Northern Michigan Solar

Alternative Energy Living at the 45th parallel

 

 

 

 

Learn about alternative energy, hybrid systems and watch pointless videos!
 Updated:06/22/2010  ENTIRE SITE IS COPYRIGHT 2010, MC PHOTOGRAPHY

We're in full swing updating the site for 2010 so some of our half baked project pages and links may be broken. Go ahead and tell us about it using the email link below.

If you have any questions, send me an email! I'm always happy to provide a convoluted answer to a simple queA photograph of our solar powered cabin.stion. 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!

Visitor map by Ipligence.com

All new mini episode of This Old Shack!

Even worse, watch a "This Old Shack" outtake!

ADVERTISEMENT

Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center

Disaster planning should be part of every single household across America, strike that, the world. When disaster strikes, people die or lives are changed. In times of plenty, forego the Playstations and buy extra food. You can explain a lack of toys better than a lack of food to your children.

Are you moving your home (like we are) or your small business? Then the Small Company Moving Guide is for you!

NAVIGATION

Home
Energy News Feeds
About the alternative energy system
DiaryDex
Energy blog
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)
Privacy policy - please read!
Sitemap 4-8-07
Links
Earthquake/vocano activity

 

In 1980 our military switched its entire food ration program over to the full moisture MRE pouch system. These are the meals we tested on "This Old Shack".
Check them out here.

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.

Home

Sitemap

Plugs and ads

Watch This Old Shack here!

This company makes top notch battery desulfators. Check them out.

http://www.solarhotusa.com

 Increase your home value installing Solar energy water heater.

Products

GoldenGadgets.com
Golden Gadgets, LED lighting and low energy products.

80-Watt High-Efficiency Solar Panel - $404

20A Solar Charge Controller - $40.95

1000-Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter with Remote Control-$239.20

AIMS 5000 Watt DC to AC Modified Sine Wave Inverter-$379.51

Tripp Lite 1800W Permanent Mount Inverter-$277.41

Tripp Lite PowerVerter RV Inverter/Charger RV2012OEM - 2 kW-$499.99

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 or a few amps 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. Here is the Excel file of one of the tests.

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.