Alternative energy sources for a private house: types and advantages, do-it-yourself manufacturing

The reserves of hydrocarbons on our planet are not endless, therefore, alternative energy, operating on renewable energy sources, is rapidly gaining popularity. The houses are equipped with solar panels and wind turbines. The share of energy generated by solar and wind power plants is growing. In 2010, it was 5%. This makes you think about building a small power plant at home.

How to choose an energy source

There are many options for generating alternative electricity, both popular and not so popular. Some of them are not suitable for our latitudes, and some are dangerous.

A heat pump that pumps heat from the soil into the house like a refrigerator is only suitable for residents of geothermal areas. An attempt to build it on his site will cost a resident of the Moscow Region a topsoil frozen to a depth of two meters. Freezing will affect the root system of trees and shrubs, which will subsequently become sick or die.

Biogas is suitable for extraction in large plants where there are no problems with bioreactor fuels. In a private farm, there is little benefit from biogas, an average subsidiary farm will not be able to produce the required amount of fuel. It will have to be imported, which will lead to constant shipping costs. Do not forget that biogas production is explosive and requires equipment control, which is difficult to implement at home.

There are more suitable alternative energy sources for a private home. These include:

• Solar energy.
• Wind energy.
• The energy of the water flow.
• Wood gas obtained by thermal decomposition of wood without access to air.

Unlike biogas, they are suitable for use in private homes and are safe when used correctly.

But not everyone on the site has a stream or access to large volumes of timber, so it might be wiser to consider renewable energy sources that are available everywhere. These include sunlight and wind.

There are do-it-yourself ready-made solutions for converting alternative energy. They allow you to convert it into electricity as efficiently as possible and are suitable for implementation in a private house.

Solar power plant

Solar back-up power supplies are well suited for locations with continuous power outages. Due to their high cost, their use is impractical where there are no problems with electricity. A solar power plant installed to save money will pay for itself only after 8-10 years. During this time, lead-acid batteries will become unusable, and their replacement will entail additional costs. Funds spent on replacing batteries will increase the cost of the power plant and postpone the payback period by another 3-5 years.

Required components and assembly

A solar panel is assembled from photovoltaic cells that vary in shape and size.

Solar cells are grown from silicon and are divided into two types: monocrystalline (mono-Si) and polycrystalline (poly-Si).

Monocrystalline cells have 20% efficiency and a service life of up to 30 years. For their normal operation, sunlight is needed to hit the batteries at a right angle. In diffused light, the power of such elements is reduced by three times, and even the slightest shading of one element removes the entire chain from the generation mode.

Therefore, SES (solar power plants), built on mono-Si cells, need systems that monitor the position of the sun and rotate the panels after it. Do not allow contamination of the panels, for this they are equipped with an automatic cleaning system. In small solar power plants, solar panels are washed by hand.

Power plants on mono-Si panels are suitable for regions with a lot of sunny days per year. In cloudy weather, their effectiveness is close to zero.

Polycrystalline cells have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include low cost and efficient operation in ambient light.

They have more disadvantages:

• Lower efficiency - 12%.
• Shorter service life - up to 25 years.
• Increased degradation at temperatures above 55 ° C.

Poly-Si solar panels are installed in areas with a predominance of cloudy days. The ability to convert diffused light allows them to be mounted without auto-rotation systems. In addition, they do not need to be washed frequently. Due to their low cost and unpretentiousness, polycrystalline solar cells are widely used in homemade solar power plants.

It is better to start assembling your own solar power plant with the selection of components. Its power will directly depend on them. For the manufacture of a classic SES you will need:

1. Photovoltaic cells.
2. Bus for connecting elements.
3. A sheet of glass or clear plastic.
4. Aluminum profile.
5. Epoxy resin with hardener.
6. Wires with a cross section of 4 mm².
7. Wall shield.
8. Solar panel controller.
9. Inverter 12-220 V.
10. Circuit breakers.
11. Terminal blocks for fuses.
12. Schottky diodes.
13. Lead-acid battery with a capacity of at least 150 Ah.
14. Battery terminals.

SES components connection diagram:

You need to start by assembling the solar panel. Cut 7 cm long pieces from the bus and solder them to the negative contacts of the photocell located on the front side. Repeat this step for each photocell.

The resulting "semi-finished products" must be connected in series, soldering the negative terminal of one element to the positive terminal of the next. The number of photocells in the circuit (module) must be such that a voltage of 14.5 V appears at its terminals. When using semi-volt cells, 29 pieces are needed. So that when one element is darkened in the circuit, a reverse current does not occur, it is necessary to solder the Schottky diode into the gap of the negative bus of each photocell.

A solar battery can be made from one module, but its power will be minimal. Therefore, solar panels are assembled from several modules connected in parallel.

Degrease the glass and carefully glue the assembled modules to it. Use epoxy resin as an adhesive, it does not become cloudy when solidified and does not interfere with the light from entering the photocells. Don't use other adhesives, even if they seem good.

After the epoxy has set, install the glass in the aluminum profile frame, pre-drilling a hole for the wires in it. Solder the module leads to the wires and push them out. For tightness, fill the entire structure with epoxy.

The cured epoxy will bond the glass to the frame and protect the photocells from moisture and dust.

Features of installation on the house

The assembled solar panel can be installed on the roof, but the best option would be to install it on the south wall of the house. The panel installed on it will be in direct sunlight for almost the entire daylight hours.

