Because of this prohibition, I was forced to use chemical current sources. More specifically, these are the batteries:

At first I was engaged in mechanics and electrical engineering, I made various mechanisms with electric motors, but there was nothing to feed them. The electric motors were something like this (with great difficulty I found a photo of the engine on the Internet):

It was very interesting to play with mechanisms made by one's own hands. But through a short time the charge was running out, because the batteries were not at all like modern Duracells, the engines also did not shine with efficiency, and the design made by the child was far from economical. It was not easy to beg adults for new batteries. Maybe they would like to buy them for me, but batteries were sold only in the district center, it’s 25 km to go there, someone didn’t go there every month. So I sat on a starvation diet, sorting through the circle of used batteries, knocking on them with a hammer and pinching them in the front door in order to somehow prolong their work.

At that time, I saw two types of batteries: something like 6ST-55, which were installed in cars, and D-025 disk batteries, which were in a fashionable flashlight that was charged from the mains. Our family did not have such a flashlight. I knew about them only because the neighbors gave me several of these flashlights for spare parts, in which the batteries had lost their capacity. And it happened, according to them, rather quickly. In this flashlight, by the way, there was a very unusual rectifier element. I saw other types of batteries only in pictures in books. Therefore, there was no confidence in the batteries, and they were some kind of exotic. There were batteries left. Swallowing saliva, I looked at the mechanisms working from the network. What a blessing, they could work forever! Since then, a negative attitude towards autonomous power has developed.

When I went to school, I was allowed to work with the network. The first thing I did was an AC lab power supply.

The transformer wound itself, both primary and secondary. I took iron from a burnt-out power transformer of a tube radio. The output voltage was regulated by switching the taps of the secondary winding. As I recall, with what difficulty it was possible to find at least some of the materials - horror. All the sheet aluminum I owned for most of my childhood was a cover from a discarded washing machine"Riga". However, now the materials are not much better. The power supply transformer was fixed with strips of tin, which were screwed to a wooden base with nails with an M4 thread cut into them. Happiness that I had taps and dies with early childhood. Galetnik - and that one is half homemade. I don't remember why it had to be redone. For the front panel, I found a piece of blue plastic. In childhood, there were large sheets of such plastic, they were used somewhere in construction. But this plastic was processed very poorly, it was similar in properties to polyethylene. But I had a piece of foil fiberglass! I cut tracks on it and installed a bridge on the D226 and a capacitor. We can say that the PSU was made on a printed circuit board! This power supply served me all my school years and, in fact, is the most useful design in my life. Although in high school I made a new PSU, more powerful, but I still mostly used the old one.

I also had a PSU for powering lamp structures (+300 V anode and ~ 6.3 V incandescent), but this is an industrial design. In some tube radios, the PSU was carried out on a separate chassis, and that's where I took it from. He also had a case with a panel of the same blue plastic, but, alas, there is no photo of the case. In general, all these photographs were taken recently, before that the devices were lying in the dust of the attic for decades.

In subsequent years, I made designs only with mains power. Stand-alone devices are something inferior. For example, a portable tape recorder is always worse than a stationary one, and a portable receiver is worse than a radiogram. And it's good if the tape recorder has a mains power supply. Otherwise, there will be eternal torment with batteries, which are not at hand when necessary. The same applies to other instruments, such as measuring instruments. A sign of high class is mains power supply.

The next time I ran into battery life was in 1998, when I decided to give myself a generous 30th birthday present and bought a Panasonic SL-S200 portable CD player on the market.

At that time, I already had a stationary CD player made from the wreckage of a Sony car player. Homemade case, homemade power supply and analog part, additional AT89C2051 processor for implementing IR remote control.

Together with the Panasonic SL-S200, the sellers decided to sell me GP batteries and Charger for them. Panasonic itself had a mains power supply, but at 110 V. Good sellers gave it a small autotransformer, “saffron milk cap”, as it was called for Brown color plates. Of course, I did not use it, but redid the power supply unit, replacing the transformer in it. The case was taken from some other adapter, the native one was too small. Only the nameplate was carefully cut out and pasted into its body.

I also had to immediately abandon the headphones that came with the kit. But I had Sony MDR-14s bought from the store for $16. In general, it was an interesting time then - in a store on the central avenue of the capital, they officially traded for dollars. I gave twenty (and it was then a lot of money), from the cash register they got me change - 4 units. GP batteries were no match for batteries. Moreover, there was nowhere to charge them - the purchased charger emitted smoke when it was first turned on. So I was once again disappointed in the batteries. The player listened mainly at home, feeding it from the network. Mobility was needed only within the apartment. I tried to take it with me somewhere, but I don’t want to listen to music outside the house. So he spent more than 16 years, almost without leaving home.

