learning step by step

[MVIDSMITH]

I started out with 45 watt harbor freight solar set. this was fun even though the controller was noisy.  I found 450 watts from an old road sign.  Now I have even built a panel or eight.  But I/m to the point where I want to do more than just play. I want to learn.  Is there a way to learn about wire sizes and charge controllers and all the other things in a systematic way. I make 8 bucks an hour (after being unemployed for 6 weeks I'm happy to make that)and really can't afford school right now.

 Any suggestions

[spinningmagnets]

Go to your local library and request the book "sailboat electrics simplified" it covers a 12V system with a windgen and a solar PV panel, inverters, charge controllers, etc. Excellent explanations and well-done diagrams.

http://www.themotorbookstore.com/sailboat-electrics.html

Libraries also have a certain amount of budget to buy new books each month. It couldn't hurt to ask them to purchase the Dans "Homebrew Wind Power"

http://www.otherpower.com/

[bob g]

man am i glad to see your post!

i have just about given up on mankind, especially those in the diy'er

group that seem to be allergic to learning, they want everything spoon fed

to them,, they want it their way and they want it now,, and oh yes they want it

for free as well.

sorry for the rant, this is a carry over from another forum where i had to explain

why the KISS principle should not be carved in stone, and how some technology is a good thing and makes what we do even better... not sure whether he got the point or not.

anyway to answer your question

two books i recommend highly, although a bit dated the basic info is sound

and the laws of physics never change anyway.

"wiring for twelve volts" and

"living with 12 volts"

both written by the founder of ample power, a marine power equipment company

those marine guys have a lot to offer the offgrid folks in my opinion, most of them

have figured out how to skate by on as little power for a long time now.

another book, i highly recommend

"how to make home electricity from wind, water, and sunshine" by john kuecken

it is copyright 1979 so technology has moved forward a lot since then, but principles and laws are as good now as they were then.

i also scour the used book stores for old text books on everything electrical

the old ICS books are pretty good even if they were written back in the early 1900's

usually you can pick them up for very little cost, and they are written for the common man to understand, for the most part.

it has been said, and i don't remember who to attribute this to...

"if you read an hour per day, every day for 5 years on one specific subject, at the end of 5 years you will be the worlds leading authority on that specific subject, and furthermore no college professor, phd or anyone of similar background will know more about that specific subject"

the spokesman went on to say "you don't have to have a degree to start with, you just need to know how to read, take notes, research, ask questions, and dig"

now most of us have no real need or desire to be the worlds leading expert, so maybe

an hour per day for a year or two should put you well ahead of the pack, and in my opinion an hour per day for a month or two will put you ahead of 90% of the diy'er group on a specific subject.

i applaud not only your willingness to learn, but your backbone to ask where to start. many folks won't ask because they think it makes them look stupid or something.

personally i don't mind being viewed as stupid as long as i can ask a question and get a good answer.

bob g

[bob g]

also i would like to add the following, mainly because i have been amazed to

find that far too few people think to look for info with the oem's engineering dept.

at some point you will find that you cannot find the info you are looking for on a

specific problem or item

for instance batteries, like the flooded lead acid variety

if you have a specific question and you have clearly done your homework, and have

written down a specific question and want an answer i have found the engineering dept of oem's like rolls/surrette or trojan will take your call and are very good at

not only answering your questions but also providing you with a bunch of other documentation that is quite useful

alternator manufactures are just as helpful, mainly because they don't get questions

from the end users very often unless it is a warrantee problem from a major fleet

and the guy is pissed off and clearly has not done his homework and has no clue.

inverter companies are much the same, while they won't give you schematics they will often times tell you what to look for, and i have even had them send me repair parts for free! with shipping!

the key factor is doing your homework, write down specifically your question, and have a clue what you are after. its amazing what some of these engineering dept will tell you and help you with. be clean and concise, the engineer will size you up pretty quickly as either a pain that is going to take forever to educate and blow you off, or he will figure "hey this guy seems reasonable, and is asking a good question, and is easy for me to talk to , so maybe i can spend a few minutes

trying to help him understand.

the nice thing about the engineering dept is you will get the straight skinny, not the polished politically corrected version of what the marketing dept wants you to know.

so there is another underused resource that is available to anyone that takes the time to ask.

bob g

[FishbonzWV]

Yes, there is an inexpensive way...wwww.??.net

There is so much out there you could read for eternity.

http://www.windsun.com/Hardware/Wire_Table.htm

http://openbookproject.net//electricCircuits/index.htm

http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

http://www.nrel.gov/

http://photovoltaics.sandia.gov/docs/John_Wiles_Code_Corner.htm

http://www.reliance.com/mtr/mtrthrmn.htm

http://www.maxim-ic.com/glossary/

http://www.ae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/

These are just a few examples of what's in my Favorites sub folder called 'Power'.

Bonz

[dsmith1427]

Learning if FUN!  I will never stop!  Anyway, if you are looking for FREE academics, you can watch Physics classes from Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube at the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmJV8CHIqFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3omwHv3Cmog

The first link is for classical mechanics and the second is for Electricity and Magnetism.  If the links do not work, copy and paste the following lines into the Youtube search menu:

Lec 1 | 8.01 Physics I: Classical Mechanics, Fall 1999

Lec 1 | MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism, Spring 2002

The professor is great!  He is more interested in teaching the concepts then solving complex mathematical equations.  Integrated with every class is demostrations of the conepts.  I highly recommend watching them.  MIT offers many other classes on in the video format.  You can watch them on Youtube or download a podcast.  If you want to download a podcast, the following link is to the MIT opencourseware homepage:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

Opencourseware is a web based organization where colleges post there classes online for public access.  The link for opencourseware is as follows:

http://www.ocwconsortium.org/

I hope this helps and I hope you have as much fun learning as I do!

Don

[zeusmorg]

 one book that I've always found handy is "pocket ref"  by thomas glover it has a world of information on various mechanical and electrical specifications.

 Information on wire sizes, cable strengths, motor frame specs, etc.. A handy reference guide for engineer's and anyone wanting to know the load capability of an I-beam, for instance.

 Something like this is real handy to have around.

[brokengun]

I second everything Bonz just said.

Also the book "Teaching yourself electricity and electronics" is just a good book for learning basically anything.

[OuttaSight]

Here's a good resource on how cells are made, the different types and manufacturing processes and all the way up to module construction and shading issues (bypass / blocking diodes).  Has some neat flash animations to illustrate without getting bogged in the maths.

pvcdrom.pveducation.org