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Photovoltaic (PV) solar electricity systems have captured a lot of interest as the system components have grown more mature, capable, and reliable.
The references and articles below provide PV system basics, examples of the four common types of PV systems used to generate electric power, reviews of PV system components, and a few interesting "other" PV systems.
It is still an expensive way to get energy from the sun, so make sure you review other possibilities as well, such as, solar space heating, solar water heating, passive design, etc.
Directory for the PV section:
Be sure to do the Solar Site Survey to make sure that your PV panels will have an unobstructed sun for the critical part of the day. The survey should be done from the location where the PV panels will be mounted.
PV powered water pumping systems are
covered under Solar Water Pumping
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| PV Basics | |||
| Step One -- Avoid the scams |
There are some very heavily advertised guides for sale on the Internet in
the $50 range that promise that you can make PV panels that will provide
"80%" of your homes power for a couple hundred dollars. You can be sure that anyone making these kinds of claims is a scammer -- don't waste your money. You will find plenty of free information below for reputable sources. |
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Solar Site Survey ...
The Site Survey is particularly critical for PV projects. |
 Before
you embark on any of the solar projects listed below, you MUST do a solar
site survey.This will ensure that you actually get enough sun on your collector to make it worthwhile. It only takes an hour, its fun, its easy and you will learn something about how the sun moves. Solar Site Survey... |
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A Consumers Guide to Buying A Solar Electric System EERE PV Guide (pdf)
|
 A consumer guide for selecting a PV system.
Quite a bit of useful information whether you intend to have the system
installed, or install it yourself. |
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A couple basics articles from Home Power: Solar Electricity Basics: Solar-Electric Systems Simplified, |
 A
couple of introductory articles from Home Power magazineA very basic description of each of the different styles of PV systems (grid intertied, off-grid, …). |
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| Renewable
Energy Design Guide and Catalog http://www.alt-energy.com/online-solar-catalog.html
|
 This
is a very helpful reference and catalog for renewable energy systems.
It covers PV, wind and small hydro with emphasis on PV.Right up to date and with lots of information on PV system components and lots of good reference material. PDF version is a free download. Hardcopy can be ordered here ... |
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| Home Power Magazine How to get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home Power magazine has published many articles
on PV basics, PV systems, and PV components.Home Power is a very good source for hands-on PV information. |
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PVWatts -- A Performance Calculator for Grid-Connected PV Systems From NREL http://www.nrel.gov/rredc/pvwatts/ This is a really useful tool |
 An easy calculator you can use to find out how
much power you will get from a PV installation in your area. Also very
helpful for panel aiming studies.It calculates PV system performance based on hour by hour records for sun in your area. Version 1 is very easy to use, and works worldwide. |
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BP PV System Economics Calculator http://bpsolar.cleanpowerestimator.com/bpsolar.htm
|
 This
appears to be a good tool for estimating the economic return for installing
a PV system for your area.Allows you to change location, size & cost of array, and financing. Shows details on power output, cost savings, and return on your investment. While it is offered by a company selling PV equipment, it does not appear (to me) to be overly optimistic on power generated or savings. |
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PVGIS -- PV sizing tool for Europe and Africa
PVGIS sizing tool: PVGIS home page: |
 Very
nice PV array sizing tool and solar radiation tool for Europe and Africa.Includes effects of local weather, obstructions, ... |
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Photovoltaics Economics Calculator, Karen Pease and Elaine Mahler www.daughtersoftiresias.org/progs/insolation/insolation.html
|
 This
is a brand new and very comprehensive calculator for solar electric (PV)
systems.Based on your inputs, it provides monthly power generation and dollar savings. It also provides the payback period and investment return for the system. The calculator takes into account local weather, panel orientation, and temperature -- can do systems with tracking. The calculator is new, and I'm sure the authors would appreciate your comments and helpful suggestions. |
