Recent content by efficientPV

I'd like to know how you calculate watts thru the day. Are you using theoretical power that can be obtained? For example, going to 2X the ideal resistance should greatly increase daily production.

That sounds like a good idea, but it isn't. Switching in an element usually drops the power in half. It isn't seasonal, but many times a day it is needed. Manual switching just isn't practical. Having a timer for the two peak hours at noon will see a slight improvement. Measuring current and...

"the 180w of difference for those times isn't going to matter" That is what most think. That 180W of extra power is what heats almost all of my water.

I recently obtained a nice 12V ball valve and could imagine using this as a bypass when the water is hot. This ball valve only takes about 9ma to run so having it on all the time would not be an issue. A check valve on the instantaneous water heater input would provide enough resistance to...

You don't state what panels you have. Normally the power supply wouldn't care. Three 12V panels in series could exceed the output capacitor voltage specification as well as the diode.

It is microprocessor controlled that looks at battery voltage constantly with preventions from hot starts. Should it run too long it automatically shuts down and resets after a period. This prevents inverter faults from shutting down system. Freezers typically have short run times and the...

I took a totally different approach as I consider a freezer a battery. I have MSW inverter, an old car battery for starting surge only and run almost exclusively from panel power. Battery will only supply 5 minutes of runtime if sun goes away. Fridge only starts when battery is past float and...

I used ultrasonic sound to grow plants back in 1963.

I used to grow plants with ultrasonics, made them grow like crazy. Hard to believe ultrasonics would stunt algae.

Vinyl siding, YUCH. Cement board is the only way to go with siding.

Why spend $150 on an inverter when a $15 one and buck converter will do the job.

Blown fuse is in the current shunt section and would not affect voltage measurment. Did you use the right connections on the meter. Short circuit measurements don't indicate much. Half the panel could have bad cells and still indicate correct current. Two panels in parallel could blow a 10A...

Because electricity is just magic to 99% of the people here and they just regurgitate what someone else has said. For things that go arc in the night, get the bible on such things, Gaseous Conductors by James Dillon Cobine. That is probably my most referenced book.

It is for the adults because you have to make some effort to build it. This isn't kiddie table solar stuff. I don't see how the XY6020L would be much good without extensive modifications that only a half dozen people here could do and things like that don't last very long. This is an array DC...

There are dozens of ways to do this, none off the shelf. It costs more to do Rube Goldberg designs and they don't work as well. This is a Lithuanian video of someone who built one of my designs. He had no prior experience in electronics and even managed to make his own circuit board, I mean...