Michael Qulek

Looking at the original article, I see a dearth of technical specifications, not even a BTU rating?  This leads me to believe it's a theoretical thing that may never see the light of day in a working system.  I've seen a lot of "ideas" on the internet bantered about that have NEVER been tested in any kind of real-world application.   So, good luck with that.

What I can tell you from personal experience, what WILL work is a high-voltage home-based solar system that can power a traditional air-conditioner.  High-voltage residential solar panels are getting dirt-cheap right now, with 6W/$ for panels in my local area.  I personally have built two systems now that HAVE run a 8000BTU air-con from at least 9am till 4pm with zero battery depletion.

My own personal strategy for solar cooling is to start the air-conditioner in the early afternoon with my 48V cabin system, allow West-facing panels to keep the air-con running off solar only till about 6pm, then start draining the battery after 6pm.  By then though, the cabin has been cooled off, and is only cycling on and off, so battery depletion is not as great as starting it after 6pm.  I selected a wall-mount air conditioner, and what has worked well is leaving the air-con on till about Midnight, then shutting it off and opening the windows.  In my Sierra Nevada location, I've never yet had to run the air-con all night till the next morning, so I can't say what it would be like in a deep desert location.

In terms of fire protections, you really should not be focusing as much attention on the walls as you should the roof.  Here in California entire towns are burning down even though they have stucco walls and clay roofs.  The biggest problems are exposed rafter ends that overhang the walls to keep the rain drip away from the foundations.  Blowing embers get lodged in the exposed nooks and crannies, and fire eats it's way into the building via the undersides of the roofs.  Keeping embers from getting caught is how you will stop a fire from spreading.  Also focus on ladder fuels right next to your building walls.  That means no plant grow immediately under the eaves of the roofs that can catch on fire, and bring fire up to the eave level.

Also have a fire-proof zone on the ground immediately off the walls.  I poured concrete sidewalks 360 degrees around my cabin to keep fire at least 4' away from the walls.

I think most of the strategies for keeping away fire will also help keep away pests.

If you have a old, scrap piece of plywood, wet an area of ground around where the chickens are, and lay the plywood over it.  Each morning, turn over the plywood to expose the worms/bugs that collect under the wood.  You might scrape them all off into a tray, or simply allow your chickens to scramble over the plywood, collecting what they will.

Another option for your fishheads is to string them up above ground a couple of feet above your chickens, and let the flys lay their eggs on them.  The developing maggots then fall into the chicken pen.

I suppose this is a great opportunity to conduct an experiment yourself, and report back the results to us.  Why don't you try a variable distance planting and record your observations.  You could plant your pea plants at 1', 2', 4', and 8' spacing in different areas of your orchard, and measure the resulting nitrogen contents of the soil at periodic intervals.  A nitrogen percentage kit can be purchased at Home Depot.

Along with the effects of nitrogen concentration, you could also report on other effects, like the presence of wildlife, tree access to pruning, ect.

Keep in mind that nitrogen is NOT the only nutrient your trees need.  They also need Potassium, Phosphorus, and some other nutrients in smaller amounts.

I could suggest some alterations.  There are lots of DC water pumps that work on DC current at variable voltage, usually from 30V up to 300V.  With a solar pump controller, you could position a higher-voltage pump down the well, and then pump water out of the well, and up the hill to a relocated storage tank.  As you mentioned, high-voltage residential panels are dirt-cheap right now.  Here in the US, I'm getting 250W panels for <50USD.  With a higher voltage pump, you could position your storage tank ~30 meters above the well's location, pump during the day, and then feed the water to any nearby location by gravity any time of the day.  A one-way valve will keep the water from flowing back into the well.

For my own water system, I have two 20,000 liter tanks positioned about 50 meters above the well-head.  With the one-way valve positioned just downstream of my main water tap, I have pressurized water flowing 24/7.

Basically, the amount of force applied by a pulley(s) is multiplied by the number of times the pulling cable is added.  With a single pulley attached to the ceiling, and one length of the rope supporting the load, a pulling force of 50lbs results in a pulling force of 50lbs on the load.

If you add a second pulley wheel (one on the ceiling, and one at the load), you double the force.  50lbs of force on the rope yields 100lbs of force on the load.  But, the amount of rope you have to pull doubles.  So, in the first example, if you pull 1 foot of rope on the ceiling pulley, you lift the load 1 foot off the ground.  With the second example, you need to pull 2 feet on the rope to lift the load 1 foot.

With three pulleys, you increase the force 3 times, but have to pull the rope three times as far, and with four pulleys, it's 4X the force, but four times the length of rope pulled.

In each case there is conservation of energy,  With four pulleys, it's 4X the force, but you have to pull 4X as long.

Does that make sense?  You could use pulleys for any heavy load you can't pull on your own.  Maybe a engine out of a car, lifting bales of hay to the second floor of your barn, or using pulleys to tighten fencing wire? Lots of applications.

I don't even pay attention to it.  I purchase all my panels used on Craigslist, and my single most important criteria is watts/$.  BTW, don't shy away from used panels because they are used.  I've gotten better performance from used panels I got off Craigslist then the brand new panels I paid retail for.  Depending on your location, expect a good deal to be in the range of 3-5W/$.  Don't order your panels on the internet with shipping.  Cash and carry local purchases will be the best deals.

I do bring a voltmeter with me when purchasing to make sure one panel doesn't turn out to be a lemon.  Don't buy a panel that has a Voc more than 10% lower that what the sticker spec states.  So, if a panel sticker says the Voc is 37.5V, don't buy a panel putting out less than ~34Voc.

John C Daley wrote:Talking of fridges, I am off grid in Australia and had trouble with the fridge draining my small battery system.
I found the most efficient fridge made, Hisense, it was resonably priced for Australia $A1200 is about 315 L capacity and uses 25% of the power of other fridges.

What exactly is the size of your battery bank?  Is it being fully charged each and every day, even in June?

High-voltage residential panels are getting so cheap now that the single cheapest upgrade you can make to your system is more solar.  If my batteries are fully charged by 9-10am, my arrays are supplying 100% of my power needs for the rest of the daylight hours, with zero battery depletion.  That way I'm operating normally with a far less expensive standard AC frig/freezer.

Here in California, I used 3/4" plastic pipe designed for flamable gas.  I would suspect that would be far cheaper than 500 feet of copper.  I got it and all the proper fittings from Home Depot.  I do notice though that it takes quite a while for the stove's oven to warm up to 350F, and I think that 1" might have been a better choice.

Ram pumps work, by utilizing the mass of the moving water, to temperarily raise the pressure to the point where water can be pumped uphill.  But, the efficiency is only a few percent, meaning only a few percent of water flowing downhill is actually pumped back uphill.  Basically, a very LARGE volume of water falling downhill can push a very small amount of water back uphill.  A closed loop system would run for a little while until the water in the upper tank is drained, and then it will simply grind to a halt.

Your implication is that it would be an engine that could somehow be applied to producing useful work.  You simply can't get something for nothing. The laws of physics is not on your side.