc to get a much better cost analysis. I'm still thinking there is $ to be saved building your own, and there's certainly $$ to be saved in the mounting hardware and install.

I should mention that you can build just one panel and connect. Then build another, then another. These all gang together for simple Plug-N-Expand. So you don't need a lot of upfront cash to get started.Keep building and adding as you go.

And this is all getting cheaper every year.

MrB- I'll keep posting for sure.
 
slumdog80

slumdog80

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
Just an update here. Without question a citizen may assemble his / her own energy producing device. DIY solar panels, DIY wind turbine, Water-wheel, hamsters on wheels, doesn't matter. You can do them all if you like. YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO BUY SOMEONE ELSE'S SOLAR PANELS AND WINDMILLS. This is a myth propagated by installers and small manufacturers of panels. I have confirmed this with several governing bodies, including a phone conversation with the man that wrote this section of the National Electric Code (NEC). He wondered how I found him lol. There is no question that no electrician, installer or even electrical inspector can tell you not to use your own panels.

The program to connect to your local Utility (Consumers) is called Net Metering. Lets you hook up your system to Consumers and sell them your leftover energy. All very well spelled out. Big tax rebates, even if you build your own. They encourage people to hook up anything they can. As a side note ONLY solar is viable. Wind has moving parts and a failure rate / maintenance cost that makes it a bad financial move (often). Much better return on investment is solar panels.

I'm looking at a system that would generate $250 worth of electricity a month, and have it all paid for in 6 years. After that, free juice,and what I don't use I sell to Consumers. That's what I'm talking about.

So... I'm looking to put together a recipe for panel assembly. 3' x 5' panels that you assemble yourself. The cells are fused to a glass panel in a vacuum oven. Sounds more difficult than it is. I'm building the oven, and will make it available to anyone who wants to build their own panels. I'll be the village SolarSmyth. Assemble the cells, load them in a pickup, and bring them to the oven and use it.

I'll have links / locations for all the parts and pieces to connect, or just have a local installer follow the recipe. This includes very low-cost mounts for roof or ground. I'm putting all mine on the ground.

The goal is to provide anyone with the tools to get into solar and start dropping our electric bills, regardless of what you're using the energy for.

EDIT: This is not to be a weed-only thing. This is open to anyone that may benefit. I'll be notifying local Green / Environmental Groups to spread the word. People who participate may or may not like the Canna- but that's not the point. It's better, since no one will worry about anything. It's open to all.
Click to expand...
Been busy Rrog? Great work man.
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
People sit around and knit and crochet. Make birdhouses. I'm saying why not have people get together and solder solar cells for a couple hours. Go home and do it at night once in a while. After a while you'll have a serious stack of completed cells. Time to load them up and take a trip to the Village oven to bake them into panels.
 
djwimbo

djwimbo

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
Stowe- When I ran crude numbers I'm getting $12K. I bumped that to $18K as unforeseen expenses / shit luck / etc. Now that I have super-confirmation that a person can build their own, I'm drilling down on glass manufacturers, etc to get a much better cost analysis. I'm still thinking there is $ to be saved building your own, and there's certainly $$ to be saved in the mounting hardware and install.

I should mention that you can build just one panel and connect. Then build another, then another. These all gang together for simple Plug-N-Expand. So you don't need a lot of upfront cash to get started.Keep building and adding as you go.

And this is all getting cheaper every year.

MrB- I'll keep posting for sure.
Click to expand...
I can solder, and I'm good with any DC wiring + most AC.
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
See???!!! There's a desire out there to plug in and extend the middle finger. And not exclusive to weedies.
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
This is plug-and-play all the way. One panel = 1 M215 Enphase micro inverter. So you can literally build a new panel, attach the inverter, then plug this into your little array. When you're generating enough current you would need to add some other module or get a higher capacity one.

I like the simplicity, cost and upgrade-ability so far.
 
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