Posts Made By: Dave Erickson

Hi Joe, Nice shot...Dave

Hi Roland, Very Nice. There is hope for those warm moon-HomeDepot lit summer nights. Sure beats reruns on TV. Any idea of the SN you are getting, or integrated sky brightness?

Regards,
Dave

Absolutele Beautiful, nice work Jim!

I agree, that is an awsome mosaic!

Hi Maciej,
Beautiful image, very nicely done...
Best regards,
Dave

Yes, my observatory is completely off the grid and has been running solar for more than 6 months. Seeing Monitor, AllSky Camera, Weather Station, Dome, Mount,Camera and related network and comupters... www.hbastro.com

Chris,
Nicely done!...
Dave

Ok so here some simple thoughts on the subject of solar powering your home observatory. Life is always more complex, but this is a start. I went through a similar thought process for sizing my solar installation.

An efficient computer <2amps at 12 volts
CCD Camera <3amps at 12 volts
Mount <2 amps at 12 volts
Dome normal rotation for imaging 2 amps at 12 volts continuous.
Brings the total to 9 amps round up to 10 amps at 12 volts or 120watts running 10 hours during the winter and 7 hours during summer depending on your latitude. That’s 1.2KW needed.

Figure 30% of rated output from the solar panels so size the panels for 600watts/ hour based on 6 hours of potential sun during the winter but expect 2 hours again depending on your latitude. This says you need 600 watts of solar panels for 1.2KW energy demand.

Size the batteries so that you can run several days without a complete recharge figure 1200 watts or 100 amp hours for the 2 days you need 200 amp hours of battery. ~(6) average deep cycle car batteries assuming 35amp hour batteries. Again chargers and charge controllers are less than 100% efficient and you will need to take this into consideration.

I had no option, either run a generator or do a solar installation, solar makes a lot less noise and is less likely to breakdown or catch fire.

So unless you don’t have an option or just want the good feeling of renewable energy, and it does feel good, the costs are high. Being close to the house you can always augment a minimal-inexpensive solar power system with household power when needed.…

I post voltage and current values for my installation at www.hbastro.com...

Best regards,
Dave

Hi Floyd,
Those are gorgeous images, send a private note pointing out the warts, I don't see them...
Dave

beautiful, nicely done!