off grid electricity

markin

If you ever come to sell it, it could be very off putting for many if not all to be off grid, is it going to be a forever home? Will it be small cottage, cabin or a 5 bed home?


You could just install it as part of the home build anyway, But go big on solar so you only really use it in the winter.

Martyn1981

markin wrote: »

If you ever come to sell it, it could be very off putting for many if not all to be off grid, is it going to be a forever home? Will it be small cottage, cabin or a 5 bed home?


You could just install it as part of the home build anyway, But go big on solar so you only really use it in the winter.

But on selling it the new buyers could get it grid connected if they wanted, and there may even be special interest from those looking for an off-grid option.

Plus whilst I love PV, and would always suggest getting it, spending £27k for the right to buy a small amount of leccy sounds like double spending.

£15k would probably buy 10kWp of PV and around 50kWh (25kWh useable) of FLA batts and the charge control kit. And, 50yrs of leccy generation, and probably 10-20yrs of storage.

From there a small WT could be considered, back up gennie (I'd go cheap petrol, as some off-gridders having now added PV, are finding less use for an expensive diesel gennie, and the fuel can 'go off'), BEV etc etc..

As costs keep tumbling, 1kWp of PV can probably be DIY'd for ~£500. Yes, more waste in the summer (how about that BEV again?) but more security in December.

Heat is, I believe the issue, but wood burning, or as Eric suggests efficient build and insulation, and a focus on winter solar gain, should resolve that.

Reed_Richards

davesko wrote: »

Heating / cooking will be a combination of wood and gas (unlimited supply of firewood)

If you are in a heavily treed location there may be too much shade for solar PV.

davesko wrote: »

Theres a beck running alongside the plot

You need a surprisingly large water flow to make any sort of generation viable.

davesko wrote: »

with a 33KVA underground cable just the other side

If this is a high voltage cable you would need a transformer to step it down to 230V which might be expensive

davesko wrote: »

, alternatively, there are overhead cables approx 200 mts from the plot.

I suggest you find out where these cables go and if they ultimately supply other properties in the area.
.

davesko wrote: »

Need to run a fridge, broadband and CCTV throughout the day, TV and computer in the evenings.

Broadband might be a problem if you are a long way from anywhere. How's the mobile phone reception?

1961Nick

With 3 small wind turbines (3kWh) & a decent sized solar array plus battery storage, you should have very limited call (if any at all) on the backup genny. If you ground install the solar, you can maximise output by keeping the panels clean & also clear off any snow in winter.

With the above, there should be enough spare energy to charge an EV eight months of the year....or more if you don't do many miles.

This does sound like a great opportunity to build your own power station....and I'm quite envious!:)

pile-o-stone

Reed_Richards wrote: »

You need a surprisingly large water flow to make any sort of generation viable.

It depends on the hydro system you install. To generate power you need Head (the fall of water) and Flow (the amount of water flowing past). To generate power, you can have high head & high flow, high head & low flow, low head and high flow, but you can't have low head & low flow.

For a beck, especially one that probably gets a lot more water flow in winter, you can get away with just 2m of head. I've been looking at this one:


https://www.powerspout.com/collections/lh-low-head/products/powerspout-lh-pro-1

With the installation, I'd dam the top of the beck and have part of the overflow over the dam go into pipe which then flows into a holding tank:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_hydro#/media/File:Pico_hydro.jpg

(lol, I'd hope my build would be less Heath Robinson, but it shows the reservoir and the outlet pipe (draft tube). The power is generated by the vortex pulling down water from the holding tank, through the draft tube and back into the stream bed.

From a small beck with 2l per second of flow and a 2m head you can generate 121 watts. This sounds like chicken feed to those of us with 5kw of solar, but 121 watts x 24 hrs a day = 2.9kw.

Connected to a battery and combined with solar, the hydro could charge the battery during the day while the solar provides the power. At night, a combination of 121w from the hydro and the battery reserves should keep a low energy house ticking over nicely until the next day.

Having a penstock and pipe feed to the hydro means you never need to worry about flooding (any excess overflows the dam and goes down the beck. I'd imagine it's more robust than a wind turbine. Plus in winter, with greater flow you could always fit a second pipe and turbine and generate twice the power.

Martyn1981

pile-o-stone wrote: »

It depends on the hydro system you install. To generate power you head (the fall of water) and flow (the amount of water flowing past). You can have high head & high flow, high head & low flow, low head and high flow, but you can't have low head & low flow.

For a beck, especially one that probably gets a lot more water flow in winter, you can get away with just 2m of head. I've been looking at this one:


https://www.powerspout.com/collections/lh-low-head/products/powerspout-lh-pro-1

With the installation, I'd dam the top of the beck and have part of the overflow over the dam go into pipe which then flows into a holding tank:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_hydro#/media/File:Pico_hydro.jpg

(lol, I'd hope my build would be less Heath Robinson, but it shows the reservoir and the outlet pipe (draft tube). The power is generated by the vortex pulling down water from the holding tank, through the draft tube and back into the stream bed.

From a small beck with 2l per second of flow and a 2m head you can generate 121 watts. This sounds like chicken feed to those of us with 5kw of solar, but 121 watts x 24 hrs a day = 2.9kw.

Connected to a battery and combined with solar, the hydro could charge the battery during the day while the solar provides the power. At night, a combination of 121w from the hydro and the battery reserves should keep a low energy house ticking over nicely until the next day.

Having a penstock and pipe feed to the hydro means you never need to worry about flooding (any excess overflows the dam and goes down the beck. I'd imagine it's more robust than a wind turbine. Plus in winter, with greater flow you could always fit a second pipe and turbine and generate twice the power.

Great idea, but (there's always a but), last I heard the EA were charging stupid fees for a water abstraction licence (needed for hydro schemes) and taking ages about it too.

Certainly worth inquiring though, as the winter bias you mention, makes for a great mix with PV.

[I've forgotten who, but someone on Navitron uses excess PV to pump water up to their giant battery (a large pond). M.]

pile-o-stone

yes, there's always a bit of bureaucracy to get through

I wonder if a waterwheel needs as much paperwork? You're not abstracting water as the waterwheel just sits in the stream. A small midshot one might be cheap and fun to build and look quite decorative. I don't think they're very efficient though. I guess if it just generates enough DC current to power a few LED lights around the house then it might be worth it.

Here's one made from Plywood and a wind turbine alternator -

http://www.reuk.co.uk/wordpress/hydro/building-a-waterwheel/

EDIT: I just saw on that link that his plywood waterwheel was generating 400w. I'm really surprised at that.

agentk

WP wanted 20k 4 years ago to connect us a holiday/bug out cottage.Talk about buying a bill no thanks!

I went solar and genny.

We only really use lights dc and and a sine wave inverter for low wattage applinaces

A 270 watt panel on the roof and 3 lesuire batteries. Hw and heating via rayburn.

Cooking standard cooker with lpg jets via a bottle outside.

yet to run out of power genny only gets used for power tools and the vacum cleaner.

Also there is a stream a long the side of the cottage so investigating water wheel. Thanks for the link pilo o stone.

pile-o-stone

agentk wrote: »

Also there is a stream a long the side of the cottage so investigating water wheel. Thanks for the link pilo o stone.

You're welcome. If you do build something please create a thread and show us what you've done.