You dont know how this humbles me....thanks

Monlo:


My dear ,you can say that again.He is one of the best we have around here,always there to help.l remember sometime ago i had problems with my solar stuff,he was the first to come to my rescue,with enough backstage tutorials.May God continually bless him for his selfless service here without asking for a dime.Kudos to so many other gurus here on this thread,infact all i got to know from solar installation,are all from this thread.Started from reading from page 1 till this very page.And by the grace of God,i have a running solar installation ,courtesy DIY,i can even install now as regards this.Green all the way,if you believe RENEWABLE ENERGY(RE) has come to stay,CLICK "LIKES " to encourage those still sitting on the fence.One love @all.

DMerciful,
keep up the good work.
cheers!

GeorgeD1:
DMerciful,
keep up the good work.
cheers!

@GeorgeD1,i hail you specially.I have learnt alot from your write ups especially at the beginning of the thread.You a source of inspiration to us as regards solar package.Keep it up,happy to see you around again after a long time,eventhough we have missed you alot here.Godbless,RE rules,Green all the way.

Thanks....i did not install solar until i opened this thread...since then i have been happier for it.

GeorgeD1:
DMerciful,
keep up the good work.
cheers!

Oh yes you are very right, i can attest to that, though many of them have been very helpful in the past like GeorgeD1 the chairman, chris81964, earthrealm, just to mention few. we have really learnt from everybody in one or the other. keep up with the good job. One day i will get a pv array like GeorgeD1

dicksonadams:
This DMerciful is a very nice guy, I am amazed with the way he has been providing guide and help to the guy. This kind of selfless help is not common without immediate gain or reward. Kodus to people like this. :

tundebabzy:
Hi all, I have a question.

Electricity from solar seems pretty inefficient to me. Panels supply DC, inverter converts To AC and excess to DC. When panels are not supplying power, inverter converts DC back to AC.

If I want to use only DC gadgets in my house or a hybrid where all my lights are to be fed by DC with dedicated points for any battery charging also fed by DC, pumping machine fed by DC then the rest of the house fed by AC, what options do I have?

Here are the issues with eliminating the need for inverter by switching to DC appliances.

1 the price would make it not a cost effective solution. The price of a DC freezer is 5x that of an average AC freezer. Same goes for DC TV, DC pumping machine and even DC light bulbs. The astronomical cost of this appliances would be better served if used in procurement of panels and batteries

2 DC appliances are not common place. They are far from mainstream and as a result getting support and spares would be a hassle. Even the most remote village has someone who can repair an AC powered freezer. Same with TV.. The biggest headache with having an home composed of DC appliances is lack of support and spares.. and when u find such trust me they would be very expensive

Finally DC is low voltage electricity and one of the important laws of ohms is that low voltage meet high resistance. Unless you are ready to spend crazy sums on wiring.. using 16 to 22mm wires round your home (which is just impractical) to ensure you 12v reaches it intended load without dropping out to resistance. Most DC appliances are 12v and as such your battery set up would be limited to 12v (with inherent inefficiencies) if you use a higher voltage battery bank like 48v then I would need a DC to DC converter to down convert to 12v (which just defeats the purpose of getting rid of an inverter)

The world standardised on AC because of the high voltage and low current which make it easier to travel over long distances and saves cost of wiring. It is better to go for energy efficient AC device and spend extra on power generation. DC home is just impractical unless basic solar setup for lighting and mobile phone charging.

tundebabzy:
Hi all, I have a question.

Electricity from solar seems pretty inefficient to me. Panels supply DC, inverter converts To AC and excess to DC. When panels are not supplying power, inverter converts DC back to AC.

If I want to use only DC gadgets in my house or a hybrid where all my lights are to be fed by DC with dedicated points for any battery charging also fed by DC, pumping machine fed by DC then the rest of the house fed by AC, what options do I have?

