One of the things we will attempt this year is create a wifi-zone, powered by solar panels. We are using the panels cause we really do not want to run a generator during the day. Anybody has any experience working w/ solar panels/satellite dishes at the burn? Any tips you can give us?
C U all on the playa!
Camp Klepto needs some info on solar panels / satellite dish
solar panels
We used some high-yield solar cells (the crazy efficient patch looking ones they use for solar cars and whatnot) last year on the 'playa...
Here is some stuff we learned.
1) A coating of dust (which doesnt take long to accumulate) seemed to drop solar cell effeciency as much as 30%. Keep'em clean
2) If you want to maximize your solar output, be sure to always have the panels perpendicular to the sun. Just lying them flat isnt good enough.
3) Windstorms turn solar panels into objects of flight. secure them!
4) The more demanding your power needs, the larger your battery bank must be. A special power regulator is very neccessary between you panels and that battery bank, because it will precisely govern and limit the amount of electricity that ican go into the batteries (so you dont overcharge, or destroy them.
5) *IMPORTANT* Know the exact amount of amps and volts you need for your project. minimum requirements, useage per hour, etc etc. Then you will know how much juice you need your panel array to generate. Since you should already know how much each panel should output, you need to start figuring in the amount of batteries required to not only run your system but also save up enough energy to run it when the sun is down (or obstructed)
hope some of this helped...
-G
Here is some stuff we learned.
1) A coating of dust (which doesnt take long to accumulate) seemed to drop solar cell effeciency as much as 30%. Keep'em clean
2) If you want to maximize your solar output, be sure to always have the panels perpendicular to the sun. Just lying them flat isnt good enough.
3) Windstorms turn solar panels into objects of flight. secure them!
4) The more demanding your power needs, the larger your battery bank must be. A special power regulator is very neccessary between you panels and that battery bank, because it will precisely govern and limit the amount of electricity that ican go into the batteries (so you dont overcharge, or destroy them.
5) *IMPORTANT* Know the exact amount of amps and volts you need for your project. minimum requirements, useage per hour, etc etc. Then you will know how much juice you need your panel array to generate. Since you should already know how much each panel should output, you need to start figuring in the amount of batteries required to not only run your system but also save up enough energy to run it when the sun is down (or obstructed)
hope some of this helped...
-G