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Taking the Plunge! An
Off-the-Grid Home Tour to Learn the Basics of a Renewable Energy System,
William Kemp (pdf)
|
 A
good primer on what's involved in planning for an living in an off-grid home
with solar electricity generation. A lot of emphasis on the conservation steps needed to get demand down. Not a lot of hands-on, but a very good introduction. |
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Backwoods Solar Catalog
|
 The
printed version of the Backwoods Solar Catalog has a lot of good educational
and reference material. Available on request from their website. |
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Simpler Solar Power – Grid-Tied Solar Systems Make Choosing Clean, Renewable Electricity Easier and More Affordable Than Ever Mother Earth News Doug Liningston and Scott Hollis |
 Mother
Earth News ArticleGood article explaining the basics of grid-tied PV systems. Not a lot of “how-to”, but good explanation of the basics. |
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Plug into the Sun Rusty Haunes and Lindsey Hodel Mother Earth News |
Mother Earth News Article, Issue
199 This article provides an overview of the financial aspects of building a solar PV system. Concentrates primarily on obtaining government grants to reduce the cost of the system. |
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| What is the actual output from a "1
KW" PV rig? Home Energy Magazine article www.homeenergy.org (pdf)
|
 So,
how much output will a (say) 1 KW rated PV setup produce? This Home
Energy Magazine article reports actual measurements for 19 real PV systems. |
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| Wind Sun | Solar electric library and buyers guide. Quite a few downloadable PV equipment specs, brochures, manuals. | ||
| PhotoVoltaics: Design and Installation Manual |
 A
very good and detailed reference on designing and installing PV systems --
the best that I know of.
About $60. |
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| A Guide To Photovoltaic (PV) System
Design and Installation, California Energy Commission, 2001
http://www.energy.ca.gov (pdf)
|
 A
lot of helpful and fairly detailed information on planning, designing, and
installing a PV system that is safe and meets codes.Provides information
on sizing, wiring, component selection, ... Also, provides a detailed
check list. |
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| 1BOG
-- one block off the the grid -- group discount program
|
 The
1BOG organization puts together a group of people in a city who want to
install PV systems, and negotiates a group discount.
It seems like a potentially good concept that is worth looking into.
If you have had a good (or bad) experience with the program, please
let me
know... |
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Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles, Vasilis Fthenakis, Huung Chul Kim, and Erik Alsema, ASAP Environ. Sci. Technol, Feb 200
|
Every once in a while you still find people saying that the energy and
pollution involved in making PV cells exceeds the energy use or pollution
they prevent during their life. This is completely and totally false
-- here is the latest paper verifying this. Conclusion of the study: |
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| Small Standalone PV Systems (cabins, mobile, and startup systems) | |||
| Solar Power Trailer, Jeffery Yago Backwoods Home Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007 www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago108.html
|
 Interesting
article by Jeff Yago on putting together self sufficient trailer mounted PV
rig. It can be used for camping or emergencies.Part 1 of 2 in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Backwoods Home Magazine -- all issues can be viewed online. |
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Walden Pond -- The Solar Version, Jeffrey Yago Backwoods Home Magazine
Part i: |
 Good
basic article on setting up a small cabin so it can be powered by a small PV
system.Mostly about minimizing electric loads so that the PV system does not end up costing more than the cabin. Backwoods Home Magazine issues 99 and 100. |
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| Small and Simple in the North Woods Joan R. Surber and Roberta L. Corrigan |
 Home Power Magazine article, issue
75Design and implementation of a DC only PV system for a small cabin. The system has 150W of PV panel, 660AH of battery capacity, and cost $2500. |
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My Solar Casita – solar pumping, Heating, Cooking, and More! Samuel Gray |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 100Description of a small off grid PV system with solar pumping. 700 WH per day demand. 110 Watts of PV panel total. Good construction detail. A solar passive design adobe Casita – 120 ft^2. |
