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Post by totaledmygn on Jan 13, 2022 12:20:10 GMT -6
One thing to mention, Meskie mentioned a transfer switch available from SaskPower for $700. I got that on my new pad mount transformer. Nothing fancy, just a two position manual switch. One position and it connects SaskPower to your main breaker and throw it in the other position and you can have a generator connected to your main breaker. I have not used it, figured if I ever bought a PTO generator then that is how I would connect it to power my whole system. OD, I have two 10kw inverters, that is about as big as they go. Those multiple micro inverters sound interesting also. I bought my system from a guy I worked with occasionally so it was a package deal. The $35/mo (or there abouts) is what SaskPower charges to have power available to your yard whether you use it or not. If you don't pay that then they come take the meter. No meter and therefore no power to your breaker. Being an older contract arrangement, SaskPower basically deducts the kWh I produce from the kWh I consume. When I run out of stored credits in around February then I pay the going rate for kWh. Back then, if I over generated through the year then if I had credits at the start of the new billing year SaskPower reset the credits to zero. So there was no advantage to over sizing. Now I believe you can store credits up to 3 years. If I was to do it again I would do something with tilting. I would also really consider a tracking arrangement. You can increase power output by about 40% with tracking. Now, if you pay for a tracker system then you eat up those advantages by paying someone to build it all. But looking online I see the module is like $500, a couple electric actuators for a few hundred bucks and you got the electrics done. Next thing is building the mount. I suspect that is where a lot of the cost for a prebuilt system comes from. However, being a farmer with old crap laying around like rod weeder frames and such, pipe, grease, drive axle hubs, whatever, and hire screw pile contractor and I suspect a guy could build a solar tracker frame work that makes it possible. So for me, I kick around the idea of another 5kw. And so a 3kw solar tracker (gets me equivalent to 5kw fixed) is not too massive of a structure. Also gives me a little more power earlier in the morning and later in the day. The sun doesn't always shine at 10am or till 4pm. A solar tracker can capture a sunny morning before it clouds up in the afternoon for example. If I add more solar I expect it will be a solar tracker. More of a project to play with. Just haven't got that bored yet to pursue it. Just drag your old harrow bar out of the grass, strip it down and weld up some panel mounts and you got adjustable tilting. If the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy!!!
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Post by kenmb on Jan 14, 2022 16:33:21 GMT -6
Hmmm, a harrow packer bar frame would work well. Need to extend the packer lift bars to about 10' because a guy needs about 10' x 60' for 10kw. Put some screw piles in at the same place the wheels are. Roll the bar into place, pull off the wheels and mount the axles to some frame work on the piles. Put some adjustable braces on the back side (under panels) to the ground to support for wind loading. I would prefer doing something like that than building a structure out of wood again.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Jan 14, 2022 19:27:41 GMT -6
One thing to mention, Meskie mentioned a transfer switch available from SaskPower for $700. I got that on my new pad mount transformer. Nothing fancy, just a two position manual switch. One position and it connects SaskPower to your main breaker and throw it in the other position and you can have a generator connected to your main breaker. I have not used it, figured if I ever bought a PTO generator then that is how I would connect it to power my whole system. OD, I have two 10kw inverters, that is about as big as they go. Those multiple micro inverters sound interesting also. I bought my system from a guy I worked with occasionally so it was a package deal. The $35/mo (or there abouts) is what SaskPower charges to have power available to your yard whether you use it or not. If you don't pay that then they come take the meter. No meter and therefore no power to your breaker. Being an older contract arrangement, SaskPower basically deducts the kWh I produce from the kWh I consume. When I run out of stored credits in around February then I pay the going rate for kWh. Back then, if I over generated through the year then if I had credits at the start of the new billing year SaskPower reset the credits to zero. So there was no advantage to over sizing. Now I believe you can store credits up to 3 years. If I was to do it again I would do something with tilting. I would also really consider a tracking arrangement. You can increase power output