New member introductions (READ THIS FIRST)

[elesaver]

First post.  Since the forum titles said, "Read this first," for once, I followed instructions!

The idea of solar energy has intrigued me for a long time.  After getting a couple of small panels back in the 90's to run a gate opener, the interest continued to deepen.  Recently, I've jumped in...kinda' like someone who doesn't know how to swim but does have on a life preserver.  I have lots of questions (issues, I guess) so I wanted to join the forum to get some assistance.  Thanks in advance.

[synchro]

I'm the new greenie.  Been off grid (solar) for 15 years.  That system is now passing on and I'm leaping

up to 48 volts and 4400 watts of sine wave.  Went with a package that included a lot of Midnight products that

I am now figuring out how to assemble.  The hard part is that my internet connection is dial-up and video is

unheard of, pictures are sketchy,  text rules.

Settled into the mountains of the American Southwest at 6700 feet.

[xsnrg]

Hi Folks, I'm Jim.  Just starting to play around with solar-- so far a KID and a couple 100w panels and a 3 year old 12v deep cycle.      I know I have the bug because my roof doesn't look the same anymore.  It looks like wasted energy.

[BobWhite]

Fist post, can't think of a better place to start!
Hello everyone, my name is Walt, I've only been playing with solar just over a year trying to provide power to one project at a time. The first is a small shop (still a working project and most likely to be for a while), the second is a camper that I was very happy with harvest this past summer, the third I will be starting is to keep are birds water from freezing this winter. Who knows what may be next

[Sonja]

Hello,

My name is Sonja, I live on Kauai, Hawaii with a husband, a daughter and cats and dogs and have a 6.8 kW grid tied system to power household, rental and a Nissan Leaf.

At the moment we are finishing a secondary 840W off-grid system powering 200 Ah 12V Ni-Fe batteries for DC-LED lights and USB, and a DC Air conditioner (which draws only from the PV and not the batteries). We are using a Midnite Classic 200.

I am a native German speaker, and a software engineer.

Sonja

[michaels]

Hi, I'm Mike and a newbie in the solar world.  I have 12 24v 240w Trina Solar and Astronergy panels and an Outback GVFX3524 grid tie inverter and just replaced the FM60 charge controller with the Classic 150 - which is why I'm here now!    Questions, questions.

Glad to meet everyone!

[redmanmo]

hello all, Jason here in south east Missouri ( bout two hours south of St.louis) in the Ozark hills.

currently I have a Grape solar 280 watt panel and midnite Kid on 12v bank..


I am 38 and the last few years I have realized , people go to a job they hate to get things they can't afford to impress people they don't like?

after watching the "Garbage Warrior "  , I knew that the life I was living was not the way god intended me to live (fear & stress)
so I started trimming fat around the house no more paper towels, changing out nightlight switches, unplugging things when done with them, ect, ect but I knew it was not enough, I had to do more. to be free 
so after being inspired via Michel Reynolds I jumped on the ebay purchased some broken cells and soldered my first panel, and I have been hooked ever since.
so now I am starting to live my dream,  buy some acres live in a camper while I build my earthship. all while being off grid 100%

( background history) most of my 12v and power knowledge can from the high end R.C Airplane and Car area.  battery, charging, discharging, cycling, cell matching, wire size to amp draw, soldering, ect, ect

[CDN-VT]

All good to Hear Jason
Keep at it & don't give up


My Story is when I leave the confines of WORK with allowances of to post/speak
VT

[inMichigan]

We're just bring our system online it the coming weeks.   Becoming a little more independent has been on my to-do list for a long time.   The hardware and control systems available these days is amazing compared to when I looked into it in the late 1990's.  Wow.
inMichigan

[SM-Viper]

Hi All!

My name is Sean and I live in Ohio.  Not many people around here know anything about this stuff at all, so thanks for providing a place to learn and grow in RE Solar! New and learning fast. Love this stuff! I didn't really have a true use for RE except that I wanted to do it.  It's an evolving project and I love it!

-Sean

[littleharbor2]

 Hi all, Mike here. Been playing w/solar for about 20 years now. Recently bought a beach house in Northern Baja on the Sea of Cortez. So many vacation homes, retirees and ex pats in the area. ALL off grid. Nice thing is there is a lot of sun in this neck of the woods, er, desert.



   9 Suntech 175's
   Classic 200
   Bogart Tri Metric
   Trace SW 4024 (brand new, sort of, first energized Feb. 2015)
   8- Alcatel-Lucent 175 ah @12 volt AGM Battery bank

[Dorwin123]

This is Loring in the northwest Wyoming wilderness - a ranch inholding in the National Forest.  Unlike almost everyone else on the Forum I have no solar system but I do have two hydro-electric turbines, one AC with electronic frequency-based load controller (my original system) and one free-wheeling DC with a Morningstar Tri-Star-45 controller operating in Diversion Load mode.  Both systems charge the same 48 volt battery bank.  We need to upgrade to off-the-shelf components for easier maintenance by new owners.  I can't find anyone to answer my questions, so I thought I'd try the Forum.

[nzbrad]

Hi my name is Brad ,I have a coastal bach at Waihau Bay in the North Island of New Zealand .Have just gone off the grid as the power companies are charging rediculas supply charges in this area .Interested in hearing from others in NZ using the Midnite gear .

[dgd]

Hi Brad,
Welcome to the forum, there are a few from NZ here, but there are many knowledgeable people who are very helpful.
Dgd

[zoneblue]

What sort of ballpark are we talking for the daily line charge? After the deregulation, the power companys were required to offer a low user rate, with lower daily charges, However that does seem to be being watered down. However after quite a lot of corespondance with one company in the Central Plateau that had a lot of seasonal buildings, they justified the line charges based on people being absent much of the year.

In NZ daily line charges are (for you others) in general high. In the order of 0.5-3.00 dollars per day. It tends to make your efforts toward energy conservation more pointless.

We have a powerline 100m from our place, and chose not to connect. The intial connect fee was going to be 20K.

NZ used to be a place where 75% of power was hydro, cheaply produced by state owned generators. That percentage is now around 60% and headed for 50% by 2025. Geothermal is aparently the new growth area, and little of that projected mix is expected to come from solar. Which is just blindfold /blinkers material.
Theres also no NEM here at all, and our token effort with FIT has also evaporated.

But... Solar and hydro are a match made in heavon.