Northern Michigan Solar Powered Cabin 

 Alternative Energy Living at the 45th parallel  

 

 

 

 

 Updated:06/22/2010                  ENTIRE SITE IS COPYRIGHT 2010, MC PHOTOGRAPHY                       BEST WHEN VIEWED ON A 16:9 SCREEN 

Learn about alternative energy, hybrid systems and watch pointless videos!
If you have any questions, contact us. I'm always happy to provide a convoluted answer to a simple question. At this site, you can learn from my real world experiences in solar energy production and how I produce power at our cabin in Northern Michigan. The cabin is located right on the 45th parallel near Gaylord, Michigan. Check out our photography site  which has some photos around the cabin in the nature and winter sections. 
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While this format of the site will stay here as it is, more of our updates and new articles will be in the new format. Visit the new format site here.
Reviving Deep Cycle Batteries
Latest diary entry 22 Jun 2010
 Diary update
Peukerts formula explained
T = C/(I/(C/R))n X (R/C)
Peukerts formula helps you design an alternative energy system by showing the real world capacity of your bank!

 

First of all, welcome to our site! We've been around for several years and conduct all kinds of half baked DIY projects on our show, This Old Shack. Be sure to check out all of our half witted articles and pages. If you have questions, just Email us and we will do our best to confuse you beyond all belief.

NAVIGATION

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This Old Shack
Cheap solar water heater
A trip to the cabin!
Xantrex Charge Controller
Death of a battery
About the system
Photos of my system
Battery bank setup
My generator updated
Generator article reprint
Generator buying tips
Battery wiring
Installation
Wiring the cabin
Appliances for cabins
Building your own panels
Handy conversion formulas
Gas mileage (Dodge Dakota)
Alternative Energy News Feeds
Privacy policy - please read!
Links
Earthquake/vocano activity

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Recently updated / new pages
Wiring the cabin / DC systems explained
System wiring
New battery bank testing continues. Read about it here.
Even worse, watch a "This Old Shack" outtake
Read about the system  
Temperature compensated charging chart  

 

We're going to build our own solar panels! 
Read the diary entry here. 

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But why solar power?

There were several reasons for the switch:

  • Sprinkle of rain = power failure.

  • Giving a little back by not using so much.

  • Independent living.

Benefits:

  • Renewable power.
  • Learning about solar power.
  • Own stock in the solar panel company. :-)
  • I like batteries.
  • I can sit around smoking a cigar because I'm an energy mogul!

Drawbacks:

  • Maintenance.
  • Installation.
  • Bunch of black glass panels sitting around.

sunset_over_ypsi1.jpg (389444 bytes)Northern Michigan Solar Cabin

Learn more about alternative energy

 

Alternative Energy Learning Resources

 

  National Weather Service Article  

 

Xantrex C12 Charge Controller, 12A, 12V

Last week of March, 2007

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Latest Diary entry:

3-30-07

After rooting around on the web for a while, I've come across some sites that sell bits and pieces that off grid homeowners might be able to use. Yandina has some products that allow you to combine AGM and lead acid batteries, 12/24 volt automatic switches and other handy devices. For as long as this is active, here is an interesting discussion on exploding battery banks in industrial settings - we'd all do well to follow the advice here.

I don't care who you are, this little tool is interesting for locating your solar panels.

And finally the data you've been looking for, excerpts from the NREL redbook!

3-28-07

If you read the diary entries from last year, I had left the battery bank at the cabin hooked up to the 90 watts of solar panels I had up there. This worked great for weekly trips. However, on the occasion I wasn't able to get there for three weeks, the bank went flat (as in 11.8 volts per battery), which required long term cycles of charging and discharging to get them back to full capacity. This year I'm going to try something different. I don't know what that is yet, but I don't want to kill batteries needlessly.

Well, the diary entries are coming hot and heavy as the first trip to the cabin approaches. If you watched the first episode of "This Old Shack" you saw how to make cables for your battery bank. I'd been using store bought cables - they corroded in less than 6 months of use so I opted for copper connectors and thus I showed you how to make them and build a battery bank.

While checking over the type 31 batteries in the large bank (see here) I found one that was very low on water. That's bad. Somehow I missed it so I'm drawing up a regular maintenance schedule that's better than the old one.

I have also created a new scheme that's between an RV and a cabin set-up. We'll see how that works (I'm not holding my breath). The second episode of "This Old Shack" will be filmed this coming weekend so stay tuned for more explosions!

3-27-07

There has been an update to the first episode clarifying series battery bank connections. See the link at left. 

3-26-07

The first episode of "This Old Shack" is in the can, edited and now available for viewing! While filming, I was able to get some actual work done; I made new cables for the the small bank, connected a 12volt power outlet to it and ran a 12 hour test at 9 amps using the laptop.

