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GREETINGS FROM OUR SOLAR POWERED OFFICE!
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Latest projects
with AC SOLAR MODULES by BenQ Solar!
We are happy to be able to offer the latest revolutionary
power technology — these solar modules manufactured by BenQ Solar
combine its premium PV module with reliable microinverter
technology, maximizing PV (photovoltaic) benefits for end users.
The integrated microinverter converts the module’s DC electricity to
grid-compliant 240VAC at each module, increasing system performance
by up to 25%, reducing shading losses and making solar power safer
to install and own.
In terms
of a straight, batteryless, grid-tied system, there are several
advantages of an AC solar module, namely: |
|
Harvests 5-25% more energy than traditional systems |
Simplified PV system reduces installation costs. |
No
high-voltage DC means safer installation and ownership. |
Superior performance under weak light or shading conditions |
Three-busbar design enhances current transmission and module
reliability. |
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Like most solar modules, these also offer a 25 year
output warranty (10 year warranty for material and workmanship,
guaranteed output of 90% for 10 years and 80% for 25 years).
Additional specifications are as follows:
|
| Max. continuous power
outlet |
225 W
|
CEC weighted efficiency |
94.5% |
| Nominal voltage |
240V
|
Peak inverter efficiency |
95.5% |
| Nominal frequency |
60 Hz
|
Maximum units per 20A
branch |
17 |
| Nominal operating voltage
range |
211-264V
|
Weight |
22 kg / 48.5 lb |
| Total harmonic distortion |
<5%
|
Dimensions: 1651 x 992 x
40 mm (65" x 39.06" x 1.57") |
| High
transparent solar glass (tempered) |
Cell - 60 monocrystalline
solar cells |
| Anodized
aluminum frame |
Certifications: Module UL
1703; Inverter UL 1741 |
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Here are a dozen BenQ 225W AC
solar modules on a residential system just south of Hamilton, MT.
Thanks, Mick, for your clean energy investment! |
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Going solar has never cost less or afforded more options!
Whether you want to lessen or negate your utility bill, live
off-grid or have back-up power in the event of a utility outage,
it’s easier than ever to have your own power system. The 30%
federal tax credit for these systems will expire at the end of 2016,
so be planning now for your future hedge against utility inflation.
You can view what incentives may be available for the state
you live in at
www.dsireusa.org; this site
is updated monthly with the latest information. Here are some facts
about solar power in the U.S. for 2013:
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The U.S. installed 4,651 MW of solar PV in
2013, up 41% over 2012 and nearly 15 times the amount installed
in 2008.
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There were 140,000 individual solar
installations in the U.S. in 2013 and a total of over 440,000
systems are operating today.
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More solar power systems have been
installed in the past 18 months in the U.S. than the previous 30
years prior!
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The market value of all PV installations
completed in 2013 was $13.7 billion USD.
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Solar electricity accounted for 29% of all
new electricity generation capacity in 2013, up from 10% in
2012. This made solar the second-largest source of new
generating capacity behind natural gas.
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Average commercial PV system prices fell
15% in 2013, reaching a new low of $2.59 per watt in the fourth
quarter.
NEWSLETTER INDEX:
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 Weather: While Australia
was burning up and California was drying out, Montana (and much of
the rest of the country) experienced one heck of a winter. Potholes
aside, we’re not complaining; we are at 150% or better of snowpack
here, so we hopefully look forward to a summer free of forest
fires. Still, it’s hard on the critters. Two years ago, with my
batch of mail order chicks (and a “free” rooster), I received a very
personable Andalusian rooster. Unfortunately he’s a warm weather
bird, native to the deserts of Spain; 100°F is not too hot for him,
but zero is mighty cold. None of my hens had problems with the
cold, but as you can see, his comb suffered frostbite, despite the
heat lamps that forced me to buy utility power for the first time in
a year! He is recovering thanks to a combined application of
Vaseline, Bag Balm and antibiotic ointment. But it WAS a rough
winter! |
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SWAPPING WIND
TURBINES
from a 24V to a 48V model
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The old wind genny is down, the
new one is up! We finally got around to taking down our old 24V
wind generator and putting up the new 48V Chinook (that’s Chris Daum
on the ladder at the home/office of Oasis Montana).
