A solution to the DR electric nightmare?

zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
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Ikea is selling (starting in G.B.) an installed solar panel electrical system for a bit over 9k US. This includes design also. As I recall the system is 3.36 k so is not for a big house at that price. Now if they just come to the DR we are all set to kiss Edenorte goodbye. It will almost be like living in civilization.
 

skynet

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Aug 25, 2013
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These panels have been out there for Years...Thing is, the price...and like you said, 9,000 US, maybe a very small kit...Just stick with a decent Inverter and you're okay..Or spend that 9K on a full house battery system or even a gas powered gen for a few hundred that can power a fridge and other items...I hear ya...Maybe one day they will get with the times..But I think they enjoy the Millions of dollars in donations for their plant to really care...

Anthony


Ikea is selling (starting in G.B.) an installed solar panel electrical system for a bit over 9k US. This includes design also. As I recall the system is 3.36 k so is not for a big house at that price. Now if they just come to the DR we are all set to kiss Edenorte goodbye. It will almost be like living in civilization.
 

Castle

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Sep 1, 2012
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You better get rid of your fridge, microwave oven, Iron, etc, if you want to live with 3.36Kw...

And have an insane amount of batteries to last through the day and night.
 

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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I once priced a solar system for our old house with "normal" electrical consumption, and the price was areound US$45,000.

That assumes sun, and sometimes there is none.

The payback was like 34 years (our average bill is/was US$110 a month) ...and that did not include maintenance, replacement, etc., but did include a big inverter for one 12k BTU a/c unit.

It's a nice idea if you have no other real options, but makes no cost/benefit sense at present.
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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You better get rid of your fridge, microwave oven, Iron, etc, if you want to live with 3.36Kw...

And have an insane amount of batteries to last through the day and night.

Please provide the numbers...

the 3 appliances you mentioned can be turned on at once with 3.36kw, it the solar panel are producing the 3.36kw,

in other words it is not night time at worst

a 5kbtu air conditioner only draws around 0.6 kw, good for an average room if very well insulated and no air leaks

A solar system does not need battery if sun is "up and running"
 

bayaguanaman

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Oct 22, 2009
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I was wondering when I read about Ikea in the UK this morning, if such a system could be used in conjunction with an Ice Store cooling system, for example, Trane have a system where they cool ( make ice) during the night when electricity costs in non 3rd world locations are cheaper, then during the day when there is both high demand for cooling and electricity, they transfer the coolant lines through the stored ice rather than have the compressor working, and back into the system as normal.

They quote a 1 tonne block of ice supplies sufficient cooling for a 2000 sq ft home. Would it therefore be feasible to make ice during the day and use to cool during the night, and how much KWh needed to freeze a tonne of ice ?
 

Seamonkey

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Oct 6, 2009
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and don't forget you need sun. We have solar as our primary for our hot water. In November and December we suffer with cold showers due to lack of sun. I am no believer in solar power...only as back up.
 

Castle

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Sep 1, 2012
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Please provide the numbers...

the 3 appliances you mentioned can be turned on at once with 3.36kw, it the solar panel are producing the 3.36kw,

in other words it is not night time at worst

a 5kbtu air conditioner only draws around 0.6 kw, good for an average room if very well insulated and no air leaks

A solar system does not need battery if sun is "up and running"


I have a 3.5Kw Trace inverter at home.
The cleaning lady tried to use the iron, and blew both the inverter and batteries.
I used to run the refrigerator with 8 batteries, it would drain the batteries in 3 hours.
I tried to use the microwave (800w) oven and the inverter shut itself down. I called Trace and they told me I should never use a microwave oven with the inverter. According to them, even if it worked it would kill the batteries pretty quick.

Furthermore, I have a solar system in a house up in the San Cristobal mountains, where the edesur grid does not reach.
If you don't have an inverter you won't have electricity at night or cloudy days (this is kind of obvious, isn't it?). The whole system is prepared to run on 2.5 Kw. However, I had to get a special 12V fridge as a conventional fridge would have been too much for the system.

Do you own a solar system, Empiric?
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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my whole life evolved about electricity,

"The cleaning lady tried to use the iron, and blew both the inverter and batteries."

something wroing, an iron draws about 1kw

either there was something else plugged and or a short circuit and there was no adecuate protection, no circuit breakers, or too large for the inverter

that is what ciircuit breakers are for, to break the flow of current if too much is being drawn, before burning...

"I called Trace and they told me..."

what do they know? LOL, unless you make sure you talk to a real experienced service person, never to a sales person..., or service desk line answered by low paid persons who knows from where, India has been my experience, all they do is read preset answers from a computer screen LOL

12v dc fridge and 120 ac fridge is the same thing as power consumption is concerned.... IF the size/btu rating is the same, they mainly say cubic feet, which does not tell you anything about consumption, but you can always figure it out, or read the sticker on the back

12v dc appliances are usually smaller, less consumption, as they are for boats and campers

12v dc appliances are usully more expensive as there is no demand for them
 

zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
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All this realism raining on my parade is depressing. And it sounded so good to me. Thanks, I guess its back to dreaming of being free of Edenortes evil grip at a reasonable price while not being saddled with lots of batteries, invertors, voltage regulators,and assorted paraphenelia that breaks down and makes me dependent on tradespeople who try and cheat me. I guess if there was a solution one of you would have come up with it and told us.
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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Castle,

on the other hand I have never come across any service person who does not 'inflate' the damages, specially auto mechanics.

