I haven't seen too many solar setups that didn't include an invertor to turn your power into AC.
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Solar power tech seems to have hit that magic point where it works well enough that lots of people are starting to use it.
setting up a panel array to capture a patch of sunlight and convert it to electricity at about 15-20% efficiency, run it through wires to a battery bank, through an inverter which also drains power, more wires, into some grow lights to make artificial sunlight, also at greatly reduced efficiency. You may need a generator as backup. I guess it depends what your situation is and needs are - but it seems like an expensive way to grow plants.
I know some people with a creek turbine and they do use it to run 1000w hid grow lights- in the spring to start their crop and garden plants. That setup is actually pretty low tech and cheap. But most people do not have the option. The creek isn't reliable. It can and does freeze or dry up seasonally.
I know DC will not travel well
Not sure if solar energy stored in batterys would fire a high pressure lamp.
Well, I am just working there and I'm pretty sure they're not too interested in growing so I probably won't lug any grow lights over.
But I'm sure it would work just fine.
However- grow lights have to be on for long periods, and that steady drain might use up more than your gain in the winter months.
Still- the setup cost about 45,000. You can buy a lot
dope
Cool. Thanks bobrown and keep us posted how that goes ok? I would love to find an alternative power setup.
not to mention carbon monoxide need long power lines to connect the lights etc., the plants can't breathe in carbon monoxideRe: Using generators to power grow lights.
If you're going to run a generator, look for one that is listed as being safe for computers.
But I'd think that a generator could bring with it even more "telltales" to be concerned about. They generally make a fair amount of noise, need air to run and an exhaust system, and if someone notices that you're running one for at least 12 hours a day, every day, they're going to start wondering WtF the reason is. Not to mention that the ones that run on gasoline or diesel are going to require you to regularly bring that fuel on-site, ones that run on natural gas or propane are going to spike THAT bill - to say nothing of the fact that most people do not consume much of either during the warmer months (and if you're running propane, the person that delivers it might comment that you're the only customer that he delivers to more than once during that time).
In a residential area these things would look a lot stranger than a high electric bill - and be harder to explain because you cannot use the excuse that you just purchased one or more computers, plasma televisions, time machines (lol), Jacuzzis, tanning beds, et cetera.
And in a commercial area - which you'd most likely be dealing with if you were setting up a grow the size of the one that you mentioned - you could reasonably be expected to consume a large amount of electricity (depending on your cover).
I'm not a big fan of wasting things, but were I planning on a large grow, I'd probably start ramping up the usage by leaving everything electrical that I owned running as much as possible, then think up something (or a couple somethings) that use a lot of electricity and call them up and tell them that you just purchased it (them) and would like to know if it's going to cause your bill to go up since you're probably going to be using/running it a LOT. And at the same time, switch all of your regular lighting to CFL - or LED - stop running the electric dryer in favor of the clothesline, train yourself to stop leaving things turned on when not using, cut back on the a/c in areas other than the grow rooms, etc.
But it'd take a lot of juice to throw up a flag. A regular spike would be more of a giveaway (and even that's not real likely until you get into high-usage) and that's easy to fix by running the appliances that you do need to run when the lights are off, and not being consistent with your usage.
Oh, and I don't think that the people that were involved in that grow operation that you mentioned were what you'd call geniuses. They didn't exercise the best use of their space and I don't think the actual amount of electricity they were using is what got them.
Even if one's level of electric usage is noticed, that by itself is not grounds for a warrant. It's circumstantial as it does not point to any particular cause by itself. A person would have to be noticed in other ways as well.
not to mention carbon monoxide need long power lines to connect the lights etc., the plants can't breathe in carbon monoxide