The next time life pushed me again with autonomous power was the purchase of the first Nikon 2100 digital camera. Batteries labeled Nikon were included. Of course, out of habit, I decided to be powered by batteries. But was frustrated by how quickly they run out. Surprisingly, the batteries lasted much longer. Moreover, the kit included a fast charger, also from Nikon. For the first time in my life I saw something good in batteries. I really wanted to buy the same batteries as a second set. It is unlikely that Nikon makes batteries itself, most likely, it takes from someone else. I began to closely examine the batteries for sale. The Sanyo batteries were exactly the same, even the letters HR on the bottom were stamped in the same way. Only they had a capacity of 2300, and those with a Nikon label, 2100.

Frightened by bad batteries, GP hesitated to buy these Sanyo for a long time, because batteries are not cheap things. But I bought it anyway. In life, joy rarely happens, but here is exactly the case. Purchased batteries lasted as long as the native ones.

When it came time to change the camera, the question arose of charging 4 AA batteries. An attempt was made to make your charger no worse than the purchased one. But this attempt failed. I don’t understand how a network pulser fits in such a small size, and even a charging control circuit individually for each of the 4 batteries. As a result of much thought, a Duracell charger was written and bought for a lot of money - as much as $ 40.

For the camera, I bought a set of the same Sanyo batteries, then another one - they worked perfectly. One of the sets was very old, it was time to change. But once again, the purchased batteries turned out to be quite weak - about 3 times less capacity. And they didn't look any different. The chagrin was huge, because a lot of money was spent. But what to do, batteries are needed, I decided to take another chance - I bought a Sony kit. And again failure. Angry at the address again autonomous power supply, but the camera is one of those rare exceptions where it is almost impossible to use near an outlet. I read on the forums that solid fakes are now being sold, it is impossible to buy normal batteries. I read that Ansmann, it seems, is not yet faked. I bought a kit with a modest capacity of 2100 and was satisfied. Again at the level of the good old Sanyo.

In a SLR lithium battery. At first I was worried about this - it is impossible to buy batteries in the nearest kiosk in which case. But the camera is so economical that I completely forgot the problem of batteries. But the on-camera flash is powered by 4 AA batteries. I also needed to buy something. I analyzed the reviews and bought again Sanyo, but now a new line of Eneloop. They turned out to be great batteries.

Another device where there is no way without a battery is mobile phone. By itself, of course, the phone is not so necessary if you do not work as a dispatcher or a pizza delivery man, but if you have it, you need to keep it in working order. So you have to regularly buy new batteries. Also come across different quality, there's nothing to be done.

On duty, he made many different electronic devices. But almost never made autonomous ones. Is it a thermometer that is powered by 2 AA batteries or from the mains, in connection with which a SEPIC converter is used there, which can both increase the battery voltage to 3.3 V and lower the voltage of the AC adapter.

What am I getting at? IN Lately quite often, radio amateurs are trying to make self-powered devices. I do not understand this. There are a lot of problems there as well. It is not enough to provide performance, you must also ensure low consumption. Why limit yourself to such limits? Well, if someone thinks that he will use the device in the field, then he automatically puts himself on the lowest rung of the hierarchy of industry workers: life on business trips instead of working in a cozy office at his own desk in a comfortable chair.

P.S. I forgot about one device where autonomous power is justified. This is a clock. As a result of the fact that the consumption is small, you rarely have to change the batteries (once every few years), this can be tolerated. But there is also a downside to low power consumption - nothing can be seen on such a watch in the dark.

The energy crisis, which was the result of the Moscow accident at the Chagin substation and overtook Moscow and a number of regions adjacent to it, showed that for our person, even such extraordinary events are not at all a reason to be nervous.

For the Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation, the power outage that occurred in Moscow and neighboring regions of Russia is a unique emergency situation, however, chronic outages of both individual houses and entire neighborhoods in various regions of the country do not happen so rarely.

Employees of the Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation, of course, have drawn the appropriate conclusions and are already reporting to us that “an invaluable positive experience will be learned from the entire range of actions related to the elimination of power outages,” however, worn-out equipment that has been in service for 40-50 years, cannot be replaced overnight, and while the technical re-equipment of the electric power industry is underway, we can also do something to at least somehow protect ourselves from such costs of civilization.

Uninterruptible power supplies

as you know, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS or UPS - Uninteruptable Power Source) are designed more to prevent the device from crashing, and not at all long work it in the absence of voltage in the mains. Actually, the cost of batteries is the most significant share in the total cost of the UPS, and the larger the capacity they have, the more expensive the system.

Strictly speaking, those numbers that are indicated in the price lists or on the UPS cases indicate the so-called full power, which is measured in Volt-Amps (VA, VA) and applies to DC, or active power, measured in watts (W), and battery life is non-linear with UPS power.

For switching power supplies for computers, power in volt-amperes corresponds to power in watts with a coefficient of 0.6-0.8, that is, if 400 V A is indicated on the UPS, then this corresponds to a total power of connected devices of about 280 W. However, manufacturers recommend choosing a UPS with a 20% headroom in terms of load power, so that the user still has enough time to complete all the final steps before turning off the computer. For example, for modern desktop PCs with 300W power supplies, you should choose a 350-360W (or 514VA) UPS.

