Solutions for loadshedding

[Karman de Lange]

They tabulated the data over a full year. 

 

So yes, your one set might be better this week, but during a different week of the year the other set might be better aligned and then give more. But over a year, it evens out.

 

The question remains what we actually want to achieve with our system.

 

I would rather optimize my system orientation to allow it to be most efficient during the winter months when our consumption peaks instead of trying to farm off the most for a full year.

Ja, sorry

 

I pulled lifetime report and very simular

 

I normally only focus on winter as its our biggest power problem. summer we always have way to much....  I wish I focused/angled mine more on winter than summer

Edited April 13, 2021 by Karman de Lange

[Vetplant]

Ja, sorry

 

I pulled lifetime report and very simular

 

I normally only focus on winter as its our biggest power problem. summer we always have way to much....  I wish I focused/angled mine more on winter than summer

No worries

 

If you are interested, I can send you the full article, I have it in PDF. 

 

Drop me your email details in PM and I can send it through. You can geek out on their process and findings.

[Karman de Lange]

I'm pondering actually to add another 1kw of solar dedicated to run a heating system for winter.  Basicly get element and run direct from solar. Heat up a stack of bricks and let it radiated during the night.

 

In theory brick takes about 4 hrs to transfer heat from one side to the other, so if you heat the stack of bricks  from center, by evening it should be hot outside...   

 

Wood is now so @#$# expensive here that solar might be cheaper . ....

[Vetplant]

I'm pondering actually to add another 1kw of solar dedicated to run a heating system for winter.  Basicly get element and run direct from solar. Heat up a stack of bricks and let it radiated during the night.

 

In theory brick takes about 4 hrs to transfer heat from one side to the other, so if you heat the stack of bricks  from center, by evening it should be hot outside...   

 

Wood is now so @#$# expensive here that solar might be cheaper . ....

Fascinating. I was wondering how to best utilize solar during the winter days to keep the bedrooms warm throughout the night.

 

Currently our system recharges the batteries before 12h00, so I have three more hours of proper supply to try and bake in some heat into the house.

 

This is a very clever idea. I will let my mind wander how to do this in our home.

[Karman de Lange]

Fascinating. I was wondering how to best utilize solar during the winter days to keep the bedrooms warm throughout the night.

 

Currently our system recharges the batteries before 12h00, so I have three more hours of proper supply to try and bake in some heat into the house.

 

This is a very clever idea. I will let my mind wander how to do this in our home.

 

I've been "planning" this for 3 years..  just actually have to try it one day.

 

I thought of water etc, but that is messy if leaks and boiling water is not my thing...  

 

The bricks with the holes in them might also work if you need less time for radiation to start. Paver bricks also thinner.   Lots of options.

 

I also thought to use few 100-200w elements, and you can switch them on / off to match the amount of excess solar.  Should be easy if you able to read current inverter stats  using few Sonoff basic's and berry.

[Eddy Gordo]

Interesting. I am gonna drift a bit but will try and keep it short. A friend of mine is building with central heating installations. I am sure I dont need to explain. Anyway, I was thinking of doing a DIY pool heating system. So basically copper pipe, or possibly the black irrigation pipe setup like those solar mats and a pump to circulate the water. 

Now with central heating, I am not sure how this would work with regards to water and possible evaporation(not sure if possible in this case, depends on kind of system I suppose), Could one run this similar "coil" setup and then have a radiator type coil setup on your wall in you room with a solar pump to circulate? I wonder if you could use an oil instead.

The reason I wonder about this is that at work we have a water feed running along the wall for about 30 or 40m. It is plain copper pipe. In summer the water out the tap is so hot it could melt you skin. In winter it is luke warm, depending on how long the tap was not used.

Someone else told me for the setup to put the copper pipe inside the irrigation pipe as the copper looses heat quick.

I dont know, just a thought and seeing as you guys discussing heating....

[Karman de Lange]

Interesting. I am gonna drift a bit but will try and keep it short. A friend of mine is building with central heating installations. I am sure I dont need to explain. Anyway, I was thinking of doing a DIY pool heating system. So basically copper pipe, or possibly the black irrigation pipe setup like those solar mats and a pump to circulate the water. 

