- this should know!

Theme " Standby and Autonomous Power Supply - you should know this!

To begin, let's clarify in terms of backup and autonomous power supply. So, backup power means an auxiliary source of electricity, which in case of loss of the main line should provide further power supply to electrical power consumers. It can be not only fully independent power supply systems (batteries, and converters powered from them, mini-stations, fuel cells, etc.), but also spare urban power lines.

Autonomous power supply by itself implies a completely separated power supply system, which is able to generate or give away the accumulated electrical energy to various consumers. In the event of a power failure in the main city power grid, such a system must take the power load of existing consumers. Although, to the autonomous power supply can be attributed, and chemical power sources (including batteries). The main idea of this type of electrical source is to supply the load with electric power, provided that there is no external power source (ordinary urban power grid).

For the most part, these two concepts intersect strongly with each other, which makes it possible to consider them to be the same (only in some cases these terms can be used as “porazen”). The task of independent power supply can be solved in various ways, or rather, the autonomous power supply system can be made based on various methods of producing electrical energy. The beauty of electricity lies in the fact that this invisible power to the human eye is universal. Only the methods for converting one type of energy into another differ.

Where is the term power backup used primarily? Where there is a high probability of disconnecting the main source of power supply (which is usually the role of the city electric grid), or in the case when de-energizing occurs extremely rarely, but the phenomenon of “de-energizing” is rather critical. In these cases, the main task of the backup power supply is timely picking up of the existing load and the subsequent provision of electricity to the existing consumer until the main supply from the city network is fully restored.

About autonomous power supply more can be heard in cases when we are talking about the complete absence of the main source of power supply (urban power supply). In this case, this is the most autonomous power supply in the role of the main power supply system (or it is used so often that it reserves the right to be called such). Such cases include the implementation of the power supply of a country house (where there are temporary or permanent problems with the supply of the city power grid), places remote from the city (where the city highway is not initially provided for), etc.

In the role of the main power supply system is a complex power grid, the main node of the generation of electricity which is NPP, TPP, HPP. In the case of autonomous power, the center of power generation is mini-power generation systems that operate using combustible fuel (gasoline, diesel, gas, coal, etc.), wind power (wind turbines), sun (solar panels), chemical reactions (chemical sources current - batteries, batteries, fuel cells).

The specific use of one or another source of electricity generation depends on the existing conditions (terrain, climate, operating modes of autonomous sources, needs, cost, etc.). It should be added that in the role of a backup power source can be additional parallel power lines, which are powered by all the same urban power grids.

With the situation when the power is turned off, everyone has probably come across. And sometimes there is no electricity at the most inopportune moment. In country houses problems with electricity supply is also not uncommon. But what if such situations occur quite often?

Modern technologies have developed so well that a way out of this situation was found - these are autonomous power sources that can be bought from us.

Voltage drops? Autonomous sources of electricity will help!

Sources of backup power also relevant when stretching the power line is simply impossible, or the power supply is simply of poor quality. Each owner of a country house wants to relax and have a great weekend, and without electricity in such situations just can not do. Constant and systematic voltage drops, accompanied by "flashing" of lighting devices, adversely affect the equipment, significantly reducing their service life. Too much spikes can destroy the chips and power supplies.

Functions of autonomous power sources.

In order for all the equipment to work long and smoothly, it is better to use independent sources of electricity. Their main task is to ensure a normal, proper shutdown of electrical appliances in the event of an unexpected power outage. They must also reliably protect the equipment from all types of interruptions that occur in electrical networks, namely:

voltage spikes;
high voltage emissions;
the so-called "subsidence" voltage;
in case of power failure;
replanting;
run out of frequency.

Today, almost every home has a personal computer. According to studies, it is he who is exposed to about 120 abnormal situations every month, the cause of which is precisely the voltage drops.

Uninterrupted power helps to completely forget about all the above problems. The tasks of the UPS are as follows:

absorb a small amount of short-term surge voltage;
filter the supply voltage, reduce the noise level;
provide backup power to the load for a certain amount of time after the loss of voltage in the network;
protect devices connected to the network from overload and short circuit.

But in order to provide full protection, backup power sources must be connected to the network. The devices themselves are already connected to them. UPS converts the flow of electricity in such a way that it is optimal for the full operation of the device.

Personal power supply system is the best option for a country house.

