New, and have i got the right forum?

the solar pv greenhouse panels are supplied loose and you can add them to your existing greenhouse one at a time ....

so, if you are on a tight budget, you start with one panel, and as you get more money, you add more panels .... (thats the way I understand it)

 

You mentioned at the start of this thread that your father has a shed, but you can't make use of it. So have you considered erecting a shed in the orchard instead of a greenhouse, the temperatures won't be so extreme during summer and winter.

 

Dim, that orange glass stuff is no good. Look at the pic, there's nothing growing in that greenhouse. And look at that those two poor ladies. What's happened to their faces?

 

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the feedback again, i'll try and answer them in this post, and still keep it short, aswell as ive got some more again :L,

I'll start with the money side that Sal73 said. Ive been looking at those poly-tunnels, the ones for £50 for a 10x8, which look great, but flimsy, but im thinking if i peg it down properly, and get some wooden stakes and create a better frame, like someone on here has already done, then it might be better meaning i could spend £100 on the poly tunnel, for the frame and the wood and the plastic, then spend £110 on a 40W solar system with a 12V battery, which will last 120HR's, meaning ive spent £210 with around £190 left, all for plywood and pond lining tanks and beds, and gravel for the base and pumps etc. OR, i spend £230 on a proper poly, but only have £30 on the inside, so i think i'll go for the first option :L

I like the idea of the orange, and might keep that in mind if i take this commercially in years to come, but i simply cant afford it at the moment, i cant even afford a 6x4 greenhouse tbh!! lol, but thats a brilliant invention, and laughed out loud at Clueless1, pure comedian we have here

Also Sheal, i might have access to the shed, as we have a double garage, then on the back, is almost like a single garage, which we use as a shed. But, and this is a huge but, is that i will then need to have lighting on, which runs up the cost, and is less eco friendly. I was planning a full, cost free system, from the lighting to the water, all solar energy and rain water

I was wondering what people think, with all honesty, after Sal73 has given me one, what you think i should do , just to get an overall verdict, but i like your thinking Sal

I'll most certainly keep you posted with all teh information and pictures, and videos i will make, as i will be uploading videos to my youtube channel frequently

Thanks alot
Mike

 

PS: if i was to spend the £236 on the poly, then it would be this one....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6ft-Wide-...ng_CV&var=&hash=item870b9e2d1d#ht_1349wt_1396


If i was to buy the cheap £69 one, then it would be this one....


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3m-x-2m-P...den_Structures_Fencing_CV&hash=item2eb98fbf6a

 

heres the guy that spent £50 and added wooden supports, looks great now...

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/my-£50-polytunnel-from-ebay.31800/

 

with £236 , you can buy some soft wood and plastic sheet and make a real one or buy a shed and sort the heating and the cold problem.
to your expencies don`t forget all the extras , like tools , silicons, pipe and connectors, gravel or clay so be wise those are not coming chip.

 

thanks, i think i will get the £50 one, and reinforce it hopefully for £100, then i have a averagly good one, and still have loads of money for pvc piping etc.

 

Hmmmm........polytunnel on a flat windy site? Sorry, I'd be thinking twice about that Michael. Again, if you had a shed in the orchard you could still run it cost free, as you would the greenhouse.

 

im so confused now :L,
If i was going to go with a shed, surely that would mean i would have to light the whole system, meaning loads of electricity, which would cost me nearly £1000 on solar panels? as the system i was planning to use, which would cost me £100 for jsut the pump, apparently needed more to it :(
Trying to find more solutions for power at the moment i think, before i go any further :L

 

i think i got it sorted now, turns out i could do it for the £100 solar panels, just need 3 batteries for the winter :L, im going to go with the cheap tunnel, but do loads of diy and anchoring, ive placed it infront of hedges, and a tree to the side, so i wont get sun from the West or north ( even though it does go north lol) and it will also protect it from the north and west winds, which are the coldest and most severe, but sun loss isnt much of a problem, as i will beable to heat the greenhouse now if needed. The hedges will protect it, and i will anchor it down, aswell as i plan to remove the zip door and put a wooden frame

What do you think?

