NEK VT
ArboristSite Operative
Anyone know where i can find a good source of info on building a solar home and what size lot i need to clear to catch enugh sun
Solar...
- Thread starter NEK VT
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jefeVTtreeman
ArboristSite Operative
hey nek up there would wind power be better? i Think there is a company in hyde park that does solar. i will try to find the name, either way really expensive upfront be does pay for it'self over time. Plus you can sell some to the electric company.
Kate Butler
ArboristSite Guru
NEK VT
ArboristSite Operative
wind
See. I agree with the wind in most places.... But the area I would need to build the wind mill is in a low spot... and would need to go impossibly high.... can't really be done thats why I have to do solar also... the reason for the solar is that I am gonna be back in the woods so far I couldent aford that many poles.... or even to run wire underground in conduit.. which is cheaper. maby some day we will be on the grid but for now just solar will have to do.
See. I agree with the wind in most places.... But the area I would need to build the wind mill is in a low spot... and would need to go impossibly high.... can't really be done thats why I have to do solar also... the reason for the solar is that I am gonna be back in the woods so far I couldent aford that many poles.... or even to run wire underground in conduit.. which is cheaper. maby some day we will be on the grid but for now just solar will have to do.
jefeVTtreeman
ArboristSite Operative
i remember seeing a show on solor power shingles for roofs. what about propane generator are you a member of intershack?
ASEMASTER
ArboristSite Operative
NEK VT
ArboristSite Operative
No
What is that shack thing? also yeah I have heard of the solar shingles but have not found much info on them.... they sound pretty good though....
What is that shack thing? also yeah I have heard of the solar shingles but have not found much info on them.... they sound pretty good though....
jefeVTtreeman
ArboristSite Operative
if you use propane a small group of families got together by jay and made a deal with Amerigas to get the lowest price. you can check the price on thier website intershack.com membership is 25 a year and thats it. cheap cheap propane. been a member for 4 years. They do functions all the time but you can join just for the gas.
foodforests
ArboristSite Lurker
I think it is not so much the size of the lot that you need to clear as the maximum height of the trees that you can tolerate in between your panels and the sun.
You can figure out your solar aspect pretty easily based on your latitude.
It is basically just a matter of determining the optimum angle for your panels (they want to be perpendicular to the suns rays) on the shortest day of the year.
When you know that angle, you just need a ruler and a protractor. Draw a (somewhat to scale) sketch of your house with your panels on the roof. Then draw in the angle and use your ruler to figure out how tall the trees can be without being in the way at various distances from your house.
Its worth thinking about passive solar too. You want to let as much sun into the house in winter as you can, to minimise the effort you need to go to to heat the place, and as little as possible during the summer, since you won't want to waste your solar power on air con. etc.
You can figure out your solar aspect pretty easily based on your latitude.
It is basically just a matter of determining the optimum angle for your panels (they want to be perpendicular to the suns rays) on the shortest day of the year.
When you know that angle, you just need a ruler and a protractor. Draw a (somewhat to scale) sketch of your house with your panels on the roof. Then draw in the angle and use your ruler to figure out how tall the trees can be without being in the way at various distances from your house.
Its worth thinking about passive solar too. You want to let as much sun into the house in winter as you can, to minimise the effort you need to go to to heat the place, and as little as possible during the summer, since you won't want to waste your solar power on air con. etc.
NEK VT
ArboristSite Operative
that sounds good
I agree..... as for AC Don't ever need that here...
I agree..... as for AC Don't ever need that here...
appalachianarbo
ArboristSite Operative
A problem with wind that I found is that a lot of government officials get involved when you want to put a tower up, especially if you're on a ridgeline (where the winds blow hardest!).
Check out Mother Earth News. Their website has an archive you can search. One option they just ran an article on is solar sheeting that attaches right to a metal roof. I think it was the December issue.
Glad to see you're looking into renewable energy!
Check out Mother Earth News. Their website has an archive you can search. One option they just ran an article on is solar sheeting that attaches right to a metal roof. I think it was the December issue.
Glad to see you're looking into renewable energy!
EngineerDude
ArboristSite Operative
Kate Butler's Google page provides a good illustration of the point I was going to make, which is that...
"...solar home..." can mean a lot of different things. Many moons ago, while I was still in school, I spent a lot of time investigating and testing a variety of solar technologies, both active and passive, everything from focusing collectors (even participated in building a large working model of one, was able to drive absorption cycle refrigeration using throttled 300F steam coming off the thing; ahh, the good old days), to flat plate collectors, to passive solar including earth-bermed houses, etc., etc.
Bottom line is that there's a huge number of options, and huge amounts of information available via the internet, and you're going to need to spend some time researching before deciding on what's the best fit. This will depend greatly on your budget (as jefeVTtreeman noted, a lot of these technologies have high first costs), and on site considerations (as foodforests describes, you need to understand when and where you'll get sun and when and where you won't), and on your goals, which at this point maybe aren't well defined.
Due to the immense amount of info you'd need to absorb to get to a point where you could do this right, you might consider finding a reputable experienced company to render professional recommendations.
By the way, the reason I ultimately abandoned my pursuit of solar was that none of them could be shown to be "economically viable", which simply means that in the commercial world, if you can't show a 1-2 year payback, the customer wouldn't buy it. Most of the technologies I investigated had paybacks in the 5-10 year range, with some of them as high as 20. The scenario has probably improved somewhat over the past 25 years, but if it had become truly viable, you'd be seeing lots more of it. In other words, you've got to simply want to do it and be willing to live with high first cost and long payback.
"...solar home..." can mean a lot of different things. Many moons ago, while I was still in school, I spent a lot of time investigating and testing a variety of solar technologies, both active and passive, everything from focusing collectors (even participated in building a large working model of one, was able to drive absorption cycle refrigeration using throttled 300F steam coming off the thing; ahh, the good old days), to flat plate collectors, to passive solar including earth-bermed houses, etc., etc.
Bottom line is that there's a huge number of options, and huge amounts of information available via the internet, and you're going to need to spend some time researching before deciding on what's the best fit. This will depend greatly on your budget (as jefeVTtreeman noted, a lot of these technologies have high first costs), and on site considerations (as foodforests describes, you need to understand when and where you'll get sun and when and where you won't), and on your goals, which at this point maybe aren't well defined.
Due to the immense amount of info you'd need to absorb to get to a point where you could do this right, you might consider finding a reputable experienced company to render professional recommendations.
By the way, the reason I ultimately abandoned my pursuit of solar was that none of them could be shown to be "economically viable", which simply means that in the commercial world, if you can't show a 1-2 year payback, the customer wouldn't buy it. Most of the technologies I investigated had paybacks in the 5-10 year range, with some of them as high as 20. The scenario has probably improved somewhat over the past 25 years, but if it had become truly viable, you'd be seeing lots more of it. In other words, you've got to simply want to do it and be willing to live with high first cost and long payback.
