Solar Power

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glalt
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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » May 2, 2018, 10:00 am

In my very humble opinion, this is an example of what could soon be commonly available on the market;

http://aquionenergy.com/technology/deep-cycle-battery/



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rjj04
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » May 3, 2018, 5:13 am

glalt wrote:
May 2, 2018, 10:00 am
In my very humble opinion, this is an example of what could soon be commonly available on the market;

http://aquionenergy.com/technology/deep-cycle-battery/
Interesting, thx.

After watching the video, I noticed that those batteries would seem to require at least 5X the area compared to flood lead-acid batteries. Not very good for residential storage to be sure (like you need a whole room filled to the ceiling.... forget about the massive weight as well), definitely not good for transport either, but utility companies with a lot of land area available might be able to use these things. Kind of hard for me to believe that the cotton inside will not disintegrate over time though. Also he showed in the video that he had a "menu" of cheap and abundant materials to work from, titanium was not on that list, and is pretty expensive stuff. Titanium is used in the battery according to the website info. It seems for every "break-through" product less that 1% ever end up succeeding in the mass market. So, once again, we'll have to wait and see how it pans out.

bluejets
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Re: Solar Power

Post by bluejets » May 3, 2018, 5:54 am


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rjj04
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » May 3, 2018, 8:20 am

2.5KWh salt-water battery = $2,200 AUS

2.4KWh of flooded lead-acid = $300 AUS (approx?)

an apples to oranges comparison perhaps, hopefully they can get the cost down

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rjj04
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » May 3, 2018, 9:25 am

Actually, it looks like the area footprint is not that bad (2X?), so much for my "eye-balling" it. If they could halve the price, they would start looking quite good being that they are 100% DOD batteries with about the same cycle life as flooded lead-acid at 50% DOD. Economies of scale and all that.

ytrewq
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Re: Solar Power

Post by ytrewq » May 3, 2018, 9:30 am

lol!

C'mon, people. Keep up. The future of batteries is already a done deal. Has been for years.

https://www.tesla.com/powerwall

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rjj04
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » May 3, 2018, 10:01 am

It must be nice to be so certain about everything. If I were right every time I thought something I'd be a frickin billionaire by now. Sadly... :lol:

glalt
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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » May 3, 2018, 10:53 am

For my usage, the only game in town is still flooded lead acid batteries. Would I like to have a Tesla Powerwall, you bet I would. The next question is if I would be willing to pay the huge premium over the lead acid flooded batteries. As it is, I am using two deep cycle 125 AH flooded batteries that are well over four years old. Granted that they were used lightly for the first four years and now are being heavily used at my house. They show no signs of weakening yet.

My newest system is using four 225 AH 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries. They are on-line 24/7 and the staying power is pretty impressive, although to be honest, they are not loaded that heavily. They are keeping up even during overcast days and discharging no more than fifty percent. They are being charged with four 250 watt panels. My house has too many trees to get a full days power from the panels.

My original batteries were four 65 AH AGM batteries. After four years they had weakened to the point that they no longer would carry the load I needed after the sun goes down. They were swapped for the two 125 AH that I was using at the farm. The AGM batteries are still in use at the farm and have enough power for the light load needed there. This system is being charged with one poly 280 watt and one 300 watt mono panel connected in series.

I feel that it is better to have over capacity panels because their life is much longer than shortening the life and abusing my batteries. Unlike probably most solar users, I don't use the systems to save money although that is a benefit. I use the solar because the electric grid here stinks. My security cameras and WiFi router are on 24/7 not to mention having lights and a TV for the wife.

bluejets
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Re: Solar Power

Post by bluejets » May 3, 2018, 11:39 am

Totally agree...+1 for flooded lead acid.

ytrewq
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Re: Solar Power

Post by ytrewq » May 3, 2018, 2:24 pm

To each their own. I'll grab 2 Powerwalls + a Tesla Model X whenever they arrive and the price is competitive with other SUVs.

glalt
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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » May 4, 2018, 10:04 am

It all depends on how much money you have and are willing to spend. In my mind, the best system would be the solar shingles and power walls all installed by professionals. A system like that would probably never have a money payback, at least in my lifetime. The payback would be the satisfaction of being independent of the grid. How much is that worth to you? Electricity is NOT free regardless of how it is produced.

glalt
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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » May 9, 2018, 9:20 pm

I have no idea of whether it is only this part of the country, Loei, Ning Hin area but the grid power here the past few days has been absolutely horrible. I'm not exaggerating. The grid has been on and off at least ten times a day. The grid went down today for several hours. The past year the grid quality has been going downhill rather than getting better. If not for my little solar systems, I'd be seriously thinking about moving. It is absolutely disgraceful.

On the other hand, my condo in Jomtien has no problems. The only time I remember the grid going down was when they had a planned upgrade because of all the new construction. We were notified that the power would be off from 8:00 AM to 5:00 pm. The power went off at 9:00 AM and came back on at about 4:00 PM. Here we have no warning at all.

ytrewq
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Re: Solar Power

Post by ytrewq » May 10, 2018, 10:40 pm

Where we are in Udon, we typically get a warning of sorts. They "flash" flip the switch somewhere twice, then it's usually another 10-20 minutes before it goes out for awhile. When planned, everyone gets notified via the morning village loudspeaker.

cricket
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Re: Solar Power

Post by cricket » May 11, 2018, 6:46 pm

ytrewq wrote:
June 26, 2017, 7:11 am
All installed and documented by a bonafide licensed Thai electrical engineer (not to be confused with the run-of-the-mill rice-paddy "electrician").
Would you mind sharing the details of your electrical engineer please? It's not easy to find good reliable electricians for commercial jobs.

ytrewq
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Re: Solar Power

Post by ytrewq » May 13, 2018, 6:22 am

If you PM your contact info, I'll pass it on.

cricket
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Re: Solar Power

Post by cricket » May 13, 2018, 11:03 am

ytrewq wrote:
May 13, 2018, 6:22 am
If you PM your contact info, I'll pass it on.
I'm sorry I don't see any way I can message you. Maybe I need to make a few more posts before I can send pm's. :(

cricket
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Re: Solar Power

Post by cricket » May 16, 2018, 8:01 am

Hi ytrewq, I'm sorry I don't see any way I can PM you. Can you post the information here please?

cricket
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Re: Solar Power

Post by cricket » May 16, 2018, 8:13 am

I can't see how to pm you so would you mind sending the info to me by email? Thanks

seesaa1 @ yandex.com

bumper
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Re: Solar Power

Post by bumper » May 17, 2018, 12:17 pm

We applied and were approved last time around selling back on the grid. The cost on installation it would take three life times to recover the money. Anything change ?

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rjj04
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » May 17, 2018, 12:59 pm

bumper wrote:
May 17, 2018, 12:17 pm
We applied and were approved last time around selling back on the grid. The cost on installation it would take three life times to recover the money. Anything change ?
Well, panel prices are down 40-50% since then (2014?) it would seem. Also inverter prices have fallen, but not quite at the same rate. I would think that the cost of installation has also drop considerably. Bumper, I went through the process before as well, in the end not approved, but if my recollection is correct, you need to finish the installation within a certain period of time, a few months I think, to stay in the program. I would think that you'd have to go through the whole process again, if and when the roof-top solar program comes back to life in the future. It seems that every time there is a proposal to open up the grid for residential solar it is stomped back down again by certain interests. So, to summarize, at this point in time, it isn't looking good for roof-top solar. :cry:

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