Noobie Saying Hello!

[Nothing40]

(Moderators,please feel free to move this,etc. as you see fit.)

Hey Guys!,

 I just joined up,after searching the forum for a while..I kind of forgot about this place! Great site!

My Micro-system started when a friend gave me a ~10W PV panel,and I gathered up some small 12V SLA's,and used it to run my modem and cellphone charger.(and thus eliminating 2 wall-warts from being on 24/7.)

It's slowly grown into what it is now,with 3 free/cheap car batteries and the small SLA's(about 180AH total.),the CB radio and Scanner,CCFL lights,12V fans,etc. and still only that 10W panel,which I've "outgrown".

I have a 12V 1A "wall wart" that I sometimes use to keep the batteries charged,when there's no sun,etc.

Yea,Grid Power..I know,I'm a sinner..But;

 I'm looking at building some PV panels sometime soon,and I see some people here have already done it! Great stuff! I just need to get some cheap cells,and get started.

(am I safe now?)  :-)  

Any leads on sources of cheap cells?

The batteries have already proven useful in power outages.At the very least I can charge my cellphone,and run some CCFL lighting,chat on the CB,etc.

With the inverter I have run the PC/TV,And since the cable and phone lines are usually still up when the power is out,I can check my email and watch the news for a bit.

Future plans may include more solar power,and a water catchment system.(lots of rain in Oregon!) Perhaps going completely off-grid,someday.

Right now I'm still "getting my feet wet" and experimenting a bit.I live in the city,electricity is fairly cheap here(for now),so I don't really NEED solar/RE,like some people in remote places,but it sure is fun in the sun! (and lower electricity bills are always good!)

[froggie]

Hey there, Sir. What part of the world are you from? A good deal over here in the UK will probably be awful once it's shipped across an ocean or two

Nice setup you've got there by the way, hope it works out for you and best of luck with your progress.

I'm a bit like Tesla - other than my little 1Wp panel, most of my stuff is in my head. Except the ~50Ah of lead-acid batteries I've got ready for duty.

froggie

[wpowokal]

Just be carefull nothing40 next thing you will be thinking up reasons to justify going completly off grid, and it will not be $$$$$$$.

About then you will realise you are completley hooked, but in good company.

allan down under

[para t8]

i read some about tesla,he made a coil that could power a city.but someone got greedy and saw darllor signs and that was the end of free power.he was going to give it away,isaw this coil and its very very big,but he made smaller ones,ones you can get today,but the drawback{interfernce}tele.tv.radio.ex,but you will be off the grid completely.

[para t8]

allan,your right,im hooked and lovin it,plus your doing something no one,well put it this way,my frend come in my place lastnight,i had my coil winder on my table and was working on it,he siad why are you working on something that will not work that made me mad and upset because he is a frend of mine,i don't make fun of his projects,you have to over look and prov.him rong,i have done this andit makes him mad,so what goes around comes back around. para t8

[dinges]

If this would be true, it makes you wonder why everybody is bothering was gas, oil, neutrons, or, on this board, wind, solar and water power...

Peter,

The Netherlands.

[Jerry]

Hi Nothing40.

Welcome aboard. Where are you located? I'm in Salem.

                        JK TAS Jerry

[Nothing40]

Hello again!

I'm located in Portland,Oregon(USA).

I'm already hooked!

And Tesla is one of my favorites also!

Is anybody else in Oregon?  Maybe we should meet-up sometime!

[elvin1949]

Peter

 You left out bean power HA HA.

later

Elvin

[ghurd]

"Free" power?  All power comes from somewhere.  Someone would have had to buy the coal to supply the power to the coil, shovel the coal, maintain the system, buy the land...  I bet the Dollar Signs they saw were the kind that leave and don't come back.

It was a neat concept, but I don't see it as being anymore off grid than using grid tie transformers (the input wires are not mechanicially connected to the output wires, but that doesn't make me off grid!).

G-

[para t8]

.G,i dont think anyone would have a problem with maintaining it,don't we have to maintain our windturbines?im not saying go out and buy one,just saying hi to the noobie.yes your right,power comes from somewhere,water,wind,"coal"and ex.and yes it was going to be free.        para t8