did you ever post pictures of your solar setup
No I've never taken pics of it.
It's pretty simple really. I have around 600w of panels on the roof feeding into a regulator that feeds two battery systems with a total of 400amp/hrs which means I can draw 400amps for 1 hour or 1 amp for 400hrs. watts=volts x amps. I'm on 24 volts so 1 amp is 24 watts. My puter is my biggest power use and it draws around 6 - 8 amps, most is taken by the 17" monitor. I gotta get a LCD.
The input is based on a 6 hour sun cycle from 9am - 3pm, so I can put in around 90 - 100 amps per day.
I use the low watt fluorencent bulbs, like a 20watt bulb puts out the equivalent of 100watts light so I run around 4 lights at night.
I also have a small 350w washing machine and a LPG fridge/freezer and stove.
My hot water is also solar but I have a wetback on my fireplace so I can heat water with it if necessary.
I also have a 3000w Honda generator that I can charge up the batteries with if necessary. So far I've only needed to use it twice this year as we've had clear sunny days everyday, cos of the drought
To replace the setup would cost around $6,000 which includes the 50% rebate on panels that the Gov offers.
When you live with a system like this you realise how incredibly cheap electricity really is.
You don't think twice about turning on a 2400w heater do you??
But hey - if you stood on my verandah and looked out at the view and the setting you'd understand why I do it
cheers
JOhn
