Carrie Graham

Lisa Brunette wrote:Thanks, everyone! Really useful information, especially some of those links, videos, and examples.

It's hard not to get discouraged or feel a bit overwhelmed, as the commentary seems to break solar into two options:

1. Pay for a professionally installed system. This comes with a high cost, and depending on your solar "fitness," (roof and house position, climate, etc.), it won't pencil out.

2. Go DIY. This is the more cost-effective option, and it's great permies ethos, as you're empowered to do the work. BUT, it requires some training or self-study in electrical tech, specifically in solar, which is rarer, since most focus on traditional electrical systems. The risk is that you get it wrong and incur more cost fixing it, or even start a fire or other hazard. I don't possess enough background in this stuff to understand some of the back-and-forth comments in this very thread, unfortunately.

I guess there could be a third option, which is to barter/trade your skill set with someone who has a solar tech skill set. I don't know anyone who does, but it would be a good option if I did!

 I sense you are somewhat intimidated.  The intro system at Harbor Freight, though overpriced per watt, is still a complete basic system.  Even my fancy internet-monitored system is basically exactly the same thing at its core.   I suggest you might purchase or at least study one of those to see how easy it really is to familiarize yourself with a solar electric system installation. Play around with it. Add some stuff, use it as a generator, try to envision the possibilities.

How about option 2.5?
Do the panel part yourself (or oversee a handyman or teenager)  and hire an electrician to do the final connection to the house for you.  The actual connectors are very low voltage, small wires and look similar to plugging in a phone or computer.  For several reasons, even though I have a roof system, I do not suggest that as a first choice. Panels that are easy to get to are easier to clean every so often. Start with a design like that.  

An optimal system in my opinion would be a south-facing carport system that eventually charges an electric car. The car can serve as a generator for the house, the expensive part of the generator is already in the car.  Backup batteries would need to be stored and charged inside the house, as batteries don't do as well in extreme cold or heat. More panels could be added for the house or built into the south facing part of the house, but I really think they need to be designed in so they are accessible for easy cleaning from the start.  Not so you have to pay a company or suffer decreased output. Or maybe inexpensive cleaning drones will be marketed soon.

I am also not sure why more people don't get together and purchase solar panels in bulk for projects.  That would save them a great deal.  

I have had no breakdown cost so far in 6 years nor do I see any. I did replace one warrantied controller on a panel.  

C

Reading through some comments on pebble-style RMHs, I see the pebbles are considered insulative or at least not very good thermal mass. I didn't really have lots of thermal mass before. But could you "fill the box" with just plain old red clay soil?  Just shovel it in "as is"?  Then maybe I could finish the tops with my rocks and pebbles or whatever.

Talk about procrastination....
Well four years later, my poor heater has broken apart and "temporarily" been replaced by the old woodstove.  DH has had some health issues and we no longer have a working tractor.  I hate it.  Besides the increased wood use, I really hate having to wrestle wood into it. Somehow that old heater worked perfectly without smoking even with the front open like I pictured.  When we first built it, we covered the entrance, but discovered it wasn't needed.

But I really want a 2.0 version back.  Red clay is not my style and really doesn't go with the theme of the rest of the house which is more industrial. And while I love the idea of earth building  I honestly hated the appearance.
In my minds eye, I see a  Gabion style RMH perhaps filled with pea gravel or whatever on the inside to facilitate burying cooking pots to slow cook or something along those lines.

Kind of imagine a marriage of the heater I had before, the pebble style RMH and the image I will try to attach.
I like the "look" of it. Gabion things often aren't completely filled they just make the "walls" out of the cages of rocks and fill the center with something else.  
I am guessing I need to build the heater core out of fire bricks and/or refractory cement?   We used regular bricks for the riser of the last stove and they seem to work just fine. Any reason I shouldn't reuse what seemed to work?  

Here are my current excess egg recipe favorites.  I had #50 of semolina flour to use up, so was looking for things to do other than pasta.

