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Solar Systems
23 October 2015, 10:08, (This post was last modified: 23 October 2015, 10:12 by NorthernRaider.)
#31
RE: Solar Systems
A roof covered tarp secured by bungies??

roof COLOURED tarp

Did y'all see that small holder in one of the papers a while back, she has solar panels on her roof and as well as getting free lecky and a feed in tariff she uses it to charge up a golf cart which she uses to get around her horsey farm on transporting hay bales etc.

Fuel Free local cargo transport a preppers dream, she also is thinking about putting a flexible PV panel on the roof of the golf cart to keep it topped up when parked up away from the charging point.

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23 October 2015, 10:25,
#32
RE: Solar Systems
Small holder? AArrrggh I see - "smallholder"

:-)
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23 October 2015, 22:19,
#33
RE: Solar Systems
Nix,

update on our 12v system after two years service.

We ended up siting the batteries in the centre of the ground floor of the house. this has better temperature stability.

In the end the switching relays that I installed were an unnecessary complication. The accumulators are permanently attached to a 12v smart charger, one of the ones designed to permanently condition car batteries. Alarm, security lighting and CCTV all run from the batteries. When power is cut, power continues to flow, but without being replaced by the smart charger. When power is resumed the smart charger delivers increased current until the batteries are recharged, at which point they revert to conditioning charging.

We feed the alarm, cctv and security lighting via a solar charge controller which is pre wired for our stored solar array, so that if the grid fails for an extended period, we can break out the cells and have them operational very quickly.

I gave the accumulators their 6 monthly check this evening and they are in fine shape. Thanks for your recommendation, it was sound.
72 de

Lightspeed
26-SUKer-17

26-TM-580


STATUS: Bugged-In at the Bug-Out
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23 October 2015, 22:53,
#34
RE: Solar Systems
Hey LS, good to hear from you, sounds like you're doing well, great stuff buddy!

Isn't it nice to know that the panels, once bought, just sit there passively with no moving parts and just gets on with the job, aye? It's no wonder they have a life expectancy of at least 20 - 25 years knocking down to about 80% efficiency. I'm very happy with that. Regardless of what happens in the future, they'll most certainly pay for themselves many times over, especially the way energy prices are supposed to rocket. In a SHTF scenario, they'll be priceless.

Speaking of security lights, I replaced my QH bulbs with led ones expecting them to die after a couple of years but they're still going strong, are yours led? Also, just as a side note, the new AHD cctv stuff out now doesn't seem as reliable as the older D1 stuff, so you bought yours just at the right time imho! Well done. ;-)
I'm NOT political so DON'T correct me!
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24 October 2015, 18:49,
#35
RE: Solar Systems
Hi Nix,
My panels see the light of day ( literally) just once a year when I give them an annual check. The rest of the time they are stashed out of sight. Whenever I am out and about my eye automatically scans houses for signs of technology that could be useful if everything goes to pot.... PV arrays are high up on my list of things of interest... and I doubt that I am alone in scoping out stuff like this. So my array stays out of sight for the time being.


The CCTV system is still going strong and is active 24-7. Sadly I have still not worked out how to connect it to the router, so the idea of being able to interrogate live images by smartphone over the house WiFi networks have still not been realised.

Yes Lights are all LED, and again running 24/7 with so far no failures whatsoever. I'm pleased with them.

Oh and another thing kind of related, I was dubious about the quality of the in house PIR detectors that came with the alarm,, so I swapped them out for Bosch units... my doubts were proven right. The Bosch stuff is at least twice as sensitive, and I have a sense of confidence that they will run correctly for a long, long time.
72 de

Lightspeed
26-SUKer-17

26-TM-580


STATUS: Bugged-In at the Bug-Out
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25 October 2015, 10:20,
#36
RE: Solar Systems
Happy to offer advice re remote cctv access from your smart phone, whether you want this for within the LAN wireless router range at home or when traveling away. Reasonably straight forward for the LAN but bit more involved regarding remote access away from the home ie setting up Dynamic dns, port forwarding your router, downloading and configuring the right app, etc etc.

Never used Bosch pir's so can't comment but, if they're too sensitive, you may pick up false alarms. Good qualiy pir's will have sensitivity adjustments along with pulse count options. If they are dual tech then you still need to fine tune the microwave setting so as to not pick up through walls etc.

FYI, solar panels, don't degrade any faster or slower if they are used or not.
I'm NOT political so DON'T correct me!
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25 October 2015, 10:53,
#37
RE: Solar Systems
I prefer to use combined microwave / PIRs to reduce the risk of false alarms, they work great outdoors if insects or bats keep crossing the detectors.

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25 October 2015, 11:14,
#38
RE: Solar Systems
Hi NR - those combined microwave & PIR detctors are the dual tech's I was talking about. Be a little careful having too many around cos I've known them to cause a resonance. Never liked the microwave aspect of these detectors for obvious reasons ha!
I'm NOT political so DON'T correct me!
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25 October 2015, 11:59,
#39
RE: Solar Systems
I used them when I had my own security shop mainly to prevent false alarms in conservatorys and south facing kitchens where to much heat in full sun could cause bloody chaos Smile

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25 October 2015, 19:47,
#40
RE: Solar Systems
Cheers nix I'll take you up on that offer sometime soon. I'll pm you when I'm ready.

The Bosch PIRs are sensitive in as much that they detect much smaller movements. The only adjustment on them is a pet friendly setting, which we do nor use. No false alarms in the 3 months since they've been running.
72 de

Lightspeed
26-SUKer-17

26-TM-580


STATUS: Bugged-In at the Bug-Out
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