Archive for the ‘Solar’ Category

Pat’s Stats, 2013, 2014, 2015

Posted in Burley bicycle trailer, Solar, Sustainable living, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 31, 2013| 11 Comments »

Our bicycles are nothing fancy, but they work to get us to the grocery store or post office, a distance of 3 miles round trip.

Our bicycles are nothing fancy, but they work to get us to the grocery store or post office, a distance of about three miles round trip.

Riding a bicycle for errands is a “win, win, win!”  We don’t pollute, we don’t use gasoline, and we get some exercise…gets the cardiovascular circulation going.  Of course we use the bicycle to get groceries and other items like crab shells and coffee grounds, too.  Occasionally I’ll even deliver print jobs from a printer I know.  A few years ago someone on NPR said he was trying to cut down on his carbon footprint by not driving at least one day a week.  We thought that was a great idea, so in 2006 we set out to get at least 51 days without using a car.

The following are the totals  of “Car-free days” per year and rainfall totals.

2006   59/365=16.2%    No rainfall report.

2007   76/365=20.8%  No rainfall report.

2008  134/366=36.6%  No rainfall report.

2009  144/365=39.5% Total rainfall 49.27 inches  (1251 mm)     Avg. rainfall 64.41 inches.

2010  153/365=41.9% Total rainfall 66.1 inches  (1679 mm)     Avg. rainfall 64.43 inches.

2011  186/365=50.1% Total rainfall 39.16 inches (994 mm)     Avg. rainfall 64.91 inches.

2012  162/366=44.3% Total rainfall 54.89 inches (1394 mm)  Avg. rainfall 64.57 inches.

2013  149/365=40.8% Total rainfall 29.5 inches (749 mm)   Avg. rainfall 64.57 inches.  (Footnote:  2013 is driest year on record)

2014  183/365=50%.  HOORAY!! 50% Car-free days, and that’s with 18″ more rainfall this year.              Total rainfall is 47.58 inches (1233 mm)  Avg. rainfall is 64.57 inches.

2015  180/365=49.3%.  I couldn’t quite get my 50% car-free days.  Rainfall for 2015 is 44.89 inches (1140 mm)

As you can see 2011 was our best year at 50.1%.  That works out to be 3.5 car-free days a week.  Rainfall was comparatively low that year, so it was easier to get around.  The next year I started beekeeping so the numbers have dropped a bit since I started attending bee meetings, hanging bait hives, and chasing down swarms.

Yes, I'm proud of my home-made bicycle sign. I figure if I can make drivers smile, they won't run over me. I've gotten many comments on this sign, but the best one was from a man who said he dialed the number and his wife answered.

I’m proud of my home-made bicycle sign. I figure if I can make drivers smile, they won’t run over me. I’ve gotten many comments on this sign, but the best one was from a man who said he dialed the number and his wife answered. 🙂

Lumber loaded on bicycle trailer, barely clears ground.

Lumber loaded on bicycle trailer, barely clears ground.

I can’t remember what this lumber was for, but my little Burley Flat Bed trailer was able to get it (and me) home in one piece.

The point of car-free days is to try to limit our carbon footprint.  We live in a small town so it’s easy for us to bicycle.  If we lived in a large city with public transportation, we would use it.  We feel that it’s important to cut down on our energy usage (and pollution) as much as possible.

Just for the record I want to add the totals from my little solar system…

12-31-13…..5139 Total Kilowatt hours produced from start up in June 2009

12-31-12…..3915 Total Kilowatt hours produced from start up in June 2009

1224 Kilowatt hours produced Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013

12-31-13…..188.1 Total kilo-amp hours produced from start up in June 2009

12-31-12…..143.2 Total kilo-amp hours produced from start up in June 2009

44.9 Kilo-amp hours produce Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013

1-1-14…..Zero’d out the meter today.

12-31-14…..45.6 Kilo-amp hours produced Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2014

12-31-15…..48.6 Kilo-amp hours produced Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015

12-31-15…..1,320 Kilo wt hours produced Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015

12-31-15…..Note to Pat…Did NOT zero out meter…Didn’t remember code. 😦

Read Full Post »

My Little Solar System

Posted in Solar, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2012| 9 Comments »

Solar panels installed in June 2009

If it looks like these panels were not purchased all at the same time it’s because they weren’t.  I bought them as I could afford them.  The bottom four were purchased first.  When I wanted more I was told that Brazil was buying all they could make…just wait a few months.  I didn’t want to wait but found some compatible ones built by Solar World right here in the US.

I wanted to be able to produce my own electricity for “just in case” scenarios.   Since we get all our water from a well, if the power grid goes out, we can’t get water.  While the power doesn’t go out very often, when it does, we are without both water and electricity for several days.  I wanted to be able to power those ‘critical load’ items like the well pump, a few lights, the refrigerator and freezer.  Plus I wanted to prove that solar power can be used even in cloudy climates in states that are “north.”  I live on the Oregon Coast.  If it works here, it can work in 75% of the US.

In fact, this system works so well that in the summer time, I have so much extra power I can run my printing presses with it.

This is a sticker I apply to everything I print with solar electricity.  I would be surprised if any other printers in the US could claim that.

During the rainy season it’s a different story.  Our rainy season is roughly mid October to late May, so it was a big surprise when we had an unexpected sunny day a couple days ago.  We had had rainy weather for about a week and my batteries were down.  The meter said I was a MINUS 109 amp hours.  I was going to have to do some  serious charging.

Minus 109 amp hours  before noon

The charge controller shows we have 34.3 amps coming in right now.  If we can keep that going, it’ll take a little over 3 hours to charge up.  I hope the sun stays out.

Minus 57.9 Amp Hours at about 2:20 pm.  We are catching up while producing power at the same time.

We’ve already produced 134 amp hours and the sun is still shining!

170 amp hours produced by the end of the day.

The sun stayed out and the batteries are full.  Not bad for an autumn day.

My “Solar Roller” water pump and a solar oven…

Read Full Post »

Grow with Solar

Posted in Gardening, Solar, Solar Cooking, solar water pump, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Get out the Solar Oven and let’s have enchiladas for lunch.

Enchiladas for lunch.

Now that the sun has warmed up the soil enough to plant, we’ve got to hook up the Solar Roller. These panels are mounted on a 2 x 4″

Solar panels on handmade wheeled cart

cart with some old lawnmower wheels attached. Since I have many trees shading parts of the garden, this roller allows me to follow the sun. I can actually get 12 hours of sun-pumping water into the large tank in the background and then gravity flow to 1/2″ pvc placed in the raised beds. The kit came with solar panels, submersible pump, and a Dankoff control box. This control box allows the pump to kick on in low light and works so well that it’ll pump on a gray shadowless day. I’ve even seen it pump during a light rain.

Gray shadowless day, solar pump still working…thank you Mr. Dankoff, for inventing the controller that makes the pump work on a very gray day!

The tank feeds into a regular garden hose and into the water grids. The grids are drilled with 1/16” holes. Hook up the hose to the grid and plant next to the holes.

Drip water grid in tomato bed

Drip watering potatoes

Placing the plants next to a pre-drilled hole.

Ready to close the tent on the warm loving eggplant and peppers

And that’s how we spent Mother’s Day, how about you?

For more solar check out my little solar system.

Read Full Post »