Experience shows that a simple home computer with a monitor runs on a 400 V·A UPS for only 5-10 minutes at best. Therefore, in line with existing models and load power margin, it is better to choose a UPS rated for 600-750 V·A. Moreover, if for a UPS with a power of 500 V A, the operating time is 10-15 minutes, then for a UPS with a power of 1000 V A, the same set of devices will work for 40 minutes (that is, one powerful UPS works longer than two with the same total power) . By the way, if the UPS overload lasts at least a couple of seconds, it will simply turn off the entire load.

However, the cost of the IPB depends on the power non-linearly. So, let's say, if the popular APC SmartUPS 420 V A UPS costs $150, then the APC SmartUPS 700 V A is already $250. However, there are also inexpensive UPSs that do not equalize the voltage, but only switch to the battery in case of a absence. Prices for such devices are quite affordable - APC BackUPS 500 V A costs about $ 50-60.

Note also that UPS batteries have a life span of 3 to 6 years, and the cost of replacing all the batteries in one UPS is on average half the full cost of a new unit.

At the same time, inexpensive UPSs are usually low-power. Prices for powerful models from the same company APC, such as the Matrix 300 and 5000 V A, start as early as $ 3,000. And the price of models such as Symmetra (APC) with a capacity of 8000 to 8 thousand dollars

Thus, the use of powerful UPS at home turns out to be meaningless, and the use of an inexpensive UPS comes down only to urgently save all files and turn off office equipment in order to avoid data loss.

UPS self-contained power supply

How can we protect ourselves from prolonged power outages? Is it really necessary to buy such expensive and powerful uninterruptible power supplies for this?

There are two options here:

• connect an inexpensive car battery in parallel to a regular IPS battery (by the way, motorists often have fully functional batteries, which they no longer dare to use in winter, but such devices still hold a charge quite well);
• for a couple of car batteries, use a voltage converter from 12 to 220 V.

The first option may well fit as a cheap alternative to the expensive replacement of standard UPS batteries, when the uninterruptible power supply, due to the failure of standard batteries, starts to work only as a surge protector. However, in the event of a deep discharge of a car battery, the use of a non-standard battery on a UPS is fraught with serious problems.

After all, the UPS control circuit, as a rule, is designed only for a standard battery. For example, if you decide to replace the standard 12V7AH battery on the same APC BackUPS 500 V A with a new 12V20AH battery (essentially the same, but more capacious), then when charging, a more capacious battery will take more current and from overheating of wires and circuit elements for sure the control controller will fail (or the overcurrent protection in the recharging circuit will work and charging simply will not work).

As for a car battery, which is much more capacious, the average charging current of a not very discharged battery does not exceed 1/10 of the maximum, so nothing should happen with a shallow discharge. However, after some significant discharge additional battery you have to disconnect it from the UPS and charge it with a separate charger, which is not very convenient.

What can be done in this situation? Firstly, you can use a separate minimum and maximum voltage controller to connect an additional battery (for example, described at http://battery.newlist.ru/chargers_lvd_01.htm). Then additional circuit automatic shutdown of the load by the minimum and maximum allowable voltage will protect the UPS circuit. You will adjust the response thresholds with potentiometers, and the operating voltage range will be determined by the parameters of the transistors used.

Or, if you plan to use a lead-acid car battery, then the UPS should be chosen not with an alkaline, but with a standard lead-acid battery. Then the UPS recharging circuit will be designed to use batteries with similar parameters, therefore, a discharged car battery will not burn the UPS controller. Of course, any recharging scheme has a certain current limit, and if you hang an external car battery on a very low-power UPS, then the UPS may burn out, especially if you bring the battery to full discharge.

However, you can also use a mixed scheme, when the car battery is charged by a constantly connected charger for car batteries (with overcharge control and other automation) and at the same time the battery is connected to the UPS in parallel with the standard battery. Thus, in this case, the UPS serves only as a voltage converter from 12 to 220 V.

The option with a special 12/220 V voltage converter instead of a UPS is more reliable, but such a voltage converter high power comparable in cost to a UPS and, moreover, will still require the purchase of a sufficiently powerful charger for car batteries. At the same time, a low-power charger charges for a very long time, and a powerful one is quite expensive and has impressive dimensions (that is, along with the economic feasibility of such a system, it will also be necessary to consider its weight and size parameters).

600W 12/220V car adapters cost around $80-100. A 1200W 12/220V voltage converter will cost $200-220, while a 2500-3000W adapter will cost more than $400. you see, even the prices of adapters are already quite comparable with the prices of UPSs of similar power, and we still need a battery charger!

Ready solutions

In principle, the very idea of ​​using car batteries as a source of autonomous power is not new, and the Russian industry has several ready-made solutions. So, for example, the company "MicroArt" (http://www.invertors.ru) offers relatively inexpensive devices MAP "Energy" - converters constant voltage 12 or 24 V AC 220 V (bidirectional inverters) with a power of 0.9 to 12 kW with an integrated intelligent microcontroller that provides automatic control of the modes and, if necessary, communication with a computer.