It's starting to look a lot like springtime! The snow cover in northern Michigan is gone, the weather looks "good" for next weekend, soooooo. It may be time for the very first trip to the cabin of the year!

3-20-07

I started to do the first episode of "This Old Shack" but after stammering into the camera for a half hour I decided to wait for a more opportune time. 

If you remember from my last entry, I've labeled all the batteries and split them into two planned banks, Large and Small. The large one for inverter use, the small one for 12 volt power use.

From testing here at the house (our southern hacienda) I've discovered that I can get up to 12-16 hours from each small battery running a typical 12 volt load, or around 30 hours when running as a bank

After the first two tests where I place a constant 6 amp load on each battery individually, I discovered that the charge time for each one (S1, S2, S3) varied. By a lot. How I did this was by charging each unit from a 70% charge to full charge (according to the Schumacher Smartcharger) at a 2 amp rate (Note: yes, this isn't a real world example. While at the cabin, I charge at 30 amps

 in order to bring the batteries up to full charge with as little stress as possible. What I noticed is that battery S2 got to 90% and stayed there. A loooong time. At a charge rate of 8 amps, it came right up to a normal charge. What I've done is equalize the battery with my manual charger and will test it again tonight. The other two small bank batteries are performing nominally (note to self: gotta start using more NASA like terms - call it NITWIT: Nasa Infusion of Terms With Interesting Testing) and don't look like they're a problem, even the one that did in fact give me problems when it was new.

 

 

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Window Solar Air Heater Panel - $209.00
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1000-Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter with Remote Control-$239.20
AIMS 5000 Watt DC to AC Modified Sine Wave Inverter-$379.51
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HQRP 50 Watt Mono-crystalline Solar Panel 12 Volts in Anodized Aluminum Frame

How I test
There are several people on various newsgroups and discussion areas that waylay in uninformed or those just starting out in the off grid world of self power generation. This involves an almost religious belief in a phantom 6v golf cart true deep cycle battery that is superior in every way to any other battery in existence.

A simple examination of the specification sheet for a line of 6v and 12v off grid batteries will tell you quite clearly that there is no one single best solution for all circumstances. It is not accurate to say one is best.

Our system has been using the much maligned Harbor Freight 45 watt solar panel kits for 4 years. Over these years, we've moved them back and forth from the main home in Saline, Michigan to the shack in Gaylord. They've been dropped, exposed to heavy rain, snow, sleet, hail. One even has even had the glass on it shattered from a tree limb dropping on it.
Look, using testing equipment is all well and good but those spec sheets don't mean squat if you can't run YOUR stuff for as long as you want to. So what I do (so you don't have to) is get the equipment (batteries, inverters, solar panels) and put what I run on it. Usually about 30-50 watts at 12 volts - few amps of draw. You know, turning lights on and off, running a computer (a laptop) and whatnot. 
Throughout the test, a digital meter is run on the bank and a hydrometer is used once an hour to determine whether the meter is reading the correct voltage. During the sunlight hours on the panels, there is another digital meter installed at the primary junction box (where the panels feed into the 10 gauge cables that feed to the charge controller) that measures panel voltage and amps.
One of the things that I like the best about alternative energy is that you can make it as complicated or simple as you like. Some people, even though they use alternative energy simply don't have a good grasp on the entire substance that goes into the makeup of an engineered system that has been built from scratch.
Don't ask me why, but I've recently become interested in studying earthquake/volcano activity around the world; ash plumes and such. I've added a page with RSS feeds and links to satellite imagery. 
Sierra Nevada Airstreams battery temperature compensation chart Even worse, watch a Feedjit Live Blog Stats Battery bank setup My generator updated Email Me Temperature compensated charging chart Read about the system Solar Panel grounding from the dean of solar, John Wiles. Alternative Energy News Feeds Photographs Xantrex Charge Controller latest lightning video Read the diary entry here. DiaryDex Live weather from the shack Check it out! Building your own panels Are you moving your home (like we are) or your small business? Then the Small Company Moving Guide is for you! This Old Shack About the system THIS OLD SHACK Air Tabs energy blog Old Shack here Energy News Feeds battery desulfator schematic Earthquake/vocano activity A trip to the cabin! You need recipes Battery charge chart Sun activity widget added to earthquake activity page Generator buying tips Quite possibly the best preparedness site in the world. Appliances for cabins initial diary entry Privacy policy - please read! NREL redbook Death of a battery Battery wiring Cheap solar water heater Peukerts Wiring the cabin Photos of my system Gas mileage (Dodge Dakota) About the alternative energy system New battery bank testing continues. Read about it here. Live weather information from the shack! Peukerts formula explained Handy conversion formulas Generator article reprint Alternative energy news feeds (NEW) Installation