The following workshops may be offered at the two week immersive programs happening at Living Energy Farm in July and August 2022. Timing is TBD. Articles and media recommended below may be applicable to multiple workshops.
Introduction to DC Microgrids
- What is a DC microgrid?
- Providing services, not bulk energy: how this approach differs from typical off grid systems
- The importance of conservation and advance planning
- Daylight drive and non-electric storage
- Where batteries fit in
- DC microgrid applications in Puerto Rico
Recommended reading/viewing:
Working with DC Electricity
- Circuit design, considerations for different applications
- Safety around high-voltage wiring
- Sizing wiring and breakers appropriately
- Switches and DC arcing
- Protecting each circuit with breakers, fuses and surge arrestors
Recommended reading:
Low Voltage Battery Systems for Lights and Electronics
- Why keep battery systems at 12V?
- Trade offs for different battery technologies
- Safety considerations
- Installing battery kits and lighting circuits
- Assembling nickel iron battery kits
- Sourcing batteries
Recommended reading/viewing:
- 12V battery systems for lights and electronics
- Video: Batteries that last (almost) forever
- This document contains a parts list and information about manufacturing the battery systems we use. Note that we no longer offer the particular model displayed in this document, but the kits are are building now are very similar.
DC Kitchen Part 1
- Food processing-balancing multiple energy uses on a shared circuit
- Food mills, blenders, etc
- Solar dehydrating
Recommended reading:
DC Kitchen Part 2
- Solar electric cooking
- Insulated vs uninsulated
- Tricks for cooking with ISEC- what works well and what doesn’t
- What to expect from different wattages and solar conditions
Recommended reading:
- Introduction to ISEC technology
- This description of Roxy Oven, which we sell through Living Energy Lights, also gives a good introduction to ISEC
Insulated Solar Electric Cooker Manufacturing
- Planning and building
- Sheet metal techniques
- Burner design
- High-temperature wiring
Recommended reading:
Appliance and Tool Conversion to DC
- Which tools and appliances can run daylight drive?
- Installing external switches
- Replacing motors
- Bypassing electronic controls
Recommended reading:
Pumping Water with Daylight Drive
- Choosing the right pump
- Sizing PV supply for a daylight drive pump
- Storage options
Recommended reading:
Solar Hot Water
- Planning, scaling, and cost analysis
- Flat plates and batch collectors
- Construction of bath collectors from reclaimed materials
Recommended reading:
- This page contains a lot of information about solar thermal systems, including flat plate active solar hot water. There is a section on batch collectors towards the bottom of the page.
- This website has good photos and instructions for building your own batch collector.
Biogas
- Scaling and planning
- Managing input-output flows
- Homemade grinders and pumps for large systems
Recommended reading:
- The Chinese Biogas Manual is a book available for free online that has lots of great information about biogas.
- Tamera Community in Portugal created this construction manual for their biogas system.