Cottage / plot without electricity: 4 options for autonomous power supply of a country house

Without electricity, a modern person is as if without air, and it does not matter if he is in a city apartment with an abundance of technology, or in nature. Interruptions in electricity in the country or its complete absence makes us look for alternative sources of electricity. The last mankind has not yet come up with so many: liquid fuel engines, solar panels, wind generators and storage batteries, if you do not take into account more exotic and sophisticated solutions. All existing methods have drawbacks, but if you need a summer house or a plot without electricity, and you need to perform construction work and simple household tasks, you will have to choose one, or better two (for safety), the most suitable options for autonomous power supply of a country house.

What to consider when choosing an autonomous source of electricity?

Many areas of the country, no matter how surprising it may sound, are still not connected to the general power supply system. Others suffer from constant power outages. If there are no electric networks in the region, and it’s time to start building a house, what should be done: wait for the site to be connected to the network or look for alternative solutions? What if electricity is turned off in the evenings, and sometimes in the daytime, and often unpredictably? Contemplation of the starry sky and warming food at the stake - This, of course, is romantic, but it is already difficult to do without a refrigerator, a light bulb, a pump and other civilization benefits in the country.

Sooner or later, everyone is trying to find a way to connect electricity to the site. A universal formula for choosing the best source does not exist, since you need to consider a lot of factors:

• the size of the country house, the frequency of visits, the usual and maximum number of people staying in it;
• number of appliances consuming energy. It’s one thing if it’s a couple of bulbs, a socket and a kettle. It is much more difficult to solve the issue of power supply to a country house if many powerful electrical appliances will work in it, starting from several televisions and a refrigerator, ending with water heaters and pumps;
• features of the region. In windy regions, an expensive, at first glance, windmill will be the most economical and quickly recouped source of electricity, and in the Moscow region, for example, wind will no longer be such a profitable source of energy;
• the presence of an electrical network. If there are no electric networks in the region at all, and their construction is hardly foreseen, experts recommend using two sources of autonomous power supply. This advice can be neglected if you rarely appear in the country.

Naturally, before choosing the type and power of an autonomous source of electricity, it is necessary to carefully calculate the amount of energy consumed. The number of electrical appliances and the characteristics of energy consumers are taken into account. Total power is obtained by adding together the needs of all household appliances and equipment. It is better to throw 15-30% to the obtained value in order to be safe and not afraid to turn on a new device.It should be remembered that to ensure maximum durability, it is better for the generator to operate at 80% of its capacity.

No. 1. Generator for gardening: gasoline, diesel, gas

The easiest and most popular way to solve the problem of electricity on a land plot is to use fuel power generator. In fact, it is a miniature power station that works completely autonomously and turns the energy of fuel combustion into electrical energy. As fuel, gasoline and diesel are used, less often gas. To produce 1 kW / h of energy, an average of 0.25 to 0.5 liters of fuel is required.

Using generators the easiest way to organize power supply at home: bought, connected and can be used, just remember to add fuel on time. This is the main advantage. The main minus is the need to constantly buy fuel, and if the house is large and there are a lot of electrical appliances in it, then the costs will be tangible. In addition, the generator itself also costs money, and the higher its power, the higher the price. But if you compare with a wind turbine or a solar panel, then the generator, of course, will come out cheaper.

When the generator is a backup source of energy, it is important that it not only switches on in time, but also switches off in a timely manner so that no collision of two countercurrent flows of charged electrons occurs. In order to avoid troubles, an algorithm for including a generator in common system. If there is no central power supply network, then it is recommended to use two generators: one - the main, the second - standby and is included in the work when the first runs out of fuel. The alternate operation of two generators significantly increases the life of each.

The power, durability, noise, and also operating costs depend on what fuel the generator will run on.

The diesel generator for giving

Diesel Power Generators Best suitable for continuous work. A long time of continuous operation is provided by the presence of a water cooling system. Among his others the benefits:

• high strength demand. In terms of durability, the diesel generator outperforms the gasoline;
• among diesel engines there are much more powerful models than among gasoline engines, which makes it possible to use a similar source of energy even for supplying large country houses;
• diesel is cheaper fuel compared to gasoline.

Among the cons:

• price;
• high noise during operation, therefore without a separate room with sound insulation and ventilation will be difficult to do. The gas generator also has exhaust gases, but they are not so corrosive. It is best to put the diesel generator at some distance from the house, but at the same time you will have to take care of the canopy and the locking system to protect the generator from theft;
• start is possible at a temperature not lower than -5⁰C, although at the moment appeared diesel generators in a protective casingthanks to which the device can be placed on the street and operated at any temperature.

