Comments for Generate Cheap Energy From The Wind

Comment on Can I plug a solar panel into a wall socket to lower my electric bill? by roderick_young

roderick_young — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:06:59 +0000

You're quite right that the solar panel can't be directly connected.

I sense that you want to start small, but unfortunately, it's hard enough to make a system with a dozen or more panels pay back. (It can, we have a system…) But with just one panel, maybe a small one, the economy of scale is gone. You need to buy a grid-tie inverter, which watt-for-watt will be more expensive than a regular size one, and for a small panel, the $$/watt value will be poor.

There are some [illegal in most places] tiny grid-tie inverters that I see advertised on the web from time to time, with an ordinary plug that goes into the wall. Those are generally against electrical codes, and the danger is real.

There is also a crop of micro-inverters being sold by companies such as Enphase. These are legitimate products, but will still be costly per watt, and ultimately, it will be hard to have a net savings over time with just one panel.

Have you already taken the conservation steps like LED light bulbs, efficient appliances (especially refrigerator), insulation, and using a power strip to turn off loads that are not being used? That stuff isn't sexy, but saves money fast.
References :

Comment on Can I plug a solar panel into a wall socket to lower my electric bill? by jivepacketrat

jivepacketrat — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:39:59 +0000

The other responders have given partial information.
The electricity in your house is 120 volts AC and the solar panel will produce DC voltage. If you plugged in the solar panel into the wall, the solar panel would be destroyed, possibly with disastrous results.
If you connected the solar panel to a DC to AC inverter, there are also dangers. The solar panel unless very large will not produce enough power to make a lot of AC, for every amp of 120 volt AC, you require more than 10 Amps of DC voltage. So most small solar panels are used to trickle charge a 12 volt battery used in backup situation.
The problem is that the house AC and the inverter AC have to be exactly in phase or again you have disastrous results. If they are exactly 180 degrees out of phase, the wires now are carrying 240 volts and you will burn out the inverter, and possibly cause a fire. There are systems that will synchronize an inverter to commercial power so that you can feed the power back to the grid, but these are more complicated. If you want to use the battery and solar panel to run some lights during power failures, then you can connect the light to the common terminals of a switch, but the switch must be a break before make switch, which means that when you throw the switch the common is disconnected from the one source before it is connected to another source. Most AC switches will do this, but make sure.
References :

Comment on Can I plug a solar panel into a wall socket to lower my electric bill? by William B

William B — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:51:59 +0000

No a solar panel puts out DC voltage like a car battery
and you house uses Ac voltage generated voltage
yes you need a converter to use the dc on an ac unit
depends on the Amperage out put of the solar panel
References :
maint man

Comment on Can I plug a solar panel into a wall socket to lower my electric bill? by randall flagg

randall flagg — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:44:59 +0000

You can use a solar panel to heat water, and you can generate electricity, but you can't plug it into a wall socket. The most effective way to save on your energy bill is by heating water. Solar panels that produce electricity, don't store it. They produce it for that particular time, and if you're not there to use it, it's gone. Furthermore, the electricity isn't always regular, it may have peaks and shortages. The best way to tap into that, would be to sell the electricity you produce to the grid, and then buy it back when you use it.
References :

Comment on 1kW Wind Turbine with at wind farm by stuartsjg

stuartsjg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:11:05 +0000

Hi,
Thanks for the …
Hi,
Thanks for the filming compliment. The high access hire company and the guy that was operating the lift were the hire company Sony used to film the exploding paint on the high-rise buildings advert for Bravia so he knew how to move the platform in a camera friendly way

Comment on 1kW Wind Turbine with at wind farm by stuartsjg

stuartsjg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:11:05 +0000

The buzzing is the …
The buzzing is the load dumps, as the batteries were full the excess energy goes to the PWM load dumps which tend to buzz. They are not needed for most installations, they were using the heat to keep the chill out of a paper file store however.

Comment on 1kW Wind Turbine with at wind farm by col1n1234

col1n1234 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:11:05 +0000

Hi is there any …
Hi is there any vibration noise from the wind generator that transfers down in to the house? thanks Colin

Comment on 1kW Wind Turbine with at wind farm by vaultmantk

vaultmantk — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:11:05 +0000

It looks like it …
It looks like it produces a lot of power, but it seems so loud, I wouldn’t want to go outside.

Comment on 1kW Wind Turbine with at wind farm by stuartsjg

stuartsjg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:11:05 +0000

Hi,

Please be …
Hi,

Please be aware that the turbine noise is mostly drowned out by the High Access Lift. You can just about hear a swish-swish like a rope being swung through the air - this is the turbine. Most the noise you hear in the video is the 2.5L Diesel engine of the high-lift and the wind in the microphone.

Stuart

Comment on 1kW Wind Turbine with at wind farm by dieguerrero

dieguerrero — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:11:05 +0000

Hi Stuart, I was …
Hi Stuart, I was looking at the video and see weird regarding the power output. One meter reads 27.55 v dc while the shows 2.77 Amps? How is it making 700
watts?
Regards,
Diego