Calling all the engineers out here!

[Sinnerman108]

Hello Guys.

With the energy crises looming over in Pakistan and the situation not getting better any time soon, I want to look at the possibilities of getting a solar powered generator of like 5 kVA.

Can anybody suggest a company that is making these and supplying for the household? Or will I have to import one? I don't want to experiment so I will be looking for a renowned and an experienced company..

Your help shall be appreciated.

I have studies this business in past, but couldn't go further.
There are some companies which are already providing this service in Pakistan.
At present almost all solar panel manufacturers are from China.
The panel is priced upon it's age, which theoretically is limitless, but practically different.
We assumed it to be between 3.5 - 4.5 ( this is 4 years ago ).

To get a home SOLAR POWERED you'd need to invest in today's amount about 125,000 - 300,000 ( depending on how big your house is ).
You will be able to run every thing except for AC !
not because the power is not there, however the relays burn out and cause drain in the rest of the circuit eventually blowing rest of the stuff.

It is not a bad idea to go for Solar.
If you have enough land I'd say invest in properly insulating some part of the building and solar powering that part only.

what else you want to know ?

 

[Rafael]

Better you look at a certain company that is importing those vertical windmills(possibly have switched over to domestic production).
Each 3.5m high mill takes up little space.. and generates something around 1.5kv

Can these turbines be installed in central Punjab? Aren't they more suitable for coastal areas? I don't have much knowledge on how these things work.

 

[Rafael]

I have studies this business in past, but couldn't go further.
There are some companies which are already providing this service in Pakistan.
At present almost all solar panel manufacturers are from China.
The panel is priced upon it's age, which theoretically is limitless, but practically different.
We assumed it to be between 3.5 - 4.5 ( this is 4 years ago ).

To get a home SOLAR POWERED you'd need to invest in today's amount about 125,000 - 300,000 ( depending on how big your house is ).
You will be able to run every thing except for AC !
not because the power is not there, however the relays burn out and cause drain in the rest of the circuit eventually blowing rest of the stuff.

It is not a bad idea to go for Solar.
If you have enough land I'd say invest in properly insulating some part of the building and solar powering that part only.

what else you want to know ?

Thanks for the info Salman.

There are many Chinese manufacturers, just want to know the best out of them. If I am not wrong, the life of a solar panel is between 4-7 years?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Can these turbines be installed in central Punjab? Aren't they more suitable for coastal areas? I don't have much knowledge on how these things work.

These compact wind mills (abt 1-2.5 KW)can be installed on any roof-top in urban areas. With the proviso that the winds should be unimpeded though not necessarily of storm force, no buildings or large trees that can act as wind-breaks. According to Urban Green Energy wind-speeds of min. 3.5 m/sec (7.8 mph) is sufficient. Strong winds are not much use either as the turbulence can cause damage. So the cut-off speed for this kind of w/mill is 30 m/sec (67 mph).

Its only very large windmills (MW capacity) that need coastal or mountaintop/plateau siting.

 

[BATMAN]

Hi,

Application of photo voltaic cells is best when you are designing new house!
House design, minimize the equipment which need electrical power! and than maximize efficiency of your appliances!
When you have properly designed house, your electrical energy need shall be less than 5kW.
Once you have a proper house design than starts the design of photo voltaic electrical system.
Otherwise, you can experiment with what Asim proposed.

Still, I would like to ask why you only need photo voltaic electrical system?

Perhaps, I may have introduced the right solution in Pakistan but our govt. wanted to get rich by themself only.

I would like to start knowing the geographical location of your house before proposing any thing!
Are you located in northern areas, Karachi area, interior Sindh, Punjab or Baluchistan?

 

[Sinnerman108]

Thanks for the info Salman.

There are many Chinese manufacturers, just want to know the best out of them. If I am not wrong, the life of a solar panel is between 4-7 years?

Don't estimate it between 4-7
The company claims are usually for ideal conditions
We have a dusty atmosphere and temperature range is too wide for the panels to live that long.
See what batman said.
You will be better of if you first invest in engineering your house as per the power requirements
and mate appropriate power plant with it.