Hang the shield on the wall and fix the controller, inverter and terminal blocks with fuses inserted in the shield. Bring the wires into the shield and connect them according to the diagram. Remember that the battery emits poisonous gases when charging, so place it in a well-ventilated area.

When powering indoor lighting from an inverter, some of the energy is lost during conversion. So that you do not have to waste supplies from an autonomous energy source, install a lighting system operating from 12 volts at home.

Solar collectors for heating

Speaking of solar power plants that convert light into electricity, one cannot fail to mention another type of solar panels.

Solar collectors are used in heating and hot water supply systems and are:

• Air.
• Tubular.
• Vacuum.
• Flat.

Inside the air collectors there are plates covered with a light-absorbing composition. They are heated by the sun and give off heat to the air circulating through the collector, which is used to heat the dwelling.

To increase the area of ​​the working surface in the air collectors, corrugated plates are used.

In the body of the tubular collectors there are glass tubes, painted from the inside with black paint. Sunlight hits the paint and heats it up. The heat is then transferred to the water running through the tubes.

Vacuum collectors are a type of tubular. In it, the painted tubes are inserted into transparent ones with a large diameter. There is a vacuum between them, which reduces heat loss from the inner tube.

The simplest and cheapest of all are flat collectors. They consist of a plate, under which there are pipes with circulating water, closed from below with a layer of heat-insulating material. The efficiency of flat collectors is the lowest.

Connection diagram to the water supply system:

The air from the collector enters the house directly, and the water first enters the boilers, where it is heated by heating elements to the required temperature. From the boiler, hot water is supplied to the kitchen and bathroom, and it is also used for heating.

How to make a wind generator

Solar power plants do not work at night and in cloudy weather, and electricity is always required. Therefore, when designing alternative energy for the house with your own hands, you need to provide for a generator in it that does not depend on the sun.

For use as a second source of energy, a wind generator is perfect. It can even be assembled from used spare parts, which will significantly save your money.

A list of what you need to build a windmill:

1. Magnetically excited generator from a truck or tractor.
2. A pipe with an outer diameter of 60 mm and a length of 7 meters.
3. One and a half meters of pipe with an inner diameter of 60 mm.
4. Steel rope.
5. Brackets and pegs for attaching the cable.
6. Wires with a cross section of 4 mm².
7. Overdrive reducer 1 to 50.
8. PVC pipe with a diameter of 200 mm.
9. Circular saw blade.
10. Two EC-5 connectors.
11. A piece of steel sheet, 1 mm thick.
12. Aluminum sheet, 0.5 mm thick.
13. Bearing for the inner diameter of the mast.
14. Coupling for connecting the shafts of the generator and the gearbox.
15. Pipe for the inner diameter of the bearing, length - 60 cm.

All these materials are sold in a construction and auto shop. New gearboxes with a generator are expensive, so it's best to buy them at a flea market.

Making a wind wheel for home

The main element of any wind turbine is the blades, so they need to be made first.

To determine the size, use the table.

The power of the wind wheel should ideally coincide with the generator, but due to the excessively large size of the resulting wheel, this is not always possible. Therefore, most often the power of the blades is much lower than that of the generator. There is nothing wrong with that.

Cut the PVC pipe into lengths equal to the length of the blades. Saw them in half along the longitudinal axis. Redraw the markings into the halves of the pipe and cut the blades along it. Saw off triangles from the blanks. Cut out the blade mounts from the steel sheet and drill holes in them. Take a circular saw blade, drill holes in it and bolt the blades to the blade.

Assembly, installation and connection

Dig a hole and concrete a pipe with an inner diameter of 60 mm. Take a seven-meter pipe and, stepping back 1 meter from the edge, install the brackets on it. Weld the bearing into the same end of the pipe using argon welding.

Bend a frame from a steel sheet and weld a pipe to it from below, which fits into the bearing. Fasten the gearbox with the generator to the frame by connecting their shafts. Install 2 pin restraints at the bottom of the frame and at the top of the mast. They will prevent the frame from turning more than 360 degrees. Make a weather vane out of aluminum sheet and attach it to the back of the frame. Drill a hole for the wire at the base of the mast.

Connect a wire to the generator and run it through the frame and mast. Put the wind wheel on the gearbox shaft and fix it on it. Insert the frame into the bearing and twist it. It should rotate easily.

The complete wind turbine looks something like this:

1. Blades.
2. Disc from the circular.
3. Reducer.
4. Coupling.
5. Generator.
6. Vane.
7. Mount the weather vane.
8. Bearing.
9. Limiters.
10. Mast.
11. The wire.

Drive the pegs into the ground so that the distance from the mast to each of them is the same. Tie the cables to the brackets on the mast. To install the mast, you need to call a crane. Do not try to install the wind generator yourself! In the best case, you will break the windmill, in the worst case, you will suffer yourself. After lifting the mast with a truck crane, direct its base into the previously concreted pipe and wait for the crane to lower it into the pipe.

The rope must be tied to the peg when taut. Moreover, all cables must be tied so that the mast is strictly vertical, without distortions.

You need to connect the wind generator to the charger via the EC-5 connector. The charging itself is installed in the panel with the SES equipment and is connected directly to the battery.

To avoid losing household appliances, always disconnect the wind turbine from the charger during a thunderstorm.

The assembly of the power plant is complete. Now you will not be left without electricity, even if you turn off the light for a long time. At the same time, you do not have to spend money on fuel for the generator and the time for its delivery. Everything will work automatically and will not require your intervention.