Autonomous sources of electricity are relevant in the event that it is simply unprofitable for a person to hold a power line and connect to the centralized power supply networks. For example, if you have a cottage that is located too far from the centralized power supply networks, and you go to rest in these places as far as possible, it is better to create your own autonomous power supply system. She will be able to provide you with a number of advantages, namely:

no need to pay for network connection;
You will not depend on the price of electricity;
You will generate electricity when you need it.

What should the autonomous power supply system include?

Source of energy. As a rule, there may be several or one sources at once. This may be a photovoltaic battery, a liquid-fuel generator GTK, working on gasoline or diesel fuel, or a wind power plant. The main can be any of the above sources, others can be used as additional.
Battery is a necessary element in the system of autonomous power supply. Even though the main source of energy is available in the system, the presence of a battery will allow it to be turned on for a certain amount of time, and electricity will flow continuously.
Inverter. It is a device that commutes DC to AC. It is necessary in cases where the equipment in the house consumes 220 V or if consumers are located at a considerable distance. In this case, there are so-called interference and loss.
AB charge controller. Needed in order to prevent overdischarge and overcharge. Very often, such a controller is built into the inverter.
Load. During connection to the autonomous power supply system of various devices, it is necessary to know that the devices must be energy efficient. As an example, fluorescent lamps. They are recommended to use for the reason that incandescent bulbs consume 4 times more electricity.

If you want to forget about the problems with voltage once and for all, extend the life of the devices installed in your cottage or house, autonomous power supply systems, uninterruptible power supplies and electric generators - this is what you need.

Sometimes it is very difficult to find a company that can offer everything at once. But if you did not find what you were looking for, it is enough to contact our consultant, who will give answers to all your questions.

With us, your devices, even with strong voltage drops, will work stably, and in the event of a total power outage, you will be able to correctly complete the session of the personal computer and have time to save all the data that might be lost.

Because of this ban, I was forced to use chemical current sources. Specifically, such batteries:

At first I was engaged in mechanics and electrical engineering, did various mechanisms with electric motors, but there was nothing to power them. The electric motors were similar (with great difficulty I found a photograph of the engine on the Internet):

It was very interesting to play with hand-made mechanisms. But after a short time the charge ended, because the batteries were not at all like the modern “Duracell”, the engines also did not shine with efficiency, and the design made by the child was far from economical. It was not easy to beg new batteries from adults. They might want to buy them for me, but they sold batteries only in the district center, they traveled 25 km there, not every month someone went there. So I sat on a starvation ration, sorting out the used batteries in a circle, knocking on them with a hammer and pinching them in the front door to at least somehow prolong their work.

Accumulators at that time I saw two types: something like 6ST-55, which were installed in cars, and D-025 disk batteries, which stood in a fashionable flashlight, charged from the network. There was no such flashlight in our family. I knew about them only for the reason that the neighbors gave me for the parts a few of these lanterns in which the batteries lost capacity. And this happened, they said, pretty quickly. In this flashlight, by the way, there was a very unusual rectifier element. Other types of batteries are seen only in the pictures in the books. Therefore, there was no confidence in the batteries, and they were some kind of exotic. There were batteries. Swallowing saliva, I looked at the mechanisms working from the network. What happiness, they could work forever! Since then, a negative attitude towards autonomous power has been developed.

When I went to school, I was allowed to work with the network. The first thing I did was a network laboratory power supply.

Transformer shook himself, and the primary, and the secondary. Iron was taken from the burned-down power transformer of a lamp radiol. My output voltage was regulated by switching the secondary windings. As I recall, with what labors it was possible to find at least one of the materials - horror. All the sheet aluminum, which I owned most of my childhood, it was a lid from an ejected washing machine "Riga". However, now the materials are not much better. The BP transformer was fastened with tin stripes, which were screwed to the wooden base with nails with M4 thread cut into them. Happiness that taps and dies have been with me since early childhood. Galetnik - and the half-homemade. I do not remember for what reason it had to be redone. For the front panel found a piece of blue plastic. In the childhood of such plastic there were large sheets, they were used somewhere in construction. But this plastic was processed very poorly, it was similar in properties to polyethylene. But I had a piece of foil fiberglass! I cut tracks on it and installed a bridge on the D226 and a capacitor. It can be said, the PSU was placed on the PCB! This power unit has served me all the school years and in fact is my most useful design in life. Although in high school I made a new power unit, more powerful, but I still used mostly the old one.

