Proximas actividades
Despues de 5 años como Trustee de Huerta Ecologica, Richard ha decidido dejar su puesto para permitir nuevas ideas para`las huertas en Los Molinos. Si crees que te gustaria involucrate con el Proyecto Sunseed como Trustee-miembro de la Junta Directiva o consulente, por favor contactanos y recibiras mas detalles. El equipo de huertas de Sunseed os deseamos un feliz y soleado verano !!!!Sunseed News
Sunseed’s closure for the whole winter gave us an opportunity to do major works on all the photovoltaic systems. This put Sunseed in a really low energy situation as the amount of solar energy available is lowest in the winter anyway, let alone when we were dismantling the frame of the solar panels or shut down the system to make essential modifications. We managed to deal with this situation with the introduction of Green, Orange and Red days which give clear guidelines of what appliances/services can be used on a given day taking into account the weather forecast and the actual state-of-charge of our solar battery system.
The overall aim was to optimize the efficiency of all renewable energy systems on site. Anja – a German masters student on Leonardo placement – has been a great help in achieving this and as we progressed she gained a more in-depth knowledge of photovoltaic systems in return.
We started with Isabella’s house: we had to relocate the solar modules to a more easily accessible location which also had less shading from nearby trees. The proposed new location was assessed and the optimum seasonal angles were calculated by computer simulation software: without any investment we were able to increase annual solar energy production by 18%. The failing inverter had to be replaced which gave us an opportunity to redesign the 12V system to operate on 24V, thus reducing transmission losses in cables by 75%. The new inverter was installed and the battery bank reconfigured which left only the lighting system to get a total revamp. We identified the most frequently used areas and installed low-voltage energy efficient lights (CFLs) so that they operate even when we have to switch the inverter off (this happens if we have e.g. 5 consecutive days of cloudy days). The other rooms got normal (i.e. easily available and cheaper) 230V lightbulbs. Corridors and stairs where lighting is mainly used for access, got alternating switches and LEDs installed. The reason for this is that CFLs need about a minute to warm up and get to their full brightness, while LEDs give their maximum output instantly. Overall, we reduced the electricity demand of lighting by 38% while providing 24% more light, thus increasing the efficiency of the lighting system by 52%.
We also did maintenance work on the ram pump (a gravity pump supplying the whole village with water) and the irrigation line (which provides water for our gardens), organized the workshop a bit more, repaired the solar motion-sensor floodlight and took part in many interest groups on how to improve Sunseed in many different aspects.
We also designed a DIY battery monitor/solar&wind data logger system based on the open-source Arduino platform and unconventional components. This will be installed at Isabella’s hybrid solar/wind system for us to be able to analyze the data and to see the effects of further improvements while serving as an educational tool at the same time for university students.
In the next few months we will be focusing on the optimization of the two other house’s PV systems. Starting from April, Marlene – a German MSc Process Engineering intern – will take part in designing a low-cost solar tracker (based on open-source Arduino as well) for the main house which will provide us with more electricity for the best price-performance and the least environmental impact.
If you are a university student looking for a research project or an internship in alternative technology, if you would like to get involved in specific projects or if you are simply interested in working in the AT department, please have a look at our project pack and feel free to contact Csaba – the AT coordinator.
csaba
Sunseed’s closure for the whole winter gave us an opportunity to do major works on all the photovoltaic systems. This put Sunseed in a really low energy situation as the amount of solar energy available is lowest in the winter anyway, let alone when we were dismantling the frame of the solar panels or shut down the system to make essential modifications. We managed to deal with this situation with the introduction of Green, Orange and Red days which give clear guidelines of what appliances/services can be used on a given day taking into account the weather forecast and the actual state-of-charge of our solar battery system.
The overall aim was to optimize the efficiency of all renewable energy systems on site. Anja – a German masters student on Leonardo placement – has been a great help in achieving this and as we progressed she gained a more in-depth knowledge of photovoltaic systems in return.
We started with Isabella’s house: we had to relocate the solar modules to a more easily accessible location which also had less shading from nearby trees. The proposed new location was assessed and the optimum seasonal angles were calculated by computer simulation software: without any investment we were able to increase annual solar energy production by 18%. The failing inverter had to be replaced which gave us an opportunity to redesign the 12V system to operate on 24V, thus reducing transmission losses in cables by 75%. The new inverter was installed and the battery bank reconfigured which left only the lighting system to get a total revamp. We identified the most frequently used areas and installed low-voltage energy efficient lights (CFLs) so that they operate even when we have to switch the inverter off (this happens if we have e.g. 5 consecutive days of cloudy days). The other rooms got normal (i.e. easily available and cheaper) 230V lightbulbs. Corridors and stairs where lighting is mainly used for access, got alternating switches and LEDs installed. The reason for this is that CFLs need about a minute to warm up and get to their full brightness, while LEDs give their maximum output instantly. Overall, we reduced the electricity demand of lighting by 38% while providing 24% more light, thus increasing the efficiency of the lighting system by 52%.
