| Earnings YTD | HP | HELIOS | GLD Owed | GLD Held | Off Chain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 14 | 20.761 | 0.07 | 323.3945 | 155.6345 | 0 |
| (Day 13) | 12.523 | 0.043 | -178.88 | 0 |
Getting a solar electric system running again
When I left my home in the Philippines last year I left a solar system all ready to go. I got a message not that long after that "the system isn't working" but when I'm halfway across the world away it makes it impossible to troubleshoot.
Even worse I knew it was not a major issue and it would take only a short time to fix. However, explaining what needed to be done when I was in Canada and the people on the ground didn't know about solar systems? That meant that nothing was going to happen until I was here.
Now that I'm here?
First Day: I looked at the system and wondered what on earth they did?
Second Day: I checked the pieces to see what parts might not be operational
Third Day: (Today)
I connected the wires and checked the voltages followed by hooking everything up.
My brother in law washed off the panels themselves, and he arranged them neatly and made a light backing for them so they don't fly away in typhoon season.
As expected, everything was back to operational fairly quickly. It probably took less than 2 hours to get it all figured out and working. Also it took no special tools (two screwdrivers and a rock) although the multi-tester was very useful in finding the offending solar panel
Why didn't I try to work with the people who were here earlier so we could get electricity faster? Mostly because I didn't trust them. I mean how far do you trust people who turn USB-c cables and make them look like this :)
When it was done I got a message from someone interested in solar and they asked "how expensive is it?". That made wonder because a super basic system like mine is fairly cheap but if you want to go more basic still it can be even cheaper.
A basic solar system
Really my system has four pieces working together.
First : Solar panels
Solar panels give electricity into the system. Without them there literally is no power.
Second : Batteries
Solar panels in sun create power but without batteries to store it.. Kind of useless. Just think of a solar powered flashlight. It wouldnt be useful in the sun by but the battery pack makes all the differenece.
Third : A hybrid inverter.
This is the brains of the system and converts solar power to the batteries. It converts battery power to 220V so its useful. It also allows you to connect power from the electric company and use it if necessary.
Fourth : A breaker panel.
This is just a panel which allows someone to connect multiple rooms and outlets together. I think this isn't actually necessary as theoretically one could just hook the AC output to an electrical plus but for safety? Best to have a breaker box.
How expensive would it be?
On Lazada in the Philippines? *P16,853 or about $285 HBD
... and yes you would need wire to hook it up and some sort of electrical outlet to connect to the breaker box so there would be some additional costs.
Yes it is incredibly limited as the battery would only hold 1200Wh of power, it would only get a few hundred watts of power daily from that lonely single panel and that tiny hybrid inverter can only put out limited power. No microwaves, kettles or high output appliances.
But its not useless and it is an excellent learning tool.
If you can hook up this system you can hook up a more powerful one. With only 12V battery and 18V solar panels it is relatively safe, just be very careful with the 220V AC output. For learning it is excellent but in addition to that it could actually be useful in a very limited way. If it was all I had? I have a small rice cooker which it would happily power. It could power a fan, my laptop, a light, and my cellphone.
In a power outage situation or even in a small one room home. Let me ask:
What difference would your cellphone, a phone, a laptop, a light, and an easy way to cook a meal make? I think that would be quite a step up if the other option is having your phone be dead, no light at night, no laptop for Hive, and eating food cold from a tin.
Just my thought.
I'm very happy that I was able to get the solar system working. My system is somewhat more robust than the total budget one that I wrote above but not much. In addition to the list I wrote there for the basic one I also get a fridge working 24hrs a day. If I can keep my food cold, cook my food, and have entertainment with my phone and laptop, and a fan to keep me warm in the tropical heat? It turns my shelter into something far more homey.
I'm very glad I have even a basic system and I'm glad I was able to get it working quickly along with my brother in law.