Archive for DIY Projects
March 13, 2007 at 1:58 pm · Filed under Wind Power, Green Tech, DIY Projects
Last night I came a bit further with my research into the world of micro wind turbines. My setup will be made from these parts:
1 Vind Generator Air X Land - 24V. (US build with integrated chargecontroller)
10 meters of special cable.
1 24 boiler to fit in my 220 liter hot water tank
2 12 Volt deep cycle batteries, Solar SP 200, 120Ah. 22 kg each !
1 Controller to secure the batteries from running dry.
I have asked for a price for all the parts from one dealer just 50 km. from here and he will answer me later this week.
More about my wind project: Finding the right wind generator
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March 12, 2007 at 4:46 pm · Filed under Wind Power, DIY Projects
The wind is always blowing here and my coming DIY project is setting up a mini windmill. I have considered a lot of different setups from the Calorius mill that produces hot water directly in the tower (no generator) to a grid-connected setup. The mini generator market is so small that it is impossible to find the right setup as a standard package, and I am not a genius when it comes to calculating inverters.
The hot water mill, Calorius, was too expensive. On-grid setup - also very expensive, the inverter would cost more than the mill and since I am looking for a less than 2 diameter mill (mills less than 2 meters can be installed without applying for it) there would be nothing but expenses.
Instead I am going for a 24 Volt mill that only will be used for the boiler in our hot water tank. The tank is already connected to solar panels and a wood stove/oilburner. This is working great but in the summer when we do not need hot water for anything but the how showers it would be nice to avoid burning wood or oil on (partly) cloudy days.
So what I need is a mill, a battery, a charger and boiler.
The mill above is from www.procure.dk. It is a 600 Watt, 24 Volt mill, that seems inexpensive. (a bit more than 1.000 euro) It comes complete with chargecontroller. It is made in China and it worries me a bit compared to:
The other one I consider is the American build Air X One from South West Windpower. Link. It is smaller and cheaper than
the other but can also do 400 Watt at 12,5 m/s. Download video here: link. It has a build-in chargecontroller in the mill-head.
Finding the right boiler has been hard, but I think this guy can help:
http://www.wind2watts.co.uk/index_files/Page841.htm
I will make up my mind this week, so stay tuned 
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February 24, 2007 at 10:49 am · Filed under Uncategorized, DIY Projects
Why pay $20,000 for a commercial link to run your television station when a $10 kitchen wok from the Warehouse is just as effective? This is exactly how North Otago’s newest television station 45 South is transmitting its signal from its studio to the top of Cape Wanbrow, in a bid to keep costs down.
45 South volunteer Ken Jones designed the wok transmitter in his spare time last year when he wanted to provide wireless broadband to his Ardgowan home.
“A group of us wanted to connect our computers to each other and then we worked out a way to get of getting the signal between two points,” he said.
He discovered satellite dishes were between $100 to $400 retail and that smaller dishes, the same size as a wok, were $80.
Mr Jones thought he could do better. Along with friend Murray Bobbette they worked out mathematical equations to prove the curved metal face of a wok would have the same effect as a small satellite dish.
“We have spent a lot of time getting it right — the first time we installed one we had it up a pole with the handle still on the end of the wok,” he said.
“We had it connected to the woolshed and initially you couldn’t get a signal the width of the paddock and now it can reach up to 20km.”
From Oamaru Mail in New Zealand, thanks Trinetizen!
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February 11, 2007 at 5:46 pm · Filed under Solar, On Grid, Green Tech, DIY Projects
I promised to tell you more about our use of solar energy. After having re-build our house last year we now make us of solar energy in 3 ways:
* Solar cells for 220 Volt on-grid electricity
* Solar panels for heating water combined with floor heating
* Passive heating through a huge thermo glass area facing south.
First we got the photo-voltaic cells. Our roof is perfect for this, facing south in an angel of 45. The disadvantage of this system is the price, but in 2003 we got selected for a project called “Sun 2000″ in which different organizations and state subsidies paid 60 pct. of the total price. Our price was about 6.000 euro, but what really made this project interesting from a financial perspective was the agreement with the local power company: The system is build to produce 220 V and it is connected to the grid. Normally if you produce electricity for the grid you will only get paid the basic price pr. kW. But when you buy you will have to pay the basic price plus taxes. Since the taxes make about 3/4 of the power bill this would not be interesting for at all. Instead we now can sell power at the same price as we buy as longs as we produce less than we use pr. year. This is great because the system produces about 1/3 of our total power consumption. The system is build of 6 BP panels at 170 WP each which will produces about 800 - 1000 kWh/year. To generate 220 V for the grid and our own use we have 1 Fronius micro inverter. This is no in longer in production, but has been replaced by a new series of Fronius inverters, the IG series. Read the rest of this entry »
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November 9, 2006 at 2:26 pm · Filed under DIY Projects
Four years ago me and my girlfriend bougth this real cheap old farmhouse and in february we began to rebuild it. Now we have been working for nearly half a year and I would like to show you a part of the project: the Finish mass-oven. These ovens are great because they accumulate heat in the 3 tons of massive brick walls. They use the wood extremely effectively if used correct and there is an opening for baking bread, pizza or boiling water. We also needed a stairway to the newly build second floor, so the idea was to combine the oven with the stairway.
This is how we started. We removed ALL inner walls in the house and the machines dug 60 cm down. Some places the outer walls needed to be supported from below, since the house is build old-style directly on the ground.
Here the core of the oven is beeing build. Read the rest of this entry »
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