I can repair anything, tv, computer, air conditioners [do not deal with a-c gas issues, as I dont have the tools] cars etc but many times

When I go to a service person, for whatever reason, lack of time to do it mayself etc, I dont tell them initially what I know...

Ii is amazing the kind of crazy things they say, some dont do it intentionally, but because they dont know what they are doing, and just take an educated guess, based on prior similar problems
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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does any of you have contract with an utility co. that will buy electricity from you, "net-metering"

in DR it is mandatory by law I think,
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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zoomsx11,

solar is they way to go, less danger and complications from the structural point of view

roof made from solar panels, available now, problem is many in DR may not like USA style roofs for their houses

It should be required by law that any new house/building must be prepared for solar panels mounting and pipe for electric wiring

and developers should be requiered to offer a turn key solution at the market price, to be included in the mortage, what is the problem?
 

21yearsinDR

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May 29, 2013
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I would LOVE to have a decent solar power installation, however I have realized , that it is very expensive and you need a huge system if you really want to live without complications. Well, I must admit, that I like to live a comfortable life……….
Sooo, some years back we bought a 17,5 K diesel generator - brand: Himoinsa at Ochoa in Santiago. The best thing I have ever done… It is super silent ( and it really is..)
At that time we paid around 300,000 pesos. (They have them smaller too..) Automatic transfer - included installations.
I don’t have to think.. I always have electricity and I can run all my air conditions if I want too ( I don’t..) .. We bought a big tank for the fuel - around 150 gallons and you just call the gas station and they come and fill up your tank.
It is not cheap - I am very aware of that.. It is not very environment friendly either, but what is environment friendly in the Dominican Republic??
I live en Costambar and I am not willing to live with 10 hours black outs per day - no way.. Then I better save money on something else… :classic:
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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empiric, i suggest you change your tag to theoretic. it will suit you better. you clearly have zero connection to real life or have never lived with a female other than your yapping yorkie. never ever the iron is on just by itself. the fridge is cooling. washing machine is washing clothing. rice cooker is cooking rice. bread maker is making bread. sons are watching TV. mothers are writing their whiny maternity blogs. fathers are drilling holes in walls to drown justin bieber the daughter plays upstairs. granny dries up her poodle perm in the bathroom. things happen all at once. lots of appliances are plugged in and working at the same time. but how would you know that, sheldon, locked up in your lab?
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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Well I basically consider myself a liberal, so whenever I hear someone saying that people should be forced to do this or that I say ENUFF Already.
If you have the money to order a house built and want these extras fine with me, but if you think that a builder should be forced to spend that extra money on every house he builds GO ON Get outta here!
Der Fish

fitting a house, during construction for EVENTUAL solar panel installation etc it is not going to cost much to any builder, in the same way the give you the faucet for your washing machine, and the oulet for the refrigerator and electric range, not that they will provide the equipment

are you a builder? how much do you think it will cost the builder?

The reason is that it is becoming a neccesity, the gov won let any builder to design and build houses without electric wiring, or toilet

long ago it was not required by law, it is a matter of time my friend

btw car builders were not required to have emergency lights, seat belts, emergency tire etc etc
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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empiric, i suggest you change your tag to theoretic. it will suit you better. you clearly have zero connection to real life or have never lived with a female other than your yapping yorkie. never ever the iron is on just by itself. the fridge is cooling. washing machine is washing clothing. rice cooker is cooking rice. bread maker is making bread. sons are watching TV. mothers are writing their whiny maternity blogs. fathers are drilling holes in walls to drown justin bieber the daughter plays upstairs. granny dries up her poodle perm in the bathroom. things happen all at once. lots of appliances are plugged in and working at the same time. but how would you know that, sheldon, locked up in your lab?

what did try to say?, or should a moderator somehow move your particular post to the clown bin
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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what did try to say?, or should a moderator somehow move your particular post to the clown bin
She said you know about as much of how a home electrical system works as you do about CNG & LP in a vehicle.

You remind me of a former poster who ate pine nuggets and talked about stuff he only knew about from googling, yabadabadu...
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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i am trying to explain to you, theoretical, why the iron will blow 3.5kw inversor. i have one too. i know. there are more things plugged inside an average home at any given time. all use power. iron, microwave and few other appliances are just pushing it over the limit. therefore your purely theoretical blah blah on how it should work is purely theoretical. because guess what - it does not work.
 

Empiric

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Apr 24, 2013
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derfish,

"To have the inspections would be $50 each and are we talking only 2 inspections each for elect and plmbg, probably not."

but you need inspection whether you include the extra piece of whatever or not...


"But with them and the actual cost of materials and labor $6000 to $8000 per house. Ask Chip he is an engineer, and he'll be back manana looking for something to answer."

what?, the most expensive item I can see, is an electrical tubing going down from the roof, less than 10', not much and he can always say to the buyer it is solar ready :) and charge a bit more for it

the kind of regulations i dont like are seat belts, helmets for bike and motorclycle riders, let them die if they want, wtf, but dont allow ryders to make so much noise !!!

how is that for a liberal?