The problem with the current enforced blackout is a lack of time to obtain and install the parts. Stone's advice is potentially useful, however, to cope with future outages.
Jim Stone, Freelance Journalist
http://82.221.129.208/.vz2.html
If when you check your solar panels they are over 40 volts, you can still use a 24 volt battery system
Some solar power systems are made to run at a voltage that will support charging of 3 12 volt batteries in series. To do this, they have to have a panel voltage over 40 volts because the batteries won't charge fully until they have a voltage of at least 14.3 each applied to them. That means the panels have to have at least 42.9 volts to do the job right, and I have seen that before so lots of people will probably encounter this. If all you can find at a truck stop is an inverter that can run at 24 volts, don't worry about it, run your batteries at 24 volts. Here is what will happen:
The solar panel voltage will collapse down to what is appropriate charging voltage for a 24 volt system for as long as the batteries can take a charge. But you have to be VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS, because once the batteries are charged, the voltage will go to the moon, might fry the inverter, and WILL boil the batteries off if you don't have a regulator. You'll get away with doing this precisely as well as you can keep an eye on it without a regulator, or if you have a regulator.
You are not likely to find a solar panel setup that goes much past 45 volts, because the voltage is DC and if anything goes wrong and a spark gets started, pretty much anything past 32 volts will never extinguish and much past 40 volts it will really get dangerous. 60 HZ AC self extinguishes 120 times per second because it crosses a zero voltage point 120 times per second. AC is a lot safer than DC, the only way to keep DC safe is to run it at a low voltage and 32 is pretty much the limit for the same safety as 120 volts AC. There is enough of a benefit to risk ratio for panels to go over 40 volts on occasion but you won't likely come across one that goes to 50.
A great way to make a mega cheap regulator
You'll have to test it yourself on an individual basis, but it absolutely will work as an emergency stop for your panels and won't cost more than $10. If you don't understand these instructions the way I say them here, don't bother with this, it is over your head -
Do this if you have to use a 40+ volt panel with a 24 volt battery setup.
Get a 12 volt 4 pole double throw ice cube relay rated at 20 amps. It has to have the double poles, where with no power applied to the coil it is on in one direction, and simply switches which side is on when there's power on the coil. These used to be easy to get. They might still be available as garage door opener relays. I am not sure if those are two sided though - but worth a look. Anyway, here's the trick:
Put a resistor in line with the coil. You'll probably need a one watt, don't try it with a 1/4 watt. Use the resistor to restrict the power through the relay coil so it won't come on with 12 volts applied, get it to where, with a 24 volt battery system it comes on at about 30 volts. The batteries will get slightly overcharged but not too bad, and then the relay will cut the power before it totally goes ballistic. All for the price of just a cheap relay and a resistor. You will have to play with it to get it right, this is for someone who can tinker with things.
If I had a 12 volt relay with a coil rated at 20 milliamps, I'd first try a one watt 2 k-ohm resistor. That's going to be ball park, you'll need a meter and you have to be able to test your voltages and make sure the relay is switching at approximately the right time and then adjust your resistance as needed. If you have a potentiometer you should be able to just dial in the correct trigger voltage. I have done this. It does work PERFECT once you get it right. The relay will stay engaged until you manually reset it however, so you have to remember to do that. Put a normally closed pushbutton in the circuit to reset the relay if you don't want to unplug it to reset it. This is not kamikazi, it actually works quite reliably. Additionally, if your relay has 4 sets of contacts like most ice cube relays do, you can use one set for an alarm to let you know your solar panel system won't be recharging the next day unless you hit that button to reset it. This is how you get around getting scammed for $500 for a STUPID solar "regulator" which should only cost $20.
There's a more advanced design I have that uses a zener diode to switch a transistor that switches the relay but that's going to be way too complicated for most people here, and the resistor method with a pushbutton reset will work as well. A solar regulator won't have more than a zener diode, a switching transistor and a relay. That's mega cheap but try buying it cheap. Good luck. There's a scammer on every corner of the solar power industry and they take only blood.
Newsletter 5 is being done for people in California who are getting stone aged by the leftist power cuts, and ridiculous grid tie solar that can't run a house without the grid available. Only a leftist would do that to people and they were not stupid about it, they did that on purpose guaranteed.
This newsletter is being done to show people how to get around the government scam and make their useless grid tie systems usable.
Battery weight matters
The heavier the battery for a given amp hour rating, the more abuse the battery will take. All lead acid batteries will be destroyed if left uncharged, but the difference is how much you can get away with discharging them deeply and then re-charging them on time. Since a solar setup should recharge them daily, that's "on time", so cycle life is what is important. A lightweight battery has thin plates that will fall apart after a few deep cycles. A heavy battery with the same amp hour rating has thick plates that can survive heavy discharge and recharge cycles without getting eaten to pieces. It's that simple.
As I have said before, there's no reason for an expensive lithium ion battery pack
Lead acid gets a bad rap for ONE reason: Because they maintain full output up to the point where they are destroyed, and people work them too hard. And manufacturer ratings are not helpful at all, because they all, even the best of them, have to lie about what their batteries can really take and they lie to stay competitive. Yes, any battery will handle it's rating for at least one cycle, good deep cycle batteries might last 30 rated cycles - which is death, don't use them like that - all it takes to make them last forever is to not drain them down. If you got a 170 amp hour battery with nice heavy plates, and only took a max of 100 amp hours from it before a full recharge, it will last at least 300 cycles with not much noticeable degradation at all. If you only took 70 amp hours from it, it will last about 3, 000 cycles and still be going strong, provided you make sure the electrolyte is always topped off with distilled water. So a rule of thumb that can be used to ensure your lead acid batteries end up being a good deal, costing only about 20 percent of what a lithium ion battery would, is to buy extras and don't drain them down far. For this to work you have to make sure your solar panels can keep up.
With an energy efficient home and adequate panels, it would not be at all surprising to never drain six of those large truck batteries down by more than 20 percent. If that's all you ever take from them, they might last forever. Six of the good ones, costing $200 each will have 12, 800 watt hours, considerably more than a Tesla battery pack, but you'd have to remember you can't take all of it if you want it to last. That said, they'd cost about 15 percent of what a lesser rated Tesla pack would. If you spent $2400 getting 12 of those batteries and kept them charged, your cost would still only be 25 percent of a Tesla battery pack and you'd have 25, 600 watt hours available, almost 3 times as much as a Tesla pack, which you'd never use up unless your panels were not adequate and over days of not getting fully recharged the batteries drained down. Inadequate panels would wreck the batteries quickly.
The heavier the better.
An OK battery - 195 amp hours, 100 pounds http://www.dynobattery.com/products/heavy-duty-auto-truck-and-bus/4d.php The right battery - 170 amp hours, 130 pounds. https://north40.com/durastart-12-volt-heavy-duty-truck-battery-c8d-2-cca-1400 Dura start batteries are not Autozone's Duralast. There's nothing wrong with Autozone's batteries as far as I know, but they focus on price, and probably don't have anything that is going to survive use in solar power.
I have checked the batteries at NAPA in Mexico, and they have a couple that are OK for this. They are sold as semi truck batteries, (or dump trucks) anything that has a truly huge diesel in it. No other battery vendor sells that in Mexico, but truck stops in the U.S. probably do. Semi trucks need great batteries. That's your secret source. If it is a GOOD Semi truck battery it will definitely do the job. You won't find it at Sams, Costco, Wal-Mart, Autozone, you will only find it at Napa or a truck stop.