I also had a power supply unit for powering lamp structures (+300 V anode and ~ 6.3 V heat), but this is an industrial design. In some tube radio radiators, the BP was carried out on a separate chassis, and from there I took it. He also had a case with a panel of the same blue plastic, but, alas, there is no photo of the case. In general, all these photos were taken recently, before the devices of the decade were lying in the dust of the attic.

In subsequent years, I made designs only with network power. Autonomous devices - this is something inferior. For example, a portable tape recorder is always worse than a stationary one, and a portable receiver is worse than a radiometer. And well, if the tape recorder has a network power supply. Otherwise, there will be eternal torment with batteries, which, when necessary, are not at hand. Similarly, other devices, for example, measuring. A sign of high class is the network power.

Once again I encountered autonomous power in 1998 when I decided to make myself a generous 30th birthday present and bought a portable Panasonic SL-S200 CD player on the market.

At that time I already had a stationary compact player made from the wreckage of a Sony car player. The case is self-made, the power supply unit and the analog part are self-made, an additional AT89C2051 processor for implementing IR remote control.

Together with the Panasonic SL-S200, the sellers decided to sell me a GP battery and a charger for them. Panasonic itself had a network power supply, but at 110 V. To him, the good sellers gave a small autotransformer, “camelina,” as it was called for the brown color of the plates. I, of course, did not use it, but redid the power supply unit, replacing the transformer in it. The case took from some other adapter, the native was too small. Only the label neatly sawed and pasted into his body.

I also had to immediately abandon the headphones that came in the kit. But I had a Sony MDR-14, bought in a store for $ 16. In general, an interesting time was then - in a store on the central avenue of the capital, they officially traded for dollars. I gave a twenty (and it was then a lot of money), from the cash register I got the change - 4 edinichki. GP batteries did not go to any comparison with the batteries. Moreover, there was nowhere to charge them - the purchased charger emitted smoke when it was first turned on. So I was once again disappointed in the batteries. The player listened mainly at home, feeding it from the network. Mobility needed only within the apartment. I tried to take somewhere with myself, but I don’t feel like listening to music outside. So he spent more than 16 years, almost without leaving home.

The next time when my life again pushed me with autonomous power, it was the purchase of the first Nikon 2100 digital camera. The set included batteries, labeled Nikon. Of course, out of habit, I decided to power the batteries. But was upset by how quickly they run out. Surprisingly, the batteries worked much longer. Moreover, the kit included a quick charger from Nikon too. For the first time in my life I saw something good in batteries. I really wanted to buy the same batteries as a second set. It is unlikely that Nikon makes the batteries itself, most likely takes from someone else. I began to scrutinize the batteries sold. Sanyo batteries were exactly the same, even the letters HR on the bottom were also stamped. Only they had a capacity of 2300, and those with a Nikon label, 2100.

Frightened by bad GP batteries, hesitated to buy these Sanyo for a long time, because batteries are not cheap things. But still bought. In life, joy rarely happens, but here is the case. Purchased batteries worked as long as their relatives.

When it came time to change the camera, the question arose of charging 4 AA batteries. An attempt was made to make your charger as good as purchased. But this attempt failed. I don’t understand how in such a small size a networked impulse fits, and a charging control circuit individually for each of the 4 batteries. As a result of much deliberation, the Duracell charger was written and bought for big money - as much as $ 40.

For a camera, I bought a set of the same Sanyo batteries, then another one - they worked perfectly. One of the sets was very old, it was time to change. But once again, the purchased batteries turned out to be quite weak - about 3 times less in capacity. And in appearance they were no different. The disappointment was huge, because the money spent a lot. But what to do, batteries are needed, I decided to take another chance - I bought a Sony kit. And again failure. Again I got angry at the autonomous power address, but the camera is the rare exception when its operation near the outlet is practically impossible. I read on the forums that solid fakes are now being sold, it is impossible to buy normal batteries. Subtracted that Ansmann, like, until fake. I bought a kit with a modest capacity of 2100 and was pleased. Again at the level of the good old Sanyo.