If you can afford the cost of the items you list, it is actually more efficient to go that route.
All you will need are your panels, a charge controller with a DC load option and batteries. There is no need for an inverter.

Good write up.
However there are positives for DC appliances especially the inductive loads eg ACs and freezers.

Especially for the AC and freezers, it has the advantage of using far less solar panels and much more efficient

An 80L freezers can use 100watts solar panel and 200ah battery with 20hrs of supply to the freezer.
U need to use it to believe it.
Currently, there are supports for the parts that requires change e.g compressors.

Also, for the AC, an 18,000BTU unit can run for 18hrs on a 48v battery bank using 1200watts of solar panels.

Lastly, if u have used those Chinese 12v pressing iron, u will know how far! And it's cheap.
On a 100ah battery and an 80watts panel, u can iron up to 5clothes with stored charge (I.e when the sun isn't up). Of course, one will iron more when the sun is firing.

Yes I agree for now, running the whole house isn't economical!!!

who knows where 1 can buy a dc fridge or freezer in naija, and what cost?

Right now, I can't say where to buy.

The one I got two years ago was imported from China and I bought it online.

Right now, there is no guarantee with the custom people

earthrealm:
who knows where 1 can buy a dc fridge or freezer in naija, and what cost?

Solar shop had them. Check with them

earthrealm:
who knows where 1 can buy a dc fridge or freezer in naija, and what cost?

This LG fridge is super efficient and low energy, takes between 47w to 83w

http://www.lg.com/africa/refrigerators/lg-GL-S322RPHL-gl-s322rphl


Check the Fouani stores...last I checked it was 175k...


PS: this is AC powered not DC

bigrovar:

Here are the issues with eliminating the need for inverter by switching to DC appliances.

1 the price would make it not a cost effective solution. The price of a DC freezer is 5x that of an average AC freezer. Same goes for DC TV, DC pumping machine and even DC light bulbs. The astronomical cost of this appliances would be better served if used in procurement of panels and batteries

2 DC appliances are not common place. They are far from mainstream and as a result getting support and spares would be a hassle. Even the most remote village has someone who can repair an AC powered freezer. Same with TV.. The biggest headache with having an home composed of DC appliances is lack of support and spares.. and when u find such trust me they would be very expensive

Finally DC is low voltage electricity and one of the important laws of ohms is that low voltage meet high resistance. Unless you are ready to spend crazy sums on wiring.. using 16 to 22mm wires round your home (which is just impractical) to ensure you 12v reaches it intended load without dropping out to resistance. Most DC appliances are 12v and as such your battery set up would be limited to 12v (with inherent inefficiencies) if you use a higher voltage battery bank like 48v then I would need a DC to DC converter to down convert to 12v (which just defeats the purpose of getting rid of an inverter)

The world standardised on AC because of the high voltage and low current which make it easier to travel over long distances and saves cost of wiring. It is better to go for energy efficient AC device and spend extra on power generation. DC home is just impractical unless basic solar setup for lighting and mobile phone charging.

Completely well said! Nothing to add! Good work Bigrovar!

Cheers

@bigrovar, very sound analysis!

yeah saw the solar freezer on solar shop, the sh.it is 450k...n its even out of stock, guess the best bet is to buy the low energy lg fridge/freezer 175k vesus 90k for ordinary type, makes sense even if not using solar, on prepaid meters, it will pay for itself over time

earthrealm:
who knows where 1 can buy a dc fridge or freezer in naija, and what cost?

I have an uncle's friend that do import DC appliances like freezers, fridge and even DC iron. He has a warehouse in Ilorin... will update you once i get info

Barezzi:
Lovely! We're getting there...

Take a look at the link below,it's a very comprehensive analysis of renewable energy in Nigeria.
Very interesting read...
https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/giz2015-en-nigerian-energy-sector.pdf

Nice to see the study on the website. I am one of the authors. Although the study is aimed at mainly grid power of solar pv

kiekie1:


Thanks Sir.. Am loyal !

