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Application Note

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stove and refrigerator. It’s harder

to do without power though,

and the cost of getting on the

grid can reach $50,000 if you’re

far away. That makes solar look

pretty good, when you can get a

system for as little as $10,000.

So if you live in Joshua Tree,

or somewhere like it, a solar

electric system may be the way

to go. That doesn’t mean it’s all

smooth sailing, though; if there’s

an Achilles heel to residential

solar power at this time (besides

the cost), it’s the installation.

Every system is custom, and

the quality of the installation

can make or break the system.

That’s where people like Robert

Fonda come in.

Anatomy of a solar

installation

Robert begins with extensive

planning. The critical questions

are how much power will be

needed and when. If you want

the ability to run several appli-

ances at the same time, you’ll

need a larger system. If your

stove and refrigerator are elec-

tric, add them to the load. Robert

will take the amount of sunlight

into account; there’s lots of it,

Harnessing the

power of the sun

The rise of solar power

Solar-powered homes have been

a staple of the Whole Earth Cat-

alog for some years, but recently

they have also become a main-

stream reality. There are now

over 180,000 solar-powered

off-grid homes in the U.S. not

connected to any electrical util-

ity. (There are even more homes

with grid connections plus solar

power; 36 states require power

utilities to purchase any excess

power by running the meter

backward whenever the home

generates more power than it is

using.)

There are a lot of reasons to

install solar electric systems.

They’re quiet, the energy costs

are falling—though not yet as

low as utility power—and they

emit no greenhouse gases. In

addition, in places like Joshua

Tree, there’s another reason:

this is beautiful, remote, open

country, and the price of living

in all that open space is that

the utilities may be quite far

away. Accordingly, people adapt.

There’s a water-delivery truck

that will bring you one or two

thousand gallons at a time, and

you can use propane to run your

Robert Fonda is a lucky man. He has left the

bustle of Los Angeles and is living his dream in

Joshua Tree, one of California’s most remote

and beautiful deserts. Robert and his wife live

off the grid, ten miles from the nearest power

line, yet they have all the comforts of modern

life including Internet connectivity, satellite TV,

laptop computers, cell phones and a microwave.

The key to all this is the off-grid solar electric

systems that Robert installs and maintains.

Operator: Robert Fonda, solar panel

systems designer/installer

Measurements: Power usage audits,

power output checks, continuity,

voltage drop

Tools: Fluke T+PRO Electrical Tester,

Fluke 124 ScopeMeter

Test Tool,

LH1060 Power Clamp Meter (the

Fluke 345)

Testing Functions

Case Study

Summary of content (3 pages)

PAGE 1
Harnessing the power of the sun Testing Functions Case Study Application Note Robert Fonda is a lucky man. He has left the bustle of Los Angeles and is living his dream in Joshua Tree, one of California’s most remote and beautiful deserts. Robert and his wife live off the grid, ten miles from the nearest power line, yet they have all the comforts of modern life including Internet connectivity, satellite TV, laptop computers, cell phones and a microwave.
PAGE 2
because this is Joshua Tree, but there are still cloudy days, storms and shade trees. Finally, he’ll look at where you need the power and then design your system. Conceptually, the system is simple. On the outdoor side there are photovoltaic (PV) solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity and on the indoor side there’s an inverter to generate ac.
PAGE 3
Robert Fonda’s home system Capacity: 1 kW. Total cost, installed: $13,000. Sunlight PV panel Eight 130-watt panels, $600 each (and each about 3 ft x 4 ft). Expected life: 30+ years. Charge controller $400 Battery bank Eight 6 V/200 amp-hour batteries @ $200 each. Expected life: 3 to 5 years. Generator $700 Inverter $1800 Home power If the cause is not a rise in your power usage, Robert looks for a decrease in system performance.