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Portable Solar-Powered Workshop Jon Haeme |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 47Article on a complete, PV powered, workshop in a trailer. |
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Backyard Solar Electricity, Made Simple Mickey Mestel |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 93Good article on a very small PV system that can be easily removed and taken along to a new house. 32 W PV panel, 64 AH of battery capacity in a box, and a 1700 W inverter make up the system. The total cost is $1350. |
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Office-Sized Solar-Electric System for Renters Eric Grisen |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 96Interesting article on a “moveable” 300 W PV system with batteries. Most of this system fits in and on a wood box. Covers load analysis, component selection, and building and installing the system. Cost $4K. |
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90 Solar Powered Portable Workshop |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 90Interesting article on a portable, PV powered workshop in a trailer. Uses one 120W PV panel, 2 Trojan T105 batteries, and an 1800 watt inverter to power a wide variety of tools. System cost $2600. |
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PV Systems On RVs www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm
|
 A
good write-up on designing, installing, and maintaining a PV system
for an RV. Lots of emphasis on choosing and maintaining the batteries.While its RV oriented, most of the information is applicable to and small PV system. Note that the PV material is in Part 2 of the article. thanks to Mark for suggesting this) |
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Off Grid PV
Systems
Homes powered by these systems are not connected to the utility grid at all. The systems have PV panels for generation of power, and batteries to store power for when the sun is not shining. In some cases fossil fuel powered generators are used to supplement the solar power. As you can see from the examples below, these systems can range greatly in size, complexity and price. |
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Off the Grid Starting Small Daniel Bisbee
|
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 92Good article about an off grid house PV system that started very small and grew to a modest 240 W of PV panels, 660AH or battery capacity, and a 1500 W inverter that meets all their needs. The system cost $3K and avoided a $37K charge from the utility company to extend the power grid. Maybe you really don't need to use 30KWH per day? |
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| RE Earthship Design:
on-the-job-training Linda Brotman-Evans & Jeff Evans HP article on Earthship PV (230K pdf)
|
 A
good Home Power magazine article on sizing and living with an off grid PV
and wind system for an Earthship. Good material for planning how to live on a relatively small PV system -- 1997. |
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A Simple Solar Solution Mother Earth News http://www.motherearthnews.com
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 199Good article on planning, building and living with a solar PV system in an off grid house in Colorado. |
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HP99 Solar Comfort in the Idaho Wilderness Ed Marue |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 99Good article on an off grid system for a mountain cabin. The system has 960 W of PV panel, 530AH of battery storage, and a 7KW backup generator, all at a cost of $15K. The owner of the system covers planning, designing, and installing the system in good detail. |
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Taking the Off-Grid Plunge Dane Wigington |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 98Article describes a large, off-grid system capable of supporting large electrical loads. 5.1KW of PV panels and 2400 AH of battery capacity. Supplemented with two wind generators. |
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Off Shore and Off Grid – Island Life Unplugged John McNicholas |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 106Good detailed description of a large, off grid PV system for a Florida island house with large loads. 3600 W PV panels, 2500 AH battery system, 20KW generator. $61K worth of components. |
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Grid Tie PV
Systems Without Battery Backup Homes on these "grid-tied" systems are connected to the utility grid. When the PV panels are producing more electricity than is being used in the house, the meter runs backwards, and the excess power goes into the utility grid. These systems do not have batteries for storage of electricity. When the utility power fails, the lights go out in these houses, even if the sun is shining. But, the significant cost and maintenance issues owning batteries are avoided. |
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Designing and Installing Your Own Grid-Tied PV System
Near real time performance records...