Keep up the good work @kiekie, fast & smooth delivery, battery making my weekend all day!

Rotiix:


Keep up the good work @kiekie, fast & smooth delivery, battery making my weekend all day!

You can always count on me anytime ... Happy Sunday !

Greetings to all esteemed gurus......
I want to ask ...... Does a naija-made battery exist? Be it flooded or SMF. The rate @ which the dollar is affecting batteries is so so alarming. If you're reading this and you have a distinct flair with chemistry and the likes...... It's time to get jiggy with your instinct's and eat that frog.

Wishing you all a happy workshop/laboratory experience
Note--- please keep to safety measures.

Janyves,
a nigerian made battery?
are you kidding me?!!

GeorgeD1:
Janyves,
a nigerian made battery?
are you kidding me?!!

My oga, one cannot overrule the possibility of having a Nigerian made SMF or flooded battery especially this dwindling economy where Forex is a nightmare, we can turn our weakness into strength.

Janyves:
Greetings to all esteemed gurus......
I want to ask ...... Does a naija-made battery exist? Be it flooded or SMF. The rate @ which the dollar is affecting batteries is so so alarming. If you're reading this and you have a distinct flair with chemistry and the likes...... It's time to get jiggy with your instinct's and eat that frog.

Wishing you all a happy workshop/laboratory experience
Note--- please keep to safety measures.

naaah, not possible to just go from zero to hundred,...we lack the tech for that now, even if we must..let them start from simple finger battery n the like
best bet for this period is either to cut open, remove dead or shorted cells, replace withgood cell from a similar battery, reseal and fire up

another option would be to try desulphating the old batts, collected some old smf batts from a pal, being trying to desulphate them for a few days now, showing some slight improvement already, will try for 4wks b4 i conclude they are irredemable, its a slow ...hurry it n u mess everything up

bmdflo:


My oga, one cannot overrule the possibility of having a Nigerian made SMF or flooded battery especially this dwindling economy where Forex is a nightmare, we can turn our weakness into strength.

bmdflo,
actually you're right. I was just joking.
anything is possible. countries like china, taiwan, india, etc who make these products are not better than us.
we only need to have the enabling environment and you'll be amazed at the speed with which we as a country will make
technological progress.
I think we should go beyond this 'white labelling' phenomena which seems to be the norm these days because we are only helping
to build those countries where those factories are located while at the same time creating unemployment and technological
retardation back at home.

break the myth!

Are we going to buy it if they make it? how many people buying locally made inverter? i do not want to sound politically correct, before we start making high tech devices, we must have started producing transistor radio and pocket calculator. you know battery is a chemical cell that should involve high quality control in its production esp something use at home! mind you it contains acid! you dont want self inflicted bokoharam! Let us start small from finger batteries biko

Saipro:


The words in bold typeface are offensive. I see no reason for such. If that's how you feel, there are other ways to carry your opinion across without being rude. That's by the way.

I have had access to an analytical lab for years where testing the quality of reagents, solutions, solvents and material was (is still) being conducted. All table water thus far tested contain significant quantities of potassium. Most contain significant quantities of calcium and magnesium. Lots of impurities are to be found in others too. While pottasium in trace quantities is pretty harmless, calcium nor magnesium is. Just saying.

I use distillers and deionizers. Distillation is quite expensive and there is no way Coca-Cola would be able to make Eva water commercially available at that price even if all they did was distil and bottle it, much less label and market. And distilled water tastes .... funny. No one would drink pure distilled water. I am not speculating nor making conjectures. If in doubt, bring any sample of water you so wish and I'll analyse it free of charge for you. All you need do is stand by and watch. And I would produce not only distilled water for you, I would give you any reagent grade type of water you wish.

