As far as sun hours are concerned, this is in the Boise, Idaho area which falls within Zone 4 with an average 4.5 sun hours per day. The site itself should be in full sun the majority of the day as it sits on a bench above the downtown area.
The "inversion" haze is pretty bad in the winter - however - not many parades, marathons, races or marches (other than the Boise Holiday Parade) between November and April... Power is consistent across the board - all of the radio and control equipment work directly off of 12 VDC. Batteries are free to us as surplussed by the utility donating them. I *completely* agree with security screws on panels - the BLM sites here have heavy L channel over the edges of the panel with pad locks to completely secure the panel in place. We work on roughly a $500 annual operating budget solely from donations - whatever we end up with would need to be scalable so we can start out with a very basic system and ramp up over time. Thanks! -AJ On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 12:21 PM, Christopher Erickson < [email protected]> wrote: > Latitude and average cloud cover will be factors. > > I would use MorningStar MPPT solar charge controllers. Get every > last watt of solar charging you can manage. Each controller can > handle one to three 75 to 200 watt panels. If you end up needing > more than three panels, add controllers and panels until > sufficient charging is obtained. > > Avoid as many power conversions as possible. Power conversions > never have 100% efficiency and many of your precious watts end up > wasted as heat. > > 6V golf cart batteries are the best bang for the battery buck and > can be deep cycled much better than 12V automotive-style batteries > because they have much thicker plates. > > Dusty and/or snowy areas can be a problem. If so, schedule > regular PMI visits to inspect and clean the panels. > > Use security screws on the solar panel mounting brackets. Solar > panels are starting to become a popular theft item. > > "My advice is free and worth every penny!" > > -Christopher Erickson > Network Design Engineer > Waikoloa Village, HI 96738 > N19°57' W155°47' > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of AJ > > Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 8:38 AM > > To: WISPA General List > > Subject: [WISPA] Solar suggestion for ultra low use site? > > > > Thought I'd tap in to the collective intelligence of the WISP > > group for this > > question... > > > > > > Looking at setting up a solar powered VHF ham repeater in the > > middle of a > > metro area for infill coverage... Site is land locked by > > ghetto on one side > > and rail tracks on the other - commercial power is not an option. > > > > We have available a dozen or so surplus Alpha 85 amp hour gel > > cell batteries > > which test out at roughly 90% capacity (PM swaps)... > > > > The first thought was to simply charge up a battery for each > > event we work > > in the downtown core, drop by the site and swap out whatever > > battery is in > > place.. Not quite the most efficient plan. > > > > Our next thought was to place a decent sized array, maybe > > 300-400 amp hour, > > then supplement with an off the shelf solar panel or two to maintain a > > charge... > > > > Our equipment consists of an ancient GE MastrII repeater > > turned down to 25 > > watts and an NHRC controller. Standby draw is 125 mA, > > transmit ramps up to > > about 3.5 amps... > > > > Duty cycle is key here - we work perhaps a dozen events a > > year within the > > coverage of this repeater for about 4 hours each on about a > > 10% duty cycle > > (TX 6 out of every 60 minutes). The rest of the time the > > repeater sits idle > > and will not transmit unnecessarily (no IDs or anything > > unless it's actively > > in use)... > > > > What is out there on the market for a low cost solar site? > > > > Thanks! > > -AJ > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > ------------------ > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > ------------------ > > > > WISPA Wireless List: [email protected] > > > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: [email protected] > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: [email protected] Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
