House Panels

WD9EKA Alternative Energy
Off-grid officially as of March 4, 2011.
Time elapsed since disconnect.

Magnasine control panel

Webcam
Red LED display is the bogart Tri-Metric monitoring the main batteries. This is normally set for current draw. Positive is charging(either it is sunny or generator running), negative is pulling from the batteries.
Green, Magnum display is the remote control panel for Magnum MagnaSine 2800.

Since 1980 I have had a desire of being able to power my home independently from commercial power. The last 2 years I have been extremely close to achieving that goal. I was somewhat tentative to just call and cut the cord though. Over the last 12 months I used commercial power for a week or two last summer for air conditioning.

As of March 4, 2011 it is now cold turkey. The initial goal is to go 12 months on our own. Twelve months was chosen because the local member owned co-op back charges anyone who is disconnected for less than 12 months for missed line charges.

Sincerely hoping that I never have to resort back to depending on an external power provider.

Garage Panels

House power:
1 - 100 watt Arco Tri-Lam PV panel (in use since 1990 and 2 moves)
3 - 120 watt AP-1206 . 1 on line 5/1/99. 2 and 3 on line 7/9/99(Note 1)
4 - 130 watt KC130's . Online mid May 2008
6 - 205 watt KD205's . Online July 14, 2009
1 - 300 watt Southwest WindPower Air 303 mounted at 45 feet
on a Rohn 25 tower
2 - Outback FM80 80 amp mppt controller used for the solar panels
8 - US Batteries L16HC 6V/420AH, configured for 12V/1680AH In service 4/9/09
1 - Magnum Sine 2800 with Trace DC250 Cutoff
1 - Coleman PM9375 7.5kw 16hp generator
1 - Harbor Freight 66604 6.5kw 16hp generator, converted to propane 4/23/2012. Purchased from a damaged freight reseller
1 - DC charge cart - 8hp briggs and 10 SI alternator. Converted using an adaptor plate from The epicenter

1 - SolarSheats 1500GS air heater

Note 1: Nov 5, 2011 - I was doing a panel check by turning off individual panel circuits whenn I noticed that one array was dead. Found that one of the AP-120's had a burn in the back covering about the size of a cigarette burn. Apparently there was a bad connection from the factory on one of the Cell interconnects. I think I was able to fix it. Cut through the covering and silicone. The burnt spot looked to be overheated but cleaned it up and resoldered. The cells on these panels have 2 tabs per side. Checking the connection on the other tab and it was open. Resoldered that and fingers crossed that it is corrected.
Pictures of July 14, 2009 upgrade installation: upgrade

Garage power:
1 - Xantrex C-60A charge controller with DVM
4 - Rural King 220a/h golf cart batteries
1 - Trace DR2412 2400 watt inverter
2 - Sunelec 90 watt PV panels
1 - 20 watt PV panel

The garage power system while having only 1/4 the battery capacity and 10% of the charging capacity of the house is configured so that it can serve as a secondary backup for the house.

Alternative Energy Forums/Websites:
12 Volt power

Links to Alternative Energy Vendors:

Arizona Wind and Sun
Backwoods Solar
the Alternative Energy Store
Sunelec miami

For those that think nuclear power plants are our salvation. I strongly recommend they read the following book available from www.thenewpress.com. I have always had a gut aversion to the concept of nuclear power plants. After reading the book I have become even more against them. The only good nuclear power comes from the sun.

Solar power data updated daily
1998 1999 2000
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005 2006
2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012

From way back when I found the pictures on the left. In 1980, while in college I became interested in solar power. I constructed a panel from 36 Radio Shack 1 amp cells that the local store had to call most of the other stores in the state. The cost was around 10 dollars per cell. I fiberglassed a plywood board and used silicone caulk to place the cells on the fiberglass. There was a lot of heat stresses and at the time I didnt really understand all the "right" ways to do it. It worked for about a year. I kept a plexiglass cover on them when I wasnt around. Even with that I accidentally left the cover off one day and some pea size hail obliterated it. I ran one light bulb and an Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 off of it.

This wind generator is located in Ashmore, IL.

	House power: 1 - 100 watt Arco Tri-Lam PV panel (in use since 1990 and 2 moves) 3 - 120 watt AP-1206 . 1 on line 5/1/99. 2 and 3 on line 7/9/99(Note 1) 4 - 130 watt KC130's . Online mid May 2008 6 - 205 watt KD205's . Online July 14, 2009 1 - 300 watt Southwest WindPower Air 303 mounted at 45 feet on a Rohn 25 tower 2 - Outback FM80 80 amp mppt controller used for the solar panels 8 - US Batteries L16HC 6V/420AH, configured for 12V/1680AH In service 4/9/09 1 - Magnum Sine 2800 with Trace DC250 Cutoff 1 - Coleman PM9375 7.5kw 16hp generator 1 - Harbor Freight 66604 6.5kw 16hp generator, converted to propane 4/23/2012. Purchased from a damaged freight reseller 1 - DC charge cart - 8hp briggs and 10 SI alternator. Converted using an adaptor plate from The epicenter 1 - SolarSheats 1500GS air heater Note 1: Nov 5, 2011 - I was doing a panel check by turning off individual panel circuits whenn I noticed that one array was dead. Found that one of the AP-120's had a burn in the back covering about the size of a cigarette burn. Apparently there was a bad connection from the factory on one of the Cell interconnects. I think I was able to fix it. Cut through the covering and silicone. The burnt spot looked to be overheated but cleaned it up and resoldered. The cells on these panels have 2 tabs per side. Checking the connection on the other tab and it was open. Resoldered that and fingers crossed that it is corrected. Pictures of July 14, 2009 upgrade installation: upgrade Garage power: 1 - Xantrex C-60A charge controller with DVM 4 - Rural King 220a/h golf cart batteries 1 - Trace DR2412 2400 watt inverter 2 - Sunelec 90 watt PV panels 1 - 20 watt PV panel The garage power system while having only 1/4 the battery capacity and 10% of the charging capacity of the house is configured so that it can serve as a secondary backup for the house.





Alternative Energy Forums/Websites: 12 Volt power	Links to Alternative Energy Vendors: Arizona Wind and Sun Backwoods Solar the Alternative Energy Store Sunelec miami
	For those that think nuclear power plants are our salvation. I strongly recommend they read the following book available from www.thenewpress.com. I have always had a gut aversion to the concept of nuclear power plants. After reading the book I have become even more against them. The only good nuclear power comes from the sun.
	Solar power data updated daily 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
	From way back when I found the pictures on the left. In 1980, while in college I became interested in solar power. I constructed a panel from 36 Radio Shack 1 amp cells that the local store had to call most of the other stores in the state. The cost was around 10 dollars per cell. I fiberglassed a plywood board and used silicone caulk to place the cells on the fiberglass. There was a lot of heat stresses and at the time I didnt really understand all the "right" ways to do it. It worked for about a year. I kept a plexiglass cover on them when I wasnt around. Even with that I accidentally left the cover off one day and some pea size hail obliterated it. I ran one light bulb and an Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 off of it.
	This wind generator is located in Ashmore, IL.