Free Energy Growing

[iampolluted]

this has to be 1 of the best ideas/tutorials i've seen that pertain to growing. that includes all the heath robinson grows, and every other innovator that has helped us all become better growers. it's fucking brilliant, efficient, clean (in more ways that 1), and produces!
for a lb.(+/-) of herb most of us (small scale ops) could be growing for free!

i still think you need to let that damn cool tube hang vert, and start climbing the walls though lol.

now every time i see a solar panel on a house i'm gonna be thinking of this thread lol.

thanks for sharing this with a broader audience man....this thread will be around for quite awhile imo.

 

[Big Sky]

I just want to thank everyone for the real interest and kind words so far-
Its been a warm welcome to ICM so far and I'm looking to feature more of this tonight-

I started a few of my select Space Dragon plants in veg from clone, under a screen to get the SCROG effect and yield a little more off the two clones-
But this test will give a good control to see what I can do in the future with this setup to gain higher yields-
So this will be Solar Test Grow #2..
I'll let you in at 2 weeks into flowering-
Just doing soil , drain to waste again like the first test grow in this setup and next run will be the metrop lineup, with full E&F action-
All hydroponic-

 

[Big Sky]

this has to be 1 of the best ideas/tutorials i've seen that pertain to growing. that includes all the heath robinson grows, and every other innovator that has helped us all become better growers. it's fucking brilliant, efficient, clean (in more ways that 1), and produces!
for a lb.(+/-) of herb most of us (small scale ops) could be growing for free!

i still think you need to let that damn cool tube hang vert, and start climbing the walls though lol.

now every time i see a solar panel on a house i'm gonna be thinking of this thread lol.

thanks for sharing this with a broader audience man....this thread will be around for quite awhile imo.

Hey thanks IMP,
you know, we go way back man, and i have to say honestly- It is the good friends like you that keep pushing me- Its the artist in me- Without fans we are nothing so without good folks like yourself always pushing me to post up and be a part of something bigger I wouldn't do it-
its what really keeps me trucking forward with the crazy ideas-

I Honestly want to dedicate this space to test grows -
for larger companies- My test grows are legit but I cant put out a non biased review regardless cause its my own stuff-
my own brand-
but i want to dedicate it to running stuff for other breeders for testing- Its the optimal setup regardless of its power- the spectrum rocks and i would go vert but i'm afraid of heights lol haha-
I would like to..maybe one day buddy-
I'll draw up a vert design to show you how i would do it if i decided to- think..NFT spiral-

 

[iampolluted]

i know that it'll get to a lot more eyes and minds on this site than just about anywhere else. this is the type of things that give us growers and smokers a GOOD name! you're not stealing power, running unsafe wiring, or doing shoddy craftsmanship in the building stages either, and have a negative carbon footprint to boot.

this is the type of grow and innovation this industry desperately needs to show we aren't all lazy, stupid, energy suckers trying to promote a greener living while burning as much power as we do. i hate the fact we have to rely on some coal burning power plants for this hobby, and it's always the most dominant and consistent expense. when you eliminate the power co, you've freed yourself from anything incriminating, other than your mouth, and odor control. think of how many people who've had power bills thrown up in their face in court....you won't ever have that problem now lol.

like i said before, you know you're doing well when you the power company pays YOU to grow weed and feed back to their grid.

 

[FunkBomb]

That is an awesome solar system you've created. This thread should be made a sticky ASAP.

-Funk

 

[Bud buster]

Very cool Ive always wanted to do this.

 

[Killacash]

This is an amazing thread. I'll be honest, it seemed ICMAG was lacking these last few years with alot of our regulars being gone, but this thread has given me hope that ICMAG still remains the most sophisticated and cutting edge MJ cultivation website out there.

I've always wanted to go off the grid, or at least get paid for producing power.

Thanks, Big Sky, you've reignited the flame. I hope more threads like this are to come.

 

[AnonMe]

Great post.

Excellent diagrams and explanations. I love it.