This is the original recipe:
Semolina Bread
3 ¼ cups Semolina flour Fine – 3 ¼ cups
1 ½ cups Tepid water
1 tsp Instant yeast
1 tbso Granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp Salt
¼ cup Olive oil

I substituted the flour to a partial blend of whatever I wanted to use up. (Baby cereal free from a coupon, cornmeal, etc. you can even use up the crumbs in the bottom of the cereal bag and leftover oatmeal from breakfast)
I substituted 1 cup of the water for 6 eggs
I used whatever fat was leftover from cooking- bacon, chicken, hamburger, etc. (I may even omit or reduce the fat because of the egg yolks)
It slices nicely for sandwich bread.

Second thing-
Citrus Curd
1 cup lemon and lime juice. (53 cal)
1 cup granulated sugar (773)
5 tablespoons butter melted and cooled slightly (500 cal)
9 egg yolks (500 cal)
the zest of 2 lemons and 2 limes

I mix it all in a blender and then microwave it in 2 min increments until it is done, which isn't long at all. It ends up smooth and perfect.

This recipe uses7 yolks + 4 whole to 1 c, and she has directions to can it, which would be useful. I haven't tried it yet.
https://pickyourown.org/lime_curd.php#notes

Lastly, I have used the leftover whites as a sugarless, flavorless binder to make "snack bars" using up sugar cereal that was free/cheap with a coupon.
Basically you whip them into a meringue and then mix in the cereal or snack mix and bake it on a low heat to dry it to a crunch. Cut into bars.

Similar to this https://www.bakespace.com/recipes/detail/CHEX-MIX-PARTY-BOWL/59759/

I am not sure I understand your goals.  Is it to save money on electricity? Be partially self sustaining? Learn more about actually having solar?

It doesn't sound like you have enough issues with power outages long enough to merit doing anything more than what you already have. Why go to the expense of having even a small battery back up system if the power never goes out?  It sounds expensive and complicated compared to just figuring out the regulations and complying. One  downside to partial solar I have found is when I did have to pay for overage it cost much more per KWh because I was no longer getting the "bulk" price and the first bit had lots of the extra costs built in.

I would investigate thorougly what exactly is required and how much it will cost. Get the requirement in print, in the event they are asking more than you legally must do and so they can't switch and add something at the last minute.  Then compare the cost to your off grid choices.  It would be a shame to spend more to be partially off grid instead of enjoying the benefit of fully solar.

One thing I have added that is particularly nice, is solar motion security lights in all the smaller windowless rooms in the house- bathrooms, laundry, etc. These run off of rechargable AA batteries, easily and cheaply found in most stores. I have maybe changed one set in the many years I have had them.  To reduce roof penetration, the wire is run through the roof ridge and the tiny panels are put on top. These are so nice I may add more.  The few hours the power does go out, at least the bathrooms still seem the same plus they turn themselves off.  I have considered building a self sufficent solar tool shed to charge the things that already use batteries, but not a priority since we currently make more than we use anyway.

So currently you have an active system hooked up to the grid?
Or is this a proposed system?
What place and electric company are you dealing with? Most electrical codes for most US states are based on the National Building Codes.  I took one of their inspection classes before I installed my system. My future inspector sat right next to me in class.

I have a grid-tied system that currently supplies 100% plus some. We do not get paid for excess with this company. I just have it in the "bank" in the event I need it.
I was required to add a manual cut-off in addition to the solaredge cut-off on the inverter which automatically shuts down if the grid goes down.
I chose grid-tied as I don't feel batteries are yet sustainable. They cost too much compared to lifetime vs grid which is already there. Also, we rarely lose power for an extended time so I don't even have a backup system.
In our state, the utility company has to provide the meter and we have a meter that measures both input and output, as it goes to and from the grid. Meaning the extra we don't use in the daytime is listed as "generated" and the "consumed" is what we use at night.   The difference, positive or negative is how much we pay for. The part we use directly from our panels I can only calculate because I have a monitoring system on each panel.  The small monthly fee is totally worth not buying enough batteries to power our house fully.  One downside is that if I do have to buy electricity, it is the highest cost per kwh because it is a small amount.
While I have not lately priced house batteries, I have priced prius batteries which start at $1500. I expect the one time cost of a meter is going to be far less than buying and rebuying batteries over the years.
Still, it seems unlikely to me that you would have anything to do with meter installation. I could see them installing a second meter and charging you, but not having you do it yourself.   But perhaps I am misunderstanding the situation?
I am considering adding a carport system to power an electric car if I ever get one. At this stage, it would still be advantageous for me to be grid-tied so the system could collect power whether I was using the car in the daytime or not vs paying for 2 sets of batteries to collect and store electricity, one in the car and one in the garage.

