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yahoo2

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Joined: 05/04/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1166

Posted: 12:42am 16 Apr 2012

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couple of graphs from my weather logger

This one shows the daily peak watts in blue and cumulative energy in yellow for the day, through the month of March. The energy is in Langley's (Ly) which is a bit of a pain, the conversion is 1 langley = 11.622 watthours per square meter so that is about an average of 6000 wh/m2 per day hitting the ground last month.
There should be a visible reduction of solar energy as we are fast heading for winter but it is not clear from this snapshot.

this is the highest solar radiation reading logged every day (the blue line) and there is a distinct line. The few points that it is below the line are days of heavy cloud and rain. Interestingly the many points that are above the line are due to light cloud or haze spiking the peak readings up for 5 or ten minutes in the early afternoon. there is a definite minimum that the daily peak stays above showing the seasonal change over the year.

cumulative monthly solar energy, april is down because there is still 14 days to go! October and February were wetter than average this year.
Still if we divide the monthly total by the days in the month and times by 11.622 we get about 2600 wh/m2/day in june and 8200 wh/m2/day in December.

Edited by yahoo2 2012-04-17

I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not...

dicky
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Joined: 12/04/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 1

Posted: 09:39am 16 Apr 2012

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Hi all,my name is Dicky and i have been advised to introduce myself and interests.Firstly,email and computers are not my best form of communication,simply because i am a beginner. Notwithstanding,i will do my best.
In another life i was an electrical contractor,so have basic knowledge of electrical systems, however as most of you would probably understand,low voltage and battery systems have unique challenges.
My wife and i have built 2 cruising catamarans and i did the solar and wind generation and 12 volt lead acid installation in both boats.
The doctor has put me off the water,so bought a 7 meter bus to turn into a motorhome.
I have been following lifepo4 technology for some time and think it has become viable.After talking to Trev,am considering a 12v 200ah lifepo4 sysyem for house charged with bus generator and 2x200 watt solar panels,regulation is still to be determined.If anybody has relevent knowledge and information please feel free to share it.

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