Brewers With Solar Power

[jimmyjack]

I have a solar array on my roof and am increasingly obsessed about generating electricity for a Net feed in tariff and feeding back to the grid to offset my bill. My system is very small and on average I can send back $90 back to the grid also offsetting the electricity that I use. Does anyone have any effective ideas on how to maintain a keg fridge during the day and still be able to offset the bill. I am thinking about putting a timer on the fridge and switching it off during the sun hours.

 

[seemax]

Feedback tariff is down to 8c or something now in Victoria... so much for promoting green energy.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I have a 3KW system. The idea really is to use as much power during the day when its going to cost you more money to buy, not put it back to the grid for a piddly 8c.
I run a cool room 24/7 etc ,I have reduced our bill by 50%.
Nev

 

[Maheel]

I have a 3KW system. The idea really is to use as much power during the day when its going to cost you more money to buy, not put it back to the grid for a piddly 8c.
I run a cool room 24/7 etc ,I have reduced our bill by 50%.
Nev

some in QLD get 44c feed in

the reverse is best for them feed in during day and reduce use and buy in and use at night to do stuff

i was thinking if you had a fair mount of solid ice in the freezer would it keep the whole fridge cool ?
kind of like a "reverse heat sink"
but then it might suck the power at night to re-freeze

with summer here in QLD it's going to make it harder for you

 

[Arghonaut]

I am on stand alone solar, my only advice would be to use a keezer, they are better insulated and hence use much less power. My keezer with room for 6 kegs plus the compressor hump space for storage, set at 5 degrees, uses between .2 and .4 kwh a day.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

some in QLD get 44c feed in

the reverse is best for them feed in during day and reduce use and buy in and use at night to do stuff

i was thinking if you had a fair mount of solid ice in the freezer would it keep the whole fridge cool ?
kind of like a "reverse heat sink"
but then it might suck the power at night to re-freeze

with summer here in QLD it's going to make it harder for you

44 c is impressive
Our Liberal government waited for people to put systems on their roofs and dropped the tariff from 24 to 6 c. PRICKS :angry:
Nev

 

[booargy]

some in QLD get 44c feed in

the reverse is best for them feed in during day and reduce use and buy in and use at night to do stuff

i was thinking if you had a fair mount of solid ice in the freezer would it keep the whole fridge cool ?
kind of like a "reverse heat sink"
but then it might suck the power at night to re-freeze

with summer here in QLD it's going to make it harder for you

I have been looking at cooling options and systems lately this is an interesting setup http://www.ozefridge.com.au/ It is pretty much a fridge unit that passes glycol from a tank through a cold plate in the fridge and back to the tank.

 

[seravitae]

Depending how crazy/hippie you are you could even look at somehow rigging up an ammonia/water refrigerator with a HX on the roof. Directly use the sun to generate refrigeration, but probably a bit hard to manage temp control.

 

[booargy]

Depending how crazy/hippie you are you could even look at somehow rigging up an ammonia/water refrigerator with a HX on the roof. Directly use the sun to generate refrigeration, but probably a bit hard to manage temp control.

Probably easier to power a genset with a stirling hot air engine.

 

[Aces High]

chest freezers converted to keg fridges are incredibly efficient due to the extra insulation. If you want to make that keg fridge efficient try lining the inside where possibly with extra styrene foam.
The less cool the fridge looses, the less it has to turn on each hour. My chest freezer keggerator turns on about 5 to 10 minutes per hour in summer. I worked out the wattage it uses per day and it was bugger all. I can't remember exactly, but maybe 300 wh/d. Thats about $25 per year

 

[Maheel]

i like the look of this (but not the price)

BlueGEN Ceramic Fuel Cell modular gas fired electricity generator
http://www.harveynormansolar.com.au/BlueGEN.html

 

[jimmyjack]

chest freezers converted to keg fridges are incredibly efficient due to the extra insulation. If you want to make that keg fridge efficient try lining the inside where possibly with extra styrene foam.
The less cool the fridge looses, the less it has to turn on each hour. My chest freezer keggerator turns on about 5 to 10 minutes per hour in summer. I worked out the wattage it uses per day and it was bugger all. I can't remember exactly, but maybe 300 wh/d. Thats about $25 per year

Thanks guys, I like the above advice as well as the ice block idea mentioned earlier. Perhaps a combo of this and turning my fridge off during the peak part of day I will generate more to go to the grid while having cold beer as well

 

[Yob]

sooo, looking fairly seriously at a solar set up myself..

what brands to avoid?

What brand are reccommended

I know the SMA for inverters are the go, it's the panels that are giving me the *****

 

[spog]

Yep interested myself in regards to quality/ reliability,prices are out of control getting a good system then not having to pay a power bill again is a win.

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

I was advised to buy panels and inverter from reputable companies that are present or have offices in Australia. I was told some of the cheaper overseas ones still have manufacturers warranty but can be a nightmare trying to get them fixed/replaced if there is a problem.
This is a picture if my 5kw year old sma sunny boy on fire after exploding when it fired up at sunrise one morning. Not sure what the problem was but sma sent out a new one for an installer to check the system and then replace the unit.
Luckily I had my keg co2 close by to extinguish the fire

 

[roastinrich]

Kyocera panels are the go, made in Japan. Poly or mono depends how much coin you want part with.

 

[Hpal]

I went 5.1kw ABB inverter (italian) and LG panels, very good quality.

 

[Yob]

I was advised to buy panels and inverter from reputable companies that are present or have offices in Australia. I was told some of the cheaper overseas ones still have manufacturers warranty but can be a nightmare trying to get them fixed/replaced if there is a problem.
This is a picture if my 5kw year old sma sunny boy on fire after exploding when it fired up at sunrise one morning. Not sure what the problem was but sma sent out a new one for an installer to check the system and then replace the unit.
Luckily I had my keg co2 close by to extinguish the fire

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1425390670.473257.jpg

Gosh.. That's got to be rare surely, sma are just about top rung, noted though cheers.

 

[Yob]

I went 5.1kw ABB inverter (italian) and LG panels, very good quality.

Yep, I've got one quote with LG panels

 

[stux]

I just* bought a package system from Origin.

Was Panasonic panels/inverter... Or one of those hi quality Japanese brands. Can't fault it. The price was right, I didn't want a fly by nighter installing it and was paid for by a government interest free green loan. 3 year ROI and I get 66c/KW

That was a few years ago now. Free money.

The only problem is that it limits the deals you can get for your electricity supply.

* simply, not recently