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lambert.the.farmer



Member Since: 11 Apr 2012
Location: harrogate
Posts: 2006

England 1998 Defender 90 300 Tdi PU Rutland Red
off grid power supply
Hi all. Part of my farm is off grid so has no mains electric, to combat this i have a 7.1kva generator that is really handy. However i have been thinking that the shed roof could be put to work be putting in some photovoltaic cells. What else is involved what cost, infrastructure, power out put per meter square etc.

Any one got any on their roof any preferred suppliers etc. Cheers. Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
Post #215505 2nd Mar 2013 10:08am
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SteveG



Member Since: 29 Nov 2011
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 660

2005 Defender 90 Td5 CSW Belize Green
They are mainly used for water heating rather than mains power as they don't produce great power output. You can add battery packs to provide good levels of power when needed and then use panels to top up batteries.

How remote is I from main farm? If you were to install a utility grade wind generator at main farm, could you economically run power out to this remote building? Utility grade generators cost £500,000+ but you can get grants and also sell surplus back to grid supplier. Decent large home generators cost about £50,000+
Post #215513 2nd Mar 2013 11:15am
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lambert.the.farmer



Member Since: 11 Apr 2012
Location: harrogate
Posts: 2006

England 1998 Defender 90 300 Tdi PU Rutland Red
Off grid is about 2 miles from main farm so not viable. One of the neighboring farms was rejected a turbine cause the yuppies surrounding have too much time and enough money to put up serious protest, you know rich nimby types who don't get that farms are just as much a working space as a factory in town . Solar may have been easier to sneak in but if it won give the power i need I'll stick to the genny and disturb the peace and quiet. Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
Post #215518 2nd Mar 2013 11:58am
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T1G UP



Member Since: 08 Dec 2009
Location: Bath
Posts: 3101

England 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Orkney Grey
PV's good. if you have a large enough roof there are companies that will rent the space and use it for commercial gains.

if your off grid the problem is storage of the electricity. UPS batteries etc are avaliable but i would go for water power if you have a hill side near by
Post #215524 2nd Mar 2013 12:20pm
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spudfan



Member Since: 10 Sep 2007
Location: Co Donegal
Posts: 4704

Ireland 
A bloke across from me uses water to generate power. He has an off shoot from the river going by the house but he has mains aswell. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel
1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali
2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu
2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai
Post #215556 2nd Mar 2013 4:36pm
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Luismi



Member Since: 04 Nov 2010
Location: Cotswolds
Posts: 178

Spain 2004 Defender 110 Td5 SW Alpine White
If your idea is to install a stand alone Pv, you can run fron a light to a what ever you need, to me this is the real solar energy not the solar fields that it just a financial product.


The components

PV panels
Regulator (MPPT)
Inverter / Charger
Batteries

you need to consider

what equipment you want to run and time

example:
4 low consumpsion lights for 2 hour
1 grinder 15 minutes
an so on

you will have to define if is a continous use or weekend

based on that somebody will run the simulation of your system and define the number of panels and capacity of the batteries and the inverter to.

In order to reduce the initial investment you can connect your actual generator to the PV and recharge the batteries when low radiation if you choose and inverter/charger


One important consideration on the regulator choose one with MPPT, there are expensive but worth every penny.

Batteries if is a long term instalation choose 2V batteries and depend of the demand 12 /24/ 48 VDC

Think in modularity, i mean, choose equiopment that you do not have to remove for other in case that you upgrade the system, it is very common install something and when you what to go further you need to bin it.

Hope this Help
Post #215604 2nd Mar 2013 7:33pm
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