Such a converter simultaneously charges car batteries (one or more) and is used as an autonomous power source: if there is a mains voltage of 220 V, then it simply passes it through itself and, if necessary, recharges the batteries; if the external mains voltage has disappeared, it instantly starts generating 220 V from the batteries. The operating time of such a source depends on the load and capacity of the batteries. So, four batteries of 190 A / h will last for 17 hours at a constant load of 500 W (see table). Also, for example, any car can be used as an autonomous power plant on wheels, and the car engine may not even be turned on for some time. Such a converter is much cheaper than a gas or diesel mini-power plant, miniature and light. The price of converters MAP "Energy" - from 8 thousand rubles. Additionally for 650 rubles. you can purchase a cord, controller and software for connecting this device to a computer (i.e. MAC "Energy" is able to completely replace the UPS).

If power outages are very long or there is none at all, then such a converter can be used in conjunction with a mini-power plant (gas or diesel), as well as with alternative power sources (solar solar installations and wind generators) for energy storage. In this case, turning on the power plant for only 3 hours a day, you can provide yourself with electricity around the clock!

In addition to using this device as an uninterruptible or autonomous power supply, it can also be used as a converter of DC voltage 12 or 24 V (there are two versions of devices) to AC 220 V with a frequency of 50 Hz, and as a starting charger for a car.

The device provides protection against overload, short circuit, battery connection with the wrong polarity, overcharging and complete discharge of the battery. In addition, it is equipped with a surge protection system for powered devices and a soft start system, which eliminates high current consumption at the time of start.

Battery life

marginal notes

It should be noted that lead-acid automotive batteries are strongly not recommended for charging in a residential area, since they emit gases during intensive recharging. During operation (discharging), acid batteries are quite harmless. Note that, in particular, this is why UPS batteries are much more expensive - their design is sealed and they have no ventilation holes on top. Therefore, it is better to keep the battery economy in a city apartment on the balcony.

For three years I had to live in a country house without a centralized power supply, and during this time I managed to establish an autonomous energy system that allows the family to live and work at any time of the year.

In modern life, many tend to build country houses and, if possible, spend more time there. At the same time, the energy of the suburbs is developing poorly, equipment is in a very worn condition, wires are stolen, shutdowns for an indefinite period (usually when the code is most needed) have become commonplace.

The forecast for the development of the situation is most likely pessimistic - the situation will only worsen, and electricity will rise in price ...

For those who don't want to wait "by the sea weather", this material is addressed and the hope is to find like-minded people. Here are some considerations and a description of what has been achieved.

The problem of autonomous power supply can be solved in two fundamentally different ways:

• installation constantly (when necessary) working, which provides all the needs for electricity;
• creation of an integrated power supply system, which may include a power plant, but only works when more power is needed or other sources of energy have been exhausted.

The first method has the advantage that it allows not to solve many problems and makes it possible to use standard technical solutions, but it has several contraindications:

• a power plant is needed that has a large motor resource, low fuel consumption, designed for round-the-clock operation in an unattended mode, which does not create radio interference, noise and vibration, and therefore is expensive (although some of these problems can be negated on their own);
• storage of fuel is necessary and at the same time fireproof;
• to install a power plant, you need a special room, which allows you to partly hide the shortcomings of available power plants, i.e. having a good foundation, thick walls, exhaust ventilation, an exhaust pipe extending into the sky;
• for elimination unpleasant odors it is desirable to install a sufficiently high exhaust pipe, but when operating in winter time there will be a problem that most of the pipe will not warm up above the dew point and, as a result, after the power plant is stopped, the water collected in the pipe will freeze and close the pipe.

This problem can be solved by installing a drain cock at the bottom of the pipe from which to drain condensate before shutting down the power plant, and/or providing thermal insulation for the entire pipe.

It is possible to reduce fuel costs by switching the power plant from liquid fuel to gaseous fuel, which will simultaneously reduce the toxicity of exhaust gases, but this method is only applicable to four-stroke engines.

All of the above considerations were used when installing the AB-4 power plant, which is in many ways inferior to imported ones, but also has major advantages: low cost, undemanding to operating conditions, a large motor resource, available spare parts - it is based on an engine (or rather, its 1/2 part) from 30 - a strong "Zaporozhets". A car starter and a battery are easily mounted on AB-4, resulting in a convenient power plant that even a child can start. AB-4 was installed in an annex to the garage and part of the cooling air flow (it has air cooling) is supplied to the garage in winter. Exhaust pipe 3/4″ connected to the power plant with a piece corrugated pipe made of stainless steel, and a car muffler is mounted on the wall of the room in front of the pipe. Propane gas is used as fuel in cylinders of 50 liters. The power of AB-4 is quite enough for the operation of any power tools, including electric welding. But it is not used all the time. with all the tricks, the noise level is still noticeable, especially in the evening in the summer, and in winter, when the windows and doors are closed, nothing is heard in the house. In addition, in fact, such power is not constantly needed, and the use of a power plant almost at idle is very impractical - wear still goes on and the efficiency tends to zero.