|
 This
is a very detailed account of planning, designing and installing our own new
2150 watt grid-tied PV system. A lot of detail is provided on the full process, including deciding on type of system, how big to make it, where to put the panels, solar site survey, what kind of mounts to use, building the mounts, installing the components, doing the wiring, and the performance and economics of the system. The system uses the same Enphase micro-inverter scheme as Guy's system (just below), so between these two entries there should be enough detail to keep you busy for quite a while! |
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Installing a grid-tie solar electric power system, Guy Marsden
Full, step by step description of the system: Real time output data:
|
 Guy
Marsden describes the whole process of selecting, designing and installing
his new grid-tie PV system. Since Guy and friends did the whole
installation, there is a lot of detail. Guy's system uses the new Enphase micro inverter system in which each PV panel gets its own inverter. The Enphase system reduces installation labor, and allows easier future expansion. Guy also provides real time system output stats. Guy has done several fine renewable energy and solar projects, and has detailed tutorials on each one -- a look through his whole website is very worthwhile. |
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Mick and Janet's Photovoltaic Solar System
|
 Nice
personal website describing a grid tied PV installation. Provides over
a year of performance data. Pictures of installation with good detail
on panel mounting. |
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Grid-Tied Soar In Small Town, USA www.andykerr.net/Energy/KerrSystemHP101CD.pdf (2.3MB pdf)
|
 Good
Home Power Article on authors attempt to be "Carbon neutral" through
conservation, less fossil fuel, solar active and passive strategies, and a
grid tied PV system. Most of the article details his experiences with
installing a grid tied PV system in Ashland, OR -- a pretty positive
experience all-around. |
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Getting Off the Lifetime Utility Payment Plan Daren Webster |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 95Good article on a large, suburban California, grid tied, batteryless system. Covers load estimation, system design, and installation (by owner). The $28K system has 4KW of PV panels. |
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Grid-Tie Solar Powered Farm, Jefferey Yago, Backwoods Home Magazine, July/August 2005 |
 An
article in Backwoods Home magazine by Jeff Yago on a grid tie system with
some useful design and install information.Note how simple the modern grid-tie inverters make these systems. |
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Solar Electricity in Spite of the Fog Greg Bundros |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 99Good article on an grid tied PV system in Northern California. The system has 1320W of PV panels and cost $22K before rebates. The author installed the system, and covers design and installation of the system. He also provides very detailed performance records for the system. |
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Solar Electric Vision Becomes Reality Alan Stankevitz |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 105Description of a 4KW grid intertied, batteryless PV system. A full description of the system is provided including costs. The system was installed by the owner, and some of the details of the installation an permitting process are described. |
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From The Ground Up – My RE System Design Choices Linda Pinkham |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 106Good article on going through all the decisions to be made in implementing an medium size, grid tied PV system. Size, siteing collectors, tracking or not, batteries or not, component selection, … |
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Solar Solidarity – An IBEW-Supported PV System Vincent Endter |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 97Good article on installation of a 5KW, grid-tied, no batteries system for a residence in California. Quite a bit of detail on the design and installation of the system. |
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| Video: Photovoltiaic Power -- One Homeowners Solution |
 Pretty
good home owner video on planning for and installing a small, grid tied PV
system.There is a long intro on the benefits of PV, followed by some detail on the installation. |
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Cold Springs Solar Power
|
 This
is a huge solar electric installation at the Cold Springs Station on Hwy 50
in a very lonely part of the Nevada desert. It is a 30KW grid
tied PV installation that sells excess power to the utility.Some nice construction details in the photos. |
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Grid Tie PV
Systems With Battery Backup These homes are connected to the utility grid, and work in the same way as the "grid-tied" homes above, but they also have batteries, which allows the lights to stay on when the utility power goes down. On the negative side, the systems are more expensive, and the batteries must be carefully maintained. |
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| Note that new inverters that are designed specifically for grid-tied with battery backup systems have recently come out -- these include: | |||
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Bob's Solar Project http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ebgoodsel/solar/blog.htm
|
This is Bob's blog on installing a grid tied with batteries, Unisolar PV
shingle system. It is very detailed and should be very helpful to
anyone considering doing this. |
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Grid Tied PV and Wind System with Battery Backup
|
 A
very good personal website on designing and installing a PV and wind system
that is grid tied with battery backup.
