Solar Power

[Paul Laycock]

I live in the n/east and am sick to death of power cuts. No one complains and nothing gets done - just the way it is, we don't have a choice etc etc. Any of you out there have experience of solar power, any recommendations, pitfalls of installing. It would be for just one very large room, air con, lighting and water pump. I live alone and sleep, live downstairs. Any idea on costs or recommendations would be appreciated.

I have googled this but don't want to start the ball rolling without a little knowledge.

[Crossy]

Let's move this to the Electrical forum where there are several discussions on solar.

If you're looking to bridge power cuts you will be needing a hybrid or full off-grid system (with batteries) = $$$

How long are your cuts?

Do you need to run the aircon during the cuts?

How much is your average electricity bill (so we can get an idea on sizing)?

A small silent genset or UPS with big batteries may suit your needs better.

[T_Dog]

Another alternative would be to have low voltage LED lighting and fans to help make it through the cuts if they are not too long. We had to do that as we had over 100 cuts a year at our old place. Could keep the kitchen, living room, and bedroom lit with a fan running in the bedroom.

[Paul Laycock]

Just recently cuts have been twice a day, longest 14hrs. sometimes just off and on or 2 hours. I can't shower or cook. Does nothing for my frozen food.

I'm in the middle of one now and jeez it's getting hot.

[Crossy]

OK, so you need A/C during the cuts, how big is the A/C (BTU)?

Any other power sucking kit (exclude your water heater)?

Average power bill?

Do you have a budget in mind?

[impulse]

Count on $2 per watt for the solar panels then add in the inverters and all the other goodies.

If you want a system that will run at night, double up (or more) for the the cost of batteries.

Have you considered a backup diesel generator? Not as techie-techie, but they've been around a lot longer than solar... And probably more appropriate for loads like water heaters and A/C.

BTW, instead of the water heater, how about a black 50 gallon tank on the roof?

Edited August 9, 2015 by impulse

[Paul Laycock]

Just looked at the unit and instruction book, all in Thai so no help. It stands 6ft tall and is a gas guzzler. Worst bill was 5,600 last month, this month I have not used it, bill 3,600

Other things are TV and oven, iPad and phone charging. Remember this is one room only.

[impulse]

A gen set is much cheaper then PV modules. PV modules do not make noise. PV modules are probably cheaper after a long time, but I am not 100% sure about this. Problem are the batteries and the lifetime from the batteries.

If you have the system well working it will switch over in Ms over from grid to your own source, and back.

I can say I have a lot of experience now with PV modules working as UPS. For me it works. But it is not cheap.

Arjen.

Just out of curiosity, what's your average and maximum kw load, and how many sq meters of panels?

[Crossy]

@Paul.

Think about what you want to run during the outages and add up the power consumptions. You can find power consumption of most equipment marked somewhere, your A/C should have a plate detailing voltage, current etc. that's the detail we need.

I suspect that a genset with auto-start is your solution.

Is your home a rental as any solution is going to require some re-wiring to behave as you require?

[Paul Laycock]

My home is not rental, I had it built to my spec.

Yes there is a plate/sticker on the side but I can't get to it for reading. My concerns are water for showers, cooling with fans and lighting at night. No power for me equals nothing working.

Please don't get technical as I'm a donkey with electrics and anything hi tech.

[Crossy]

Send a PM to forum sponsor Genset, he should be able to engineer a solution (diesel genset) which will just need feeding with diesel and the occasional oil change.

With a modern silent unit you may not even notice the mains is off.

[Paul Laycock]

Thank you

[kamalabob2]

In Buriram several stores offer solar panel installations. I've asked to see the stock of panels at the Buriram Home Pro store and the actual installations they have completed. On my way to pick up some custom welded work benches I noted a truck load of solar panels being unloaded at Mr. Pichai's Builders Merchants in Buriram. He employees staff who are native English speakers that can give you a quote on solar installations. I see the virtue in a super silent diesel generator but many people in Buriram have had success with solar installations. I've converted most every lighting fixture in my current home to LED and 100% of the lighting in a new village project has Eve Lighting LED fixtures both indoors and outdoors at that village house.

[Paul Laycock]

Thanks just the information I wanted.

[mikebell]

Just looked at the unit and instruction book, all in Thai so no help. It stands 6ft tall and is a gas guzzler. Worst bill was 5,600 last month, this month I have not used it, bill 3,600

Other things are TV and oven, iPad and phone charging. Remember this is one room only.

