diy solar

diy solar

Where is @Will Prowse?

I'm always present here or checking the channel. Trying to think of a new fun direction to take with the videos. Have done a few hundreds videos now and I feel like I'm repeating myself. I actually filmed some videos this month, but didn't post them because they were not very useful.

My wishlist:

1. Will Prowse makes the cheapest x kw solar system with battery possible.

2. Will Prowse makes a x kw solar system with battery only with recycled gear meant to be used for something else.

3. Will Prowse travels to Congo to test his luck as a gold miner.
 
Disclaimer: I'm not an electrician, and I would hire a master electrician into my business as legally required to do electrical parts of the work that require it, as well as advise me, because I'm not an electrician, etc..

That being said, am I missing the part in the above quote where the Hoymiles available at an affordable cost would be zero export so you don't have to get a grid connect agreement?

And wouldn't you have to pull a permit in many jurisdictions to do that easy one hours worth of work anyway? I'm not as familiar with the electricians side of things as I want to be, but from my reading of various laws (in Texas) anything involving a new circuit or installation of a subpanel requires a permit and possibly an inspection?
1. Getting a non-export agreement has never been done (yet) with the HM microinverters. It can be done with that WattNode meter if you've got the $$.
2. Yes a permit is required in NC, but an electrical contractor is not if you own the home, are not renting it to anyone, or selling it.
3. Yes a Final Inspection is required to be signed off before the utility will allow you to interconnect, along with a certificate of completion from the installer (me).
4. I wasn't talking about a non-export system perse', it is a grid-tied export system, but it's still pretty basic in terms of construction and adding new circuits. It's just a switch and all the solar installer does is connect L1, L2, and G, and torque them to spec. It's only complicated when there are batteries and a transfer switch required, i.e., Enphase is complicated. Hence, why they require certification for installers.
 
How about testing one of these plasma devices?

View attachment 104266

Photo of a plasma reaction experiment conducted by Randell Mills. The unique plasma reaction that he is developing has the potential to produce nearly inexhaustible clean energy.



:)

Mills is a masterful con artist. He just keeps moving the target yielding new "breakthroughs" that only lead to new "breakthroughs" but never anything that gets close to a viable technology.

At least a few company name changes helps obfuscate as well.
 
Will, a very interesting video would be to see the results of adding a highly reflective material under a quality Bi-Facial panel like Mylar sheets or something similar. I have not seen anything on this a I know a lot of people would love to see it.
He already did something similar to this - don't think it was with bi-facials, but I would expect similar results.
 
Thin film silicon only interacts with some of the photons.
Sliced wafers, about 0.025" thick, interact with most. Except IR which passes through. Metalized back would stop all light.

I don't think reflective surface would help with electricity production, except behind a transparent thin-film cell.
At a distance behind bifacial it could. Usually diffuse reflective white is used.
 
The biggest difficulty with bifacials out here in the desert is the increased heat causing reduced output. Sure the temp coefficient ratings of bifacials is better than traditional panels, but out here in Las Vegas, things get really hot. I don't think there would be benefit. Especially for the cost. Bifacials excel in cold environments and when lifted off the ground at least a meter.

I actually made a video about this from test data in my backyard.
 
My fun videos get downvoted. Or if I share opinions or entertain. Technically, instructional videos get the upvotes, and I'm here to appeal to the masses. Need to find the next thing that can really help people. I don't want to entertain. I want to help people. Without wasting their time.
I think a great new direction would be something like "Will Prowse - The Solar Whisperer." People love to watch experts do their thing and solve difficult problems for people. Maybe some guy's having an issue with his solar that he can't figure out, or he has a challenging new project, or whatever. You can swoop in and be their hero. People eat up that kind of entertaining, educational content. I know I would! There would be opportunities for collabs, too.
 
He already did something similar to this - don't think it was with bi-facials, but I would expect similar results.
No what he did was compare three sets of panels with one of them being Bifacial, but had them laying all flat on his driveway. Bifacial's need to be mounted up off the ground to get light reflected back up to the underside surface. I've seen many forums posters wonder how much gain you would get if you installed a highly reflective material under these type panels. Mylar is very cheap and used extensively on most indoor grow rooms.
 
Special periodic videos on "what's new" in solar industry I think would be really interesting.. I'm guessing you get a lot more "inside" info on what is happening then a lot of us even if it is products you haven't personally used.

Also what to do with excess PV capacity in non-grid tied setup (and not to charge an EV or use bitcoin miners which most people don't have). Was thinking more along lines of air and water heating. Seems other countries like Australia have off-the-shelf products for heating water but in USA for some reason seems like a DIY area.
 
We could live vicariously through @Will Prowse and he could use excess solar to generate hydrogen and use it in a fuel cell to get electricity back out.

Hydrogen Supplies - Fun for the whole family!

If he could find a Lavo somehow, he could get a kit that is ready to go. I figured he would like the do it yourself aspect of the link above though.

Lavo - Super slick looking presentation
I would probably build a thorium reactor before I touched hydrogen storage systems. Too many risks.
 
My fun videos get downvoted. Or if I share opinions or entertain. Technically, instructional videos get the upvotes, and I'm here to appeal to the masses. Need to find the next thing that can really help people. I don't want to entertain. I want to help people. Without wasting their time.
Start another channel thats more oriented to the fun and experimental things - keep posting your info content on your main channel but a 2nd "Will Experiments" channel would be awesome.
 
Start another channel thats more oriented to the fun and experimental things - keep posting your info content on your main channel but a 2nd "Will Experiments" channel would be awesome.
Coincidentally, that's what I do. I have my solar channel, but I also have a channel WarpDriveTech where I do experiments and videos concerning the applied, practical physics principles of propulsion, gravity, and of course, warp drive. That's my fun channel, but I think solar is fun too or I wouldn't be here.
 
@Will Prowse

Dumb ideas for excess solar storage..

Got any extra rooms or buildings? Maybe you could super insulate one of them, use excess solar to chill them or something in them way down and use that pre cooled room/item to distribute cold air into your duct work later after the sun goes down. A prechilled air conditioner booster. Probably cause horrible humidity/mold problems, but such is the way of things.

On the other end, you could make a steam turbine of some sort using dangerously hot water using excess solar.

Giant compressed air tanks? Buried under ground maybe? At the very least, keep them far away from your living space, near your least favorite neighbors fence line.

Buying more batteries sure does seem like the easiest and likely cheapest solution to excess solar for some reason. :)
 
Alright. Time to build your own reactor.

Might have to go dumpster diving for a bunch of old smoke detectors...
 
Back
Top