Having said that, Eva water does indeed contain pretty low quantities of ions compared to most but enough to make it unsuitable for many things. If it works for batteries, fine. I would still not recommend it. For the record, I have used nothing apart from distilled water for batteries. If you can come up with proof of your claims, I believe the entire house would whole-heartedly follow your trends, I inclusive, for Eva water is not only cheaper but readily available. After all, we are here to learn.



I wholly agree with you. Water from the A/C unit is the closest you'll get to distillate as it is actually condensate too (final processing of distilled water before collection). The tubing and hose leading the water outside are often the culprit (if not the collecting container). Occassionally, you might find the cooling coils are to be faulted.

Was just going through this old post on the argument on use of bottled water vs. Distilled water. Please there are companies that bottle and sell distilled water. Use distilled water for flooded batteries for longer life. Please see product below bought here in Jos sold in 1litre containers. Treat your batteries well and they will treat you well

Saipro:


Eva water is dangerous as far as batteries are concerned. It might be free or particulate matter but have you considered the dissolved impurities such as ions? Ask your battery guy for distilled water and if you're ready to pay the price, you'll get the authentic stuff.

Was just going through this old post on the argument on use of bottled water vs. Distilled water. Please there are companies that bottle and sell distilled water. Use distilled water for flooded batteries for longer life. Please see product below bought here in Jos sold in 1litre containers. Treat your batteries well and they will treat you well and last a long useful life

Saipro:


The words in bold typeface are offensive. I see no reason for such. If that's how you feel, there are other ways to carry your opinion across without being rude. That's by the way.

I have had access to an analytical lab for years where testing the quality of reagents, solutions, solvents and material was (is still) being conducted. All table water thus far tested contain significant quantities of potassium. Most contain significant quantities of calcium and magnesium. Lots of impurities are to be found in others too. While pottasium in trace quantities is pretty harmless, calcium nor magnesium is. Just saying.

I use distillers and deionizers. Distillation is quite expensive and there is no way Coca-Cola would be able to make Eva water commercially available at that price even if all they did was distil and bottle it, much less label and market. And distilled water tastes .... funny. No one would drink pure distilled water. I am not speculating nor making conjectures. If in doubt, bring any sample of water you so wish and I'll analyse it free of charge for you. All you need do is stand by and watch. And I would produce not only distilled water for you, I would give you any reagent grade type of water you wish.

Having said that, Eva water does indeed contain pretty low quantities of ions compared to most but enough to make it unsuitable for many things. If it works for batteries, fine. I would still not recommend it. For the record, I have used nothing apart from distilled water for batteries. If you can come up with proof of your claims, I believe the entire house would whole-heartedly follow your trends, I inclusive, for Eva water is not only cheaper but readily available. After all, we are here to learn.



I wholly agree with you. Water from the A/C unit is the closest you'll get to distillate as it is actually condensate too (final processing of distilled water before collection). The tubing and hose leading the water outside are often the culprit (if not the collecting container). Occassionally, you might find the cooling coils are to be faulted.

Was just going through this old post on the argument on use of bottled water vs. Distilled water. Please there are companies that bottle and sell distilled water. Use distilled water for flooded batteries for longer life. Please see product below bought here in Jos sold in 1litre containers. Treat your batteries well and they will treat you well and last a long useful life

DUNKA:
Was just going through this old post on the argument on use of bottled water vs. Distilled water. Please there are companies that bottle and sell distilled water. Use distilled water for flooded batteries for longer life. Please see product below bought here in Jos sold in 1litre containers. Treat your batteries well and they will treat you well and last a long useful life

Hello Sir, its a normal practice especially here in Lagos as professionals strictly use distilled water in flooded battery maintenance. We have variety of distilled water here in Lagos pending on quantity needed. Its nice you taking good care of your batteries . cheers !

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Some years ago in my deep thought, I wondered how availability of water supply became a thing of the past.
I postulated in my mind that very day...that very soon, power availability will become like water...

Today, I celebrate Three solid years of uninterrupted night & day power supply here...
This is one of the most amazing things I have done with my hands...

Welcome to tomorrow...