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rleete:
Doesn't it block access to the door for the shed?

awemawson:

--- Quote from: Joules on July 02, 2025, 05:56:14 PM ---I hadn't considered a mini gun Andrew, but now you mention it. Keep the pigeons and other vermin at bay...

--- End quote ---
As it happens due to an invasion of crows who eat more feed than the chicken, I'm resurrecting at the moment a propane fueled 'crow scarer'. Cunning device slowly inflates a small reservoir of propane with a diaphragm lid that lifts a mechanism that toggles and discharges the gas into the 4" diameter 24" long barrel and then clouts a piezo element sparking to fire the charge. Throtle valve controls the rate of cycling. It makes a massive bang when it fires :bugeye: Currently awaiting more neoprene as the diaphragm needs replacing before I put it back together.

Joules:
You're only one step away from making a buzz bomb Andrew...

Careful measurements were taken to clear Studio and also work out best position for winter sun, based on the x8, 100W panels we have.

I am currently seeing 750W an hour for at least 4-5hrs (sunny hot day), after around 4-5kW all our batteries are full so don't have a true
amount for how much the tracker can produce as it gets throttled back. These last few days not even activated the tracker as it collects enough just pointing up. I think we produced 20kw for the air con during these heatwaves.

The array is 2m x 2m to give it some scale, so not far off 20% efficient, considering our latitude.

vtsteam:
Joules, what do you have for a battery, and what does it power?

Joules:
We have a 12v Rolls battery that's covered by the workshop and Studio array. That handles fridge and freezer plus most of our IT gear. The tracker has ended up powering our Bluetti (7.5kW total storage) power station. That pretty much covers all kitchen appliances, microwave, the air con and any other heavy loads up to 2.5kW. I run the lathe and mill from the Bluetti as well when we have plenty of power. House is still grid tied as never enough in winter, but March through October the house only uses 1-2kW a day. We don't sell back to the grid and using the Bluetti solves lots of regulation issues having solar dedicated wiring in the house. Pretty much just electric shower and electric range cooker only loads we can't power, wife likes to bake, so well worth the power used.

The Bluetti can handle a direct feed in from the tracker and make full use of the array. The 12V side maxes out at 600W per array, looking into moving to 24V replacing the Rolls battery. This is as much a hobby for me these days, it certainly isn't a fit and forget system. My workshop rack is a lot of work compared to the Bluetti. The all in one is very convenient, and portable, I would certainly say it's the way to go if you are starting from scratch.

Apologies for the awful picture of Bluetti stack, AC200L and two B300K expansion batteries. Wife really likes this system and took to using it straight away.

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