Solar powered studio

[lilith_envy]

So I'm suprised that there is no-one on this site yet running a solar powered studio....Why?
AT magazine had an artical a few months back regarding running a small DAW system via solar panels. And again in the current issue of AT Andy Stewart has been talking about running his new studio with a mix of Wind and Solar.
Though hasn't yet. Not that his build is up to our standards
Does any one have any thoughts on this?
The system I'm looking at does not store power on-site it simply pumps un-used energy back into the grid.
I'm waiting to heard how noisy the invertor is? But, not having batteries reduces the noise of the system.
Australian goverenment is currently giving a $8000 rebate if you switch to solar.
Now there is a stand alone system with batteries. Which means the studio would be completely self suffient, but you then run the risk of running out of juice during a long session.
I'll keep you posted.
lil

[Soundman2020]

Actually, Lil, I was thinking of doing exactly that! The only thing that has kept me back is cost: Where I live (Chile) there are no government incentives that I'm aware of for using solar power, and solar panels are Really Expensive here (with a very large capital "E"!). So its out of my price range right now, but it is something that I'm considering for the future. I figure that my power consumption will be low enough that I can run the entire studio (except for the HVAC) on solar power. My plan is to use a system with storage batteries, that is interconnected with a UPS somehow, so that the solar panels charge the batteries during the day, and if they batteries run low at night then the UPS will just switch to drawing power from the grid instead. I haven't looked into any of the details of how to do that, but it sure is something that I'm thinking of!

- Stuart -

[lilith_envy]

I did a power consumption table for my control room for the HVAC and solar guy. Does 1012 watts sound correct?

Item Watt total
Apple G5 430 430
Benq 17in mon 40 40
Benq 17in mon 40 40
Fostex speakers 40 x 2 80
Yorkville speakers 100 x 2 200
Peak amp 80 80
Digi 002 rack 50 50
Cd player 15 15
8 way pre 25 25
JV 1080 17 17
compessor 15 15
Roland FX 20 20

TOTAL 1012 watts

[John Sayers]

Deanne - I lived with solar power for 5 years.

Here's an excel spreadsheet that costs the various systems.

solar panels_1.xls

[lilith_envy]

Thanks John,
The one I'm looking at after rebate is $2700, with no "unforseen" extras. It's a 1.1Kw intverter, no batteries.
Simply pumps power onto the grid.
It's so cheap because your selling the "GREEN CREDITS" back to the company (makes them look greener). It's a bit sneaky, but works out to be $1400 off.

[John Sayers]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 49,00.html

[lilith_envy]

[lilith_envy]

The new Tariff has been increased to .60c per KWatt
That better than the .15c from the artical

[John Sayers]

but it's a scam - the power company doesn't need your 1kW, you can't turn down a coal fired power station. It's just a political move to attract the greenies to vote for them.

[lunatic]

We're solar powered. Have been for about 1.5 years... http://www.evergroove.com

Not a huge system -yet- but we've sized our inverter to be able to double the number of panels we currently have. That number, currently, is 14 and we can grow to 28.

[John Sayers]

We're solar powered. Have been for about 1.5 years... http://www.evergroove.com

what is your storage system?

[lunatic]

Hey John,

Unfortunately, we couldn't afford a battery bank so we're grid tied. We also didn't have anywhere to store the batteries and I didn't really want to build a box and store them outdoors. Winters get bitter here in Colorado and I'm sure that would have a negative affect on the batteries.

Overall the system works out pretty well since anytime the studio isn't in use we make sure to shut everything down. Then, any power generated by the panels is sold back to the utility company and, therefore, shows as a credit on our electric bill. This past Summer was our busiest year yet and our largest electric bill was $5 USD. When we add on the additional 14 panels we should actually get a check at the end of each year.

-Brad

[lilith_envy]

Hi Brad,
Thats good to know.
I'm still waiting on the government to process the rebate and then they will start work.
I hope I get good results, but I haven't seen any sun for about 3 weeks here.
It's been a very wet start to winter.

[lunatic]

Which is another reason why we had to go grid-tied. While Colorado, USA has MANY sunny days we live at 8300 feet above sea level and often, in Winter, the panels will spend a day or two covered in snow. Our next location will have a much longer and larger solar window

[John Sayers]

where are you in Victoria Deanne?