Hi!

Can anyone recommend one or two good books for beginners in Renewable Energy? I am particularly interested in solar, since in Guatemala that is my most abundant resource, but anything educational and useful is also welcome.

Questions I keep trying to answer:

- How much sun is available to me, and how much energy will X or Y photocell generate from that amount of sun?

- How do I mount my PV array? Where do I buy racks, or how can I make them? Also, how do I find "true south" and measure the best angle of inclination for my PV array, per season?

- If my utility will not cooperate and allow me to intertie, I can "go guerrilla" (I only want to generate about 2/3 of my power). But won't they catch on if the meter reader sees the meter going backwards at noon?

- How to select equipment? In particular, how do I choose a photocell? What are the criteria and what do I look for? Cost per watt, efficiency, physical size...????

- I read that batteries make the system less efficient. Why, and by how much? Can I set up my house to draw current first from the array and batteries, but to supplemente whatever it doesn't get from the grid (so that I never have the meter go backwards)?

Anyway, any recommendations are useful. Thanks!

I would recommend you read Home Power. They are geared for those that want to educate themselves about this stuff.

The utility company's meter readers generally do not know which direction is the proper way for a meter to spin. Usually they don't even bother to look at the spinning disk. They just look at the numbers and move on to the next meter. You can also sign up to read your own meter too if you are concerned about this.

Batteries are not 100% efficient, nor are the inverters that have to charge them, that is why if you do not need the back up power, a batteryless, grid tied system is the best way to go.

Todd

[ September 30, 2002: Message edited by: ShastaTodd ]

The solar panels are usually the least troublesome component of any system. Choose the panel on price/watt, size/shape and local availability. Kyocera & Sharp are the 2 largest producers in the world. I've had excellent results with Kyocera.

Interesting point... If I'm planning to stay in my current house less than 2 years, should I even bother notifying utility company about my grid tie system? (It would be located on my backyard, so they will not be seeing it.) It may take them 2 years before they finally understand what I'm trying to do and give the permit...

Your are asking for deep doo-doo!!! The meter readers are not that attentive or knowledgeable, but the company they work for monitors your usage. I put in a solar hot water system on a previous house to lower my electric consumption and got a visit from First Energy (yeah, the blackout causers) wanting to inspect my house since my bill had dropped dramatically. The company can cause you great grief if your system feeds power when the grid is out. They want to know where all possible feeds are for their system. They want to be able lockout the grid connected feeds to service the network in your area. You might be liable for damages or loss of life should your system damage equipment or injure or kill a lineman.

It is better to work with them, even though they are a real pain, than have them jump all over you!

You might consider switching off grid at a non-critical time to use stored (read batteries) power and go back on grid when you system gets low.