 First, we disconnected the positive and negative leads from the
battery bank, then we disassembled the box at the base of the tower
that housed the wind turbine’s wiring, controller and surge
protector.
The job then entailed attaching
a ladder to our ~30 ft. log pole, and removing the bolts at the top
that secure the 1.5” schedule 40 steel pipe to the log (pictures to
the left and center, above); then we removed bolts at the bottom
(the steel pipe is still attached in the middle with a swivel
connection). We attached a rope to the bottom and lowered the old
turbine carefully; quite the
feat considering it weighs in at about 50 lbs. And by ‘we’ I mean
myself and my husband, Ace. Once the turbine was down, we removed
the connecting fittings from the steel pole (far left). We needed
to have a new coupler made to fit the new turbine (our thanks to
friend Tony Swallow for his machining skills) so we could mount it
on the old steel pole. 
Then we were able to attach the new wind generator and pull it
erect, repositioning the bolts at the top and bottom of the pipe.
While the Bitterroot Valley is
not the most ideal site for wind generation, we do get significant
winds in winter and spring, and during the dark days of winter (or
with snow on the solar modules!), a good time of year to have
additional battery charging.
The old wind turbine’s maximum
output was right around ~300W, and the new one’s top end is around
~200W, but since it is designed to activate in lower winds, I feel
it will still be a valuable addition to my power system.
Rumor has it that those sharp
folks at Midnight Solar are working on their own residential wind
generator, being beta tested right now. Stay tuned for additional
information! |
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SOLAR MODULE PRICING
Call for availability, freight costs, and quantities (#
of modules) on pallets for the best deal. You can’t get less than a
pallet quantity to get the pallet ‘deal.’ For larger modules, pallet
quantity generally runs between 20 and 56 modules, and often there are significant
additional charges for less (or more) than even pallet quantities. Some
suppliers charge re-boxing fees, too.
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| Module
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Single/Pallet |
Qty. |
| LG280 Neon 280W, 9.07A, 31.4V
(64.57” X 39.37”) Made in South Korea |
$429 / $407 |
(27) |
| ET250 ETP660250B_AC,
240VAC, .97A (64.57" x 39.06") Made in
Taiwan; polycrystalline AC module with Solarbridge Pantheon II
Microinverters |
$509 / $479 |
(26) |
| TRINA TSM-300, 300W,
8.13A, 36.9V (77" x 39.05") Made in China;
polycrystalline |
$349 / $323 |
(24) |
| SHARP ND-Q250F7, 250W, 29.8V,
8.4A (39.1” x 64.6”) Made in the USA (sort of) |
$349 / $329 |
(22) |
SOLARWORLD SW275, 275W,
7.22A,
28.4V (39.4” x 65.94”) Made in the USA or Germany;
monocrystalline |
$420 / $389 |
(30) |
| CANADIAN SOLAR, 250W, 30.1V,
8.3A (64.5” x 38.7”) Made in China;
polycrystalline |
$329 / $315 |
(24) |
| EOPLLY 185W, 36.2V, 5.21A (62.2”
x 31.8”) Made in China; monocrystalline |
$289 / $269 |
(56) |
CONERGY PH250, 250W, 8.27A,
30.3V (65” x 39.1”) Made in Taiwan & Eastern
Europe;
polycrystalline |
$339 / $319 |
(25) |
SUNIVA 260W, 30.2V, 8.6A (38.66”
x 65.07”) Buy American Compliant—cells made in
the U.S.,
assembled in China |
$379 / $352 |
(25) |
| KYOCERA 245GX, 245W, 8.23A,
29.8V (64.5” x 39”) Made in Japan or Mexico |
$399 / $369 |
(20) |
| KYOCERA 140GX, 140W, 7.91A,
17.7V (59.1” x 26.3”) Made in Japan or Mexico |
$339 / $319 |
(20) |
| (Some Kyocera modules may have a 2-3
month lead time) |
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| Kyocera KS20, 20W, 16.9V, 1.20 A
(20.47” X 13.85”) |
$169 / $158 |
(40+) |
| Kyocera KS10, 10W, 16.9V, 0.60A (11.96”
X 13.85”) |
$113 / $110 |
(40+) |
| Kyocera KS5, 5W, 16.9V, 0.29A (8.07” X
13.85”) |
$ 84 / $ 74 |
(40+) | |
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Other modules available too--Samsung, Hyundai, Bosch,
Alps, SunWize, Renasola--prices subject to change with
little notice. Call for your module
pricing and availability. Container pricing available
for better dollar-per-watt cost. Rumor has it there will
be some price increases this year.
