DeepBass9

There are websites that give average wind speeds and wind potential. You just need to look up you area. Bear in mind that the wind generally doesn't blow when you need it, as I've noticed. Like now until October is my best time for wind potential, except that the sky is clear and the solar works very well. When the wind gets up in the afternoon, the batteries are pretty much charged, so the controller brakes the turbine. In the evening it is generally still, so no power is produced. Sometimes when a cold front comes through with strong winds overnight, then it helps a bit, but otherwise not. We have a guest lodge, so the wing generator gives that 'off grid' type of vibe, but it is actually just a toy or conversation piece. It is not practical in any way. Rather get more solar panels or batteries, that will be much more useful, unless you stay somewhere with constant strong wind.

LOL, I remember walking around the house in the dark at night looking for glowing red LEDs from chargers and all sorts of other appliances plugged in doing nothing!

And the first bush beans are planted out under small shade net tunnels to prevent attacks by marauding chickens..

Seedlings are coming on nicely in the tunnel:

The drip irrigation is going in now. This irrigation is fed by a storage dam, and the head is only about 2 m so I am using 40mm LDPE pipe, with 6mm holes drilled for water delivery. The holes are 1m apart so these will be used for tomatoes and squash or pumpkins. The reason I am not using commercial drip tape, is that it needs higher pressure to get the water flowing through the fine holes, and the algae from the dam blocks up the fine holes very quickly. To prevent this the larger holes are drilled on the top of the pipe, so any gunk settles to the bottom of the pipe and the water comes out through the top. The water looks clean and sparkly, but it is actually quite green. If the big pipes block up, I can just flush them out to clean them.

Sorry to labour this point, but : Rated Power @15 m/s= 2020 Watts occurs at Beaufort 7, which I doubt occurs very often in any location.

I think this answers your question. Wind power goes up with the square or cube of the wind speed, so at 3 or 7 m/s you will probably be producing nothing. If you can put your hand up to the wind and feel a push, then the wind has some power, otherwise not. The specs on that generator are : ATLAS2.0 2000W Wind Turbine (Fully optimized for ground conditions) Rated Power @11.5 m/s= 1200 Watts Rated Power @15 m/s= 2020 Watts

Read this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale From my experience with a wind generator, you need Beaufort 4-5 or above to generate any power, so the wind must be bending the trees. Where I am that is just too intermittent to produce any noticable contribution to my power needs. In a city (which one) there is lots of interference from buildings, trees etc, so I doubt you will have much success with wind, unless you are in a really exposed position.

Just check if you have enough wind. There is no power to be harvested in a breeze, you need strong wind. Also in strong winds, wind generators can be noisy and your neighbours might not like it.

I'm not so sure about quat bikes. This one is quite slow so you steer it like a car, but I am used to motorbikes where you lean to turn, but you can lean as much as you like on a quat, but it still goes straight.

Distribution board that is properly wired. Many topics on this forum on that subject. Family that can be trained to use appliances when the sun is shining.

Check how much power the pump is actually drawing. Just because it is rated at 18kW, doesn't necessarily mean it is using that amount.

As a matter of interest, are the prices of lead acid coming down now that Li are more popular, or were they already as cheap as they were going to get?

I have now changed the gearing to lower than it was before. It still goes quite fast, but is short of power on the uphills, so I am going to reduce the final drive gearing further. Currently my kids can use it, but It won't move my fat butt uphill very quickly: New video.mp4

Soil cover done. I have spread the winter's kraal manure down the centre of the beds where the planting will take place, and I have a lot of leftover feed residue to mulch over the weeds when they come up (and they will). I have started planting seeds in seed trays of various tomatoes, squash, green beans and other veggies. The next job is to lay out the drip irrigation......

You should use the sonof to close a larger relay or contactor.

Those batteries lasted about 2 years.

I found place in Jhb North that should be able to help : http://www.akita.co.za/Batteries/Li-ion.htm

Thanks, does anyone know where you can just buy these cells without ordering online? Like a physical shop. Can I have some batteries please. ka-ching. And I walk out with them in my hand?

There are a bit flat but measure 2.6V, They are bigger than AA size.

Where does one buy batteries like this that came out of a torch? I would prefer to just go to a shop and buy them rather than order from China.

So how does this apply to suburban gardens? As far as I am aware there are by laws in some cities against compost heaps (if anyone pays attention to by laws these days), but instead of making heaps, just use your grass clippings, raked leaves, braai ash and whatever else you have and spread it over the beds. For a lot of pruned branches etc, hire a wood chipper. This will save trips to the dump with black bags full of leaves, and significantly reduce your water consumption in your garden. Fertiliser costs will also be less as the organic matter holds nutrients, and if you are continually adding organic matter, the nutrients in the soil will increase, your plant growth will increase and you then have a virtuous cycle.

After about 4 or 5 years of using this system, the results are visible in the soil. On the top is soil taken from a mole heap outside the veggie garden, and on the right a spadeful from under the mulch. The top is sand mainly, with little organic matter, and that yellow color is limonite, hydrated iron oxides. The bottom started off the same but is now dark with organic matter, and full of earthworms.

An update on this. I had the bike running and it got up to quite a speed on the flat ground on the slowest speed, but had no power on uphill, so I have ordered a larger reduction gear. It also turned out that one of the batteries was a dud, so I'll exchange that for a better one during the week.

Getting close to complete soil coverage now. So that should be the last time there is bare earth visible. It makes a nice contrast to other farmers who are busy discing up a dust storm with conventional field preparation.