Hi David,
Most hybrid i know of are all in one, including charge controller. I will look up some info on the one i intent to use
try this link: http://dreamboxhd.tarad.com/product-en-1083597-6471019-JFY+XPI+Series+4KVA+(3KW)+Solar+Hybrid+Power+with+MPPT+Charger.html?lang=th
I am with you on the higher voltage DC systems. But one word of wisdom for everyone. Anyway over 32 VDC if I remember OSHA correctly is considered deadly. High Voltage DC is much more dangerous then high voltage AC. I just highly recommend everyone fully understand the risk and insulation ratings of the tools and hardware your working with before you start working on high voltage DC. As a electronics technician years ago I got hit with about 640 VDC from my elbow to my fingers. I was very lucky it went right out the same arm and never crossed my body. The other reason I was lucky is the laser was in the process of discharging the capacitor bank as I had already locked it out and just rushed to pull a low voltage circuit board out above the power supply. Except my arm wiggled a little and dropped down onto the lug. I didnāt get hurt but it scared the crap out of me as my arm locked up for a few seconds and I couldnāt move it at all. So everyone just be careful with this stuff if your not sure hire someone. Those panels are always live.
Oh one other point on electricity. One of the old timers once told me voltage hurts current kills. The point being that for the same power a higher Voltage system can actually be safer then a lower voltage system.
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Koen, what does that translate to in USA? if available here.Thanks
Nice looking rig Koen. Donāt know of anything like it in North America. Anyone know please post. Propably not locally code compliant though. Only draw back I can see is all your eggs are in one basket. Hopefully the boards are seperate for field repair. What does the price work out to in USD?
Thanks, David
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Welcome to the DOW oregoncarl,
Thanks for speaking up. Direct-use experiences are always the best.
Would that be now super-wet westside, Oregon? Or, only a bit now dampside east of Cascade crest, Oregon?
Not prying. It makes a difference in your solar-power potential. Your woods types to charcoal.
Regards
tree-farmer Steve Unruh
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Thanks Bill, If I figured correctly, $758.00 But donāt know if itās available in the US
I think schneider has some good stuf to
i didnāt read thru all of it, but it might be worth looking into, i have no idea about pricing dough
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Steve: I am in the valley, so I am somewhere in the middle - we get 40-50 inches of rain, and we can go for weeks with little or no sun. I have a 1.5kw array and a pretty modest 5 kwh battery bank. Our daily electrical use is about 1 kwh, for lights, a 1/2 hp well pump, a converted chest freezer-fridge, and electronics and such. I am using a 60 amp charge controller by Outback, and I am working on adding a hydro system, that is just waiting on enough water to test. It should be able to add 1 kwh per day once the streamflow picks up. We are getting a washing machine to add to the mix, which shouldnt really pull all too much power, but I also would like to get a small high efficiency freezer. I have been living with this system for about 4 years now, and in that time I have only resorted to running a a gas generator a handful of times to charge my batteries. I will allow that when it is really gray and the panels only pick up .1kwh all day, I have resorted to lighting our yurt with a makita cordless jobsite light, that my wife somehow puts up with. This is incidentally where the woodgas comes in, as I am thinking of building a charcoal gasifier along the lines of the āSimple Fireā and using it to run a lawnmower engine turning a 24v alternator for a direct-to-battery DC generator. It feels like such a waste to fire up our 4kw gas generator that makes AC, feed it into a charger that turns it back into DC. Especially when you consider that we have 80 acres of wooded property, and that I am making a bunch of charcoal already. Anyway, I am not sure I have helped answer the original posters question at all, but I am more than happy to ramble on about living off grid if anyone is interested!
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Carl,
Indeed, for your purposes , the simple fire system from Gary Gilmore is the way to goā¦
Plenty of examples on this forum based on a Simple fireā¦
Welcome to the dark side 
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Thanks OrCarl,
You are correct we do not want to stray far from the original starters topic.
Good DOing it credits non-the-less.
āin-the valleyā you mean the Willamette Valley? The original Godās country Oregon goal. Growing zone 6A I believe. Actually the best in the west overall.
You should do fine charcoal gas fueling your larger 4kW unit.
For actual lowest dino fuel sipping for your power use needs a Honda or Yamaha 2000 inverter-generator unit would save you over half the bought out fuel use. Tiny engines on these MUCH harder to raw woodgas fuel. GaryG and one other have charcoalgas fueled these tinyās now too.
80 acres of Willamette Valley trees would probably be Fir. Save out all of the denser big limbwood and knotwood sections for charcoaling.
Now if your valley was Rogue River/Appleton, then you will have better charcoaling oak and maybe madrona.