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WHO WE ARE and ORDERING
INFORMATION: Chris Daum, owner
and manager of Oasis Montana, has been in the renewable energy field for
24 years, and our system designers will help plan a system for your needs. Our
staff offers experience, personalized service, tech support, quality
components, and good pricing. We are happy to work with your installer,
electrician, or contractor, and locally we can install your power system
(or even fly to your site for installation). We provide detailed wiring
diagrams with the systems we sell. TO PLACE AN ORDER: Email or call
us for your freight costs; if you have any questions about your system or
product, please contact us. Email is easiest and fastest (but we know that
you aren’t all online). We accept Visa/MasterCard (personal and business
checks are fine). For our international customers, we accept bank
transfers— email or call us for our banking information. Our summer hours
(April through October) are 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Mountain Time, Mon. –
Thurs, 8 to 4 on Fridays. If we‘re on another line when you call, please
leave us a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can, but you
may have to leave a message if we’re with a customer or on one of the
other lines. Call 406-777-4321 or 4309 or email us at info@oasismontana.com. For
tech support on renewable energy systems, again, email us at
info@oasismontana.com. We’d
be very happy to help you with your power project — send an email or
give us a call! |
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NEW
Grid-tie Inverter from SMA is smart enough to provide
daytime power in the event of a power outage! Unlike most
grid-tie batteryless inverters, which shut down in the event
of a power failure, SMA’s new Sunny Boy TL-US SPS (secure
power supply) models offer up to 1500W of power during
daylight hours while the sun is shining — enough to power
any loads that do not exceed 1500 watts total. |
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These new SMA inverters are
transformerless, so owners and installers benefit from lower weight
and higher efficiencies. The wider input voltage range also means
the inverters will produce larger amounts of power under a variety
of conditions. Also, transformerless inverters have been shown to be
among the safest string inverters available. An operating
temperature range of -40°F to +140°F assures power production in
all climates and for longer periods of times than most string
inverters.
The new TL-US residential line
features more than high performance and a large graphic display; the
monitoring and control options provide users with a great degree of
flexibility. Through a wireless communication standard (that is
often used for home energy management) and numerous wired options,
monitoring on SMA’s Sunny Portal can be accomplished from anywhere
on the planet with an internet connection. Installers and customers
can find the best solution to their monitoring needs, and will know
what their system is doing at any time.
See our new webpage (http://www.grid-tie.com/SMAsmart.html)
for pricing and specs on these new inverters. Prices do not
include shipping—call for
your pricing. |
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Spring is the time for solar water pumping! |
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Whether
you need water moved for your pond, your pool, your off-grid
home, for irrigation or for your livestock, we can help
provide your water solution. Visit us now online at
www.PVsolarpumps.com
— fill out the questionnaire and we’ll propose a system for
your project. |
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Blueprint for 100% renewables by mid-century? The clean
energy sector offers several scenarios that suggest 100% of our
energy needs can be met with renewables by 2050. While the
implementation of this possibility is more difficult that the report
suggests, these models can serve as an important exercise in
imagining and planning for what is
possible.
Stanford Professor Mark
Jacobson recently released new calculations that conclude that, by
2050, onshore and offshore wind, utility-scale and rooftop PV,
concentrated solar power (CSP), geothermal, wave, tidal and
conventional hydropower can meet 100% of U.S. energy demand. “Every
new power plant should be a clean renewables plant,” Jacobson said.
“If every new car sold today was an EV, in fifteen years almost
every car would be electric.” Jacobson’s plan eliminates nuclear
energy because of its energy intensity and time horizons. According
to Jacobson's analysis, the fossil fuels used in mining and uranium
refining are nine to 25 times the amount used by wind energy
per unit energy produced. For more information on these
interesting ideas, visit
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/articles/read/the-100-percent-renewables-by-2050-scenarios.
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From the stone age to the SUN
Age: What can Rooftop Solar do for you?
