Well, although the average high temp may not be that high in our country, I
would have expected it to be a little higher. But I didn't studie it.

However it's not the average airtemp. that's important, but the temp. of the
panels (or actually, the cells).
And I didn't measure it, but my guess is that they can be 30°C (54F) above
the ambient temp.

If I could cool them down to let's say the ambient temp. (with the use of
water as described), that would bring a gain of about 30 * 0.5% in power.
For my 15.5 kWp, let's say the real life max. power is 13 kW. So the gain
would be 30*0.5*13,000=1950 Watt. This seems worthwile to me.

So far, there were a lot of advises from many people. Thank you all.
But to be honest, I hoped to find someone who really did this cooling thing
himselves and could share his results with us.

Jan

Posted by Ulysses on May 27, 2008, 11:57 am

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> However it's not the average airtemp. that's important, but the temp. of

the

> panels (or actually, the cells).

> And I didn't measure it, but my guess is that they can be 30°C (54F)

above

> the ambient temp.

> If I could cool them down to let's say the ambient temp. (with the use of

> water as described), that would bring a gain of about 30 * 0.5% in power.

> For my 15.5 kWp, let's say the real life max. power is 13 kW. So the gain

> would be 30*0.5*13,000=1950 Watt. This seems worthwile to me.

> So far, there were a lot of advises from many people. Thank you all.

> But to be honest, I hoped to find someone who really did this cooling

thing

> himselves and could share his results with us.

> Jan

This happens to me faily often. I search and Google and find little or
nothing about whatever I'm looking for. I think part of the problem is
that many people will ask a question, and as in your case get no response
based upon actual specific experience, and go on to figure it out
themselves. Then the results are not posted so others can share that
experience. For example I recently searched for information regarding using
a wind turbine to drive an air compressor. All I found was responses saying
it would not work but nobody really said why. Well, being the kind of guy I
am I had to try it for myself. It didn't work, and I'm not sure why. I
would have thought that simply getting the compressor head to turn would
result in a cumulation of small amounts of compressed air but it would not
build up. I'm guessing the compressor needs to turn at a certain speed in
order to work. Once I figure it out I will post my results even if they are
negative. Someone else might read it someday and get it to work. Just
because something is impossible doesn't mean it can't be done ;-)

The RAM pump idea sounds like a possiblity for you but we don't know enough
about your creek or terrain. If you have 4-5 gallons per minute from your
creek you could use a 1" pump. If you have more than that then perhaps a
larger pump might work. But the RAM pump wont develop much pressure so the
water would need to be pumped into an elevated tank and use gravity for the
water pressure. You also need a certain amount of "head" for the RAM pump to
work but we don't know if you live on flat or hilly land.

Posted by Neon John on May 27, 2008, 1:53 pm

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>The RAM pump idea sounds like a possiblity for you but we don't know enough

>about your creek or terrain. If you have 4-5 gallons per minute from your

>creek you could use a 1" pump. If you have more than that then perhaps a

>larger pump might work. But the RAM pump wont develop much pressure so the

>water would need to be pumped into an elevated tank and use gravity for the

>water pressure. You also need a certain amount of "head" for the RAM pump to

>work but we don't know if you live on flat or hilly land.

I haven't followed this very closely but I DO have lots of water ram
experience. Our previous cabin had one that ran literally for 50 years with
little more attention than occasionally replacing the leather valve. It
pumped water about 100 ft vertically and about 500 feet in distance from the
tiny creek that we got our drinking water from.

I'd be afraid to guesstimate the creek's flow but probably in the 10-50 gpm
range. The key to making a ram work is to have one SMALL enough to work with
the water available. Ours had perhaps a 4 ft drop which was more than enough.
The water emitted from the pipe at our cabin with gusto.

There are plans on the net for making a ram using PVC pipe. They look like
they would work. And, of course, the original design cast iron rams are still
available.

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. -Darwin

Posted by Ulysses on May 27, 2008, 9:24 pm

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wrote:

> >The RAM pump idea sounds like a possiblity for you but we don't know

enough

> >about your creek or terrain. If you have 4-5 gallons per minute from

your

> >creek you could use a 1" pump. If you have more than that then perhaps a

> >larger pump might work. But the RAM pump wont develop much pressure so

the

> >water would need to be pumped into an elevated tank and use gravity for

the

> >water pressure. You also need a certain amount of "head" for the RAM pump

> >work but we don't know if you live on flat or hilly land.

> >

> I haven't followed this very closely but I DO have lots of water ram

> experience. Our previous cabin had one that ran literally for 50 years

with

> little more attention than occasionally replacing the leather valve. It

> pumped water about 100 ft vertically and about 500 feet in distance from

the

> tiny creek that we got our drinking water from.

> I'd be afraid to guesstimate the creek's flow but probably in the 10-50

gpm

> range. The key to making a ram work is to have one SMALL enough to work

with

> the water available. Ours had perhaps a 4 ft drop which was more than

enough.

> The water emitted from the pipe at our cabin with gusto.

The one I made was from PVC and it was only 1" and I had it going directly
into a storage tank and I never tested the pressure but it sure didn't seem
like much. So, you think one of those old cast iron pumps would run some
sprinklers?

> There are plans on the net for making a ram using PVC pipe. They look

> they would work. And, of course, the original design cast iron rams are

still

> available.

I followed some plans that included an inner tube in the upper cylinder
(where the water pressure compresses some air, I think) and left out the
inner tube because I couldn't see what it was for. It worked fine without
the inner tube. The dump valve does not seem to be very critical--I made
one from a PVC tee fitting and an end cap with a few holes drilled in it
with a stainless screw in the middle with a seal on the inside and a small
weight on the outside. It worked on the first try. From what I read the
biggest mistake some people made was using a flexible pipe to feed the pump.
I used SCH 40 PVC and it was rigid enough. To me it's amazing that someone
thought of it in the first place. But, I guess if electric motors haven't
been invented yet...

> John

> --

> John De Armond

> See my website for my current email address

> http://www.neon-john.com

> http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!

> Tellico Plains, Occupied TN

> Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. -Darwin

Posted by sno on May 27, 2008, 9:56 pm

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May you can figure out the approx. gain from cooling from
this link.....

http://users.tpg.com.au/users/robkemp/Power/MoreInfo.htm

See Solar Panel Rating....close to the bottom of the page.

have fun.....sno

--

If one side of a conflict considers it a religious
war...doesn't that automatically make it a religious
war....??
Shouldn't "radical muslims" be called "extreme islamic
fundamentalists"......???

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