Hi Tony, > Tony VE6MVP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Folks > We're moving a VHF MSR2000 repeater and two UHF GMR300 linking > radios to a site where commercial power will cost $5000 plus > monthly fees. So we're looking at various options such as solar, > wind and so forth. The land owner might not appreciate another > wind turbine so one idea we're thinking about is a DTMF controlled > propane generator. Has anyone experimented with such?
Been there, doing that now... have the coffee mug and tee shirt. Forget the DTMF Control and make it automatic under a well thought out time and event schedule. The wind generator is probably your third best energy production choice after solar and a propane generator unless you buy a high end (quality wise) wind system.... and I mean a real quality wind generator that is well maintained over a regular schedule. Based on my experience... At remote locations I consider any wind energy only... "gratis (free) supplemental power" in most of the common remote site applications. Unless you have a lot of time to ensure the hardware is very well monitored and maintained. > The other obvious answer is to have the generator automatically > come on when the voltage gets too low but I wonder how well that > will work. In the real world it won't... if the voltage is "too low"... it's already too late. Best to have a well thought out energy management and game plan and hardware in place. > We're in central Alberta, Canada so the days in winter are > quite short and we can get 20 or 25 cloudy days in a row. > We either need to put in a *lot* of solar panels or some > other form of auxiliary power. Also the site may be accessible > only by snowmobile for a number of months in the winter. We > also will have to ensure that if the temperature looks like > it's going to get colder than -35 for an extended period of > time we'd better have the batteries charged right up as propane > won't "gasify" colder than that. > Thanks, Tony Well... you're going to need deal with snow? In your location on gray winter days you're probably talking less than 20% to 30% of the summertime solar energy from most solar arrays (on a good day with a tail wind). The propane generator doesn't have to be mechanical... you can use a Thermal Electric Generator "TEG" and use the available heat to warm both the building and adjacent requirements as required. And TEG units run on other types of liquids and gases. An example in operation here in the Pacific Northwest... One modest tank of propane runs the TEG continous through the winter months. With a little planning... by the time the propane runs out and the TEG simply goes to sleep you have enough spring time solar energy available once again. I've also run the numbers... a combination of solar and propane energy production can be operationally very cost effective against commercial power once you get past the initial investment. Just some things to think about... cheers, skipp skipp025 at yahoo.com www.radiowrench.com