Therefore, I implemented a more complex version corresponding to the second method.

To begin with, some established stereotypes were questioned:

1. The current must be variables. This statement was imposed by electrical equipment manufacturers at a time when the only way to change the voltage was to use a transformer. Now, when most devices have transformerless power supplies, they still feed them with direct current or alternating current. The simplest way check whether your device is suitable for DC power supply - make sure there is autovoltage or ask a specialist. Naturally, all incandescent lamps, electric heaters and devices with collector motors are excellent for direct current. By carefully reviewing the available household appliances, you will see that problems arise only with asynchronous motors, fluorescent lamps, televisions (in terms of the kinescope degaussing system) and refrigerators. All these problems are surmountable. And therefore, in my house I laid two electrical networks: direct and alternating current. Both are 220 volts. As a result, all lighting and those devices that could be adapted for direct current are connected to the first, and the rest - to the second and work only in the presence of alternating voltage, i.e. when the power plant is running. Such a scheme made it possible to use 12V batteries with a capacity of 7 Ah from among those used in guaranteed power supply devices for computers to store electricity. They are installed in two sets of 17 pcs. Batteries of this type are maintenance-free, sealed, not afraid of full discharge and freezing. They develop a current of up to 30 amperes, which at 220 volts gives a very solid power. The electricity stored in them is enough for me with reasonable savings for a couple of days. But still, I prefer to start the power plant once a day for two to three hours and recharge the battery. At the same time, you can perform many jobs that require alternating current.
2. Second fallacy that the refrigerator must be electric. In fact, in the USSR, refrigerators were even mass-produced, powered by household gas- propane. On their basis, absorption-type electric refrigerators were also made: Morozko, Hoarfrost, Ladoga, etc. The only difference was that instead of a miniature burner, an electric heater was installed. If you take such a refrigerator, remove the heating element from it, put an igniter from the water heater and lead the exhaust pipe through the hole where the mode switch is installed, you will get an excellent gas refrigerator that consumes about one 50 l propane cylinder for two months of continuous operation. Naturally, you need to take the exhaust pipe outside and observe other fire safety measures.
3. Third delusion: use of DC-to-AC converters - inverters to power the entire network alternating current brings more trouble than pleasure. This is due to the fact that the inverters currently being produced are usually made with an increase in voltage from 12/24 volts to 220V. Therefore, energy will have to be stored in car batteries with all their shortcomings. (Note solarhome: here the author is not quite right - it is not at all necessary to use car batteries). Such inverters for sufficient power are extremely expensive and cannot stand work on an arbitrary load (for example, a refrigerator) (Note solarhome: also a controversial statement - now there are inverters for any purpose in a very wide price range), in addition, whatever they write in the brochures at their output is not a sinusoidal voltage, but rectangular pulses, which many electric motors treat very badly. (Note solarhome: also a controversial statement - now there are inverters for any purpose in a very wide price range, and non-sinusoidal inverters are gradually becoming a thing of the past). And most importantly - in rural areas in the zone of uncertain television reception, even a slight level of interference created by the inverter deprives you of the opportunity to watch TV (and all your neighbors). Therefore, I had to abandon the use of inverters wherever possible, and if not otherwise, then install home-made transformerless inverters 220 - 220, working for one specific load, and not for the entire network. They are inexpensive and do not interfere.
4. kinescope degaussing system modern TVs and computer monitors are not needed daily. These devices, like the computers themselves, work perfectly on direct current, and the demagnetization loop must be turned off by placing an additional toggle switch. It can be turned on when the TV is powered by AC and turned off when it is DC. (Note solarhome: apparently, this problem is also practically in the past, since TVs and monitors on kinescopes are practically no longer used - they have been replaced by LCD monitors, which are also powered by direct voltage).

To get a final idea of ​​​​the created system, it must be supplemented with a solar battery. True, these parts require more work, but they still perform their function.