Lots of detail and helpful information on design, components, installing, wiring, suppliers, permitting, ... |
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Building a Grid-Tied Solar Electric System http://altenergy.blog-city.com/gridinteractive_system.htm
|
 A
detailed account of the design and installation of a grid-tied PV system
with battery backup.A home built ground mount system from treated lumber is also described. |
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Grid Tie, Battery Backup, and System Monitoring Brent Simons |
 Home
Power Article, issue 94Very good article on planning, designing and installing a 4.8KW grid-tied PV system with 400AH battery backup, and a 4KW inverter. The system also includes instrumentation to monitor the performance of the system. Quite a bit of component and installation detail. |
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| PV Tracking and Mounts and Soft Concentrators | |||
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An HP Article on PV Tracker Basics, Richard Perez
|
 An
article explaining the basics of PV tracking. Contrasts the passive
trackers with the electronic trackers. |
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Field Test Results of the Archimedes Photovoltaic V=Trough Concentrator
System, Klotz, Mohring, Gruel, Sherborne, Bruton, Albella, and Tzanetakis Archimedes Paper (pdf)
|
 Very
good paper with results on testing a simple scheme that uses one axis
tracking coupled with high acceptance angle V troughs to provide average
daily concentrations around of around 2. Simple aluminum cooling
fins are used to keep cell temperature comparable to non-concentrating
commercial PV panels.(My thanks to Greg for suggesting this) |
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Low Cost Tracking Ridge Concentrator
Picture Gallery of Examples: |
 Simple
tracker and concentrator design might nearly double PV panel output.The
website(s) are a bit confusing, but provide some useful material. |
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Pumping Water for Irrigation Using Solar Energy H.J. Helikson, D.Z. Haman and C.D. Baird University of Florida -- Extension Service Pumping Paper (pdf)
|
 Interesting
1992 paper on PV powered pumping for irrigation wire. Good analysis of
system.Interesting reflector/tracking arrangement on the PV panels that increases panel output significantly. |
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RedRok.com LED3Xc3 Solar Tracker Assembly http://www.redrok.com/led3xassm.htm#led3xforsale
|
 Duane
at RedRok.com offers a $35 tracker that can drive a simple satellite dish
linear screw actuator to make an inexpensive tracker for PV and other
applications.The page gives examples of many systems using the RedRok tracker. |
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| $35 DIY PV Tracker |
 This
home made tracker for PV panels is made from a satellite dish antenna and
the RedRok.com $35 tracker, plus an old bed frame!
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| Mother's Super-Simple Solar Tracker Dennis Burkholder http://www.motherearthnews.com
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 48, Nov/Dec 1977.This article provides some how-to information on designing and building solar array trackers that use canisters of refrigerant to passively track the sun. This is similar to the very popular ZomeWorks trackers. Several designs are discussed. The trackers in the article use Freon -- in a new design you would, of course, have to substitute a different refrigerant. |
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| Water-Powered PV Tracker Bill Spurlock |
 Home
Power magazine article, issue 85An interesting mix of high tech PV and low tech genius to implement a water powered PV array tracking system. |
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| Canuckle Tracker
|
 Light
duty solar trackers that you can make from computer parts and ABS tubing.And, a simple Sun Switch sun sensor and motor driver. |
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| Home Built Solar Mount |
 Pretty
good looking and well anchored wood mount for PV panels. |
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| Installing PV Systems -- How-To | |||
| Some of the articles above that describe
example PV systems have some construction detail, so see these as well. PV systems have become more straightforward to install as equipment has been refined over the years -- grid-tie systems in particular have become much simpler. But, this does not mean its an easy DIY project. There are serious safety issues that you must fully understand -- even folks with considerable AC system wiring experience should be very careful to learn and understand the hazards of working with strings of PV panels that will produce several hundred volts whenever the sun is on them. In addition to the safety issues, there are permits and utility companies to deal with -- some areas may not even allow a home owner to install his/her own system. So, as always, do your homework! |
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| See the entries in the other sections on "Off Grid", "Grid Tied", etc. These articles contain lots of detailed accounts of DIY installations. | |||
| Solar System
Install Guide The full tutorial: The PV part starts in Lesson 5: |
 This
is a pretty good and detailed installation tutorial for installers.Its about the most readable thing I have found that provides enough detail to be useful in installing your own system. |
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| Photovoltaic Power Systems and the 2005
National Electrical Code: Suggested Practices John Wiles, Southwest Technology Development Institute, New Mexico State University |
