I'm thinking of alternate energies. Solar seems to be an alright option.
whats your thoughts on alternate power sources?
it depends on your sun exposure and what you are using the energy for. Take for instants, if your doing an off grid, solar will not be enough for the cost. you would have to ration your energy uses. if your doing a grid tie, it will be a while to break with the cost of selling.
The Questions is: What are you trying to do with the energy?
Can you use a wind turbine(a small one)?
do you have land with a creek?
Are you able to put in fuel tanks for a gen set?
do you have an area(well vented) for a few battery banks?
here are a few web sites for more info: http://solar1234.com/ and http://battery1234.com/
There are 12 podcasts by the Survival podcast that could help you out on solar1234.
on the 5th of dec will be a battery podcast on "TSP"
Hey thanks for the resource!
I'm an urban prepper as it is so my prep's need to be mobile right now.
I'm thinking that some AA and AAA batteries and radio's power would all I would want to use in an emergency. Still figuring how much is available and will try to get as many extra's that it'll support.
Canadian Tire also has LED bulbs that are 1watt at 120 volts. Quite efficient and the light output although not huge is enough to read by at the source and to light a room to very low levels.
If you are looking for a good price on LED lighting in 12V, 24V, 32V, 110V, You should look up Source LED on the internet.
Tom is here in the lower mainland (North Van) he can do volume pricing or contracter pricing, Some times he has last years models at a good price. When I say a good price , I mean a good price on top of the line product, not your usual stark bluish shitty light, I',m talking about warm white ligh,t light you can read by.
I bought lots and sold lots at my last empoyer. Enough said check it out.
Old Scout
Be Prepared or it's your own fault.
BC 86, for under $30 I have built a AA solar battery charger that charges 8, AA's in a sunny day easy enough. With good light and re-aiming the solar panel you could probably double that to charging 16 AA's in a day. The size and weight could probably be replaced by 100 or less AA's but I think over time It could provide more electricity. I'm working on a better unit with more features that ought to cost under $40 DIY. When I get that built I'll post it with pics and explanations under Solar Power on this web site.
If you want more detail on what I have done so far PM me. (it's really simple)
BTR
Than= I’d rather be rich than poor.
Then= I first became hungry then I ate.
There = She is there now.
Their = They have their things.
They're = They're going to the mall.
To = They came to the house.
Too = That's too bad.
I'm an urban prepper as it is so my prep's need to be mobile right now.
Just how "mobile" are you talking?
Your car is about the most versatile power source there is. Get a 1500 or 2000 watt inverter that hooks directly to your battery. Ideally a pair of 1500w. Of course you will have to idle the car while drawing heavy loads. It's the same as buying a 2kw genny but this one always has fresh fuel, always starts and runs almost silent.
70 Amps @ 12V = 840 watts less 15% (inverter losses) = 714 watts. Unless you have a larger alternator this is your draw limit from a car and it does not occur at idle. Even a 100 amp alternator spinning at speed (1200 engine RPM?) will only provide about 1000 watts of electricity or 850 watts after inverter losses. Running a house off of a car alternator and battery is difficult at best even if you forget about the high draw loads. Your furnace motor draws near 400 watts or more (in most cases) and requires 2 to 3 times that power when starting up.
Still it is better than nothing. All I am saying is don't count on your car alternator to run your house for electrical needs. Doing so may result in less than expected results.
Than= I’d rather be rich than poor.
Then= I first became hungry then I ate.
There = She is there now.
Their = They have their things.
They're = They're going to the mall.
To = They came to the house.
Too = That's too bad.
You certainly won't run your whole house. You could run just your furnace and a desk lamp to keep from being frozen out of the house. Try that with a deep cycle battery.
The OP said a "mobile" option. This is more mobile than a small genny. You're just using your car engine and alternator (that you already have) and attaching an inverter.
maybe try magnetic engines like this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLek_3Hpwus
I am presently sourcing out larger magnets to make a large version of this
dv
I have been dealing with alternate energy for over a decade now in commercial uses. for a mobile platform that will take abuse and work look at a thing like power film. they can go over your pack while you hike to charge your batteries get good batteries not the costco cheapies... they dont carry a charge and dont last. Battery world and places like lighting wholesalers (albright/ commercial lighting) sell industrial stuff
Weakest link in any alternate energy is storage. batteries fail and have a use life of around 7 -10 years are heavy and toxic. There is one place that makes AWESOME batteries but the price will have you reaching for a defibrillator. that place is Ecamion here is link to their site http://www.ecamion.com/ they are made in Canada bio responsible light and super tough. some products 100,000 yes 100,000 duty cycles. the choice of military everywhere.
Solar panels if you are looking for panels here is the bare facts any non interlaced soldered solar panel over time will fail as the connections do any thing made in china that is rated at any wattage is +- 10% ul and will decay 1-5 % a year real time in a sheltered location with no vibration. Most commercial solar harvesters will fail in next 5 years due to inadequate planning and inflated losses. The brand you should look for there used to be a manufacturer in burnaby BC called DAY4 they made the best panels but priced themselves out of market those panels are special as they use NO SOLDER and hence dont decay at same rate as ALL other panels. Next is 10k solar they make a good product at a commercial useful price they OVER PRODUCE electricity and are they best with their reflections systems due to our overcast weather here in bc.
The inverter should be looked at in two forms if you use (apparent) brand name it is a micro inverter one per panel extreme control and redundancy. a inverter for a group of panels is what most installers suggest. this is good except when you have a failure, then well you are screwed. for most small applications using a smaller inverter especially in remote locals where failure is a life or death thing dont go centralized the loss when distributing and converting will kill the efficiency. This means if you have a shed or a water pump 100,s of feet away put up another system. use no inverter just a charge controller and run the pumps/ machines off dc direct from battery UN does this in sri lanka/africa for water pumping for crops.
Inside your house try to use skylights to let in more daylight dont build dark box and then put lights in. Inside your house there is a few main sources of energy consumption (heating, refrigeration, laundry services). If you have existing place then you will NEED to go into 120v/60 line voltage so you can keep all your wiring and appliances in place rewiring for dc means expense. two things you may want to consider is to move a fridge freezer near to the battery area and run direct from DC http://www.sunfrost.com/ makes VERY good fridges the insulation value and the energy consumption are top rate beyond all but the most expensive brands but at a reasonable price.
Heating if you are out of Vancouver using a wood heater is a good idea, if you believe everything will be fine or buy a stupid
amount of pellets and have room to store them then go pellet stove for the convenience. if not look at a log burning pull through boiler, you stack and it is good for up to 2 days of heat and hot water. for the water pumps you can get dc/ high torque low speed motors they are cheap and effective ( all the sawmills hydro dams use them) use a gearing pulley and the current flow to regulate the speed of the fan or the water pump. Get one size so you can move one around if things go bad. they last for decades working in a green chain log sorter so they can take stress the best brands are from italy.
this is enough for one rant lol
Hi Namelus
Sorry I had to reply this way. I am in the Chilcotin and have lived in Anahim Lake. There are lots of foreigners moving out west of Williams Lake so expect the prices to be high. Also Vancouver people selling high down there and driving the prices higher than the property is worth. Out west here is great country, tough winters and all around high prices. Sorry I had to respond as the program said I was too new or some such thing and would not let me reply directly. But hey, good luck on your adventure. By the way bet we will meet!!
Small scale, but solar water pumps are very efficient.... Depends on what you need though.
Check out Canadian Prepper Podcast on iTunes!
One is none, two is one.