Gasoline generator for garden

A gas generator is best suited for when the plot is used from time to time. It can also work as a backup power sourcewhen the site is connected to a shared network. In a small cottage with a minimum set of electrical appliances, a gasoline generator performs best. The power of gas generators is usually not higher than 7-9 kW (but you can find models for 15, and even 20 kW), and they can not work longer than 8 hours continuously - they get very hot.

Benefits:

• low compared to the diesel counterpart cost of the generator. The price, of course, depends on power, but it is, on average, two times lower than on diesel models;
• mobility. Gasoline generators are lighter and more compact than diesel ones, so if necessary they are easy to move around the site;
• the noise level is lower than that of a diesel analog;
• the ability to work at low temperatures.

Minuses:

• low efficiency;
• high cost of gasoline.

The noise level from a diesel and gasoline generator depends on the type of housing and the number of revolutions at which the generator runs: a device with 1500 rpm will produce significantly lower noise than a similar one in power, but with 3000 rpm, but it will also cost more .

Gas generator for garden

Gas generators allow you to get the cheapest energy, while The efficiency of their work is highest, and the noise is minimal. Power can reach 24 kW, the generator can operate around the clock, and gas will cost less than gasoline and diesel fuel. But they have not yet acquired such widespread devices, since they cost a lot, are complicated to operate and require connection to a gas pipeline, which is not everywhere. Nevertheless, some summer residents connect such generators to gas cylinders.

No. 2. Solar panels for summer cottage

The main disadvantage of fuel generators is the need to constantly buy fuel for them. Generators that use the free energy available to everyone are deprived of this drawback. This is the energy of the sun and wind. To obtain electricity, they also use geothermal energy, as well as water energy, but these options are unlikely to be suitable for supplying electricity to a summer cottage.

If very simple, then principle of operation of solar panels consists in knocking out electrons by light photons from semiconductors located in a solar cell, and the directed flow of electrons, as is known from the school course in physics, is electricity. To ensure the generation of electricity from sunlight, its accumulation and further use for domestic purposes a whole range of equipment is needed:

• directly the solar battery itself sufficient area. The efficiency of such systems is still very low, and a battery of about 1 m² gives an average of 100 watts of electricity with a voltage of 15-25 V. To use the energy of the sun as an independent and main source of energy, it is necessary that the batteries occupy an area of ​​about 10 m², and were located at the right angle;
• inverterresponsible for the conversion of electricity;
• batteries for the accumulation of energy and its uninterrupted supply;
• controller, with which you can control the battery charge.

It is better to take all the elements in the kit - it will be much easier.

Prices for solar panels are highly dependent on their type, size, power and name of the manufacturer. Of course, everyone wants to achieve maximum productivity and energy independence for their money, so you need to carefully study the nuances of the weather in the region, and also understand What type of solar cells is best suited for a particular area:

• single crystal batteries easy to recognize by black pseudo-squares and beveled corners. They have the highest efficiency, 15-25%, so if the roof area is small, then it is preferable to install such batteries. On the other hand, for normal functioning, they should always face the sun, and in a cloudy day, at dawn and at sunset, the power will be minimal;
• polycrystalline batteries They differ in dark blue plates interspersed with silicon crystals. Efficiency is lower, about 12-15%, but such batteries are cheaper, so if there is enough space for their installation, this is the best option. Their significant advantage is the ability to generate energy on a cloudy day, since silicon crystals have different orientations;
• batteries amorphous silicon are the cheapest, but have low efficiency, only about 6%. They resemble film in appearance, are flexible and are best suited in cases where roof has a complex shape, as they are easily attached to any surface and do not require the arrangement of additional metal structures.Such batteries use diffused light most effectively, therefore they are suitable for regions where it is often cloudy. Their minus lies in their low durability, since silicon layers quickly burn out under sunlight. Not so long ago, a more advanced analogue appeared - micromorphic silicon batteries, which are not so demanding on the angle of inclination and orientation to the cardinal points.

Whatever option you choose, solar panels are always many advantages:

• the opportunity to get a full source of electricity, and the energy of the sun goes free. In developed countries, surpluses of such household energy are sold to energy companies. In the domestic space the first steps are already being taken in this direction, although the phenomenon is far from widespread;
• lack of monthly payments for electricity;
• long service life;
• environmental friendliness.

MinusesOf course, are present. Firstly, the inability to use solar energy as a full-fledged source of electricity in regions with a large number of cloudy days per year. Snow can also become a hindrance, so you have to constantly clean it. In addition, there will be a lot of space for the entire set of home solar power plants: these are the batteries themselves and the equipment for them. As for the cost, it is initially high, but in the end it fully pays off.

