Dear Sir,

With the high cost of fule and electricity, I feel it is high time that the Bahamas goes solar.

I am in the market for a solar powered water heater. Are there any distributors in the Bahamas?

I recently installed solar powered flood lights.


I feel that solar power is the way to go for this country with our global positioning & all (Duh !!!) and solar powered items should be duty free !!!!

Soso

This is my project for the summer...

Source: Phil Heiple

Using parts easily available from your local stores, you can make a small solar power generator for $250 to $300. Great for power failures and life outside the power grid. Power your computer, modem, vcr, tv, cameras, lights, or DC appliances anywhere you go. Use in cabins, boats, tents, archaeological digs, or while travelling throughout the third world. Have one in the office store room in case of power failures in your highrise. I keep mine in my bedroom where it powers my cd player, turntable, lights, modem, laptop, and (ahem) a back massager. I run a line out the window to an 8" x 24" panel on the roof.

1. Buy yourself a small solar panel. For about $100 you should be able to get one rated at 12 volts or better (look for 16 volts) at an RV or marine supplies store.

2. Buy yourself a battery. Get any size deep cycle 12 volt lead/acid battery. You need the deep cycle battery for continuous use. The kind in your car is a cranking battery--just for starting an engine. Look for bargains, it should cost about $50-60.

3. Get a battery box to put it in for $10. (This is good for covering up the exposed terminals in case there are children about If you going to install the system in a pump shed, cabin, or boat, skip this.)

4. Buy a 12 volt DC meter. Radio Shack has them for about $25.

5. Buy a DC input. I like the triple inlet model which you can find at a car parts store in the cigarette lighter parts section for about $10. This is enough to power DC appliances, and there are many commercially available, like fans, one-pint water boilers, lights, hair dryers, baby bottle warmers, and vacuum cleaners. Many cassette players, answering machines, and other electrical appliances are DC already and with the right cable will run straight off the box.

6. But if you want to run AC appliances, you will have to invest in an inverter. This will convert the stored DC power in the battery into AC power for most of your household appliances. I bought a 115 volt 140 watt inverter made by Power-to-Go at Pep Boys for $50. More powerful inverters are available by mail. Count up the number of watts you'll be using (e.g., a small color television(=60 watts) with a VCR(=22 watts), you'll need 82 watts).

7. Use a drill to attach the meter and DC input to the top of the box.

8. Use insulated wire to attach the meter to the wingnut terminals on the battery. Connect the negative (-) pole first. Only handle one wire at a time. Connect the DC inlet to the battery in the same way. Connect the solar panel to the battery in the same way.

9. Close the lid (I use a bungee cord to keep it tight). Put the solar panel in the sun. It takes 5-8 hours to charge a dead battery; 1-3 hours to top off a weak one. It will run radios, fans, and small wattage lights all night, or give you about 5 hours of continuous use at 115 volt AC, or about an hour boiling water. This system may be added on to with larger panels, inverters, and batteries.

Options: A pop-up circuit breaker may be added between the positive treminal and the volt meter. Some of you will want an ampmeter as well. The panels I recommend have built-in bypass diodes, but I recommend charge controllers for people who have panels without diodes. Another option is a voltage regulator, which is not necessary for a system this small, but a larger system would require one.

Dear Sir,

With the high cost of fule and electricity, I feel it is high time that the Bahamas goes solar.

I am in the market for a solar powered water heater. Are there any distributors in the Bahamas?

I recently installed solar powered flood lights.


I feel that solar power is the way to go for this country with our global positioning & all (Duh !!!) and solar powered items should be duty free !!!!

Soso

I have had a Solar water heater since the 1970's. I don't know how much money I have saved by not using electricity to heat water. (Which is scalding hot!) but I know it is substantial. Most electricians will tell you that heating and cooling are the big consumers of electricity. Heating being the biggest.

I forgot who installed it - it never needs service. Look in the phone book for solar dealers here. The up front costs are high (Cost me $2,000.00 in those days) but in the long run you will save big $$$$$.

Not only should it be duty free, I think the government should give low-cost loans to those who want to buy solar. Can you imagine how much money the government would save (on imported oil) if even half the houses in Nassau had Solar Heating?

Well CG, I have been doing alot of web searches for just that and here are a few sites that I have in my favorites... and believe me I will send you everything and anything that I find.
http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~liz/home.html

http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/cls.html

http://www.heritagebuildings.com/homes/erec_seq8.htm

I have to go through all my documents because I have complete plans for solar ovens, cooking, and really complete solar living.

i was contacted a year or so ago from a chinese manufacturer, but they wanted you to buy like a trailer load of them, it would have been around $30 each solar unit to power general household electronics.

Looked around at the US companies and they were in the $100 range, and only had to buy 1.

Its nothing new, people have been using solar for years, but its much cheaper now. We have solar panel packs for our cameras now also.

Its good for small applications, but on a larger scale wind driven power would be more feasable.

Anyway my rent includes everything so .. :-)

Rory

Going solar is an excellent suggestion and one I have thought about often. I fear the government will not help with subsidies because the more people that go solar the less revenue they raise in overpriced power costs. In our sundrenched Bahamas, it should be fully encouraged.

Going solar is an excellent suggestion and one I have thought about often. I fear the government will not help with subsidies because the more people that go solar the less revenue they raise in overpriced power costs. In our sundrenched Bahamas, it should be fully encouraged.

you'd think, right! :D

It would save us Bahamians money, and not the government, just like the VOIP thing, saving Bahamians money is not the in thing these days!

I myself, have decided to bring in a very cheap CCTV Digital Video Recorder with Cameras in a Kit, to save the average bahamian money on a CCTV system, as opposed to the higher end units I normally sell, and will still sell, I will have both in my new showroom coming soon, so they can decide for themselves. When i say cheap, it is stilll a good unit and carries a 5 year manufacturer warranty.