 A
set of quite detailed suggested practices for wiring PV systems to comply
with the National Electric Code.Kind of tough sledding if you are not a code devotee, but accurate and authoritative. |
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| Inspector
Guidelines for PV Systems, Prepared by Brooks Engineering for PACE University
|
 This
is a very helpful set of guidelines on PV system equipment, and particularly
on wiring of PV systems.I found it helpful in both the planning of the details of the component locations and the wiring, and as a good checklist on what inspectors will be looking for. |
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| NABCEB (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) |
 The
NABCEB offers certifications for installers of PV systems.Their web site Resources page has much information of interest to people want to install a system or want to be knowledgeable about what a good installation should look like. The "Study Guide for Photovoltaic System Installers" is a good one. (thanks to Doug for suggesting this) |
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| A Guide to Photovoltaic (PV) System Design and
Installation, California Energy Commission, June 2001 www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2001-09-04_500-01-020.PDF
|
A
pretty detailed guide written for installers of PV systems in California.
largely applicable to other areas. |
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Residential/Commercial Solar PV Installations, Basic information and installation guides for roof mounted systems, Ed Larsen, June 2008 City of Flagstaff/Project Review Section Residential/Commercial Solar PV Installations ... (PowerPoint)
|
 A
Power Point set of guidelines for roof mounted PV installations.Some good planning, design, and installation detail. Quite a bit of detail on installation. Written for Flagstaff, but generally applicable. |
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| How to Install A Pole-Mounted Solar-Electric Array |
 Home
Power magazine two part article in issues 108 and 109 on installing a pole
mounted PV array.A very detailed how-to -- lots of good advice. |
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PV Combiner Box Buyers Guide, Lena Wilensky How to get articles from Home Power ... This article covers a lot of the issues of wiring the array to the inverter. |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 132, Aug-Sept 2009.Good article, not only
goes over available combiner box offerings, but covers the wiring, fusing,
and sizing procedures for the boxes. |
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Maverick Solar DIY Workshop
|
 A
collection of helpful articles and references for DIYers on PV systems.Includes some fairly detialed examples of several systems, and some good "how-to"s on wiring etc. |
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| PV Components | |||
|
See also the list of
suppliers for PV systems ...
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| Renewable
Energy Design Guide and Catalog http://www.alt-energy.com/online-solar-catalog.html
|
This
is a very helpful reference and catalog for renewable energy systems.
It covers PV, wind and small hydro with emphasis on PV. Right up to date and with lots of information on PV system components and lots of good reference material. PDF version is a free download. Hardcopy can be ordered here ... |
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PV Combiner Box Buyers Guide, Lena Wilensky |
Home
Power Magazine article, issue 132, Aug-Sept 2009. Good article, not only
goes over available combiner box offerings, but covers the wiring, fusing,
and sizing procedures for the boxes. |
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106 What’s Going On – The Grid? A New Generation of Grid-Tied PV Inverters Joe Schwartz |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 106Rundown on the latest in inverters for grid tied PV systems. What to look for, and how they rate. |
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|
Deep Cycle Battery FAQ www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm
|
 This
is a good rundown on the type of batteries normally used in PV systems.Lots of good information. |
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| Off Grid Cooling | |||
| Cooling for off-grid homes can be difficult due
to the need to minimize electrical power use. This section has a
couple of low electricity use cooling schemes. A whole house fan that operates on DC would be another good one, but I have not seen one. Many of the passive techniques listed in the Cooling Section apply VERY well to PV powered homes since they use no power at all. |
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| Ceiling fans with aerodynamically designed
blades http://www.fanworks.com/vari-cyclone.htm
|
 Ceiling
fans with "Gossamer
Wind" technology blades move about 40% more air for the same power use.Models are available that operate at 12 or 24V, and can be operated direct PV or battery. FSEC paper: Performance and Applications of Gossamer Wind™ Solar Powered Ceiling Fans |
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| PV Powered Evaporative Coolers www.nvo.com/southwestsolar/productcatalog/ Some notes on a DIY one: |
 These
evaporative coolers use low HP 12V fans that can be powered by PV arrays. |
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| Off Grid Refrigeration | |||
| Refrigeration is one of the major
electric loads for an off grid home. Some of the solutions people are using:
|
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| Energy Star |
 Energy ratings and energy use for appliances.