In a SLR camera, a lithium battery. At first I was worried about this - it is impossible to buy batteries in the nearest kiosk in case anything happens. But the camera is so economical that I forgot the battery problem at all. But the on-camera flash is powered by 4 AA batteries. Also had to buy something. I analyzed the reviews and bought Sanyo again, but now a new line of Eneloop. It turned out great batteries.

Another device, where there is no battery, is a mobile phone. By itself, of course, the phone is not so necessary if you do not work as a dispatcher or a pizza delivery truck, but since there is one, you need to keep it in working order. So you have to regularly buy new batteries. Also come across different quality, nothing can be done about it.

On duty, did a lot of different electronic devices. But almost never made autonomous. Is that a thermometer that is powered by 2 AA batteries or from the network, in connection with which there used a SEPIC-converter, which can both increase the voltage of the batteries to 3.3 V, and lower the voltage of the network adapter.

What am I getting at? Recently, quite often the amateurs are trying to make devices with autonomous power. I do not understand this. There are a lot of problems. It is not enough to provide characteristics, it is necessary to provide still low consumption. Why clamp yourself in such a frame? Well, if someone thinks that he will use the device in the field, he automatically puts himself on the lowest rung of the hierarchy of workers in the industry: living on business trips instead of working in a comfortable office at his own table in a comfortable chair.

P.S. I forgot about one device where autonomous power is justified. This is a clock. As a result of the fact that consumption is small, it is rarely necessary to change batteries (once every few years), this can be tolerated. But there is a downside to low power consumption - on such a clock in the dark nothing is visible.

Construction in a rarely populated area is accompanied by a number of difficulties. On the one hand, living on the outskirts is a pledge of peace, tranquility and a positive environmental situation. At the same time, in such places there are problems with infrastructure and communications. Lack of electricity is the main problem that needs to be addressed first. Laying the electrical line from the central network is expensive, so a cost-effective solution will be self-powered section.

Advantages and disadvantages of the introduction of autonomous power

The indisputable advantages of switching to your own grid are:

Full independence from the centralized power supply.
Lower cost of 1 kW of electricity when using alternative energy sources.
Power supply stability.
The possibility of selling over-generated electricity to the network.

Having at its disposal an autonomous power supply system at home, it is possible to get uninterrupted electricity, even at those moments when those around it are temporarily deprived due to the performance of repair work on power transmission lines. Autonomous systems have disadvantages. These include:

The high cost of equipment.
Loss of storage space required for equipment placement.

Alternative energy sources for home power

Now the development of technologies allows using the following systems as a source of electricity:

Petrol and diesel generators.
Solar power plants.
Wind power stations.

All these types of equipment have a different cost, as well as profitability. In addition, for their installation requires the observance of certain conditions, which is not always possible in some cases. This primarily depends on the location of the site and other factors.

Petrol and diesel generators

Such generator sets are the most reliable, while they are cheaper than other systems. Unfortunately, the very cost of producing 1 kW of energy is very high. Such equipment is an internal combustion engine that is connected to an electricity generating coil. The motor spins it, and it in turn creates an electric current.

The most compact are petrol generators. They are very light, but in such a performance in power they are able to provide with energy only a few weak household appliances, such as lighting. More serious generators give out enough energy for full use of all available household equipment in the house. They are quite productive to power serious consumers, such as, or.

The most cumbersome, but also profitable in terms of the ratio of the cost of fuel and the energy received are diesel generators. But they, like gasoline equipment, are rarely used as a full-fledged autonomous power supply. The high cost of obtaining energy forces them to be used only as a backup source at the time of interruptions to the central power grid.

Consumption of a diesel generator to produce 1 kW per hour is 250 g of fuel. Thus, even when using the generator to power only the TV, and in an hour about a liter of diesel fuel will be burned. Constantly paying such a price for such a small amount of electricity is absolutely unprofitable.

In addition to the high cost of such equipment is not without other shortcomings:

Noise in the work.
The need for manual periodic refueling of the tank.
The inability to work around the clock continuous, because the equipment needs to be cooled.
Difficulties with the launch of the cold season, especially diesel generator machines.

Since such an autonomous power supply is used as a temporary one in case of interruptions in the central power grid, it is often connected in parallel to it. In addition to the generator itself, with an inverter built into it, it also uses an automatic start system to convert electricity from DC to AC. It takes on the responsibility of starting the generator when the power is turned off in the central network. Equipment can be configured for various parameters. For example, the generator starts 2 or 3 minutes after the loss of electricity. Thus, there is no need for the usual manual start. As soon as the voltage in the central network starts flowing again, the equipment will automatically shut off and the generator engine will stop.