Is there another "thread"  (ha how punny) that shows what you wove those on?

My favorite for napkins are the natural uncolored shop rags they sell at Sams and Price club for about.16 for a pack of 50.   With that many we use them for everything and get a clean one for almost every use.   I also have a stack of the white terry shop towels in the drawer as well.  For grease, I have a stack of newspapers in another cabinet near where I use small kitchen appliances that potentially spill grease, like waffle irons, contact grill.etc.   I keep a "placemat" of newspaper under each appliance when I use it to soak up stray grease.   The newspaper gets used as fire starter.  My husband is in love with the exorbitantly priced Scott disposable towels. I toss any I find in with my weekly "cloth" wash and they last a while, though I will use them also for any unwashable mess.   I also get flannel from thrift store sheets and cut it into handkerchiefs which are folded and stored in tissue boxes, distributed around the house in convenient locations.   All used cloths get put in a basket under the sink and washed with hot water (only use for that in the last 20 years) once a week or so.

The draft is really good in the current heater.  If you look carefully you will see there are circular plates on the Mealmaster, kind of in the middle.  I am thinking we could possibly run the flue gasses from the RMH into the one in the back, and keep the stove intact.  Not the best looking solution, but easily undone without sacrificing the stove if it doesn't work.  Also maybe insulate some of the surface area if needed.  I think I will just have to experiment to see what will work. It is still in the 80's here, so not yet. But we need a plan for when the time is upon us.  The batch box with a cast iron plate is a simple and elegant solution, similar to what I did with the current cast iron pot.  I love the sketch-ups. I wish I was as adept at using the program to put my pieces together and visualize the possibilities.  

Current design: Works OK but deteriorating and needs to be moved closer to the wall. Easy to load with full-size wood, stovepipe temps 2-300  degrees, no smoke. Cooking features are OK, but not optimal.  Thermal mass inadequate to hold heat.  House is large but well insulated, full-size wood is a requirement.

Tried to insert picture here...not sure it will work.


Replacement ideas:

Pebble Style RMH- love the fact that you can experiment and change it easily. Also, think it might have possibilities to add a "spa" component.  Maybe have different sections filled with different materials, salt, clay pellets, stones, etc. Or trays to switch out as desired.  A constantly available hot rock foot massage sounds like a possibility.

Walker stove- Love the design but cost for materials in my area (insulated bricks) would be prohibitive.

Window preferred to see the fire.

Water heating would be an awesome added bonus as the house has a Pex radiant floor throughout.  We no longer use it much as I found even with 6 zones, it didn't balance exactly as I wished with fewer rooms currently in use.

Easily available materials:

1. Mealmaster cookstove...interested in adding it into the system, cause it is cool and available.


    2.Clay, wool- got them both on this farm.

1. Bricks and other typical recycled construction materials.
2. We have a couple of older wood stoves that maybe could have parts recycled from...doors?


We have a 10' x 10' corner to work with, the chimney pipe is about a foot off the corner.  We considered coming up with some sort of damper, shunting the heat either to the stove or a rock bed with the RMH in the middle.  Or go through the stove first and then to the rock bed. Don't really need to bleed off heat from a barrel if we went through the stove. So maybe replace the barrel with an insulated mass?

Questions...what temps are we looking at where?  How hot is optimal (safe) coming into the stove?   Would there be enough left to heat a box of rocks or should it come after some mass bleed-off, so as not to damage the stove?

Our current firewood supply contains an endless  supply of bark flats, (not sure the real name, but the bark and about an inch of wood.)