When choosing solar panels, pay attention to:

• power. Depends on the needs of a particular house and the characteristics of the region
• battery life directly affects the length of the period during which it will be possible to receive electricity in inclement weather;
• installation area;
• load;
• health class. Better to take class A batteries;
• manufacturer name. The products of such companies as Sunpower, Sanyo, Jinko Solar have proved to be quite good.

Calculation of the required power - This is a painstaking task and requires knowledge of the mass of exact parameters. In order to figure out what kind of batteries will be needed and navigate the price, you can spend a simple, but very approximate calculation:

• summarize the energy consumption of all machinery and equipment per month, taking into account everything from light bulbs to the refrigerator and pump. The figure will be approximate, but still consistent with real consumption. Suppose we get 100 kW;
• since there are significant energy losses in the batteries and at the stage of converting direct current to alternating current, it is important to consider them in the calculation. About 30-40% of the energy is lost, and additional batteries will have to be installed to cover it. Consequently, per month we will need not 140 kW, but 140 kW;
• divide the obtained value by the number of days in a month (140 kW / 30 = 4.67 kW), and now the most interesting thing is the need to divide by the number of sunny hours in a month. For the summer period, this time is from 9 am to 4 pm, the rest of the time the power will not be maximum, so we get 7 hours: 4.67 / 7 = 0.67 kW. But an array with a power of 0.7 kW will be clearly not enough, since cloudy days are not taken into account in the calculation, and there will be a lot of them in the autumn-spring period, and the daylight hours are very low, so the resulting value can be increased by 1.5-2 times.

For accurate calculations, you must explore the weather diaries in the region for the number of cloudy and sunny days in recent years in a particular month. Only after that it will be possible to judge the parameter of the batteries and the payback. In most cases, even a large supply makes it impossible to use solar energy as a full-fledged source of electricity in the winter, so backup power supply with a gas generator is required.

No. 3. The wind generator for giving

Another free source of electricity is the wind, but, like the sun's rays, it is inconsistent. Key Benefits, as with photocells, this is the absence of the need for a constant purchase of fuel and the environmental friendliness of the energy received. Minuses: high construction cost, the need to install not only the wind generator itself, but also additional equipment (inverter and batteries with controllers).

At the dachas today, two types of windmills:

• rotary with a vertical axis of rotation they are distinguished by a low noise level, they do not require a high wind speed and a significant installation height, but their efficiency is low;
• winged wind turbines with a horizontal axis of rotation are more familiar, have high efficiency, the installation cost is lower, but the material consumption, and hence the price, is higher.

The main question that faces those who decided to install a windmill is not even its type, but power. When answering a question, it’s worth take into account the generated, stored and consumed energy. Therefore, it is important to calculate how much energy is consumed, for example, per day, what is the average and peak load. It is necessary to take into account the average wind speed, the number of days when the wind speed is above 5 m / s (the most favorable), as well as the maximum duration of calm weather.

In practice, it turns out that weak winds of 2-3 m / s give insufficient energy. Therefore, experienced summer residents are advised to stock up on high-capacity batteries in order to accumulate the energy received on windy days and use it during calm and light winds.

Number 4. Invertor batteries for gardening

Rechargeable batteries can be used to store energy from various generators, but sometimes used as an independent source of energy. Naturally, it is not worth considering this option as a way to constantly supply electricity to the site, but as backup he will go. If the lights suddenly turn off, the fuel for the generator runs out or there are no sunny days for a long time, then the minimum necessary set of electrical appliances can be powered up.

The inverter battery is connected to the general electrical system of the house, it is charged from the central power supply network, and when there is a power outage, it gives off energy.

The parameters of the battery are selected depending on the needs, taking into account how much energy is consumed by electrical appliances in the house and for how long a power outage is possible. For example, if you need a battery that will give 3 kW of electricity, and given the loss during conversion in the inverter (10%) it is 3.3 kW, with a voltage of 12 V output, a battery of 275 A * h or 2 of 150 A * h will be needed. When choosing a battery, take into account the number of charge / discharge cycles (the more the better), give preference to models with the maximum service life and do not use car batteries better, despite the fact that in all respects they seem to be suitable - they need safe operation specific conditions.

Finally

To obtain energy, mini-hydroelectric power stations are also equipped, but this requires access to a water source, so this method has not found distribution. If a country house is used year-round, then it’s better to invest money in a wind generator or solar panels (whichever is more profitable), and play safe with a fuel generator. If the dacha is used from time to time, you can only get by the generator, and if there is still electricity on the site, but just supply it on schedule or intermittently, then the option is a battery or a gasoline generator.