Now with central heating, I am not sure how this would work with regards to water and possible evaporation(not sure if possible in this case, depends on kind of system I suppose), Could one run this similar "coil" setup and then have a radiator type coil setup on your wall in you room with a solar pump to circulate? I wonder if you could use an oil instead.

The reason I wonder about this is that at work we have a water feed running along the wall for about 30 or 40m. It is plain copper pipe. In summer the water out the tap is so hot it could melt you skin. In winter it is luke warm, depending on how long the tap was not used.

Someone else told me for the setup to put the copper pipe inside the irrigation pipe as the copper looses heat quick.

I dont know, just a thought and seeing as you guys discussing heating....

 

 

Ja .... solar water heating is a option .. but its simply not hot enough for room heating (radiation heat) after hours... 

 

You have to keep the temperature below boiling so you either need to heat a MASSIVE amount of "bricks" but then you also sit that that heat keeps house warm when you don't need it (during the day and after you go to bed).  So now you need to somehow insulate the bricks when not needed not to wast the energy.  Adds complexity

 

With the heating element in the brick, you heat the center of the stack to >400 , then by the time heat moved to the outside of the stack its night time and keeps room warm when needed. By the time you go to bed the stack should be cold again  so that  all the energy you put in during the day gets used in small amount of time at night when needed.

 

The solar water on the roof also have big issue that wind cools it down alot.  Solar PV don't have that problem.

 

Well that is the theory .........

[Vetplant]

Interesting. I am gonna drift a bit but will try and keep it short. A friend of mine is building with central heating installations. I am sure I dont need to explain. Anyway, I was thinking of doing a DIY pool heating system. So basically copper pipe, or possibly the black irrigation pipe setup like those solar mats and a pump to circulate the water. 

Now with central heating, I am not sure how this would work with regards to water and possible evaporation(not sure if possible in this case, depends on kind of system I suppose), Could one run this similar "coil" setup and then have a radiator type coil setup on your wall in you room with a solar pump to circulate? I wonder if you could use an oil instead.

The reason I wonder about this is that at work we have a water feed running along the wall for about 30 or 40m. It is plain copper pipe. In summer the water out the tap is so hot it could melt you skin. In winter it is luke warm, depending on how long the tap was not used.

Someone else told me for the setup to put the copper pipe inside the irrigation pipe as the copper looses heat quick.

I dont know, just a thought and seeing as you guys discussing heating....

Intriguing.

 

Definitely a consideration.

 

Imagine using a couple of old Geysers as your heat storage tank. You can heat the water as normal with an electric element during sunlight hours or you can heat it with the sun during the day with your DIY black pipe on the roof. At night, you flick a switch and the now warm/hot water circulates through some "Radiator" pipes that are in each of the bedrooms. Your nighttime consumption will just be the circulation pump.

 

ALSO:

I know some modern home designs utilize a Dense Black Wall that is North Facing, which in PTA means very little heat absorption in Summer, but Big amounts of heat absorption from the Winter sun. At night, this "baked" wall then radiates it's heat into the bedroom naturally. I think it is actually behind a glass window to prevent the heat being wasted on the outdoor air during the night.

[Vetplant]

With the heating element in the brick, you heat the center of the stack to >400 , then by the time heat moved to the outside of the stack its night time and keeps room warm when needed. By the time you go to bed the stack should be cold again  so that  all the energy you put in during the day gets used in small amount of time at night when needed.

My main concern is having to convince the wife that a stack of bricks is an attractive addition to the bedrooms 

[Karman de Lange]

My main concern is having to convince the wife that a stack of bricks is an attractive addition to the bedrooms 

 

hehe

Use the bricks to make a table or something.  Stick it under the bed.  lots of options if its electric powered

 

You can even grab bag of clay and make sculpture.   

[Karman de Lange]

Intriguing.

 

Definitely a consideration.