We also did maintenance work on the ram pump (a gravity pump supplying the whole village with water) and the irrigation line (which provides water for our gardens), organized the workshop a bit more, repaired the solar motion-sensor floodlight and took part in many interest groups on how to improve Sunseed in many different aspects.
We also designed a DIY battery monitor/solar&wind data logger system based on the open-source Arduino platform and unconventional components. This will be installed at Isabella’s hybrid solar/wind system for us to be able to analyze the data and to see the effects of further improvements while serving as an educational tool at the same time for university students.
In the next few months we will be focusing on the optimization of the two other house’s PV systems. Starting from April, Marlene – a German MSc Process Engineering intern – will take part in designing a low-cost solar tracker (based on open-source Arduino as well) for the main house which will provide us with more electricity for the best price-performance and the least environmental impact.
If you are a university student looking for a research project or an internship in alternative technology, if you would like to get involved in specific projects or if you are simply interested in working in the AT department, please have a look at our project pack and feel free to contact Csaba – the AT coordinator.
csaba
Sunseed News
- Improvements to the monitoring of the water distribution system
- installation of new flow meter and pressure gauge
- Installing new PV modules
- Installing new inverter at Isabella’s and converting the system to 24V:
- including wind turbine, wind controller, battery bank and lighting
- Improving all PV mounts to have adjustable seasonal tilt
- Improving lighting and wiring where applicable
- Refurbish Solar Hot Water system and prepare
- Thermal Mass Stove for winter
- Irrigation line maintenance ongoing
- Mejora del sistema de monitoraje de la distribución del agua: instalación de un medidor nuevo de corriente y de medida de la presión.
- Instalacion de nuevos modulos de Paneles fotovoltaicos
- Instalacion de un nuevo inversor en la Casa Isabella´s y realizar la conversión del sistema a 24 V: incluyendo aerogenerador, regulador del viento, banco de batería e iluminación
- Mejora de los montajes de PV para tener inclinación estacional ajustable
- Mejora de la iluminación y conectar donde sea posible
- Restauración del sistema solar de agua caliente y preparar la estufa rusa – Kachelofen para el invierno
- Mantenimiento de la acequia
SUMMER 2011
- Irrigation line maintenance
- Re design washing area
- Working on windows, door frames & insulation for the house.
- Working with caña
- Re-design kitchen
- Built furniture & bench
- Refurbishment of ECM workshop
- Reciprocal frame roofing includes: using recycled materials, living roof, rainwater catchment from the roof, drainage systems.
- Re painting the houses, Geoff’s & Gayes.
SPRING 2011
- Working with caña:
- New caña bridge built with volunteer/intern Freddy Harris.
- River & pools cleared from caña
- Built a boat
- Shredding for sawdust to be used in gardens.
- Made shade structure for the outside patio area
- Re-made outside information point, with caña and new roof with shingle tiles made out of recycled pallet wood.Other works includes:
- Made information board from pita (agave) wood.
- Extensive repairs of our irrigation line.
- Re-build of our clay oven
- Course on Kachelofen Thermal Mass Stove
- Clay brick making.
VERANO 2011
- Mantenimiento de la acequia
- Re-diseñar la zona de lavado.
- Trabajar en marcos de ventanas, puertas y aislamiento de las casas.
- Re-diseñar la cocina
- Construccion de mobiliario y bancos.
- Renovar el taller de bioconstruccion.
- Construccion de un techo de soporte reciproco, que incluye: uso de materiales reciclado, techo “viviente”, recochida de agua de lluvia, sistema de drenaje.
- Renovar pintura en casas de Sunseed, Gayes y Geoff.
PRIMAVERA 2011
- Trabajo con caña:
- Construccion de un nuevo puente de caña con el voluntario/estudiante Freddy Harris.
- Limpieza de caña del rio y las pozas.
- Construccion de un bote de caña.
- Triturar y transformar enserrin para utilizar en las huertas.
- Construccion de estructuras de sombra para el patio
- Nueva area de informacion, con caña y tejas de madera de palets reciclados.Otros trabajos incluidos:
- construccion de un Panel informativo con madera de pita (agave).
- Grandes trabajosa de reparacion en la acequia.
- Mejora del horno de barro.
- Curso de Estufa Rusa Kachelofen de masa termica de alto rendimiento.
- Construccion de ladrillos de arcilla.
Sunseed News
Here are some of the highlights of what we did.- Installed new 930Ah traction batteries at the Main House
- Wind turbine course – installed a 1kW turbine at an off-grid cortijo
- Annual maintenance of the Sunseed wind turbine in the Solar Garden:
- rotor alignment, balancing of blades, protective coating
- Built open source wind turbine controller circuit and dump load
- Major overhaul of the ram pump
- Installed a battery monitor to Isabella’s using an M10 bolt as a shunt
- Irrigation line maintenance – cleaning pipes, fixing leaks
- PV course – designed and installed off-grid PV system at Isabella’s
- Measured IV curves of all the different PV modules
- Software simulation of all three PV systems with PVSyst
- Helped with refurbishment of the cana bridge
- Hosted Greenpeace scouts for irrigation line maintenance
- Several AT tours
- Visit to Plataform Solar
- Wind turbine article for Ecohabitar magazine