diy solar

diy solar

Modified Solar Wood Kiln

Where is the batteries going to be housed? Inside or outside the kiln? If inside the kiln, its a fail. I take mine to 145-150 for 6+ hours to kill bugs. Temps in full sun on a hot day can reach up to 200'F inside.

Currently building a solar system to power the 3 fans inside the kiln.
I agree inside is too hot for batteries and monitoring controls. They will both be housed in a compartment I will hang on the end of the container. What fans are you looking at? I decided to go with some 8" HVAC duct fans. They are only 44W/.77A @120V. I got 5 of them. 2-3 to use for circulation, 1-2 for the heat exchanger panel and 1 for outside air exchange. Fans I chose
 
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I agree inside is too hot for batteries and monitoring controls. They will both be housed in a compartment I will hang on the end of the container. What fans are you looking at? I decided to go with some 8" HVAC duct fans. They are only 44W/.77A @120V. I got 5 of them. 2-3 to use for circulation, 1-2 for the heat exchanger panel and 1 for outside air exchange. Fans I chose
Check out the Virginia Tech Solar Kiln. I think those fans are going to be to small to move sufficient amount of air. The guy that really developed this ideal and promotes it is Gene Wengert aka Wood Doc. He can be found on sawmill forums. He is a great resource.

You can find info here.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=83241.0

Also in the spring they usually run a class or two.

Also check out Norwood Sawmill forums they have some good info to.
 
Check out the Virginia Tech Solar Kiln. I think those fans are going to be to small to move sufficient amount of air. The guy that really developed this ideal and promotes it is Gene Wengert aka Wood Doc. He can be found on sawmill forums. He is a great resource.

You can find info here.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=83241.0

Also in the spring they usually run a class or two.

Also check out Norwood Sawmill forums they have some good info to.
I have researched the VT solar kiln extensively. My friend has a VT kiln and a sawmill. We have been using the kiln for the last 1.5 years almost continuously. I was going to build one for myself as his kiln is set up in the city. I am about 90 mins away in the country. Surprisingly he gets a lot of trees from storm damage and tree removals. I buy green rough cut lumber to resell and wanted my own kiln. So this is my plan.
I think the fans will work quite well. They move 420cfm each. Three will be over 1200cfm. With a proper baffle and mounting them in a header I am confident they will work. If not they are cheap, I will just install more. My friends kiln has 3 fans that do not move as much air. It works quite well. My main concern is the heating. I am not sure one solar heat exchanger will be enough in the winter. But we shall see. Winter is over here in Texas. If need be I will paint the south wall of the container black.
 
I have researched the VT solar kiln extensively. My friend has a VT kiln and a sawmill. We have been using the kiln for the last 1.5 years almost continuously. I was going to build one for myself as his kiln is set up in the city. I am about 90 mins away in the country. Surprisingly he gets a lot of trees from storm damage and tree removals. I buy green rough cut lumber to resell and wanted my own kiln. So this is my plan.
I think the fans will work quite well. They move 420cfm each. Three will be over 1200cfm. With a proper baffle and mounting them in a header I am confident they will work. If not they are cheap, I will just install more. My friends kiln has 3 fans that do not move as much air. It works quite well. My main concern is the heating. I am not sure one solar heat exchanger will be enough in the winter. But we shall see. Winter is over here in Texas. If need be I will paint the south wall of the container black.
My interior is painted black. You should do really well year around in Texas. Upstate NY is totally different beast!
 
I made some more progress on my kiln build. I finally decided on a dehumidifier to use and purchased. It should be here in a few days. I went with the AlorAir Sentinel HD55 - https://amzn.to/31wxNXH
This should be more than enough to extract moisture and still is within my power usage envelope. It runs 115v/4A. It also has a much wider operating range than others I looked at, 33.8~105F.
There is one problem I have not quite solved yet however. The manual says to not just cut power to the unit as internal temps may be too high. It has a fan that continues to run after the compressor stops. I had planned on just having a smart switch control on/off. But on further research I may have to rig something up. Suggestions? I had thought of just doing another duct fan that is controlled separately based on the power status. Not quite sure yet.
 
I made some more progress on my kiln build. I finally decided on a dehumidifier to use and purchased. It should be here in a few days. I went with the AlorAir Sentinel HD55 - https://amzn.to/31wxNXH
This should be more than enough to extract moisture and still is within my power usage envelope. It runs 115v/4A. It also has a much wider operating range than others I looked at, 33.8~105F.
There is one problem I have not quite solved yet however. The manual says to not just cut power to the unit as internal temps may be too high. It has a fan that continues to run after the compressor stops. I had planned on just having a smart switch control on/off. But on further research I may have to rig something up. Suggestions? I had thought of just doing another duct fan that is controlled separately based on the power status. Not quite sure yet.
Cool, I think you’re on the right track regarding purging the heat in the unit after power cut. As long as you run an auxiliary fan after power cut, ideally based on radiator temp (assuming this is the heat soaked part).

Thanks for the update.

A microcontroller might be useful in this situation, unsure what off the shelf stuff would do the smart power off heat purge.
 
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