 

Imagine using a couple of old Geysers as your heat storage tank. You can heat the water as normal with an electric element during sunlight hours or you can heat it with the sun during the day with your DIY black pipe on the roof. At night, you flick a switch and the now warm/hot water circulates through some "Radiator" pipes that are in each of the bedrooms. Your nighttime consumption will just be the circulation pump.

 

ALSO:

I know some modern home designs utilize a Dense Black Wall that is North Facing, which in PTA means very little heat absorption in Summer, but Big amounts of heat absorption from the Winter sun. At night, this "baked" wall then radiates it's heat into the bedroom naturally. I think it is actually behind a glass window to prevent the heat being wasted on the outdoor air during the night.

 

The black pipe idea is nice, but don't get hot enough if you have wind, or cold winter day.  It has to be inside a glass box.  

 

If you go work out what the glass , pipe, wood  etc cost and add the pump, and replacement costs of pipe after few years,  you simply go buy a PV panel and wire it to a heating coil...... 

 

If you want to go the geyser idea, you can run geyser element direct from solar as well. no inverters needed.   think the 3KW has right resistance for 1.5kw solar in series .. need to go find the calculators again.

[Frosty]

The black pipe idea is nice, but don't get hot enough if you have wind, or cold winter day.  It has to be inside a glass box.  

 

If you go work out what the glass , pipe, wood  etc cost and add the pump, and replacement costs of pipe after few years,  you simply go buy a PV panel and wire it to a heating coil...... 

 

If you want to go the geyser idea, you can run geyser element direct from solar as well. no inverters needed.   think the 3KW has right resistance for 1.5kw solar in series .. need to go find the calculators again.

I replaced my 4kW geyser element for a 2kW size; it can now run off my solar array when needed. 

 

In winter, my 8yo solar water geyser doesn't get hot enough with the normal circulation of water through the vacuum pipes. I would've use the grid for 2 hours per day to get the temperature up from low 40's to 55 or higher. Now, I can run the geyser between 11:00-13:00 using the solar array and doesn't touch the grid (only on rainy days). Pool runs from 10:00-11:00 in winter, as I only need to run it for an hour to fully circulate. Then the battery recharges to 100% SOC before the sun sets.  

[Vetplant]

For sure the money comes into play but there’s the unquantified value of being able to smugly continue with life without interruption

 

One thing you can guarantee in SA is that your payback period will diminish

Me, when the neighbourhood WhatsApp group starts bitching about loadshedding starting up again:

[Let's Ride]

Some solar for you from sunny Ireland. Feedback into the grid so no battery's for now. 

[PieterJvR]

After much deliberation and discussions with the wife I decided to pull the trigger and get an initial loadshedding solution installed, with the idea of expanding the system when finances allow. I decided to go the non DIY route and contacted a company that did a work colleague's installation 2 years ago that is still running without issues.

 

I know I will have to replace batteries sooner with this setup, but at least I can now run the basic things in my house when Eskom decides to pull the plug. I will now save to replace with Lithium batteries when the time comes

 

I did not connect the geyser, stove, 1 plug circuit and 2 light circuits.  I need to go through a process of replacing light fittings and globes in my house before I can include the light circuits.

 

We have a few plug in lamps and these already have LED globes already and will provide enough light during a power down period, together with 4 Magneto lights if needed.

 

Therefore I only connected 5 plug circuits on the inverter, leaving the 1 off where the kettle and washing machine and dishwasher is connected as I don't want an overload scenario

The circuits connected is for my fridge and deep freeze (kitchen), ONT and router (study), TV and dstv and cctv (lounge), alarm (main bedroom), garage 

 

I installed the inverter and batteries in the garage and also added the panels to the garage roof, my setup is as follows:

5000W 48V pure sine wave inverter

4 x 345 Mono Panels

8 x 100AH GEL/AGM batteries

 

I couldn't wait for the first power outage  to see how it will work, and last night when loadshedding started at 21:00 it was fantastic   because other than the lounge light going off everything remained exactly like it was before.  And now my wife also understands how it "works".

 

 

[The Ouzo]

Some solar for you from sunny Ireland. Feedback into the grid so no battery's for now. 

and that just so that he can run his kettle