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Free Energy Growing

GrownOut

GrownOut

HDGC
Veteran
Awesome write up brotha!!! Glad to see ya post this over here and good to see all the great positive responses. I think you have definitely opened up alot of peoples minds about converting over to solar powered grow rooms. I know I am definitely going to do it. I get enough sun here year round, you know this, so I should have no issues powering a room all year round with the right system. :D

Keep up the great work bro!!! Taking it to another level.
 
Big Sky

Big Sky

Member
cheers man!
thanks dood it was a hell of a puzzle but man its just plain damn cool imho-
I love doing new things-
This was right up my alley- LOve being off the grid so this was a major first step-
i can upgrade so much that this is going to run all my grows, big lighting etc in the future-
Hope to fully rid myself off that pesky grid-
I know you will have no issues with your sun -
wind not so much so your investment will be batteries and panels-
The vibes have been great here and couldn't ask for much more-
I'm going to dedicate this space for test grows man - hint hint- so anything you need, it will get the attention of one room, one solid setup-

Cheers man see ya soon ;)
 
G

Granger2

Active member
Veteran
Big Sky,
I can tell your proud of your system/hard work/workmanship/innovation, and you very well should be. Nice. -granger
 
chubbynugs

chubbynugs

Registered Pothead
Veteran
This thread just got my mind racing. Thanks for posting this and not letting your knowledge go to waste.
 
ganja_hasi

ganja_hasi

natural mystic
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Thanks for sharing your innovative work with the community Big Sky :thank you: Absolutely awesome!
 
Big Sky

Big Sky

Member
Ganja hasi,
Awesome, appreciate it- Glad to be here and thanks for having me-
;)
This setup is on the small scale but packs big technology-
They really dont make it easy to do this or very affordable- But something that pays for itself ....will.
 
A

AnonMe

Active member
Again Big Sky, great show and grow.

I just had a second look at your set up and have a few questions to satisfy my own curiosity.

I noticed you've got ventilation in the battery box which is good. Are you venting this to the outside of your grow room? I'm sure you've done this because of any potential Hydrogen gas build up. I think its important to note this for anyone else thinking of replicating your work.

Also, I can see in your diagram from the inverter there is a green earth although you guys probably call it 'ground'. I know that where I am from we use an earth protection system known as M.E.N. and requires you to stake the earth into the ground and make sure everything is equapotentially bonded. That is all the exposed metallic bits and pieces that are not designed to be a conductor connected together running back to the main earth. In my area it is a requirement for all generators or inverters to be staked unless they are located in a quarry or mining pit (they fear stray currents setting off explosives).

The M.E.N. and earth stake are an intrinsic part of making sure R.C.D's (residual current devices) trip out in the event of an earth fault. I believe you guys call them something other than RCD's. I cant recognize any of these in your AC panel but for your own safety they might be worth looking into if you dont already have them. I am not sure what your rules and regulations are in that part of the world.

Having said all that, the fact that you've done what you've done shows me you definitely know what your doing and your systems are different from ours. I just wanted to make sure you are looking after your own safety and those of your loved ones.

Keep up the good work!
 
Big Sky

Big Sky

Member
AnonMe said:
Again Big Sky, great show and grow.

I just had a second look at your set up and have a few questions to satisfy my own curiosity.

I noticed you've got ventilation in the battery box which is good. Are you venting this to the outside of your grow room? I'm sure you've done this because of any potential Hydrogen gas build up. I think its important to note this for anyone else thinking of replicating your work.

Also, I can see in your diagram from the inverter there is a green earth although you guys probably call it 'ground'. I know that where I am from we use an earth protection system known as M.E.N. and requires you to stake the earth into the ground and make sure everything is equapotentially bonded. That is all the exposed metallic bits and pieces that are not designed to be a conductor connected together running back to the main earth. In my area it is a requirement for all generators or inverters to be staked unless they are located in a quarry or mining pit (they fear stray currents setting off explosives).

The M.E.N. and earth stake are an intrinsic part of making sure R.C.D's (residual current devices) trip out in the event of an earth fault. I believe you guys call them something other than RCD's. I cant recognize any of these in your AC panel but for your own safety they might be worth looking into if you dont already have them. I am not sure what your rules and regulations are in that part of the world.

Having said all that, the fact that you've done what you've done shows me you definitely know what your doing and your systems are different from ours. I just wanted to make sure you are looking after your own safety and those of your loved ones.

