Solar Panels

[Steve & Myrlita]

Need power? How about a bicycle type of generator feeding into deep cycle batteries? Modify exercise cycles to power generators and pay local labourers to power them, payment could be done on a per Kw produced basis to ensure no slacking. With the level of unemployment and low salaries in the Phils this could be viable. Imagine the local youngsters being able to earn a few pesos for a couple of hours of "fun" after school..........

Edit.... just did a little research on the net.......Pedal-A-Watt. It converts your bicycle into a stationary bike and uses your pedal power to generate energy that can be stored in a power pack. An average rider can produce up to 200 watts – ride for an hour and you'll generate enough to power a 25 watt fluorescent light bulb for eight hours.

In the Phils, what's the price per Kw of electricity from the grid?

That will vary by reigon. Here in Bacolod, the last bill I paid was between P8-P9 /KWH. ($0.22) which ia about double the US price. The RP is the most expensive electricity in SE Asia or so I have heard.

[nor cal mike]

I have used a solar system in northern California for about 6 years and I am quite pleased with it. I am off the power grid

and had to depend solely on generators prior to the solar. As you can well imagine the cost was quite high. I bought all

my components from an Australian company called "Outback". At the time they were considered to be one of the best on

the market. The panels were from China and I have had no problems. For storing power I went with two fork lift batteries.

The entire system cost me about 13k and I did all the install myself. The whole thing was plugin and even a novice such as

myself can easily do it. My refer and freezer are propane and we do not use air/con, but we do run a large evaporative cooler

in the summer. I have not spent a penny on maintainance and would do it again.

[Curley]

Need power? How about a bicycle type of generator feeding into deep cycle batteries? Modify exercise cycles to power generators and pay local labourers to power them, payment could be done on a per Kw produced basis to ensure no slacking. With the level of unemployment and low salaries in the Phils this could be viable. Imagine the local youngsters being able to earn a few pesos for a couple of hours of "fun" after school..........

Edit.... just did a little research on the net.......Pedal-A-Watt. It converts your bicycle into a stationary bike and uses your pedal power to generate energy that can be stored in a power pack. An average rider can produce up to 200 watts – ride for an hour and you'll generate enough to power a 25 watt fluorescent light bulb for eight hours.

In the Phils, what's the price per Kw of electricity from the grid?

That will vary by reigon. Here in Bacolod, the last bill I paid was between P8-P9 /KWH. ($0.22) which ia about double the US price. The RP is the most expensive electricity in SE Asia or so I have heard.

Hmmm, so my idea would be expensive if you paid a labourer to push the pedals .... better start a fitness club and let people pay to use your bicycle/generator. :cheersty:

[i am bob]

Hmmm... Back to the OP's original idea again... hehe!

Depending on the wind volume at your beach house, solar may not be a great way to go - and then again it may be. If the wind is quite strong no a regular basis, you could opt for putting solar panels in a sheltered area and supplementing this with wind power. Low wattage ceiling fans (dc motor of course) and big windows to catch the breeze might be enough to keep you cool. Another cooling option is (if you are right on the water) to run pvc piping out a bit to catch the cooler water. This can be circulated through a system similar to our good old Canadian forced air (minus the furnace) to cool the entire house. Or even to just replace the coolant coils on a single room a/c unit. You could also just run it through tubing under the flooring rather than looking at marble - similar to radiant heating in reverse. To pump the water would not require a power-hungry pump if you are in the right location (minimal height for draw) - and solar / wind would be more than sufficient to run the pump. It isn't as expensive as it sound either... I built one for a friend in Nova Scotia using a VW Alternator as a Wind Generator and ran water from the Atlantic up 8 feet and into a modified furnace. The air exchange unit was pulled out,6 old radiators (recored) were installed for the water flow and the air blew across them for cooling. The airfllow to the furnace was run off the same wind gennie by changing to a high efficiency dc motor. The cost was recovered after just 2 years of no air conditioner. You will need to look at conditions at your beach house to see if this would work but it is a cheap and easy solution if conditions are good.

[Thomas]

I saw a television story about a dairy farm in Wisconsin where the floors are slightly incline and the poop is washed into holding tanks. The methane gas is sufficient to generate the electrical requirements for their buildings. Does anyone have a name in the Philippines that sells generators that run on methane? If your farm location is far from the power grid, the recommendation is three power sources: solar, wind and gas.

Can't normal petrol engines use metane gas too?

They used gasification of firewood/charcoal here in Europe to run cars back during World War II when it was short petrol, so I guess they can run with metane gas too (with some modification.)

[i am bob]

I saw a television story about a dairy farm in Wisconsin where the floors are slightly incline and the poop is washed into holding tanks. The methane gas is sufficient to generate the electrical requirements for their buildings. Does anyone have a name in the Philippines that sells generators that run on methane? If your farm location is far from the power grid, the recommendation is three power sources: solar, wind and gas.

Can't normal petrol engines use metane gas too?

They used gasification of firewood/charcoal here in Europe to run cars back during World War II when it was short petrol, so I guess they can run with metane gas too (with some modification.)

It's a modification similar to that done for propane. Methane will kill some of the more modern engines due to the temperature it burns at.

[Ashanti]

It does amaze me why solar power is not popular in PI. With its expensive electricity, I would have thought solar power would be a good business but I hardly hear anyone using solar power in PI.

When you go to Greece, solar power are used everywhere even to your common, run of the mill houses. But then I suppose, Greece is heavily subsidised by EEC where as in UK starting cost for solar power is quite expensive and so many hops to go through if you want to avail the EEC free installation.

[sjp52]

solar power is way to expensive to use unless there is government incentives or subsidies. I don,t see the Philippine government helping in any way

[i am bob]

Why is Solar Power not common in the Philippines?

1. The cost of solar panels have come down to be affordable for the average person now... But the average Filipino does not make the same as "the average person"!
   
2. Solar panels are still easily damaged by debris blowing during storms... There are no storms with high winds in the Philippines, are there?
   
3. They are not easy to steal - unless you happen to have a screw driver in your pocket.
   

Now, if we are talking about Wind Turbines, well, they can be made from spare car parts, a roll of wire and a couple pieces of light wood like Balsa. They love it when storms are nearby! And better not be scared of very high flimsy towers if you want to steal one!

:mocking:

[earthdome]

There are plenty of streams and hills/mountains in the Philippines. If you can get property with a small stream with a bit of elevation drop you may be able to use low flow hydro which does not require a dam and has a small footprint on the stream/land.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_head_hydro_power

Of course, this is for the Philippines, so it may be illegal.

The other thing to look into regardless of whether the power source is solar, wind, hydro or a combination is using DC powered electrical items where possible. You lose a great deal of power converting the DC to AC.

So if you really want to be off grid, you really need to focus on using low power DC lights, appliances, etc and minimize the electrical gear that uses AC. You might try this search for more info:

https://www.google.com/search?q=low+flow+hydro&sugexp=chrome,mod=11&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=off+grid+dc+appliances&oq=off+grid+dc&gs_l=serp.1.2.0l4.6294.9528.0.13574.11.11.0.0.0.0.463.3054.0j4j4j1j2.11.0.eesh..0.0...1.1.X_oUUiaj6Qg&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=9cc010baabf3fa25&biw=1256&bih=1066