Energy advice and online audit for homes. Energy star appliances
and homes.In my view, the Energy Star program could be more aggressive, but its certainly a good place to start. For example, they have no plans to require more efficient refrigerators until 2012 at the earliest -- let them know you would like to see a more aggressive approach. |
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| Efficient Refrigerators for PV
SunFrost
SunDanzer
|
A couple of brands that specialize in low power consumption fridges and
freezers for PV.
SunFrost |
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| Very Efficient Chest Refrigerator Chest Fridge Full Article (68K pdf) This article is from the Mt Best -- Australia solar house site: http://mtbest.net/ A very interesting solar house with several unique features, and a bit more info on the chest fridge. Another approach here: The thermostat shown on
this page is reported to allow you to use a chest freezer as a refrigerator
with large energy saving: |
 This
refrigerator, which is a converted chest type freezer uses only about 0.1
KWH per day. See the article for details. Latest update includes
a design for a low standby power thermostat.Apparently not all chest freezers are created equal, as some do not report quite as dramatic an energy saving as Tom reported in his paper -- so if you are getting a new chest freezer for this, pick an efficient one to start with. One person reported 0.3 KWH per day (108KWH/year) on a newer Kenmore freezer that was EPA rated at 279KWH per year. So, something like a quarter of a typical, similar size conventional (upright) refrigerator seems easily achievable. |
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| Solar Powered refrigerators, Jeffery Yago, Backwoods Home Magazine www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago102.html
|
 Good
article on efficient, solar powered refrigerators.
Most run directly on 12 VDC, and are easy on solar PV systems. |
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| Make a Fridge? Description of the fridge making kit and instructions for making a fridge from it ...
More Details (pdf)
Another kit fridge -- DIY System Kits: |
 This
is just a thought. NovaKool (maybe others?) offers a kit for people
who want to make their own fridges. It consists of a compressor,
evaporator, condenser, controls, and pre-charged tubing -- all the guts of a
fridge. It is intended for boat or RV owners who want a built in fridge.
It uses the DanFoss compressor, which is reputed to be efficient.If you wanted to make a very efficient fridge, this kit would allow you allow you to build the box with as much insulation as you want, it could be top opening, and the compressor could be located in an optimal spot. On just a rough guess from their specs, you might get down to 0.1 KWH per day for a very well insulated 8 cubic foot fridge. Unfortunately the kit is not cheap, but this still might pay well for off-grid PV users. If anyone has tried this (or similar), please let me know how it turned out -- Gary |
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| Refrigeration Off Grid
|
An interesting technique for technique for powering a 9 cubic foot fridge for only 0.35 KWH per day (130KWH per year), and at the same time going easier on battery use. | ||
| Passive Refrigerator/Icebox
http://fourmileisland.com/IceBox.htm
Note: I would not try this unless you have a lot of time to tinker -- I am guessing there is a significant learning curve attached to getting one of these operating well. |
 This
fridge uses a well insulated 300 gallon water/ice container that is cooled by
an outdoor finned tube baseboard unit to supply year round refrigeration
with no energy use. No moving parts.Other interesting projects on
the same site. |
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| Off Grid Appliances | |||
| Finding efficient
appliances for off grid can be difficult, since the power draw is very
important, but you still want an appliance that does the job well -- this
section will collect a few appliances that off-grid people favor: |
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| How to build a wood fired clothes dryer |
 Ray
was looking for a way to dry clothes in the winter for his off-grid home.