The wind generator charges the battery around the clock (when there is wind), so that the battery is fully charged by the weekend. The wind generator is made completely independently, since everything that is offered by the industry carries the desire for gigantism and is poorly adapted to life (Note: now this is not the case - you can find inexpensive and high-quality Chinese-made ones that are much more efficient than the carousel windmill made by the author of the article). Therefore, the wind wheel is made of a carousel type made of fiberglass on epoxy resin and its dimensions are small - 1 * 1.5 m. Such a wheel can be made and installed by any technically trained person. It does not create radio reflections and noise. The installation site - the roof ridge - is the least accessible to outsiders and the most accessible to the wind. In the future, there will be several wheels standing side by side. The small dimensions of the wheel determine its low power, but also a small wind load on the rafters and the absence of vibrations. Of course, the power removed from the wheel is small - on average about 30 W, but this is an average - the power depends on the cube of the wind speed. Twice the wind speed equals eight times the power. And do not forget that the generator is not used for power, but only for charging the battery. As a generator, a converted car generator is used, in which, instead of an excitation winding, permanent magnets, and the stator winding is rewound with a thin wire. This makes it possible to obtain an acceptable efficiency, because. very significant power is not spent on excitation. The resulting voltage, which varies greatly from wind speed, is rectified and converted to a voltage of 220 volts. The wind wheel is connected to the generator by a 1:5 step-up gearbox and this big disadvantage. I would like to remake the generator by installing more powerful "rare-earth" magnets in it and preferably by increasing the number of poles, then you can get a higher efficiency and efficient operation at very low winds without a gearbox. (site note - instead of a carousel-type turbine, it is better to use a Savonius-type turbine, or a propeller-type turbine - in the latter case, you can safely do without a gearbox and significantly increase the efficiency of using wind energy - almost 2 times)

A solar battery can complement a windmill well for the same purposes, but it still has the same problems: what they offer is very expensive and has a low voltage. Experiments with a 12 volt low-power battery showed that with a cloudless sky, you can count on 0.1 amperes per 12 volts, which is quite enough if you install 20 pcs. such batteries, but where can I get them at a reasonable price from the point of view of the buyer? (note solarhome - since the writing of the article, the situation has changed radically - you can find any SB at an affordable price)

The foregoing considerations and experimental results show that the problem can be solved even in artisanal conditions with some difficulty, it is only necessary to break away from traditional ideas. Of course, these are not serial samples, but they have been doing their job for more than one year.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that, in the opinion of a large number of independent experts, including mine, the situation in the energy sector will constantly become more complicated, and a share of autonomy did no harm to anyone.

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Everyone has probably faced the situation when the electricity is turned off. And sometimes there is no electricity at the most inopportune moment. In country houses, problems with the supply of electricity are also not uncommon. But what if such situations arise quite often?

Modern technologies have developed so well that a way out of this situation was found - these are autonomous power supplies that you can buy from us.

Voltage drops? Autonomous sources of electricity will help!

Backup power supplies are also relevant when it is simply impossible to stretch a power line or the power supply is simply of poor quality. To each owner country house I want to relax and have a great weekend, and without electricity in such situations you simply cannot do. Constant and systematic voltage drops, accompanied by "flashing" lighting fixtures, adversely affect the technique, significantly reducing their service life. Too strong surges can damage microcircuits and power supplies.

Functions of autonomous power supplies.

In order for all the equipment to work for a long time and smoothly, it is better to use autonomous sources of electricity. Their main task is to ensure the normal, correct shutdown of electrical appliances in the event of an unexpected power outage. They must also reliably protect equipment from all types of interruptions that occur in electrical networks, namely:

• voltage surges;
• high voltage emissions;
• the so-called "sagging" voltage;
• in the event of a power failure;
• replanting;
• overrun frequency.

Today, almost every home has a personal computer. According to studies, it is he who is exposed to about 120 emergency situations every month, the cause of which is precisely voltage drops.

Uninterrupted power helps to completely forget about all of the above problems. The tasks of the UPS are as follows:

• absorb a small amount of short-term voltage surges;
• filter the supply voltage, reduce the noise level;
• provide backup power supply loads for a certain amount of time after a power failure in the network;
• protect devices connected to the network from overload and short circuit.

But in order to provide full protection, backup power sources must be connected to the network. The devices themselves are already connected to them. UPSs convert the flow of electricity in such a way that it is optimal for the full operation of the device.

A personal power supply system is the best option for a country house.

Autonomous sources of electricity are relevant if it is simply unprofitable for a person to build a power line and connect to centralized power supply networks. For example, if you have a cottage that is located too far from the centralized power supply networks, and you go on vacation to these places as far as possible, it is better to create your own autonomous power supply system. She will be able to provide you whole line benefits, namely:

• no need to pay for network connection;
• You will not be dependent on electricity prices;
• You will generate electricity when you need it.

What should the system include? autonomous power supply?

1. Energy source. As a rule, there can be several or one source at once. This could be a photovoltaic array, a liquid fuel generator running on gasoline or diesel fuel, or a wind turbine. Any of the above sources can be the main one, others can be used as additional ones.
2. The battery is a necessary element in the autonomous power supply system. Even though the main source of energy is available in the system, the presence of a battery will allow it to be turned on for a certain amount of time, and electricity will flow continuously.
3. inverter. It is a device that switches direct current to alternating current. It is necessary in cases where the equipment located in the house consumes 220 V or if consumers are located at a considerable distance. In this case, so-called interference and losses occur.
4. AB charge controller. Necessary in order to prevent overdischarge and overcharge. Quite often, such a controller is built into the inverter.
5. Load. When connecting all kinds of devices to an autonomous power supply system, you need to know that the devices must be energy efficient. An example is fluorescent lamps. They are recommended for the reason that incandescent lamps consume 4 times more electricity.

