Memo for the record

       This memo is to myself, mostly as a reminder of about what the present electrical setup at the Hemlocks is.  The intent is reporting what we have if the public electricity goes down. Plus, how I imagine using my present solar backup is also memo for the record recorded. Remember, the primary backup system is a water turbine powered system, and it is doing OK after six months or so. We are still in the tune up stage for that setup. The present summer drought has aggravated things, too. Now I am setting up the solar back up to that, and again, this is what the memo for the record is about.

            And, again, the Hemlocks primary electricity source today comes from TVA, and they still do pretty good, in my humble opinion.

            The backup setup basically uses a 100W mono-crystalline single solar panel connected to two deep cycle batteries using an MRRP type solar controller.  This setup basically (and hopefully) best charges the batteries even during poor solar days, like cloudy and rainy, plus using indirect sunlight.  The initial intent is to power the 7.2 cu.ft. freezer (to extend the shelf life of the food we eat), and the rechargers for the eneloop rechargeable AA and AAA batteries.  Now the layout for how to physically do this is up for grabs (like where to locate all this stuff), since we are just in the initial setup and test stage. Right now, most of all this is on the front porch.

             For example, do I move the freezer into another room closer to the inverter (to be hooked up), or just use a long extension cord (with its own inherent electrical losses) to keep the freezer in the kitchen, and see what happens. That is what testing is all about. There are no books on this subject.

            On a good day, can the solar panel do enough to help power the freezer, even during  the night time when all runs off of hooked up battery power, or even during the day when hopefully it makes enough electrical power to run the freezer when it is on, and recharge the batteries in the interim when the freezer is off?  By the way, when the freezer is on (it's not on all the time), it draws around 92 to 102 watts, so it is close in this test.

            And of course all the freezer waste heat goes into the house, so I do get some warmth out of it all.

            And I did have to use public electricity to use my grinder to fit my 4 AWG wires to the fancy MRRP solar controller and battery stuff. God bless TVA.

            Last, I personally think about use it or lose it. So if I can get all to work together (primary and backups), which I think I can, I can both use it, and even save some money in the meantime.  After all, there are two ways to get better off financially speaking. One is to cut expenses, and the other obvious one is to increase income.           
          

Addendum to the memo for the record

            The "load" will be the inverter clamps placed on the battery terminals.

            The solar controller load connections will not be used in the initial setup.

            The backup inverter (DC to AC) has its own on/off switch.  Also it should be able to power the eneloop battery recharger, and the freezer.

            The initial intent is to hook up a surge protector strip to the inverter, and then plug in the eneloop battery recharger, and the 7.2 cu.ft. freezer, both to the strip, which has its own on/off switch. The intent of the freezer is to use it to extend the shelf life of the food in it. It will be totally full.

            The initial plan is to use the battery recharger periodically during daylight hours, so one will have to unplug this charger from the strip in most cases, most often the nighttime.

            Right now I have two deep cycle 12V batteries in parallel to power things during the night. One is brand new (like will last until around 2020), and the other probably has two or three years of life on it (like will last until around 2014 or later, hopefully).

            Security will probably use a lot of this rechargeable battery stuff.

            Remember, this is a backup to my backup. That's how important electricity is to me, and the security use of it.

            If I can't keep the freezer working, then I will use the already available plastic storage tubs to keep the mice out, though shelf life will be reduced.