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[Reply #15 on:]

does it work when covered in snow?

Yes there is that , not as far as I know but possibly a little if some light filters through. I know you can get some power from street lights.

Solar panels don't like being hot so at least you have that aspect covered.

For someone like me who rarely gets below the tropic of Capricorn snow is seldom (read never) an issue, however I do have to use the generator when the weather is bad.

I built this entire motorhome on solar (with generator as required), so it's quite practical to do just about anything if you have sun.

_____
Rob

[Reply #16 on:]

No, but from bitcoin discussions, I know that there are automated wipers and systems that flip the panel after it accumulates so much weight, of course that could be DIY'd for cheap

[Reply #17 on:]

we're in the UK so don't (yet) have the snow problem
just installed 4 kW of solar panels on the roof
the reason we're "limited" to 4 kW is that beyond that the electric company no longer regards you as a "micro-generator"
so you lose the feed in tariff
which is a bit odd, you'd think they'd want as much as possible fed in to the system

other little gem
"so Mr. Salesman, the other benefit will be that we still make electric if there's a power cut"
"ah" quoth he "no"
"er - why not?"

seems the electric company doesn't like all these houses sending electric back into the system after they've "isolated" a faulty bit of their network to repair it!

I feel a hack coming over me
wonder if a UPS would fool the inverter into thinking that there is still electric after a power cut, so it would keep generating power for the house
- and power the UPS of course!

(hmm is this the infinite energy loop thread all over again?!?)  ]

[Reply #18 on:]

What you really need is this big boy!


This keeps the whole farm going!

But...

because it's a diesel there is a 3 second "glow before you go" wait.
just enough to take out my whole friggen network!

[Reply #19 on:]

If you look up the page you'll see someone suggesting he was fat and he didn't even flinch!

When was the last time you've seen an engineer who didn't have some fat to spare? One pound of fat stores as much energy as 150 pounds of nickel metal hydride. (More like 30 pounds after considering conversion efficiency, which is still a lot.)

If there snow in some nearby area, couldn't you carry some back in a cooler? Not having heat is a minor concern - wear jackets and open the faucets a little to prevent them from freezing.

[Reply #20 on:]

Well, being a former youth hockey coach, former program manager, and currently a fencing coach, I don't do much flincing anymore

We did put a large soup pan of snow in the fridge to help keep it cold. Seemed to work.
Luckily it wasn't below freezing ouside (just in the 40s (F)) so we didn't have to worry about pipes freezing.

[Reply #21 on:]

When was the last time you've seen an engineer who didn't have some fat to spare?

1996.

[Reply #22 on:]

There's a seven or eight streets near where I live currently without grid power, they're running everything off the back of a massive trailer that's feeding directly into the local substation down there through cables as thick as your wrist.

I walk past it on my way home from work and boy this thing puts out some heat!

[Reply #23 on:]

When was the last time you've seen an engineer who didn't have some fat to spare?

About an hour and a half ago, civil engineer looking over survey report on a road.  Man, she was hot !  Long legs, short hair, shorts, tee shirt (Arizona remember) and a great smile.

About big generators:  Many years ago during one of the nasty storms that the New York area gets, a major bank data center had a power failure.  The giant generator did exactly what it was supposed to, it kicked on, then immediately died.  Seems the idiot that set it up put it in the ramp leading to the loading dock so people couldn't see it.  The ramp (downhill) filled up with water and flooded the generator; sump pump failure.  Not to be caught without a contingency plan, they called their supplier and the company sent out a truck mounted generator and pulled it up in the parking lot.  They started this one and it ran for an hour and died.  Out of fuel.  The truck that was supposed to be there twenty minutes after the generator arrived was stuck in traffic made much denser by the storm.  But it did arrive after an extra hour and started to refill the generator tank.  They were not allowed to start the generator until the refuel finished (safety concerns) so the various managers that were worried about the down time and their jobs, stood watching.  The wind kicked up and knocked the fuel hose out of the generator tank and fuel started floating around in the various puddles and small streams the continuing rain was causing.  The fire department was called and the fuel company protocols required all motors in the area be shut down and kept down.  The fire department had a number of things going on at the time, so a fire marshal was dispatched to take a look and see if an engine company was actually needed.  He shut the entire operation down until the rain could wash the fuel away and a proper assessment could be made without the distraction of the storm winds and rain.

20 hours later the some of the employees were allowed to start their cars and go home. 

[Reply #24 on:]

Funny how things just go from bad to worse.

______
Rob