Regards
tree-farmer Steve Unruh
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Hello Carl , I live part time off grid , in other words my wife will not allow me to cut the cord from the outside world , but while she is out at work all day everything runs off my charcoal gasifier , over the years i have run nearly every type of small engine . from single cyclinder B&S running 12 and 24 alternators , and scream o matic type generators , to the now much nicer for everyone inverter generators .
One of the inverter generators with a small charcoal gasifier would be perfect if you are adding a washing machine and a new freezer onto your home setup , one of my worn down 24 volt systems is made up of trojan L16 batteries that manage pretty good while doing the laundry tv and computer after a top up from my inverter generator .
If you do decide on a small charcoal system we are all here to help you along ,so if you have any questions then ask away .
All the best Dave
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Wow, there is so much information on this forum that it makes my head swim. I just plowed through the thread on nozzle designs and the first thought I had when i got to the bottom was āI know kung-fu.ā You guys have been busy. Is there another thread somewhere that picks up on that work? I am fascinated by the water-cooled nozzle Gary Gilmore built, as well as the simple heavy-walled pipe with multiple jets design.
Steve: I am indeed in the Willamette Valley, and our property was clearcut about 20 years ago and planted to doug fir and western red cedar. We have a lot of hardwood that resprouted though, and so I have been making charcoal mostly out of cherry. I cut maybe 5 cords of firewood a year, and all the off-cuts or unstackable pieces I throw aside and make into charcoal. I am using a 55 gallon drum with a pipe that goes underneath to try and burn some of the flared gases, but it really needs to be improved upon. I will have to check out what other people are doing.
Dave: Since I am 100% off grid, I am thinking it makes more sense for me to charge my batteries directly from an alternator rather than trying to run a stand-alone inverter generator. That way when I add more electrical loads they can just plug into my existing outlets, and I can top off the batteries when needed. Did you post about your 24 volt alternator project? I am thinking I am going to look for a 3-5hp vertical shaft lawnmower engine and couple it with an approx. 40Amp 24v alternator. My battery bank is pretty small, so I probably should not try and cram more than 30 amps into.
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Carl you want the other Dave not me but check out www.microcogen.info for everything you ever wanted to know about charging battery banks.
Carl , since the last post on nozzle designās I have been running so many types of nozzles ,and have no reached a time where I can say without worry that the only way to go is with a vertical pointing nozzle , be that a thick walled tube or what I am using for the past 2 months is a refractory cast disk that is just under 8 inches in Dia by half inch thick with a half inch hole in the middle , this is a very small gasifier and fully loaded will only run my inverter generator for 2 hours max before it gets too hot and needs refilling , some times I do if its a real cloudy day other times just one run a day will do .
The reason why I mention inverter generator is this , during the day I use no grid power at all , so if I want to use washing machine and cut wood and charge the batteries all at the same time I can , that way I am not relying totally on batteries that would soon be flat if only charging from my 5 solar panels on the shed roof , and allows me to run tv and computers at night on just battery power , when I was using a small engine to spin a alternator it worked but wouldnāt put out enough to charge up my batteries for everything and as my inverter also has a 100 amp charger built in to it I use the inverter as a ups while charging my banks of batteries .
if memory serves I may have loaded pictures up on the yahoo charcoal site , it would be a good idea to have a look on there at some of the photoās ect , you may have to join /sign up to view but well worth it .
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/charcoalgasifiers/info
Dave
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Hi Carl,
I did re-read your posts and i hope i see the picture right.
Following the advice of Steve U, using your gas generator set on charcoal, i second that and i ad:
1: use an extra rectifier from the AC outlet generator to connect that voltage DC into,/parallel with your solar panels, your solar charger.
2: the extra power needed for your household can be used to, simultaneous charging your battery banks.
3: No need to greatly modify your generator set, you can use on gasoline if needed to.
Just build a good quality charcoal gasifier Gilmore style, good filtering and off you goā¦
Donāt forget to make the good quality charcoalā¦
Any questions for building;? plenty good folks around here to help you out. All loving to see another builder/doāer
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Well from the experiences of alternative fuels (and powers/inputs) electrical generating direct DC; MUST-Have rigid RPM control synchronous AC; and now self-varying RPM inverter generators . . . life woodgassing/charcoalgassing fueling is just so much easier to be able to just let the engine speed float/vary by loads and produced gasses quality/quantity availability.
That means DC generating.
Or letting the inverter/genrators charge-side internal electronics do all of the work.
Then your gas/producer system can be super simple.
Your engine gasses/air mixer system be super simple too.
Just saying . . . .
tree-farmer Steve unruh
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I like it Steve, K.I.S.S. Keep, It, Simple, System.
Bob
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