A Solar Grow Op.

[One Love 731]

I am looking for any information on growing via solar power. I live in an area were it gets very cold in the winter and also somewhat hot in the summer. I do believe that solar would be a great option for heating and air conditioning. They do now make an A.C. unit that runs off of I believe 400w solar energy and radiant heating could even work with water cooled lights, CO2, ect. not only producing heat for the op but also working as a heat exchanger. My biggest questions lie with the amount of panels it would take to run a 600 or 1000 watt HID. Growing is not a hobby, but something I am in for the long run. Is there already a thread containing this info.? If not I will try and post any info I come across as I do believe its relevant to not only this community but to the future of indoor horticulture as a whole. Karma, One Love

 

[Pimpslapped]

My memory isn't entirely reliable, but I believe DrBudGreenGenes ran a grow op off of solar power. One thing that springs to mind is that he ran CFLs as opposed to HID lights, in part due to the use of deep draw marine batteries charged by the solar panels. Something about the inverter required to run HID, or something along those lines.

Okay, so I'm sort of rambling off on that, but if you look into his threads there may be some info there, or it may have been on another site. Offhand, I don't know enough about solar power to say much on the subject.

Edit:
Ahhhh.... To quote off of this thread OFF-GRID GROWER "HID Ballasts and Inverters don't like to play "Nice"......I would LUV to have 3-70 Watt HPS's in my flowering box...I went through two of them a coupla years ago...1 went at day 21 the other lasted 47 days"

 

[Nordic]

Converting sun into DC and inverting that for hid... Stupid...
Build a greenhouse or just plant outside.

 

[dragunn]

figure to spend 12,000 per 1,000 watt light and thats before the batteries,which will only last three years.not cost effective.

 

[One Love 731]

I was thinking about tying into the utilities, as I believe the kind of system I have in mind would bring more attention if I still had a bill and wasn't connected. Battery's would only be used if power went out, which is rare in my neighborhood. The heating and cooling aspects of solar could be worth it, in of its self, not to mention my carbon footprint and adding to the value of my home. This Idea is obviously just that, an Idea its, not just about the grow but also a business venture I am interested in. I would love to be able to teach those who wanted to learn how to be more self sufficient, healthy and happy through solar and wind power, radiant heating, solar A.C., homesteading and green house's ect. I finally learned how to use the search option and found this idea has been tossed around for some time. I have in the past made large sums of money via this spiritual plant and at this time do not have much to show for it. growing is still new as it will be for the next few years, and the biggest reason I am back, is to make a difference. I want to do something that feels right and help others, all while providing for my family and teaching them to live as one with humanity and mother earth. Karma, One Love

 

[Nordic]

Sounds lovely. Im in it just for a fast buck and tons of free smoke.

 

[nephilthim]

Sounds lovely. Im in it just for a fast buck and tons of free smoke.

my penis is very very small and I am expressing my anger at the penile enlargement industry for duping me into thinking i could alleviate my symptoms without surgery.ahem where was I?
i have seen a company that sells a natural light system by relecting light into floor below roof by a reflective column; I know they were expensive as you would have to break into roof substructure run vertical light shaft to floor below etc,but hell if your macgyver....
maybe running more supplemental cfl with solar panels and some h.i.d. to try to keep the watts down.
find someone with a qualifying condition or go on low income qualification for lower priced electricity.
rewire your existing meter with 8 or 6 gauge going into meter as most residential is 12 gauge the meter spinning is based of resisitance from 12 gauge if you wire into meter with a friendly electrician the meter will spin less because of the lack of resistance from 12 gauge going to 8 or 6 .this was told to me by a licensed electrican.
wondering the light being low and late in winter to try amplify light rays much like a solar cooker.
use nat gas for heating greenhouse or look into natgas generator or anyother generator on per kw cost basis
i saw portable generators that would run in streambeds produce 2500 k i think.
wind power plenty of macguyver crap there hope this helps and I disclaim the validity of above post by being impaired under psychotropics while reading jules verne.

 

[madpenguin]

rewire your existing meter with 8 or 6 gauge going into meter as most residential is 12 gauge the meter spinning is based of resisitance from 12 gauge if you wire into meter with a friendly electrician the meter will spin less because of the lack of resistance from 12 gauge going to 8 or 6 .this was told to me by a licensed electrican.

<Insert loud obnoxious buzzer sound here>

I think quite a bit got lost in the translation. Besides that, NEVER tell someone to either pull the meter, or worse yet, disassemble the meter after pulling. Good way to get yourself killed. The only cable/wire going into a meter is your service drop from the XFMR which is usually #2 AL and then depending on your main breaker rating, up to 4/0 AL/CU coming out to feed your panel. I'd say those are a hell of alot bigger than #12 or even #8 and #6...

I'm not up to speed on Solid State meters but your typical induction meter with the dials and rotor disk measure voltage and amperage by way of eddy currents induced by magnets.... In a nut shell anyway. The only possible way of cheating the meter, without pulling it, is to do something like this:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/811500/electric_meter_hack_how_to_cut_your_electricity_bill_in_half/

It should work in theory. Kinda hard to conceal tho which makes it nigh useless....

One Love, it's a good idea, even noble, but solar really isn't a viable option unless you are uber rich. Your startup costs will be a heavy 5 digits, depending on how much you want to run. Even for just a 1kw panel array, a 15 kwh battery bank, grid inverter and the rest of the trimmings, your looking at 20-25k USD. Not to mention that your 1kw panel array would probably only provide about 3kwh per day during the winter.

So... Just to get around 15kwh/day in the winter, be prepared to fork out 100k for materials and labor. You know how long it would take you just to break even?

Best thing you can do is to pray for fossil fuel depletion. Until that happens, green energy will never be a viable option for the average joe.

 

[nephilthim]

<Insert loud obnoxious buzzer sound here>

I think quite a bit got lost in the translation. Besides that, NEVER tell someone to either pull the meter, or worse yet, disassemble the meter after pulling. Good way to get yourself killed. The only cable/wire going into a meter is your service drop from the XFMR which is usually #2 AL and then depending on your main breaker rating, up to 4/0 AL/CU coming out to feed your panel. I'd say those are a hell of alot bigger than #12 or even #8 and #6...


I am not an electrician I would not suggest someone touch a live meter.I was told by my electrician that the power meter (not digital alum is rated off
resistance from a 12 gauge wire,he said that if he had to rewire his house over that he would do it completely in 6 or 8 gauge which he said would reduce resistance (power wheel spin slower)going into meter.
now illegal things I wouldn't recommmend that i have heard inverting power meter,magnets alongside older steel meters,heat gun to warp alum power wheel,jumper cables attached to power line.all illegal im sure,but I have an innate slant at humor at all the macguyver crap people do to avoid paying bills/potentially going to jail.
dunno something akin to the token affection i have for darwin award winners

 

[knifehitz]

I have to agree with Nordic, seems pointless to even involve electricity in a solar powered grow.

 

[shifty]

My 2 cents....

Have to agree with Nordic also, but in the not too distant future (say 5-10 years), there will be some serious high intensity LEDs that can generate the lumens required to grow decent plants. Then maybe solar power grows will become much more feasible.

 

[One Love 731]

Well its time to put this idea on the back burner as this stove has many burners. I did not know how to use the advanced search feature when I started this thread. Thanks to all who gave input. Karma, One Love