Green energy
- Thread starter tonycrow
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CNC Dan
Veteran Member
i think a grid tie system is your best bet. You size your panels to make what you use. When you are in full sun during the day you put power into the grid. At night you take power from the grid. The grid is your battery, so to speak. And if your system fails, or you have a long cloudy spell you still have power.
Qapla
Veteran Member
You could look into LED lights. The initial cost can be a bit high but the long term operating cost is way lower than anything else.
texasjohn
Super Member
Think about solar water heating...and a reasonably large reserve tank inside the building...water can get pretty hot when the sun shines...and heat escaping the tank in the building will help keep it warm. Heating water is apparently one of your larger tasks.
Thanks, that is the system that will work best probably. We have sunny weather often, especially when really cold, which is when I need the extra power as well. I will be talking to my local hydro supplier to see what they need from their end. I now have basic information on government funding. My first barn hydro invoice came in at over $400 for two months, and it has not been real cold yet. Won't take long to pay for upgrades that significantly reduce these charges.
I have looked at LED lighting, but as certain areas of my barn have very high ceilings, not sure the light output would be sufficient. I don't mind the cost so much as the savings would start as soon as they are installed. I am going to replace the incandescents in the lower roofed parts of the barn to start. Thanks!
MikeFarm
Gold Member
Hiya
As someone suggested use solar hot water heating for the water troughs. Split your requirements into things that need electrical power like lights and pumps and things that need heating like water. Solar water heating panels are much cheaper than solar photovoltaic panels that produce electricity. The main complexity in your case in the solar heating is to not have hot water in the troughs. You might need to use a heat exchanger to take heat from the hot water from the panels to the troughs. In fact with such a low temp requirement you might be able to make panels your self - a black painted metal surface with metal tubes soft soldered on the reverse side. Pipes go to a storage tank and then return. Arrange angle and height so you get thermo-syphoning of water from panel to your storage tank.
Mike
As someone suggested use solar hot water heating for the water troughs. Split your requirements into things that need electrical power like lights and pumps and things that need heating like water. Solar water heating panels are much cheaper than solar photovoltaic panels that produce electricity. The main complexity in your case in the solar heating is to not have hot water in the troughs. You might need to use a heat exchanger to take heat from the hot water from the panels to the troughs. In fact with such a low temp requirement you might be able to make panels your self - a black painted metal surface with metal tubes soft soldered on the reverse side. Pipes go to a storage tank and then return. Arrange angle and height so you get thermo-syphoning of water from panel to your storage tank.
Mike
Sinecure
Bronze Member
I am not sure where your compost/manure pile is relative to the barn, but you could look at doing some type of geothermal using the compost/manure pile to heat your water.
There are a couple of good videos on Youtube about people doing this for their hot water needs. Basically just 100 or so feet of black poly pipe circulating through the compost pile. Some have even run the pipe through a concrete slab that holds the compost pile and essentially built a reverse radiant heat source.
There are a couple of good videos on Youtube about people doing this for their hot water needs. Basically just 100 or so feet of black poly pipe circulating through the compost pile. Some have even run the pipe through a concrete slab that holds the compost pile and essentially built a reverse radiant heat source.