Unlike alot of other Bahamian companies selling lower end CCTV, I will not be marking it up 300%, i will barely mark it up enough to cover warranty and overhead, but will make enough to live. My higher end units will be the real gravy, large installations, but cannot forget the average joe who still may want some 'good' reasonably priced video surviellance. I'll be here to help everyone.

Rory

I feel that going solar is an excellent idea. I know of a gentleman who was actually in the process of getting a solar store started, however, it never came to fruition. He gave up the try about two months ago, after about 2 years.

I wonder if the government had something to do with this? After all BEC just broadcast not so long ago, that this trend will not be encouraged.

Just like the government!!!!! Why not open up the market and give people a choice. Let BEC compete, maybe their service will improve. :jawdroop:

I feel that going solar is an excellent idea. I know of a gentleman who was actually in the process of getting a solar store started, however, it never came to fruition. He gave up the try about two months ago, after about 2 years.

I wonder if the government had something to do with this? After all BEC just broadcast not so long ago, that this trend will not be encouraged.

Just like the government!!!!! Why not open up the market and give people a choice. Let BEC compete, maybe their service will improve. :jawdroop:

The government run monopolies are not interested in saving the Bahamian consumer money, this is also shown with the recent law against using VOIP with a whopping $300K fine.

The government run monopolies are not interested in saving the Bahamian consumer money, this is also shown with the recent law against using VOIP with a whopping $300K fine.

The trouble with government is that is so big and needs so much money that it can't afford to save our money. It needs all our money it can get its hands on, just to keep going. That is the problem. Solar would save money, for us, government would lose - unless it could find a way to tax the Sun!

solar power can save you money in the long run, but the equipment you have to install is very costly.

"Cost of Solar Power for Homes
The cost of a solar system is directly proportional to how much energy required. Small cabin systems start at a few thousand dollars. A typical household system could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 (USD).

PV Systems producing 100 watts or more generally cost between $5 and $30 per watt. Smaller systems are more expensive on a per-watt basis. The cost of the PV modules is typically 1/3 to 1/2 of the total system cost. The average production of each watt of PV is between 2 and 6 watt-hours of energy per day, depending on the season and location. Very dark conditions (e.g., December in Alaska) and very bright conditions will produce energy outside this range. Using typical borrowing costs and equipment life, the life-cycle cost of PV- generated energy generally ranges from $0.20 to $1.00/kWh. "

from here: http://www.bpsolar.com/ContentDetails.cfm?page=51 (LINK)

Actually, if you just want to power lights, TV, etc, it is very cheap, in the $100-500 range, US, even cheaper out of Asia.

Here are some US prices, but like I said, china solar companies are much much cheaper, then arent they with everything they make! I know that doesnt mean it is actually any good, though some of these US companies buy from Asia and just relabel them. I cant remember off hand the link of the company that contacted me, they wanted me to buy a whole trailer though so it was not going to happen, I remember they were under $100 for something like 100 watts.

http://www.mrsolar.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=sanyo-167&Category_Code=sanyo&Store_Code=MSOS

http://www.mrsolar.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SW90&Category_Code=sunwize&Store_Code=MSOS

To build a roof top solar water heater unit, you need the following items.


A wooden box that is three inches deep by 10 feet wide by 10 feet long. One hundred feet of black 2 inch pvc flexible pipe, and the connections to run the water up to and down from the roof to the water system.

The idea is to have the water run up to the roof, get heated by the sun, in the black pvc and of course you could also put a black coloured back-ground behind the pipes. The longer the roof top pipe pattern, the hotter the water gets, so lay the black piping in a pattern that runs up and down the roof side, to get as much length as possible.

The hotwater from the roof should rejoin the hot water line, just before the hot water heater, so that it mingels with the water from the heater. By testing the outflow at the hot water tap for temperature, you will be able to TURN down the setting of the water heater, so that you save either gas or electricity, whichever you use to heat the water tank.

This kind of system should be mounted on the south facing slope of the roof, or as much south facing as you can get it. The water from such a system should not be used for human consumption/drinking use, but for all other things it is O.K.

Secondly.............In areas where the well water is not good to drink, a solar water distiller can be built that will provide pure drinking water, using some very cheap materials. This project requires a frame made from wood, and lined with food quality black silicone. A sliding glass door ( A patio door unit works great) is mounted on a 30 degree angle, on the wood frame. The wood back frame has a series of ripples on it's face, and as the well water is poured into the frame, the water is heated by the sun, untill it becomes vapour, then it condenses on the glass, and runs down to the catch botte,at the bottom, as pure water.

The back face of the frame is coated with a black silicone that is food grade, and the water should run into a catch bottle that is in the shade. The system will provide a number of gallons of fresh drinking water everyday, and the more water that is put in, the more it will produce for you. The best part is that there are no moving parts, and once it is built and running, it only takes about 5 minutes a day to fill it and to change the catch bottle. Clean with a water and bleach mixture once a week. Hinge the glass so that you can open it for cleaning.

Position the frame so that it gets full sun all day.

Your comments?

Jim Bunting. Toronto.

Nice concepts.

Got any suggestions on where to find inexpensive solar cells online on this side of the world? The solution that I posted a while back was feasible, up until the point that I had to actually buy the solar panel. A 120 watt one costs about $500 in the US. I was thinking that it may be less expensive to build one from the base photovoltaic cells - a bit of soldering here and there perhaps?

http://shop.altenergystore.com/items.asp?CartId=EVEREST-7646617UCWCE9502&Cc=SOLPAN&tpc=