Keep up the good work!
Click to expand...


yes, good question!
yes you want to have the battery bank chamber well vented and away from any potential hazards like electrical sparks etc-
mine vents the area away from everything in that chamber- it goes up and straight out of a flute on the roof-
so it stays really clean from any gas buildup-


With the electrical..
We have a pos, ground, and neutral wiring setup for AC current-
green is neutral-
we use "electrical breakers" instead of RCD's as you call them-
But there all there-
I can take further pics of the AC distribution panel if it helps-
But basically the AC/DC distribution panel accepts the pos,G,N wiring from the inverter-
these connect in place of where shore power"grid power" would normally come into the panel-
you just need a big enough extension cord to make it happen-
something that can handle 2000w since my inverter is only a PSW 1000w-
i appreciate any safety concerns for sure-
I did an extensive amount of safety when i designed the system-
i have quick disconnects throughout the main wiring to just push a button and shut down power if i want- i installed everything with fire in mind-
when i was 18 my first home i had burnt down so i'm real careful these days with stuff like that-
 
Big Sky

Big Sky

Member
I didnt show it in the diagram and just went back and checked- the ac distriution panels are grounded through copper line and a copper rod about 6-7 feet long that i had to drive underground outside- so everything is grounded from the ac distribution panel wich is why i choose this rv panel-
it has a 12v converter built in along with full ac distribution -
just couldn't beat the versatility they have for the 250$ ;)
 
A

AnonMe

Active member
Big Sky said:
when i was 18 my first home i had burnt down so i'm real careful these days with stuff like that-
Click to expand...

Dude thats a bummer about your home burning down. I cant imagine that feeling. We had a big bush fire go through in my state and wipe out a few houses. I remember it because I was working away from home and I jumped in the work car in the morning with my work mate who was distraught. He was watching his house burn down on the nightly news. He recognized his roof from an aerial shot. A fireman was bashing on the door and his wife answered. He said "grab your kids, and go NOW NOW NOW!" she yelled at them to grab their shoes and he said there was no time. As a result, that day all he had was the clothes he was wearing and his family with their clothes minus 3 sets of shoes.

Big Sky said:
With the electrical..
We have a pos, ground, and neutral wiring setup for AC current-
green is neutral-
we use "electrical breakers" instead of RCD's as you call them-
But there all there-
Click to expand...

Yes I forgot you you guys were that much different to us!
In my country;
Red = Active
Black = Neutral
Green+Yellow (old standard all green, some still around) = Earth (ground)

I believe in your place white is active? I cant remember.

We still use Breakers here too. But also RCD's. Sometimes you get them in the same package which is known as a combo breaker. I am not sure if you call them the same things over there, or if your quick disconnects are our RCD's?

As you know, Breakers trip when the current goes above their rated trip point for too long a time. I believe your breakers come in different sizes to ours as well as your wire is refered to in 'gauge' where ours is refered to by cross sectional area. So as you know, if you have a wire of a certain gauge it can theoretically only carry so much current. Therefor you select a breaker that will trip out before the wire burns out. Thats how we do it in upside down world anyway. Our standard for power points is 2.5mm squared. Now this can handle something like 25Amp in theory but all the power points are rated at 10Amp (usually). So most houses have a 16Amp breaker for power points. Some people will whack in a 20Amp.

Along with this, they also put in an RCD. The active will go in the top of 16Amp breaker, then come out and go into the top of the RCD. Out of the RCD and out to the field. The Neutral will return to the bottom of the RCD, Come out the top and through to the main neutral. The RCD itself now has the active coming in and out as well as the neutral coming in and out.

As you know, the amps in a circuit is the only thing that is the same at all points. (ignoring places the circuit splits and runs parallel, but the sum of those should be the same). So if you have 8A running through your 16A breaker, and through the RCD you should have 8A coming back to the neutral to the RCD and back to the main neutral.

So the RCD monitors both of these two. If there is an imbalance, it trips. How much of an imbalance? Well standards here dictate 30mA. Which as you know is three fifths of fuck all. If there is 30mA difference in the balance then it can only be going one place. Through earth and back to the main neutral via the M.E.N. This means there is an earth fault somewhere. Imagen if it is the fridge. As soon as someone comes and grabs the handle they could potentially get an electric shock. But they should not with an RCD. If the fridge is WELL insulated from the ground. Like it has rubber feet and is not touching the floor etc and the RCD has not tripped, it will trip as soon as someone touches it and completes the circuit to ground. How fast? I cant quite remember what the standards dictate. I think its 200ms. Most will trip in something like 23ms. Thats fucking fast. You wont feel anything.

I suspect you already know all I have typed anyway, but I think its good to mention in case anyone is going to replicate your good work.

Peace.
 
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