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Forgot to ask... Who does make a good can opener these days? My old P38 that has doubled as a fish hook is darn near worn out. I am willing to ship a box of openers over from the mainland to someone that can distribute if none can be found, as I am currently on the mainland working on a contract job so when I come back, all I have is the clothes on my back, and a suitcase full of money! (Gotta have it to buy a new photovoltaic system)!
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As per wire gauges to be used - there is no one size fits all. Refer to the wire gauging charts online that indicate voltage drops/power loss by current type (AC or DC), applied voltage, wire guage, length of run and applied load.
Example
http://www.solar-electric.com/wire-loss-tables.html
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quote:
Originally posted by Tink
My system is completely " off grid", almost identical to Bluesboy's, so I didn't take the tax credit
The tax credit is not dependent on the system being off grid or grid tied. I'm 100% off grid.
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Good to know! Thansk!! Mo' money!!!
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PV panels should face due South, and at this latitude should be angled 22.5 degrees from horizontal, for optimal exposure year round.
For can openers, I only buy "Swing-a-way" brand can openers, which were sold at J. Hara Store the last time I checked.
My wahine friend kept buying cheap can openers from <insert purveyor of cheap goods here> and every single can opener was complete crap. (plastic parts break)
The Swing-a-way openers cost around $10 +/- but are worth every cent.
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
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I will look for them while I'm here on mainland for good price. Found TastyKakes around the corner from me, any takers for a shipment??
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There are some "Enphase" inverters which are small and mounted directly on the panels (one per panel) and they provide 120 volts from each panel so you don't need the large wires. We've got 17 Sharp 250watt panels on the roof equipped with the Enphase inverters. It all feeds into the grid, though, since it's a grid tied system. If you can manage that, it's the easiest PV system to live with that I've ever encountered. No batteries, no maintenance, no watching the power levels. There is a $20 monthly charge, though, to be connected to the grid and once a year they zero out your accumulated watts. But it's really nice not having to deal with batteries or back up generators.
For household appliances, you may want to look at an energy star refrigerator of less than 22 cubic feet with the ice maker in the freezer. Oh, freezer on top, too. Those use less power than our "solar" refrigerator did.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