- Reduce your electric bills
- Add value to your home
- Guard against future utility rate
increases
- Generate additional tax credits
- Provide back-up power when needed
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Peerless
Premier Pro-Series Ranges with stainless fronts and
commercial styling are now available with battery-generated spark
ignition. No Power is no problem for these attractive, American-made
stoves!
Below are just four samples of
what Peerless-Premier has to offer. You can view all our
battery-spark ignition ovens at
http://www.lpappliances.com/DCStoves.html.
And, you can see all Peerless-Premier gas stoves, including
hot-surface (glowbar) ignition models, at
http://www.lpappliances.com/stovemodels_peerless.html.
For our complete lines of non-electric gas appliances, including gas
refrigerators, freezers, and drop-in cooktops, go to
http://www.lpappliances.com/.
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Renewable Energy News Bites:
*
Complacency Could Lead to Fukushima-Like Nuclear Catastrophe
Anywhere, including the U.S.: Union of Concerned Scientists,
February 11, 2014,
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/ucs-book-on-fukushima.html.
A new book, " Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster" concludes
that the NRC hasn’t learned the lessons of Fukushima and has been
slow to implement even the few regulatory changes it has decided to
require. It warns that if NRC commissioners insist on watering down
the agency post-Fukushima task force’s recommendations for
strengthening safeguards, it will only be a matter of time before a
similar event happens here because U.S. nuclear plants are
vulnerable to catastrophic natural disasters, multiple system
failures, and terrorist attacks; and U.S. nuclear plants are not
much better equipped than Japanese plants to cope with severe
accidents.
* Why solar leasing is a bad idea:
http://www.ilsr.org/cost-solar-middleman/.
* Just 90 Companies Are Responsible for Two-Thirds of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions:
http://grist.org/climate-energy/just-90-companies-are-responsible-for-two-thirds-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions/?utm_source=feedly.
The climate crisis of the 21st century has been caused largely by
just 90 companies, which between them produced nearly two-thirds of
the greenhouse gas emissions generated since the dawning of the
industrial age, according to climate researcher and author Richard
Heede at the Climate Accountability Institute in Colorado whose
findings have been accepted for publication in the journal "Climatic
Change." Half of the estimated emissions were produced just in the
past 25 years — well past the date when governments and corporations
became aware that rising greenhouse gas emissions from the burning
of coal and oil were causing dangerous climate change. ….
* Crops grown under a PV array….they are doing it
in Japan:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/10/japan-next-generation-farmers-cultivate-agriculture-and-solar-energy?cmpid=WNL-Friday-October11-2013.
* Amazing solar cooker!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/707808908/gosun-stove-portable-high-efficiency-solar-cooker#.
* Perhaps the most important video you'll ever watch:
http://peak-oil.org/2013/09/arithmetic-population-energy/ (Take
some time with this one!)
* Fracking infrastructure? Not in my backyard,
says Exxon CEO:
http://grist.org/news/fracking-infrastructure-not-in-my-backyard-says-exxon-ceo/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Weekly%2520Feb%252025&utm_campaign=weekly.
* New Report Shows Wind Energy Saves Consumers Money:
http://aweablog.org/blog/post/new-awea-report-shows-wind-energy-saves-consumers-money/.
A new white paper report finds that wind energy is keeping electric
bills low for American homes and businesses, thanks to wind energy
costs plummeting by 43 percent over the last four years driven by
technological improvements.
* Can we turn unwanted carbon dioxide into
electricity?
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/01/can-we-turn-unwanted-carbon-dioxide-into-electricity?cmpid=WNL-Friday-January3-2014.
* Subsidies for the production and consumption of
fossil fuels remain a stubborn impediment to shifting the
world’s energy matrix towards renewable sources….still not a level
playing field at all.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/02/fossil-fuel-subsidies-dampen-shift-towards-renewables.
* Renewable Energy Gaining on Fossil Fuels:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/01/31/renewable-energy-winning/5082181/.
Since 2007, electricity generation from coal has fallen 24.9% from
2.02 billion MW-hrs to 1.51 billion MW-hrs in 2012. Meanwhile, over
the same time frame wind grew 309% to 140.8 million MW-hrs and solar
grew 607% to 4.3 million MW-hrs. That doesn't include distributed
solar on residential rooftops or any installations from 2013, which
was a record year for solar, installing about 4.4 GW in the U.S. The
driver of coal's declining role in electricity and the growth in
renewable energy -- particularly solar -- is economics. For example,
a utility scale solar project with a 10% return on investment would
create electricity for 9.3 to 11.7 cents per kW-hr without subsidy.
