During the week of June 21, 2010, I had a photovoltaic solar system installed at my home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The installation took place over two days, with the panels installed the first day and the electrical connections completed the second day. The system consists of 18 235-Watt panels, and each panel has a dedicated inverter installed under the solar panel. As you can see, the crews were fast, neat and professional. I shot this with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 digital camera and edited it using Corel VideoStudio Pro x2. Edit: The new digital electric meter was installed on July 14, 2010, so this system is now generating power and feeding the grid. For more about me and what I do, check my website at www.bobkovacs.com.
Using a demonstration model, NMSU Professor Thomas Jenkins describes the different components of a home photovoltaic system that also includes battery storage.
The solar-powered internet café for Africa is comprised of a Uni-solar PVL-124 flexible solar panel, a Morningstar MPPT 15 charge controller, a Pure Sine PowerBright 24V inverter, 12 AWG outdoor wiring, and a 24V battery bank (two 12V batteries). This photovoltaic solar system is designed to be transportable to developing countries. Chad Now performed preliminary testing in Austin, Texas, and the prototype cafe is being deployed in N'Djamena, Chad in Africa. For more information on the project, equipment in the system, or instructions and tips on making your own solar cyber café, visit Chad Now at chadnow.org
