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Electronic and technological solutions for a better future |
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Home | Contact Us | Projects / Systems | Project-Solar heater 1 | Pictures and events | How much energy | Related Links |
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Home |
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Contact Us |
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Projects / systems |
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Project-Solar heater 1 |
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Pictures and Events |
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How much energy |
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Related Links |
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The following page shows details of current projects products and services. This will be updated as and when new events take place.
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The top three pictures to the left show a 200W peak bike generator assembly. A prototype system was made some time ago. This was specifically for use as a top-up system for a micro-scale renewable energy system consisting of small solar panel array. The unit has also proven useful for testing charge controllers. A project is currently being carried out to combine the output from three of these generators to power a projector system (see here). And here
The top units include a blocking diode, cabling, instructions, and clips to connect to a suitable battery.
Note that for correct battery charging (so that the battery is not overcharged) a suitable voltage monitor (multi-meter) will be required to monitor the battery voltage. An alternative method for charge controlling is to use a specific controller, some details of a suitable system are provided later on this page.
If you have an existing turbo trainer that you would like modifying (see the pictures immediately to the left). |
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The picture shows a 30 amp 12 V charge controller module. The system is suitable for charge controlling of combined photo-voltaic and wind generator systems up to a total output of 480 Watts. It is also suitable for combining bike generator systems. Each input source will require a suitable blocking diode and appropriate cabling. The module automatically diverts the renewable energy input to a suitable dump-load when the system battery is fully charged. When the battery discharges the unit redirects the renewable energy input back into the battery. The module includes connections for the battery, dump load and input source. An output is provided for automatic control of a battery venting fan if required. The module also has momentary override buttons to allow the input to be diverted directly to the dump load. Further photographs of units developed for events etc are shown here. |
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Bike generator projects |
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Charge controller |
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Projects / Systems |
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The pictures show an ongoing project related to an aluminum beer can based solar drier. The solar unit was initially intended for wood-chip and garden based drying using fan assisted hot air directed into a suitable container. When the work progresses it may be useful for small space heating applications i.e. (garage / greenhouse). Work is currently under progress. At present the collector and housing has been built. A lash up has been tried out and the unit definitely produces an OK output for drying applications. Further ongoing work relates to assembly of the unit, and addition of fans an electronic temperature controller running from an auxiliary photo-voltaic panel. There seems to be a few sources on the internet relating to solar driers using cans some DIY and some commercial (Solar Can in Newfoundland). Googling “Solar Can” should work. An intention with this project is to bridge the gap and provide templates (for the manifolds etc) temperature controllers etc to enable easy home construction of custom size arrays. The templates, instructions, controllers etc will be available as soon as the drier is fully complete. A specific objective was to reuse recycled materials as much as possible. e.g. beer cans for the main collector and cereal packets for the manifolds. Further steps in construction are shown here.
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Can based solar heater and drier |
