Solar Station Construction Plans by Ben Peterson -- ebook

"You can find Ben's complete wood gassifier set HERE”
(Just above the link with the download of the Solar Station pdf file)

But neither the picture underneath it, nor any word in the phrase is a hyperlink.
I only find link to the pdf "bible", not to the set which contains more than just the book...

Cat Van Damme wrote:"You can find Ben's complete wood gassifier set HERE”
(Just above the link with the download of the Solar Station pdf file)

But neither the picture underneath it, nor any word in the phrase is a hyperlink.
I only find link to the pdf "bible", not to the set which contains more than just the book...

Ah! I believe he's stopped selling the Wood Gasifier set, so I removed the links and mention, so as to reduce confusion.  We do have the Wood Gasifier's Builder's Bible for sale here on permies, but he's no longer selling his stuff on his wastebot website. I hope that helps!

You got me. I saw the add in Acres USA for the free Solar Station plans. I proceeded to jump through all of the hoops to get access to the download to find out free means a $9.50 download. Seems like the classic bait and switch. Not a real good look. I am probably not the only subscriber getting this less than stellar first impression.

Nicole Alderman wrote:

Thank you!  :)

OH MY GUSS! Amazing, thank you so much! So looking forward to my first 2000 W solar station! Newbie here, How do i give pie?

You can give pie in one of two ways! You can either go to someone's profile and give them pie there, or (more easily), you can click the "+pie" button on their post.

On deksktop mode, this button looks like , and it's above the text of their post, near the thumbs-up.

On mobile view, there's a similar button that says "+pie" that allows you to give pie. I'll try to put a screenshot down below for you!

I hope this helps!

Thanks. 🥰 It downloaded great!

Brett Davidson wrote:You got me. I saw the add in Acres USA for the free Solar Station plans. I proceeded to jump through all of the hoops to get access to the download to find out free means a $9.50 download. Seems like the classic bait and switch. Not a real good look. I am probably not the only subscriber getting this less than stellar first impression.

I know this is a year or so later, but did you scroll down far enough? You have to scroll down below the part that has a price, then you reach the download. Now, they have huge arrows because so many people thought along lines similar to your complaint. They either weren't scrolling down far enough or, in the case of videos, not catching that the video was right there in front of them.

Another problem I saw (not common) was someone who was using one email for their emails from Permies, but the email connected to their Permies account was a different one, so the site didn't recognize them because it was the wrong email (that got straightened out).

I promise, in the few years I've been on this site, I've never seen a bait and switch on the free download dailyish email offers.

T Bate wrote:

Brett Davidson wrote:You got me. I saw the add in Acres USA for the free Solar Station plans. I proceeded to jump through all of the hoops to get access to the download to find out free means a $9.50 download. Seems like the classic bait and switch. Not a real good look. I am probably not the only subscriber getting this less than stellar first impression.

I know this is a year or so later, but did you scroll down far enough? You have to scroll down below the part that has a price, then you reach the download. Now, they have huge arrows because so many people thought along lines similar to your complaint. They either weren't scrolling down far enough or, in the case of videos, not catching that the video was right there in front of them.

Another problem I saw (not common) was someone who was using one email for their emails from Permies, but the email connected to their Permies account was a different one, so the site didn't recognize them because it was the wrong email (that got straightened out).

I promise, in the few years I've been on this site, I've never seen a bait and switch on the free download dailyish email offers.

Edit: I don't know what Acres USA is, so I can't answer to that. All I know is that these guys are honest. If it didn't work, there was a genuine reason for it.

Just downloaded these plans.  I'm impressed.  I have a bunch of building materials and more solar modules yet to install. Will probably use lithium batteries rather than AGM, depending on what I can find.  I have a long history with (flooded) lead acid batteries. They are very needy.

Thank you for making them available.

@russell, LiPO/LiFePO and the like have minimum temperature concerns.  LiPO/LiFePO operate between -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F), and AGM -30℃ to 70℃.  That extra 20C comes with some additional cost, but may be worth it.  Take a look at your use case.  I would be interested in hearing from folks with experience with the ancient Edison cells, but that is more a curiosity than practicality.  I would love to be proven wrong on the practicality end ;-)

Ebo David wrote:@russell, LiPO/LiFePO and the like have minimum temperature concerns.  LiPO/LiFePO operate between -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F), and AGM -30℃ to 70℃.  That extra 20C comes with some additional cost, but may be worth it.  Take a look at your use case.  I would be interested in hearing from folks with experience with the ancient Edison cells, but that is more a curiosity than practicality.  I would love to be proven wrong on the practicality end ;-)

I have two banks of Dakota Lithium batteries.  And three years of experience as a Pedego electric bike dealer. You're right about the temp issue, but it's really more a limitation on charging than on capacity. I particularly like the flat voltage out to nearly 100 percent discharge, and the longevity in charge/discharge cycles.
Years ago I had a big pile of Eagle-Picher nickel-iron batteries. That's the Edison cell.  They required a watering system to keep them topped up. Very thirsty.  I got rid of them and swapped in flooded Trojan L-16.   Later I had flooded Rolls-Surrette lead acid. They lasted about 10 years and got progressively weaker with sulfation. Same DOD issues as all the other lead acid batteries I'd used.  I tried desulfating and treatment with EDTA. Marginal improvements.

Did a Dodge Dakota pickup conversion with 8 volt Trojan lead-acid batteries. They didn't survive one winter outside.

Also have used SLA and VRLA batteries in various capacities.  No need to add water, but charging has to be to a lower voltage setpoint or they vent and lose capacity.

I've had one set of Dakota Lithium that lost charge/discharge capacity. The company has been completely unresponsive to my request for tech support.  I suspect it's a battery management system failure.

I'll continue using Li-Fe-Po batteries where possible.  Probably nothing more from Dakota Lithium.

@Russell, I did not snap to it until you mentioned "Eagle-Picher nickel-iron batteries", that my sister worked in one of their battery packing plants in New Mexico.  I have no way to know 40 years later, if she worked on the Edison Cells, but it is a small world... Interesting about the feeder lines, but I seem to remember reading something about how the batteries off-gassed.  

Back at the beginning of the pandemic, I was looking to rebuild my Prius (gen-II) traction battery with advanced CATL cells.  I ended up purchasing a pack from Toyota -- because the  battery died-died in the middle of the supply-chain fiasco, and I had to fix my only transport.  

I would love to hear anyone playing with Sodium-Ion batteries.  There are a couple of places where you can now get cells in standard packages.

A very useful offer, thank you so much.

I am in Australia so I am presuming that the only change I need to make is orientation towards true North???

Very easy and instructive to follow and more handy to me as I currently have an outdoor system, this is ideal.

This SAID it was “ FREE” what happened. ?

Cathy Miles wrote:This SAID it was “ FREE” what happened. ?

May I ask where where did you see it was free?

Thank you very much! Nicely presented.

Liv Smith wrote:

Cathy Miles wrote:This SAID it was “ FREE” what happened. ?

May I ask where where did you see it was free?

EDIT: Well now that I wrote all that stuff below, I see your name at the top of the email I grabbed the paragraph from. [embarrassed]

When you subscribe to the daily-ish newsletter, there are often links for the freebies in the email. if you miss the claim window it will be offered again so it pays to read the emails.

Here is a sample from my email

Thanks for reading the daily-ish email!  We believe that your participation in our community is changing the world for the better! To express our gratitude, here's a bonus freebie for you!  You have 48 hours to grab this.  If you don't get it within 48 hours, don't worry - it will be offered to you again later.

   Solar Station Construction Plans by Ben Peterson -- ebook
   >the link will be here<