I was considering something similar but for a whole different reason. I am talking hiding your 12 hour spikes and cycles. My idea was to use a battery bank and inverter to absorb the spike and then charge the battery's off the grid slowly. With a large enough battery bank and current limiting you could have a nice slow steady power draw over 24 hours with no noticable spike or cycles.

Going one step further, you could run the thing entirely off the grid as you are doing and only draw from the grid in extended periods of cloud cover/no sun.

I like my 600w and 1000w globes too much to go entirely off the grid but I am ready to try LED again now that technology has moved on a little. Being 100% off the grid as you are is a great achievement. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

 

[noyd666]

yes, excellent work, got mates with soler in their shacks,i'm going to read this again shortly,less worry for shore,bastards kept bringing power bill up on me .good luck with what your doing.

 

[Superklass]

very nice mate,through i would go just for simple growing,good luck

 

[ItsTopShelf]

hey man.. just wondering.. what the cost of the solar panels.. and everything u would need besides the grow equipment.. im talking just equipment to collect and store the energy.. ? like panels.. wiring .. breakers.. controllers? ? rough gestimate?

 

[Hazeo]

Hey Big Sky, thanks a lot for sharing this with us! thats a big help for many growers!
Keep up the good work bro!

Like some other said before... a clear lists of the necessary parts and equipment would be perfect! Thanks mate!

High regards
Hazeo

 

[Big Sky]

Thanks everyone for the great vibes! I can do a list-
Its pretty extensive so i might miss a few things but i'll give it my best shot

Parts List:


3 x uni-solar 124w 24v solar panels 180$ EA
1 uni-solar 144w 24v panel 180$
2 x 4 way mc3 parallel solar panel harnesses- (male and female) 50$ pair
2 x solar panel mc3 extension cables- 30$ pair
2x 15 feet length mc3 cable stripped one end and male/female mc3 connections on other end- 30$ a pair

4 x Heavy 4 gage battery terminal wires - 6$ ea
4 x 6V 215 amp hour deep cell batteries- 200$ EA
Coleman Air 60 amp charge controller- 165$
progressive dynamics ac distribution panel with built in 12v converter 250$
1000w pure sine wave inverter- 350$
breakers for AC panel 20$ ea x 4
150amp quick disconnect breakers for charge controller and inverter cables 15$ EA X 2 (car audio)

50ft roll of 12 gage wire for electrical..35$

400w digital HPS/MH and cool tube setup from I-Power 165$
2 x LED Blackstar 90w UFO's (i got a deal ) 125$ ea
Flood table 2x2' 65$
res 25 gal GH res 55$
eco 185 sub pump 25$
hoses 5$
pots 20 hydrofarm E&F square 1 gal 1.50EA
Hanna Grochek monitor 65$ used -works great-on ebay(75% off reg price)!!
New probe 85$
4" active air/hydrofarm inline blower 165cfm 65$ new
5" axial fans..free! found em under a air hockey table! powerful as hell! 80fm ea!

 

[Big Sky]

this did take me a solid year and using a lot of grow /seed profits to create a model solar grow like this for everyone-
It took massive online research and talking to companies here in the states to figure it all out but its actually really simple once you go through the motions like anything else-
I bid folks to not be afriad of being different-
I am building an earthship and solar heated greenhouse soon and will be completely self sustainable by the time im 35-36 years old-
i will have mostly greehouse grown herb and some indoor setups, prob tents for breeding and isolation chambers in the future-
but for now im still using some grid power folks- im not totally free yet-
i have a few other rooms to account for- lol

 

[Big Sky]

grow #2
heres whats going on at the moment- just a few clones i had of my space dragon strain..
tossed a scren in there to up the yields on the two clones-
they where young so it was worth the effort-
there producing good structured colas at week 2-

nothing special..buts it my smoke..
about 6-7 weeks out now-
then i should have a small 2-3oz harvest-
next run is going to be awesome watch..I'm running the full system hydro using metrop-
about 15 clones, lollypop in hydroton-
should do close to 8 oz's-
thinking of stacking up either black widow kush or possibly kandy kush clones in there-

 