Paul, I am staggered at your bills. I have a 3 bed/2 bath house/bungalow. A?C in every room (tho' not used excessively). Electric hob/ heaters for both showers. TV/computer on all day & most of the night. I went apoplectic when I got a bill over 1,800. There are 3 of us (with constant visitors overnight.)

[Issangeorge]

Just looked at the unit and instruction book, all in Thai so no help. It stands 6ft tall and is a gas guzzler. Worst bill was 5,600 last month, this month I have not used it, bill 3,600

Other things are TV and oven, iPad and phone charging. Remember this is one room only.

Paul, I am staggered at your bills. I have a 3 bed/2 bath house/bungalow. A?C in every room (tho' not used excessively). Electric hob/ heaters for both showers. TV/computer on all day & most of the night. I went apoplectic when I got a bill over 1,800. There are 3 of us (with constant visitors overnight.)

I have 50" plasma TV (on about 6 hours a day) two fridges, two electric water heaters, although I am the only one who uses them this time of year, and two or three fans running almost all the time. An oven I use about every other day for maybe 40 minutes, and a microwave used pretty much daily for maybe ten minutes. My electric bill varies from just below ฿1,500 to just over ฿1,900. Oh, I forgot I have a water pump to pump from the well to a tank, and then a pressure booster pump, that comes on every time the water comes on. Nine people live at my house, and I notice that makes a difference. I know when I was teaching school in another town and only home on weekends, my bill dropped by about ฿200. I also noticed when my B-I-L moved in with us, it went up about ฿200. Still I have no AC so your bill seems pretty cheap.

[Paul Laycock]

Kamalabob2, is there much ground work required for installation. I have a south facing back garden which I think would be perfect for panels.

If you have a phone number for these guys please private email to me.

Only other thing is pitfalls as my knowledge on this is limited. I don't want to travel for 4 hours each way to find I'm not armed with the right questions or information.

Once again many thanks.

[T_Dog]

Paul..... Like mikebell, I am surprised by how high your bills are. Do you pay the power company directly or is there a middle man of some sort. I suspect someone is uplifting your charges for personal gain. For what you are paying, you could run a diesel generator full time.

[impulse]

Paul..... Like mikebell, I am surprised by how high your bills are. Do you pay the power company directly or is there a middle man of some sort. I suspect someone is uplifting your charges for personal gain. For what you are paying, you could run a diesel generator full time.

His is about what I pay for about 60-70 sq meters on the top floor of a BKK low rise apartment, including the 20% that the management tacks on. On hot months when the GF is in town and running the A/Cs while I'm at work, it goes even higher- much higher. And when I'm home, 1 or both of my A/C units are on.

I concede that I pay out the nose to live on the top floor since there is virtually no insulation and my ceiling radiates heat until the wee hours. But I have a great view and semi-private access to the roof, and that squares it for me. And it's a rental so I'm not going to pony up to improve the numbers.

I figure it's all about lifestyle and how much I'm willing to do without. And A/C and heated showers several times a day aren't something I'm willing to skimp on (too much) Not so much about someone gouging me- as I see the 20% as reasonable for carrying the recievable and handling the money when I pay the rent each month. A little steep maybe, but life is short and I work too many hours to mess with it myself.

[Paul Laycock]

T Dog, I pay direct to the electric company. Only other thing to say on the subject is the electrical meter located outside for reading is larger than others, I'm told because of the size of the house. Having said that, what prompted this topic is the frequent power cuts and the fact I live downstairs on my own and get annoyed at the size of the bills for a sub standard service.

[bluesofa]

I have around 8 Square RV of PV modules.

But square RV does not say anything about production from you PV modules.

I made my PV modules myself. What turns out to be very expansive and very cost inefficient

My average KW usage from my own installation is around 1,5kW daily.

My electricity bill has reduced from 2000 Baht to below the magical 400 Baht.

EPA was wondering why my usage has dropped and insisted to check. Because I am not happy with their performance I did not want them to enter my house. Finally I gave up my resistance, and after checking they found out I am doing nothing illegal.

So far so good.

Hope this answers your questons.

Arjen.

I came across your post when searching for posts about solar power. I'm interested that the EPA didn't say anything about you using solar power.

Can you tell me if you need some sort of certificate to generate your own power, thereby cutting out the EPA?

I thought there was some bureaucratic involvement if you got into generating solar power? Or is it only if you want to sell power to the EPA that it then becomes involved?