by about 40% with tracking. Now, if you pay for a tracker system then you eat up those advantages by paying someone to build it all. But looking online I see the module is like $500, a couple electric actuators for a few hundred bucks and you got the electrics done. Next thing is building the mount. I suspect that is where a lot of the cost for a prebuilt system comes from. However, being a farmer with old crap laying around like rod weeder frames and such, pipe, grease, drive axle hubs, whatever, and hire screw pile contractor and I suspect a guy could build a solar tracker frame work that makes it possible. So for me, I kick around the idea of another 5kw. And so a 3kw solar tracker (gets me equivalent to 5kw fixed) is not too massive of a structure. Also gives me a little more power earlier in the morning and later in the day. The sun doesn't always shine at 10am or till 4pm. A solar tracker can capture a sunny morning before it clouds up in the afternoon for example. If I add more solar I expect it will be a solar tracker. More of a project to play with. Just haven't got that bored yet to pursue it. Ok the $35 is the minimum bill, I wondered that, it is about the same here too, although if you have an abandoned yard site they will pull the meter and it is only about $5, so if you might ever use it again it is cheaper than the salvage and rebuilding charges that will be over $10,000!!! There is a you tuber, DIY with Dave, or something that does a lot of solar projects that is trying East and West facing panels at the ends of his main array (used ones he got cheap) to try to increase his efficiency. He uses optimizers on his panels so they don't limit at the lowest producing panel's rate.
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Post by farmshop on Jan 16, 2022 19:36:10 GMT -6
Off grid power is something that can be challenging. We ran our dairy farm off grid for 6 months while researching and fixing stray current problems. Granted ours was a diesel generator it got challenging to keep the lights on all the time. Between oil changes and other maintenance to just making sure it had enough fuel.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Jan 16, 2022 21:44:14 GMT -6
That would be a challenge, just curious, was there a single major stray current solution or multiple ones?
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Post by cptusa on Jan 17, 2022 9:03:43 GMT -6
I'm curious on the stray voltage as well. Wouldn't it still be there on generator power? Or was it main line power that was causing the stray?
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Post by kenmb on Jan 17, 2022 11:11:19 GMT -6
Agree farmshop. My job had me in situations where a customer had something on their main service fail so had to implement all kinds of temporary fixes including generators or a temporary transformer. The best part of every one of those situations was getting the site back on to its normal service.
Even if I had full battery backup and an total off grid system I would likely still pay the utility it's basic service fee to have the power there at the pole if I ever needed it.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Jan 17, 2022 12:54:15 GMT -6
With the way energy is headed can you see the future of the electrical utilities being mainly for industry and urban use and rural going to their own generation? With solar and fuel cell technology advances it is possible that the economics are getting more realistic depending on the cost of energy at your location, especially if there is an improvement in battery technology. We are also finding that the utility is less reliable as time goes on, and I know the equipment is generally old enough to be considered beyond the life expectancy. I was even reading about small nuclear systems being a future source of scalable generation, hard to believe that one though. I agree with kenmb, I would keep the utility as a backup option.
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Post by Oatking on Sept 5, 2023 7:21:48 GMT -6
Has anybody recently set up a panel in order to power their farm ? How have costs changed and what is your pay back?
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Post by kenmb on Sept 5, 2023 8:14:04 GMT -6
No info from me but I see SaskPower raised rates 4% I April so my payback just improved 4%. We must be around 15c/kwh. It's kind of odd SaskPower does put the actual kwh cost on their bill, would have to look on the website and see what rates are. I guess they don't think people need to know such detail.
Manitoba hydro has pretty cheap electricity rates if I remember right. Would need a heck of a good government incentive to pursue solar.
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Post by cptusa on Sept 5, 2023 10:11:09 GMT -6
I've got a 70 kw system going in right now. With grant, tax credits, and depreciation my payoff time frame is 13 months.
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