Autonomous power on solar batteries

Such self-contained power is much more preferable than fuel generators on internal combustion engines. The most important advantage of such systems is the very low cost of producing 1 kW of energy. For the operation of the solar battery requires only sunlight, which comes for free. The principle of such systems is to convert light photons into free carriers of electric charge.

In order for such a system to produce really enough power for the operation of household appliances in a house, it is required that it have a large area. One square meter of the surface of the solar battery provides power of about 100 watts, at voltages up to 25 V. This is very small, and only enough to slowly charge or power the light bulbs.

In order for the solar battery to give an electric current of the required parameters needed for the operation of equipment intended for 220 V AC, installation of additional equipment is required:

Inverter.
Controller.
Rechargeable batteries.

Inverter converts the DC voltage to AC, bringing it under identical parameters with electricity at 220V from the central network. In some cases, the solar battery can be connected to equipment insensitive to voltage parameters. It can be heating heating elements heating water for household needs or in the heating system.

In order to get all the benefits of using a power plant, it is necessary to accumulate excess energy for its subsequent use. Such a source of energy allows you to generate electricity only during the day in sufficiently bright sunlight. At night, batteries are completely useless. To solve this problem, apply controller charge, which recharges the battery. The accumulated electricity on it is fully or partially consumed in the evening and at night, and in the morning the charge is again replenished from solar panels.

At first glance, solar panels are an absolutely perfect solution when cost-effective self-powered power is required at home.

However, such systems are not without flaws:

The high cost of solar panels and other equipment.
The need for periodic cleaning of the surface of the battery from a layer of dust, reducing their effectiveness.
Batteries take up a lot of space and require placement on the sunny side of the site.

Many of the shortcomings of solar power plants are completely solvable. Often, problems with the placement of such equipment are solved by its installation on the roof, thereby not being occupied by the storage space. This immediately solves the problem with shading, because small fruit trees and farm buildings do not create a disturbing shadow. As for the high cost of equipment, modern solar panels have a great resource, so they manage to pay off much earlier than they fail. However, it should be borne in mind that such an energy source implies a constant charge and discharge of the battery. From this, its resource is quickly reduced. To have an adequate supply of energy at night, the battery will have to be periodically changed.

Autonomous power from the wind

In this case, the energy source is a wind generator. This is also a rather expensive equipment, but it is more compact than the solar electrical system. It can be said that windmills combine the design features of generators on internal combustion engines and solar panels. Windmills and generators on fuel are similar, but the first ones receive torque as a result of pushing the blades off with the wind, which is naturally free, and diesel or gasoline cars remove it from the engine. The similarity of wind turbines with solar panels is the need to use similar auxiliary elements - an inverter, a controller and rechargeable batteries.

The positive sides of wind turbines include:

Very low cost of producing 1 kW of energy.
The need for a small area for installation.
Maintainability system.

As for the shortcomings, there are many:

Strong noise at work.
The instability of obtaining energy in the absence of wind of sufficient strength.
The difficulty of maintenance due to the location of the wind generator on the dais.
Interference impinging on communications.
The need for location at a distance within a radius of 20 m from buildings and tall trees.

The hum of a windmill is often unbearable, especially if it has not been serviced for a long time. It is created not only by the bearings, but also by the wind in contact with the blades. As a result, such an autonomous power supply will not work in the case when the wind generator must be placed close to the house.

In this article I want to talk in general terms about what are the systems of stand-alone or backup electrical support, which is all about worth it. Also I will describe several options for the layout and calculation of the system for different requests and conditions. In general, assembling your own power station with your own hands is quite difficult and, as a rule, taking into account mistakes and shortcomings, as a result, a self-made power station costs more, and I advise those who do not understand this at all to contact the companies involved in all of this.

If you are confident in your knowledge and strength, and you have a lot of free time, then why not. The most frequent case when you need your electricity on an ongoing basis is the country houses and summer cottages, where there are no electricity networks, or their quality is disgusting. There may also be other problems, for example, the high price for connecting to power grids, or bureaucratic barriers.