 

Blocking the sun from the north wont actually block much sun at all, as the sun only reaches a few degrees northwards just as its setting. Unless I've got it completely wrong, which is always possible

Surely if you live in an orchard, it can't get that windy, as unless I'm completely wrong again (possible) most fruit trees don't thrive in very windy places.

So unless I'm very, very wrong (it has been known), I don't think you'll have too much bother securing your greenhouse and what you've done so far is good.

How many watts of power did we figure out you needed? Was it 40? So 80W solar panels? If so, I'd love to know where you'd get these for under £100.

In any case, if you need the pumps to run 24/7, you're going to need some beefy batteries not just for winter, but for overnight and on days when the weather is just so grim that the solar panels just aren't cutting it. To that end I'd avoid great expense, and just go to the scrappy and get a couple of good sized matching matching car batteries and connect them in parallel. A beefy diode with heat sink from Maplin, and then I'd feed the solar panel output to the batteries via the beefy diode (so the batteries can't discharge into the solar cells when its dark), and then draw your power from the batteries. With that arrangement, you'll always get just over 12 volts regardless of output from the solar cells, but the solar cells will keep the batteries charged. This way, if you get more a day or so of very gloomy weather, so the batteries are in danger of running flat, you can safely disconnect one battery at a time and take it into the house to recharge it from a conventional car battery charger. Drop it back into the circuit then take another out to charge. Not ideal but it keeps the pumps running without mains in the greenhouse in the event that the sunshine lets you down.

 

Thanks,

The trees arnt doing that brilliantly tbh, but its not that windy, especially where i plan to place it
I worked out, to run the pump, i need 15W, so im going to get a 40W solar panel, this setup.......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40wat-sol...s=63&clkid=8460654656588932451#ht_4463wt_1163

Im going to try and get 2 or 3 battery's, put them in a water proof box, then charge them, alternatively. Im going to try and get ones that will once charged, last 72 hours, think i can pick these up for around £40 new, so should beable to get them cheap from the scrapyard

I do plan to charge them indoors through the winter thats not really a problem, because it shouldnt cost that much to charge the batterys for 4 months or so, from November to end of february should be fine then through spring summer and early autum, it should be cost free
Im going to get the cheap 8x6 poly for £48, then get this solar panel and batterys, so should be around £200 overall, but just sent a message to my local diy store, they are priddy cheap, but i bet this wont be!!, i asked for a quote for this much wood.....

1x 5.5ft x 2ft
1x 8ft x 2ft
2x 2.5ft x 2ft
1x 6ft x 2ft
1x 3.5ft x 2ft
1x 1ft x 2ft
1x 6ft x 2ft
1x 8ft x 2.5ft
1x 6ft x 2.5ft
1x 2.5ft x 1ft

then......

1x 5.5ft x 1ft
1x 8ft x 1ft
2x 2.5ft x 1ft
1x 6ft x 1ft
1x 3.5ft x 1ft
1x 1ft x 1ft
1x 6ft x 1ft

18x 4ft stakes


any predicitons on how much this would cost in wood?

Thanks
Mike

 

OK, sums time

Remember ohms law? Current (I) = Power (W) / Voltage (V)

We know W, you said that's 15.

We know V, that can be assumed to be 12 (although it will actually be slightly higher)

Therefore I= 15/12 = 1.25A

So we know your pumps will draw about 1.25 amps of current.

You want a battery that will maintain its nominal voltage (12V) for 72 hours with a constant 1.25 amp draw.

72*1.25 = 90Ah.

That's easy enough to source, but it makes for a pretty beefy battery. If you go to the scrappy, see about getting the batteries out of dead diesel vans, as they tend to be bigger than you'll find in the average little runabout. I've just had to buy a new battery for my car. It cost me £66 new but I think its only about 60amp/hours. You really need something a bit bigger, especially considering about 10% degradation per year.

 

90ah isnt bad, will find some of these easily i hope , is the set-up on ebay right?? is that enough, what else would i need??

Also how do i power the pump from the battery? I know thats daft, but never really seen a battery, out of a car. Normally just trickle feed it while still in the car :L