Juice, Finally.

Got the watch going at 9:30am, had a bad solder joint on the positive lead, and I moved the cap closer to the edge of the roof. Had 9 hours and 50 minutes of generating time. Not bad for the late start. The next few days should show more accurately.

I'm going to start the research on adding an electric water heater to the basboard system. Currently, I get my hot water from the furnace, so I have to burn oil to stay warm. By throwing a water heater into the loop, I'll be able to preheat, if not go around the furnace. I'll have to figure the valves and plumbing, but it shouldn't be too hard.

This will keep me from frrrreezing should the oil run out. Once I figure the heater capacity I'll need, then I can calc the amount of battery power for 2 days running time. Why 2 days and not longer? I'm going to add wind generating to it. I found some interesting designs for bladed mills, and will experiment with that, as well. As I read somewhere, if the sun ain't shining, the wind is usually blowing. And it can blow all night, as well.

I'm really trying to avoid direct water heating, as I mostly need hot water in the winter, and most systems will need antifreeze, closed loops, and heat exchangers to be really efficient, and that is just too much expense for the return.

I'll be getting the chance to read this book on designing the system in the next week or so, so that should give me more input and ideas, see just what I've missed.

Shine on!