Footballjoe Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 In an earlier post I mentioned I am in the preplanning stages of building a Greenhouse. It will be 150 sq ft and will face directly South. I figure Solar would be the way to go to provide Heat in the winter and to run a cooling vent fan as needed. The problem is I have no idea on what would be needed or the cost. I just started looking at some sites but would appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 With a greenhouse, can't you just utilize passive solar? Or do you actually need some cells to generate power? It seems inefficient to convert heat to electric back to heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Check out this website: http://www.usgbc.org/ There could be some good resources there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 if it rains like 4 days in a row ... you may have to sit in the dark with candles and have bad meat in the fridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avernus Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 there have been a few threads on it...I also started one for help on an article where I had to write about Solar Panels back in October and that thread is full of all sorts of information... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 there have been a few threads on it...I also started one for help on an article where I had to write about Solar Panels back in October and that thread is full of all sorts of information... That thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 Thanks for the posts. I have been doing a lot of research the past few days and am beginning to see what I need to do. I will build a Passive Solar Greenhouse in order to retain as much heat as possible. I found a lot of site on how to do it and have a good idea of how I want to do mine. I still need to see if it would be cost effective to have a solar panel to operate ny backup heat source. Living in Virginia I do not hav to deal with the harsh winters so it may be ok to have my backup heater run off electric. There is one piece of information I found but forgot to save and cannot find it again. The panels or glazing Polycarbonate) should be angled to allow maxium light to come in. I saw what the angle was and the adjustment that should be made for the area you live in but now I cannot find it. If anyones know or wants a project I have no objection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 If you're looking for the angle of the sun to the earth at various times of the year, I think Polk is your man. He owns a sextant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 If you're looking for the angle of the sun to the earth at various times of the year, I think Polk is your man. He owns a sextant. No I am looking for what angle to tilt the panels to allow maxium sunlight in. I saw it but forgot what it was. I also needed to make a slight adjustment for my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted February 25, 2008 Author Share Posted February 25, 2008 No I am looking for what angle to tilt the panels to allow maxium sunlight in. I saw it but forgot what it was. I also needed to make a slight adjustment for my area. 27.5 degrees if anyone is interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBoog Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 27.5 degrees if anyone is interested Are you putting them on the Greenhouse or on the roof of your house? The house option allows full light to enter your greenhouse. Kalifornica had some strange policies regarding solar power. Basically, you still had to be a customer of a power company. Your meter would spin backwards if you were using less than you panels produced into the grid. if your panels produced more than you used from the company, they would not however, pay you... it was just a "free" month. Even then, I spent the money and got some tax breaks, but more than anything was just trying to be "green". What I had to pay and the financing on them was not much of an overall savings, at least in the short term over not having them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 Are you putting them on the Greenhouse or on the roof of your house? The house option allows full light to enter your greenhouse. Kalifornica had some strange policies regarding solar power. Basically, you still had to be a customer of a power company. Your meter would spin backwards if you were using less than you panels produced into the grid. if your panels produced more than you used from the company, they would not however, pay you... it was just a "free" month. Even then, I spent the money and got some tax breaks, but more than anything was just trying to be "green". What I had to pay and the financing on them was not much of an overall savings, at least in the short term over not having them. I am referring to the angle of the Polycarbonate panels (or glass used by some). It will be used as the South wall of the Greenhoue. The correct angle allows for maxium sunlight to enter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Do I know anything about solar power? Yes. It involves trapping and storing energy from the sun for use in the future. Generally, it can't be stored for eons and must be used relatively quickly. Hope this was helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Not to hijack your post but will you make another thread and show the economics of operating a greenhouse? I think I could make some good money running one of them here raising vegetables in he winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Do I know anything about solar power? Yes. It involves trapping and storing energy from the sun for use in the future. Generally, it can't be stored for eons and must be used relatively quickly. Hope this was helpful. Helpful, but incorrect. Solar energy can be converted and stored by plants. The plants can them be eaten by dinosaurs who in term store the energy. The dinosaurs then can die and get turned into coal. Then eons later the coal can be burned to release the energy that originally came from the sun. If I were a PR guy for the coal and oil industry, I would rename it as "long-term solar energy". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Kalifornica had some strange policies regarding solar power. Basically, you still had to be a customer of a power company. Your meter would spin backwards if you were using less than you panels produced into the grid. if your panels produced more than you used from the company, they would not however, pay you... it was just a "free" month. what an absolute crock of shiat. From what I have heard, in Michigan you do indeed get paid (or at least credited) if you are a net supplier of energy to the grid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Sure. What do you need to know? Just finished teaching an entire unit on all the different kinds of power we have in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShiznit Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 guys, it is called net metering. And Wiegie, you do not get full credit for all the energy you put into the grid system. Here is the way it works. You obviously will have days where your panels produce enough energy to run your electricity....anything extra flows back into the grid. But there are days where you produce very little and you draw off the grid. You can only get credited for what you use from the grid, anything extra is free to the power company....IOW....in my understanding....there is no rollover "minutes" LOL. It is a use it or lose it system. if anyone is interested or has time, go to Citizenre.com and check it out. I don't know if I am interested in being a rep, but if one were to be part of an MLM scheme...at least this has some environmental advantages to it. Plus they make it easy to get. You are paying for your electric bill already.....you simply lock in your current kilowatt charge and pay that to citizenre.....and they profit instead of Excelon. Anyway...pretty cool business model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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