Article 63550 of alt.solar.photovoltaic: Path: news.misty.com!not-for-mail From: nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu Newsgroups: alt.solar.photovoltaic Subject: Re: Newbie here - wants to do diy solar - needs help please! Date: 30 Nov 2008 07:45:16 -0500 Organization: Villanova University Lines: 30 Message-ID: References: <44e2652b-2f6f-471b-9e74-392e36c5bde3@x38g2000yqj.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: acadia.ece.villanova.edu X-Trace: max.inside.misty.com 1228049118 11882 153.104.44.130 (30 Nov 2008 12:45:18 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@misty.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:45:18 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.misty.com alt.solar.photovoltaic:63550 Synth wrote: >I'm a software developer and I'm trying to branch out and get into >solar power projects. I really have no experience and don't even know >where to begin. All I have is the 2 semesters of physics(long ago) >that I took in undergrad. Solar heat from a sunspace can be 100 times cheaper than PVs per peak watt, and houses need several times more heat than electrical energy. >I was thinking about starting with the $600 diy solar project found here: >http://www.off-grid.net/2005/10/10/600-gets-your-house-on-solar-power/ >but its a bit steep for my budget... $600 might buy 200 ft^2 of "solar siding," eg a thermosyphoning air heater with 4 12'x4' pieces of R2 Thermaglas Plus twinwall polycarbonate with 80% solar transmission. In full sun (250 Btu/h-ft^2) on a 30 F day, you might collect 200 Btu/h-ft^2 of 150 F air and lose (150-30)1ft^2/R2 = 60, ie 140 net (41 watts), at $3/41 = $0.073 per peak watt. The 7.9 kW output could heat a house and water for showers, with the help of a $35 car radiator and its 12 V 20 watt fans and a $60 13-gallon 1`x300' pressurized plastic pipe coil in a polywood tank with a folded EPDM liner. >Any readings that you all might recommend, especially primers on electricity >concepts... Ohm's law for heatflow is just Ohm's law for electricity with different units. Nick