If you want to forget about voltage problems once and for all, extend the life of appliances installed in your cottage or house, autonomous power supply systems, uninterruptible power supplies and power generators are what you need.

Sometimes it is very difficult to find a company that can offer everything at once. But if you did not find what you were looking for, just contact our consultant who will give answers to all your questions.

With us, your devices will work stably even with strong voltage drops, and in the event of a complete power outage, you will have the opportunity to properly end the session of the personal computer and have time to save all the data that could be lost.

In this article, I want to in general terms talk about what kind of autonomous or backup power supply systems are, what it all costs approximately. I will also describe several options for the layout and calculation of the system for different requests and conditions. In general, it is quite difficult to assemble your own power plant with your own hands, and as a rule, taking into account errors and shortcomings, as a result, a home-made power plant is more expensive, and I advise those who do not understand anything at all to contact companies involved in all this.

If you are confident in your knowledge and strength, and you have a lot of free time, then why not. The most common case when you need your own electricity on an ongoing basis is country houses and summer cottages, where there are no power grids at all, or their quality is disgusting. There may also be other problems, for example, the high price for connecting to the electricity grid, or bureaucratic barriers.

autonomous house

Providing your home with electricity from solar panels without batteries, while the sun is shining, the energy goes to the power grid and the meter spins in the opposite direction - you sell electricity to the state, and when there is no sun and at night you buy it

Full electrical supply of country houses

Full provision of your home is a big investment and it requires a lot of equipment, which is why the price here starts from several hundred thousand rubles, and easily goes over a million rubles. Most cheap option at the initial stage and in terms of ease of installation and connection, this is a gasoline or diesel generator, but the minus is that it requires fuel, it also makes constant noise from it, well, you need a separate room for its installation, or installation on the street (but there in winter it can freeze and start badly).

Now we have in average country houses or country houses average power consumption is about 200kW per month. Consumption includes many electrical devices, and among them there are those that require power around the clock, for example circulation pumps And electric boilers heating, refrigerators, etc. Therefore, the generator must work for days and at the same time provide more power when required, for example, when we turn on the microwave, electric kettle, power tools, welding machine And so on. All this can be calculated and determined with the power of the generator, but I’ll say right away that don’t buy cheap, because the miser pays twice, and if he doesn’t understand, then he will spend money on repairing and replacing certain devices.

Autonomous power at home from a generator

An example of power supply at home from a diesel generator, which is installed outdoors in a special container

For complete autonomy, a gasoline or diesel generator must provide power up to 6 kW, and work for days on end, and its resource must be high, otherwise the generator will wear out in a year or two and you will have to buy a new one or invest in overhaul. At the same time, he still “eats” tons of expensive fuel during this time. The initial investment is on average 50-100 thousand rubles, and the subsequent purchase of fuel. Well, from the pluses, the generator works regardless of the weather and when you need it. You can also add to the generator optional equipment, for example, a generator control unit and switching from the central power grid when electricity is lost.

Generator + uninterruptible

And you can also install an uninterruptible battery source that can control the generator and the power grid. And if, for example, you don’t have an electrical network at all, then when the battery runs out in the uninterruptible power supply, it will start the generator for a while, and when the batteries are charged, the gas generator will stop and electricity will be supplied from the batteries. At the same time, the bespereboykik also immediately gives out 220 volts and inside it has a battery charging controller and a block for switching from the mains and vice versa, and controlling the gas generator.

Also, if you have an electrical network, but it often disappears and is not of high quality, then you can install an uninterruptible power supply and while there is a network, it will charge and will be in full readiness to wait, and as soon as the electricity disappears, it will turn on its inverter and supply 220 volts to home. The charge of the internal batteries is enough for several hours of offline operation, which is usually enough to wait out the power outage. But the power supply itself and the batteries are also decent, I will not advertise specific devices here, I think you will find it yourself if you want. But the advantage of the operation of the generator with an uninterruptible power supply is that the generator does not need to work constantly, but only needs to charge the batteries.

Wind-solar power plants

If you are not satisfied with the benzo-diesel generator, you do not want to hear the noise from its operation, and fiddling with the purchase and refueling. I.e alternative sources electricity, such as solar panels and wind turbines, but here everything is much more complicated. Wind and sun are not constant things, and you have to reckon with this and calculate everything from and to, and again, the less you want to spend right away, the more expensive your power plant will be to maintain. For example, a block of the cheapest batteries has to be changed every 1-3 years, and if you buy high-quality and suitable batteries, then you can forget about replacing them for ten years or more.

Autonomous power plant

battery pack of an autonomous power plant, as well as other equipment, this is what its autonomous power plant looks like

In spring, summer and autumn periods the sun is usually quite enough and here you just need to calculate the power of the solar panels and the capacity of the batteries for a day and this will be enough. For example, if you have about 200 kW per month, then 200:30 = 6.6 kW / day. That is, 6.6 kW are consumed per day, and then solar panels of 1.5 kW and batteries with a working capacity of 7 kW will be enough. Working capacity is the capacity that can be used without significant loss of battery capacity.