Autonomous house

Providing your home with electricity from solar panels without batteries, while the sun is shining, the energy goes to the electricity grid and the meter is spinning in the opposite direction - you sell electricity to the state, and when there is no sun, you buy it at night

Full electric supply of country houses

Full provision of your home is a big investment and it requires a lot of equipment, so the price here starts from several hundred thousand rubles, and easily goes away for a million rubles. The cheapest option at the initial stage and for ease of installation and connection is a gasoline or diesel generator, but the disadvantage is that it requires fuel, as well as constant noise from it, and you also need a separate room for its installation, or installation outside ( but there in winter it can freeze and run poorly).

We now have average power consumption of about 200kW per month in average country houses or country houses. Consumption includes many electrical devices, and among them are those that require power all day, for example, circulating pumps and electric heating boilers, refrigerators, etc. Therefore, the generator should work for days and provide more power when needed, for example, when we turn on microwave, electric kettle, power tools, welding machine, and more. All this can be calculated and determined with the power of the generator, but I will immediately say that you do not buy cheap, because the miser pays twice, and if he does not understand, then he will spend money on repairs and replacement of various devices.

Autonomous house power from the generator

An example of electrical support for a house from a diesel generator, which is installed outside in a special container

For full autonomy, a gasoline or diesel generator must provide power up to 6 kW, and work for days on the span, and its resource must be high, otherwise the generator will wear out in a year or two and you will have to buy a new one or invest in a major overhaul. At the same time, during this time, he also “eats” tons of expensive fuel. Initial investments with an average of 50-100t.rub., And the subsequent purchase of fuel. But of the benefits of the generator works regardless of the weather and when you need. Also, additional equipment can be added to the generator, for example, a generator control unit and switching from the central power grid when electricity is lost.

Generator + bespereboynik

And it is also possible to install an uninterrupted battery source that can control the generator and the power grid. And if, for example, you do not have a power supply at all, then when the batteries run out of charge in the bespereboynik, it will start the generator for a while, and how the batteries will charge, the gas generator will stop and electricity will flow from the batteries. At the same time, the UPS also immediately supplies 220 volts and inside it has a battery charging controller and a switching unit from the power grid and back, and controlling the petrolgenerator.

Also, if you have a power grid, but it often disappears and is not of high quality, you can install an uninterrupted power supply and as long as there is a network, it will charge and wait in full readiness, and as soon as the electricity is gone, it will turn on its inverter and supply 220 volts home. The charge of internal batteries is enough for several hours of work in the autonomous mode, which is usually enough to wait for the power supply to go out. But the battery and the batteries themselves also stand decently, I will not advertise specific devices here, I think you will find it yourself if you want. But plus the generator works with a bespereboynik in that the generator does not need to work constantly, and it is required only to charge batteries.

Wind Power Solar

If you are not satisfied with the benzo-diesel generator, you do not want to hear the noise from his work, and is busy with the purchase and refueling. That is, alternative sources of electricity, such as solar panels and wind turbines, but here everything is much more complicated. The wind and the sun are not a constant thing, and you have to reckon with and count everything from and to, and again, the less you want to spend at once, the more expensive its power plant will be in maintenance. For example, the block of the cheapest batteries has to be changed every 1-3 years, and if you buy quality and suitable batteries, you can forget about replacing them for ten years or more.

Autonomous power station

battery pack of an autonomous power station, as well as other equipment, so it looks about its autonomous

In the spring, summer and autumn periods of the sun is usually quite enough and here you just need to calculate the power of the solar panels and the capacity of the batteries for a day and this will be enough. For example, if you have about 200 kW per month, then 200: 30 = 6.6 kW / day. That is, 6.6 kW per day is consumed, and then there will be enough solar panels for 1.5 kW and batteries with a working capacity of 7 kW. Working capacity is the capacity that can be used without significant loss of battery capacity.

For example, for car starter batteries it is no more than 30%, for traction lead no more than 70%, for alkaline about 80%, and lifepo4 is also 80%. That is, if you put the cheapest starter batteries, then in order to constantly take 7 kW from them, they need full capacity for 21 kW, then they will last up to three years or even more. And if they each time are discharged to 50-80%, then already in the first months they will begin to drastically lose capacity, and quickly degrade.