That compares to an average price of 9.6 cents per watt overall in
the U.S.
* Natural gas: bridge fuel or gateway drug:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2014/02/natural-gas-isnt-a-bridge-fuel-its-a-gateway-drug?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-February5-2014.
* 10 most important items to recycle:
http://www.care2.com/causes/top-10-most-important-items-to-recycle.html.
* World’s tallest vertical garden:
http://www.gizmag.com/clearpoint-residencies-worlds-tallest-vertical-garden/30864/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=827875f401-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-827875f401-76674417.
(just way cool!)
* Minnesota judge decrees: solar power beats natural
gas for utility procurement.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/01/minn-judge-solar-beats-natural-gas-for-utility-procurement?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-January8-2014.
* Protest video against coal exports - ode to Johnny
Cash (good tune!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uS1VVDVw5k.
* When solar is outlawed only outlaws will have
solar. In Florida it’s apparently against the law to go
off-grid:
http://planetsave.com/2014/03/10/verdict-makes-living-off-the-grid-illegal/.
* Fukushima, 3 years later; disaster still lingers:
http://mashable.com/2014/03/11/three-years-after-fukushima/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&utm_content=My+Yahoo.
* Rooftop solar will soon be cheaper than coal in
Europe:
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Rooftop-Solar-in-the-EU-Will-Soon-Be-Cheaper-Than-Coal?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily.
* English energy minister says solar power is better
than a pension:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/10615852/Solar-panels-better-than-a-pension-says-minister.html.
* 15 solar facts you should know:
http://beforeitsnews.com/environment/2013/11/15-solar-facts-you-should-know-2486128.html.
* While the Cost of Solar Is Known, the Cost of
Nuclear Remains Unknown:
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/11/27/cost-nuclear-still-unknown-cost-solar.
The cost of nuclear projects are hard to understand exactly. That’s
because it takes a long time to build a nuclear power plant. Recent
experiences with projects Vogtle and Olkiluoto, Finland show that
cost estimates with nuclear tend to be unreliable. And in most
cases, costs go up later. By contrast, since one only need weeks to
months to build a solar park, everyone involved in such a project
can rely on those very exact costs. They won’t change much while
building it. Moreover, solar prices have dropped already by a factor
of 200 in the last forty years and will continue getting cheaper.
* Oasis Montana AC module system article (thanks
again, Mick!):
http://solarbridgetech.com/learning-lab/case-studies/solar-in-the-woods-artists-studio-goes-acpv/.
* Political support for solar power across party
lines:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/11/3385351/poll-homeowners-energy-choices/.
* The red faces of the solar skeptics:
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/the-red-faces-of-the-solar-skeptics/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0.
* End of live PV: recycling of solar modules:
http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3005/end-of-life-pv-then-what-recycling-solar-pv-panels/.
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QUOTABLE
QUOTES
 "It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by
heart.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke
"Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna
Karenina
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you
plant.” —Robert Louis Stevenson
“I suppose the best kind of spring morning is the best weather God
has to offer.” ― Dodie Smith
“Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God.” ―
Thomas Jefferson
“Woods were ringed with a color so soft, so subtle that it could
scarcely be said to be a color at all. It was more the idea of a
color —as if the trees were dreaming green dreams or thinking green
thoughts.” ― Susanna Clarke
“If you ever dream of beating me you’d better wake up and
apologize.” —Muhammad Ali
“One of the healthiest ways to gamble is with a spade and a package
of garden seeds.” — Dan Bennett
“The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always
optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always
look forward to something better than they have ever done before.” —
Vita Sackville-West
“They are much to be pitied who have not been given a taste for
nature early in life.” — Jane Austen
"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've
got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want,
but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!" — Mark
Twain
“We may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we
can at least prepare our children for the future.” ― Franklin D.
Roosevelt
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to,
with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the
present.”
— Marcus Aurelius |
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Thank you for your
interest in Oasis Montana. For more information go to http://www.oasismontana.com/, send
us an email at info@oasismontana.com, or call us
at 406-777-4321or 4309.
And feel free to share this newsletter with your friends; knowledge is
POWER!
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