He came up with this design that captures heat from a wood burning boiler or
stove chimney so that the only electricity needed for the dryer is motor and
controls. He provides full details for converting an electric clothes
dryer to use heat from burning wood. |
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| Other Interesting PV Applications | |||
| Solar Scooter
Article on the scooter in Tree Hugger with some additional pictures: |
 A
solar scooter by Don Dunklee. Street legal, affordable and
dependable.
Thanks to Don for making the plans available! |
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"Big Belly" solar powered trash bin
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"Big Belly" is a trash bin with built in compaction. It is solar
powered and requires no power connection. |
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Roof-Integrated PV From Sunbeam To Standing Seam William Ball |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 105Description of using Uni-Solar laminated PV bonded to a metal standing seam roof produces an almost invisible PV installation. Detailed description of the laminated PV installation and of the PV system |
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|
Water Pumping PV with Interesting Reflector System To Increase PV panel
Output H.J. Helikson, D.Z. Haman and C.D. Baird University of Florida -- Extension Service Pumping Paper (pdf) |
 Interesting
1992 paper on PV powered pumping for irrigation wire. Good analysis of
system.The very simple reflector system used to increase solar radiation on the PV panels increases output put 30% while adding little to the cost. |
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Build A Simple Solar Powered Outdoor Light, Jeffery Yago, Backwoods Magazine
www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago92.html
|
 Backwoods
Magazine Article on building a solar PV powered "street light". |
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The Biggest Solar Electric Boat this Side of the Mississippi Steve Cooper |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 57Interesting article on using solar PV to provide auxiliary power on a 30 ft sailboat. |
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PV and EV -- My Solar-Electric House and Car Mark Jensen Home Power Magazine Article, Issue 113 How to get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Good
Home Power article. Mark describes the large PV system that runs his
house, as well as keeping his Toyota RAV 4 EV (Electrical Vehicle) charged.These EV's are no longer offered by Toyota, and after reading the article, one wonders why? |
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|
Energy Tile -- PV modules that look like roof
shingles
|
 PV
modules that resemble roof shingles and tend to blend in with the roof. |
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|
Make Your Own PV Here are some detailed articles on how to build your own PV panels from individual PV cells. If you think that you want to roll your own PV panel, these are the best descriptions I could find -- some of them are very detailed. Careful weather sealing needs to be addressed. |
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| Caution: bogus books on making your own PV panels |
I've noticed that a number of books have popped up on the Internet and on
ebay that promise to tell you in detail how to easily make PV panels (or
wind turbines).
Many of these are scams that contain little or no useful information. I don't know how you tell the good from the bad, but the two links below and the ones on the wind page provide quite a bit of how-to detail for no charge, so I'd start with these. |
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|
Home Build Solar System
Full Details... (pdf)
|
 This
is a very well done article on building not only your own PV panels, but
adding the additional components to make a full system.
Home Build Solar System is Hans website, and has additional materials on this and other renewable energy projects. |
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Solar Panel Do-It-Yourself http://www.xs4all.nl/~hante/index-en.html
|
 This
website from Hante provides very detailed and carefully thought out
techniques for assembling your own PV panels from individual cells.There is also material on adding the other components needed to make a full system. |
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How I built an electricity producing Solar Panel, Mike http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/index.html
|
 Another
quite detailed run down on making your own PV panels from individual solar
cells purchased on ebay. |
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Homemade Solar Panels Post on Fieldlines Another Detailed How To on making PV panels: |
 This
is a fairly detailed post on the Fieldlines forum describing how to build
your own PV panels from individual solar cells.I've also heard a couple stories about early failure of homemade panels from moisture penetration due to weather exposure -- don't know what the design of these panels was. |
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Home DIY Solar
|
 Another
good and free source of information on how to make PV panels.Sean uses a vacuum bag technique to seal the PV panel together.
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SunDanzer