7gen Bloc

Our IT Support Analyst is Off the Grid at his Desk
Set Font Size:
A | A | A
Article Tools
Print  Email Share This
del.icio.us del.icio.us Digg This! digg reddit reddit facebook facebook newsvine newsvine
By White Rhino - June 19, 2008

Dan O'Shaughnessy Sr., IT Support Analyst at Seventh Generation, is off the Grid at his desk

Here is what he did:
I took an off the shelf RV solar panel (up to 15 watts of solar power) to charge a deep cycle marine battery (12 volts, 125 amp hours) with a 7 map charge controller to keep the panel from over charger when there is a no load situation (everything off).

From the battery I clipped a 400 watt DC to AC converter and plugged in a Kill-A-Watt meter, and then my desktop power strip. On the Power strip I plugged in my ViewSonic VA1703wb monitor and Sony Vaio with docking station. With both the laptop and monitor plugged in, I am drawing 50 to 60 watts and with just the laptop it’s 25 watts on average.

The next step will involve placing a meter to see how much charge we get from the solar panel in full sunlight, partial cloud cover, etc. Currently the sun has not come around the building’s west side for the afternoon blast of sunshine. With a partially cloudy day today, we are still seeing the ‘charge’ light on, but I doubt it’s keeping up with the discharge rate. The entire setup was less than $300. Here are the pictures to prove it:



Comments
Dan's Solar Song
Posted by Chris | Fri, Jun. 20, 2008

I asked Dan to use his exceptional songwriting skills to share his user experience in going solar. He says, "Better if you hum Billy Joel’s Piano Man for a little while before reading this…"

It’s 7 AM on a Monday
The construction crowd shuffles in
There’s an old man running a lift truck
Getting some trash in a bin

He says ‘Son, will you build a PV solar system
We all have to get off of the grid’
The cycles are neat
And I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man’s clothes

Get me off grid, you’re the computer man
Wire me up some volts
I expect you’ll be adding another panel
If your output is not over 12 volts

Now Jason, the electrician is a friend of mine
And he gets me my meters for free
Now he’s quick with his clips or to wire your inverter
But there’s someplace that he’d rather be.

He says, ‘Dan, I believe this is killing me’
As the smile ran away from his face
‘Yes I’m sure that I could get off the grid
If I could get volts out at my place’

Now Gregor is a Green Video Blogger
Who’s always had time for his wives
And he’s talking with Davy
Who techs at Carnegie
And probably will be for life.

It’s a pretty good crowd for SeventhGen
And my manager gives me a smile
‘Cause she knows it’s the solar panel they’ve been coming to see
To forget about their electric bills for awhile.

And the inverter sounds like a carnival
And the charge controller smells like a beer
And they sit at my desk and put bread in the raisin jar
And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’

Get me off grid, you’re the computer man
Wire me up some volts
I expect you’ll be adding another panel
If your output is not over 12 volts