Alternative Energy Sources
In this follow on to Part 1 of his story, Bill describes putting to use the amp-hour logger that he built using a microcontroller and a clamp-on ammeter. This time he discusses modifying the amp-hour software so it can be used as an analog input logger to measure solar and wind power. A small solar cell and a homemade windmill are used..
By William Wachsmann
FIGURE 1 Amp-hour log for the Office Circuit over 24 hours. It adds up to 14.728 A-hours and 1.767 kW-hours at 120 V.
In November and December 2016, I monitored all the circuits in my house. Some of the results were eye opening. We have a shed/workshop that is spray-foam insulated, where—among other things—we store paint cans. It’s heated by a 240-V baseboard heater and in the winter, we keep the temperature at around 10°C or about 50°F. The amp-hour logger showed that the heater was coming on about 3 times each hour and stayed on for 7 to 9 minutes each time. When it was on, it drew almost 7 A. The spreadsheet (file: SteelShed.xls) with the chart for these readings is included with the code—see Circuit Cellar article materials webpage for links.
Over a 24-hour period this amounted to an energy use of 12.5 kW-hours. At the rate we pay for electricity, it was costing around $3 per day or $90 dollars per month. Needless to say, we got rid of the old paint and turned the heater off. Now I only heat it if I need to work out there and it would otherwise be too cold. Figure 1 shows a chart of amp-hour usage in our office where my wife and I normally have three computers and two monitors running. Over a 24-hour period we use 1.767 kW-hours costing us about $0.50 per day. That’s not too bad but it’s actually more than the refrigerator at 1.357 kW-hours.
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Table 1 (available in full article) shows the results from all the circuits in our house over a 24-hour period. (Not all on the same day!) I have since turned off the ‘Steel Shed Heater’ thus removing its 12.5297 kW-hours. The daily total is 31.39 kW-hours and monthly is 941.59 kW-hours. As a sanity check, that is quite close to our annual monthly average about 950 kW-hours. I have previously looked into going completely off grid, but it turns out to be too costly—mainly because the payback period would be 12 years or more. This also applies to “feed-in tariff” programs where solar or wind generated power is sent to the grid. The amount paid for this power is subsidized, and is higher than what we pay. But it requires an investment of $30,000 or more—for solar anyway—and wouldn’t be profitable for 8 to 10 years.
There is one exception to getting off grid cheaply. We have natural gas, which at current prices could be used to produce electricity at half the price we pay for power from the grid. The first problem here is that the type of small generators I would need are sold as backup systems and are just that. In other words, they are not designed to run continuously. If I tried to do that, I would void the warranty and the generator wouldn’t last anyway. There are larger ones designed to run continuously and are made to supply power in remote areas. They will run on either propane or natural gas, but are much larger than I need and much more expensive. Second, they are noisy and neither us nor our neighbors would be too happy. …
Read the full article in the November 328 issue of Circuit Cellar
Circuit Cellar's editorial team comprises professional engineers, technical editors, and digital media specialists. You can reach the Editorial Department at editorial@circuitcellar.com, @circuitcellar, and facebook.com/circuitcellar