For example, for car starter batteries, this is no more than 30%, for traction lead batteries, no more than 70%, for alkaline batteries, about 80%, and lifepo4 is also 80%. That is, if you put the cheapest starter batteries, then in order to constantly take 7kW from them, they need a full capacity of 21kW, then they will last up to three years or even more. And if they are discharged each time to 50-80%, then they will begin to lose capacity sharply in the first months and quickly degrade.

In winter, in the middle part of Russia and closer to the north, the sun is very bad and the output of solar panels drops up to 20 times on cloudy days and they can no longer charge batteries if electricity is constantly taken from them. And here you need to put either a wind generator or a gas generator to the rescue in order to charge the batteries during these periods. At the same time, a wind generator is, of course, preferable because it does not require fuel for operation, but you need to study the situation with the wind in your area in order to understand how much power a wind generator needs and whether it makes sense, otherwise you may have calm all these days - when there is no sun, and then you can not do without a gas generator.

Alternative power supply at home

Wind generator and solar panels allow you to fully meet all your electricity needs

Mini power plant

If you don’t need kilowatts of power, but it’s enough to have light and electricity for a TV, laptop and charging phones, then everything is much simpler, and you can even abandon the inverter and transfer everything to 12 volt power and save on the inverter itself. And also the inverter itself has an efficiency of 80-90%, that is, without it, an average of 15% of the energy can still be used for good, and not for heating the inverter. Of course, consumers at 12 volts also have their own power supplies, but when we do everything at 220 volts and install an inverter, then we convert 12 volts to 220v with an inverter, losing 15% of the energy, and then about the same on converters from 220v to 19v, 12v , 5v. If we exclude the inverter from this chain, then we can save 15% of energy.

You can also save on batteries. For example, lead-acid batteries have an efficiency of about 85-90% if they operate in nominal mode, but if they are charged and discharged with a current of more than 1:10 of the capacity, then the charge-discharge efficiency becomes even less. The same is with alkaline ones, the efficiency of which is the worst. And if you use lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, then their efficiency is 95-98%, and at the same time it does not deteriorate much even when it is charged and discharged with high currents, while batteries such as alkaline and expensive lead traction batteries are used. By saving on the inverter and installing lifepo4 batteries, the benefit will be an average of 30%, which means you need to install either 30% less solar panels, or you will have 30% more energy. I think this is very important, especially when there is not enough energy and the budget is limited.

If you sometimes need to turn on something from 220 volts, for example, a small power tool, then you can separately put a cheap inverter with a modified 1 kW sine wave, and a drill, a small grinder, and so on will work through it. But circulation pumps and refrigerators often refuse to work through cheap inverters, and here it is better to immediately take an inverter with a pure sine wave at the output.

But we are all used to 220 volts, and if you want to switch everything to 220 volts, then buy good inverter with a power reserve and here already increase the power of solar panels and battery capacity. In general, if you buy something for your autonomous system, then here, no matter where, the rule applies that the avaricious pays twice, and if it does not reach him, then the device that has failed to work will be changed. I experienced all this on myself, and this is especially true for batteries, it’s better to send them to a landfill in less than a year.

Calculation of a small power plant for minimal needs

For example, if you don’t have an electrical network in your country house, but you don’t want to start a car to charge (phone, laptop, tablet, or flashlight, or watch TV, etc.) and it’s not convenient, then you can install a solar power plant. Put on the roof of the house a solar panel, or several, for about 200 watts (price 15,000 rubles), a battery with a working capacity of 500-700 watts (10-20 thousand rubles), a battery charging controller (price 3-5 thousand rubles). This is enough to make a small 12-volt TV with a diagonal of 15-19 inches work around the clock, and much more, and of course the light around the house (2-3 light bulbs low power). If you plan to use it constantly in winter, you will either have to add a gas generator or a 600-watt wind generator, but it all depends on the presence of wind in your area.

Mini power plant

Small homemade power plant

Calculation of a powerful power plant

If you want to feed the whole house all year round, and consume 200 kW per month, then the power of solar panels should be from 1.5 kW / h, the working capacity of the batteries from 10 kW, a good converter for 220 volts, and everything else. And for winter, either a gas generator or a wind generator. The price is about the same, for solar panels about 100-150 thousand rubles, batteries 200-250 thousand rubles, controller 10-15 thousand rubles. inverter 15-30 pipes, well, there is further additionally - individually for each.

In general, the entire calculation should always begin with a complete analysis of your needs and conditions, so as not to miscalculate and spend money in the most rational way. Alternative energy is expensive pleasure and in the end it still does not replace the power grid, and here you need to understand this and optimize power consumption. You need to save money and switch to lower power consumption, and if you want to habitually use electric heaters, powerful pumps, voracious household appliances, then it’s better to pull the power grid, otherwise your own power plant will cost a lot, quite under a million rubles, and still require maintenance.