> Tony VE6MVP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I thought solar cells were only 10-15% efficient on cloudy > days? And days up here are about one to two hours shorter > up here in winter compared to you folks in the Pacific NW. > Although you likely get a lot more cloudy days than we do.
There is no fixed number... just a greatly reduced output. I watched one of my "prime time" remote sites with a decent solar panel assembly drop from a typical mid day 22 amps to less than 4 in the winter months. > >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 was unaware of this option. This sounds very interesting. Do > you have some vendor names? 3M used to make them and we still have a few in stock, but they are fairly expensive. Global Thermoelectric there in Canada makes and sells a number different types. I also have a Global "turbine" TEG and it also runs on "bulk fuels". A lot of the TEG Information has dried up because of Solar Cells... but you can hardly beat a TEG in really cold remote locations. > We have the funds for the initial investment. I just don't > want to saddle the club with $40-$50 monthly payments. I'd > far sooner spend, say, $5,000 now to avoid that even if it > has an eight year payback. Besides $5,000 is what it would > cost to have power poles put in place. Most people don't think that far out... > >Just some things to think about... > Very nice things to think about. I especially like the > no moving parts and heating up the shack as a benefit. > Awesome. > Tony You could email me for more information (or call) but I'll be hard to find by email this next week because of the Dayton Hamvention. Maybe after say May 20th will I be much easier to access. Sometimes I have to deal with the latest "train wreck" problem when I return from short trips... Unless you're at Dayton where the smell of cooking Brauts will find you regardless of your location. cheers, skipp skipp025 at yahoo.com