In winter, in the middle part of Russia and closer to the north, the sun is very bad and the production of solar panels falls on cloudy days up to 20 times and they can no longer charge batteries if electricity is constantly taken from them. And here you need to put a wind generator or a gas generator to help, in order to charge batteries during these periods. At the same time, the wind generator is of course preferable because it does not require fuel for work, but you need to study the situation with the wind in your area in order to understand how much a wind generator is needed and whether it makes sense, or you may have calm all these days - when there is no sun, and then without a gas generator is indispensable.

Alternative home power supply

A wind generator and solar panels allow you to fully meet all energy needs

Mini power station

If you do not need kilowatts of power, but it is enough that there is light and electricity for the TV, laptop and charging phones, then everything is much simpler, and you can even give up the inverter and transfer everything to power from 12 volts and save on the inverter itself. And also the inverter itself has an efficiency of 80-90%, that is, without it, on average, 15% of the energy can still be used with benefit, and not to heat the inverter. Of course, consumers at 12 volts also have their own power supply, but when we do everything at 220 volts and install an inverter, we convert from 12 volts to 220v by losing 15% of energy, and then about the same on converters from 220v to 19v, 12v , 5v. If we exclude an inverter from this chain, then we can save 15% of energy.

You can also save on batteries. For example, lead-acid batteries have an efficiency of about 85-90% if they operate in the nominal mode, but if they are charged and discharged with a current greater than 1:10 of capacity, the charge-discharge efficiency becomes even lower. The same with alkaline, the efficiency of which is the worst. And if lithium-iron-phosphate batteries are used, their efficiency is 95-98%, and at the same time it does not deteriorate much even when it is charged to be discharged with large currents, while there are batteries such as alkaline and expensive lead traction. Saving on the inverter and putting lifepo4 batteries, the benefit will average 30%, which means you need to put either 30% less solar panels, or you will have 30% more energy. I think this is very important, especially when there is not enough energy, and the budget is limited.

If you sometimes need to turn on something from 220 volts, for example, a small power tool, then you can separately install a cheap inverter with a modified sinusoid with a power of 1 kW, and a drill, a small Bulgarian, etc. will work through it. But circulating pumps and refrigerators through cheap inverters often refuse to work, and here it is better to immediately take an inverter with a pure sine wave output.

But we are all accustomed to 220 volts, and if you all want to convert to 220 volts, then buy a good inverter with a margin of power and then increase the power of the solar panels and the capacity of the batteries. In general, if you buy something for your autonomous system, then no matter where the rule applies, the miser pays twice, and if it does not reach it, then it will change the failed devices. I have experienced all this myself, and this is especially true for batteries, it’s better in less than a year to send them to the dump.

Calculation of a small power plant for minimum needs

For example, if you don’t have a power supply in your dacha, you don’t want to start a car to charge (phone, laptop, tablet, or flashlight, or watch TV, etc.) and it’s not convenient, you can install a solar power station. Put on the roof of the house a solar panel, or several, about 200 watts (price 15000 rubles), a battery with a working capacity of 500-700 watts (10-20t.rub.), Battery charging controller (price 3-5t.rub). This is enough for you to work around the clock a small TV set with a 12-volt diagonal of 15-19 inches, and much more, and of course the light around the house (2-3 small power bulbs). If you plan to use it all the time in winter, you will have to either add a gas generator or a 600watt wind generator, but it all depends on the presence of wind in your area.

Mini power station

A small homemade power station

Calculation of a powerful power station

If you want to power the whole house all year round, and consume 200kW per month, then the power of the solar panels should be from 1.5kW / h, the working capacity of batteries from 10kW, a good 220 volt converter, well, everything else. And for the winter or a benzogenrator, or a wind generator. The price is approximately the same, for solar panels about 100-150t.rub, batteries 200-250t.rub, controller 10-15t.rub. Inverter 15-30trub, well, there further further additionally - individually for each.

In general, the entire calculation should always begin with a full analysis of your needs and conditions, so as not to lose money and spend the money most rationally. Alternative energy is an expensive pleasure, and as a result, it still doesn’t replace the electric grid, and here it is necessary to understand and optimize the power consumption. It is necessary to save and switch to lower power consumption, and if you want to use electric heaters, powerful pumps, voracious household appliances, then it is better to pull the power grid, otherwise your power station will cost a lot, and require maintenance.