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diy solar

diy solar

The end of my solar hobby.

Mattb4

Solar Wind Sailor
Joined
Jul 15, 2022
Messages
6,261
Location
Not here.
As I prepare to mount my last solar panels and hook them up it strikes me that I have reached the point where there is nothing left to do. The months spent investigating, researching, planning, building, wiring, tearing out, re-doing and just generally occupying my attention, are drawing to a close once the final setup is up and working. At this point it just transitions to routine maintenance and repair. My system meets the needs I am putting it to. It works.

Sorta sad.

I will have to transition to a new hobby (not yet envisioned) that can fulfill the time.

Where do you go from solar?
 
.... wind
Funny enough they just announced a major wind farm to be built in my County just a few miles from my place. Over 40 3 blade wind towers of 500 feet tall! Hard to imagine all that is going to take to accomplish in a rather remote mountainous region. Let alone how they will transmit the power.

500ft towers are a bit out of my reach.
 
Funny enough they just announced a major wind farm to be built in my County just a few miles from my place. Over 40 3 blade wind towers of 500 feet tall! Hard to imagine all that is going to take to accomplish in a rather remote mountainous region. Let alone how they will transmit the power.

500ft towers are a bit out of my reach.

Maybe they will transmit the power as high voltage sparks between remote towers, Nikola Tesla style!
 
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Yeah, now comes the fussing over good and bad solar days. Even if it makes no difference, I just like to yell at the big yellow one.
Dude, you're yelling at the wrong thing.

297.png
 
As I prepare to mount my last solar panels and hook them up it strikes me that I have reached the point where there is nothing left to do. The months spent investigating, researching, planning, building, wiring, tearing out, re-doing and just generally occupying my attention, are drawing to a close once the final setup is up and working. At this point it just transitions to routine maintenance and repair. My system meets the needs I am putting it to. It works.

Sorta sad.

I will have to transition to a new hobby (not yet envisioned) that can fulfill the time.

Where do you go from solar?
How about Rain Harvest? Runs pretty smoothly. We did 3 x 2500gal tanks, capture 2000sq ft run-off (of 2600sq ft home) and we get ~18,000gal / year. At 2,000g/month we go 9-10months on rain harvest with no conservation. Works almost as easily / smoothly as Solar.
Main Tank + First Flush (small skinny tank)
1683660873401.png

Pump Room on other side of wall from black tank.
Tank -> Pump -> Pressure Tank -> 20micron (filter) -> 5 micron (filter) -> Class A UV -> house.
1683660931876.png

Automated valves to switch between city and rain harvest with flick of button in the kitchen
1683660968210.png1683661271824.png

Additional tanks for 3 x 2500gal. Little retaining wall to keep connecting pipe in dirt to retard freezing.
1683661024151.png

Final build-out with tanks, solar array, generator shed, and hopefully some grape vines :)
1683661122487.png
 
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How about Rain Harvest? Runs pretty smoothly. We did 3 x 2500gal tanks, capture 2000sq ft run-off (of 2600sq ft home) and we get ~18,000gal / year. At 2,000g/month we go 9-10months on rain harvest with no conservation. Works almost as easily / smoothly as Solar.

Great project, I've been concerned about doing it because of all the chemicals in the rain , chem trails ect .

What kind of filtration are you using?
 
Great project, I've been concerned about doing it because of all the chemicals in the rain , chem trails ect .

What kind of filtration are you using?
Where I live they just add even more "chemicals" to it and charge you for it, vs rainwater. They say it's safe for drinking according to the yearly reports, but honest to goodness, it comes out of my tap yellow to outright brown sometimes. I'm ok bathing in it and washing dishes and such with it (the dish soap is already chemicals anyway). For drinking/cooking, I suggest distilling it, regardless of source.
 
How about Rain Harvest? Runs pretty smoothly. We did 3 x 2500gal tanks, capture 2000sq ft run-off (of 2600sq ft home) and we get ~18,000gal / year. At 2,000g/month we go 9-10months on rain harvest with no conservation. Works almost as easily / smoothly as Solar.
Main Tank + First Flush (small skinny tank)


Pump Room on other side of wall from black tank.
Tank -> Pump -> Pressure Tank -> 20micron (filter) -> 5 micron (filter) -> Class A UV -> house.


Automated valves to switch between city and rain harvest with flick of button in the kitchen
View attachment 148513

Additional tanks for 3 x 2500gal. Little retaining wall to keep connecting pipe in dirt to retard freezing.


Final build-out with tanks, solar array, generator shed, and hopefully some grape vines :)
Did and done 25 years ago. I have 3-1500gal storage tanks that supply my water. They are buried to the top to prevent freezing. My garage/shop building roof (steel panel)is the collector and feeds the tanks .
 
Great project, I've been concerned about doing it because of all the chemicals in the rain , chem trails ect .
You're likely to have more issues with a composite roof. This is an easy question to sort out. Take a sample and send it into a water testing lab. What I found was what came off the roof was remarkably cleaner than the typical wells in the area.

How you treat it/filter it is directly related to what is in the water. Like the above poster, our "final" pass is UV light.
 
Where I live they just add even more "chemicals" to it and charge you for it, vs rainwater. They say it's safe for drinking according to the yearly reports, but honest to goodness, it comes out of my tap yellow to outright brown sometimes. I'm ok bathing in it and washing dishes and such with it (the dish soap is already chemicals anyway). For drinking/cooking, I suggest distilling it, regardless of source.

I've read about the 'drinking water' over there , especially flint , "you drink it" , ..

scary stuff


In the UK we apparently have some of the cleanest tap water in the world. Even then it's just river water that's pushed through a sand filter and then gets big bucket of bleach in the top
 
Distilling water is one heck of a use for excess solar energy also. Takes roughly 3000 watts per gallon. You can never have enough solar if you drink enough home distilled water. :ROFLMAO:
 

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