[BroughtSuperior]

brilliant idea bro, although i woldnt be able to do something like that because im an electrician noob, i admire all that hard work, keep it up!!
PS: can you show more of your seeds\strains, and were can we get them??
Peace

 

[rangergord]

Outstanding implementation of a solar powered grow! You packed every detail into your presentation and photos in a logical and straightforward way. You have proven that it can be done if you throw enough money and time at it. You did not just talk about it and play around on paper but you actually did it. That counts for a lot. It may not make economic sense but it has its own rewards and growing herb is probably the best use of the power with the fastest payback.
I have spent time and money trying to simply reduce my power consumption to a minimum. I have reduced my grow's power load from over 600 watts to about 350 watts in total. One thing that has worked very well for me is to use a different lighting schedule. Check out the IC thread about growing from seed on 12/12 lighting. Sativa dominant varieties grow very well from seed using only 12 hours of light. Next I use 12 hours of light and then in the middle of the dark period I give them 1 extra hour of light. This can even be from a small cfl or led lamp. It does not need to be full strength lighting. Yeilds do not seem to be affected much. 18-24 hours of light is simply not required. It may be beneficial at times but it is optional.

Great job on integrating the led lighting with the HID. It looks like it works very well. If I was gonna do it though I think I would start with a 250 watt digital ballast and dim it to 50 and 75%. It seems to me it would provide a similar amount of light and power consumption with less cost. It looks like your ventilation system has a lot of capacity and must work like a hot damn, but all those fans have got to be drawing a fair bit of current. There may be a way to reduce that load as well. Overall though, what you have done is very impressive.

 

[Big Sky]

brilliant idea bro, although i woldnt be able to do something like that because im an electrician noob, i admire all that hard work, keep it up!!
PS: can you show more of your seeds\strains, and were can we get them??
Peace

thanx man.
sure you can d oit-
you can do anything you put the energy into-
i was an electrical newb to but after learning this setup-
I can rewire an entire house-
no problem- its just like anything else- it all comes in stride-
i cant show to much without advertising.

Cheers

Outstanding implementation of a solar powered grow! You packed every detail into your presentation and photos in a logical and straightforward way. You have proven that it can be done if you throw enough money and time at it. You did not just talk about it and play around on paper but you actually did it. That counts for a lot. It may not make economic sense but it has its own rewards and growing herb is probably the best use of the power with the fastest payback.
I have spent time and money trying to simply reduce my power consumption to a minimum. I have reduced my grow's power load from over 600 watts to about 350 watts in total. One thing that has worked very well for me is to use a different lighting schedule. Check out the IC thread about growing from seed on 12/12 lighting. Sativa dominant varieties grow very well from seed using only 12 hours of light. Next I use 12 hours of light and then in the middle of the dark period I give them 1 extra hour of light. This can even be from a small cfl or led lamp. It does not need to be full strength lighting. Yeilds do not seem to be affected much. 18-24 hours of light is simply not required. It may be beneficial at times but it is optional.

Great job on integrating the led lighting with the HID. It looks like it works very well. If I was gonna do it though I think I would start with a 250 watt digital ballast and dim it to 50 and 75%. It seems to me it would provide a similar amount of light and power consumption with less cost. It looks like your ventilation system has a lot of capacity and must work like a hot damn, but all those fans have got to be drawing a fair bit of current. There may be a way to reduce that load as well. Overall though, what you have done is very impressive.

thanks for the kind words- Ive done some 12/12 from seed- the chem D of mine was only 14 days veg from seed and did an oz each-
i did give everything else more veg time though-
i like to do 12/12 with fresh rooted clones as well.. many colas-
one per pot-

 

[Big Sky]

Just wanted to show off this strain a little-
This will be the product of these two clones in flower come about 6 weeks from now in the soalr grow-
I give you...
Space Dragon

here are its genetics-
West Himalayan Kush X Utopia Haze x Chem 91' BX male

 

[killerweed31]

im really impressed by your job dude, simply amazing!1
a beautifull cab with your power, lookin efficient !!
this is a veri nice one 3d's , thanks for share ...you make inspiration to many growers that want try do that, RESPECT!!!