Missouri Wind And Solar Podcast

Time To Talk About Heat Impact

As we move into the heart of summer, it's a great time to talk about how heat impacts your system. The Missouri Wind and Solar guys walk through some of the issues you need to be aware of in your alternative energy system as it relates to heat.

You can add one of our DC fans to vent or exhaust your battery box or to blow across your resistor bank.

Always remember, a cool system is an efficient system.

Originally aired 6/28/2018

Tech Tip Tuesday Treasury

Today's podcast is a treasury of tips provided from our Facebook feature, "Tech Tip Tuesday." Wyatt, David, and Wes relive some of the top tips that we've published there and discussed them in detail. Don't forget - if you have a tip or would like us to research a burning question you might have, email us at radio@mwands.com.

If you want to see past tech tips, you can search our Facebook posts for Quick Tip Tuesday. Our tech tips come from our experienced staff that spends time in R&D, living off-grid, and talking to countless customers about common problems or misconceptions out there. You never know what tip is going to help make your system better or solve a pain point in your off-grid or grid-tied system, so don't miss a single one.

Topics discussed in today's podcast:

• Wire size - heats up, just like an incandescent light bulb
• Duty cycle - for appliances that don't run 24/7
• Inverter sizing - surge ratings
• Water heating - sediment and efficiency
• Batteries - age, size, and maintenance
• Battery Desulfation & Desulfator Charger
• Lightning - protecting your system with a simple kink
• Charge controllers - two may be better than one

And don't forget, you can always use a Kill-a-Watt Meter.  Lucy's doggy chicken treats depend on it.

Originally aired 6/6/2018

Crowder College Witnesses Swamp Boat Wind Tunnel

Crowder College of Neosho Missouri pays Missouri Wind and Solar a visit.

The Missouri Wind and Solar staff get a distinguished visit from students from Crowder College's Wind Energy and Sustainable Energy Programs. Instructors Joel Lamson and Chris Catron showed students from their respective programs around the Missouri Wind and Solar facilities with a special visit to the swamp boat wind tunnel.

Watch the Crowder College video Jeff did on our YouTube Channel and be sure to check out Crowder College's MARET page!

 

Originally aired 5/9/2018

Visit With Northstar Battery

This week the team got a special treat in being able to visit with Dave Putman and Frank Fleming. Dave is a Northstar distributor and Frank is one of the founders of Northstar. David, Wyatt and Crystal get to delve into some great technical information about Northstar's battery offerings.

To see our current Northstar Battery offerings, visit our online store here!

Originally aired 4/18/2018

Relion LiFePO Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

Relion LiFePO Battery

David, Wes and Wyatt talk about Missouri Wind and Solar's latest addition to the product catalog, the Relion Lithium Iron Phosphate battery  They discuss how it compares to the traditional workhorse of the industry, the lead-acid battery. The team discusses safety, life-span, application and how the new batteries fit into the renewable energy configuration.

Originally aired 3/9/2018

Low Voltage Shutdown Relay for Batteries

Low Voltage Shutdown Relay for Batteries

The low voltage shutdown relay will automatically disconnect the DC power between the batteries and inverter. When the relay disconnects, the inverter will shut down and prevent further draw on the battery or batteries.  Once your batteries recharge to a safer level, the LVS will restore DC power to the inverter's DC inputs. The LVS will prevent deep discharges of your battery bank that shorten the life of your batteries.

The LVS is available for 12, 24, and 48 volt systems and comes pre-programmed for battery voltage.

Keep in mind that some power inverters need to be manually reset i.e. flipping the power switch back on if power is removed from the DC input. There are too many inverters to test in house, so we suggest you follow the next step to determine if your inverter requires a manual reset. To test your inverter before purchasing the Low Voltage Shutdown, disconnect your DC to AC power inverter on the DC side and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Reconnect the DC power source.  If you have to manually reset the inverter, this will also be the case when using the LVS.

To purchase the Missouri Wind and Solar Low Voltage Shutdown Relay, click here.

You can also watch Jeff's most recent video, where he shows the simple connections and features of the Low Voltage Shutdown Relay.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgbLa5TUWDM[/embedyt]

For a simple diagram and an instruction sheet on how to wire the low voltage shutdown relay into your system, click here.

Originally aired 2/21/2018

Wind Turbine Tower Siting

Wind Turbine Tower Siting:

In the middle of a pasture? On top of your house? In your backyard? Yep, you can have a wind turbine. The guys discuss all the aspects wind turbine tower siting in this episode. David and Wes play host to Wyatt, Missouri Wind's resident research and development guru, to discuss all things tower-related.

Jeff made a video about where NOT to install your wind turbine several years ago that makes a great supplement to this podcast.

In addition, we do offer a wind turbine roof mount, guy wire rings, and other mounting accessories.

Additional Resources:

You'll also find more wind turbine mounting designs below:

• Wind Turbine Mounting & Tower Design Video Playlist
• Hensley Isaac's Wind Turbine Tower
• Wind Turbine Tower Diagrams
• Complete 9 Blade Wind Turbine Installation
• How to Build a Wind Turbine Tower Playlist
• How we built the wind turbine tower at our Seymour, MO store

Originally aired 2/7/2018

Alternative Energy Scams, Hoaxes and Other Assorted Snake Oils

This week David and Wes discuss the less pleasant side of renewable energy - alternative energy scams, hoaxes and other assorted snake oils. They review the different scams and what to look out for when purchasing your wind power or solar power equipment.

This week's podcast is full of great tips on how to be a savvy consumer when it comes to evaluating lofty claims.  Your purchase is an investment, do your research before you buy to avoid to good to be true pricing and products!

• On a side note, please don't use PVC blades, they're prone to shattering.  We recommend our high quality, Raptor Generation 4 carbon fiber composite blades as a safer option.  Jeff even drives over them with a forklift, shot them with a 9mm and this customer tested them with a shotgun.
• Make sure you get single thick, solid steel hubs - not two pieces of metal adhered together!

Originally aired 1/10/2018

Battery Maintenance

Wes and David revisit the most listened to topic to date: batteries. A major component of this week's podcast is a review of battery maintenance.  Batteries are a costly investment in your system, maintenance is a key factor in maintaining performance and longevity.  David & Wes discuss some of the tools you should use to keep them at their peak and some steps you should take to maintain them.

For flooded lead acid battery maintenance, use distilled water to refill any water that's evaporated during normal usage.  This is where a MidNite Solar battery hydrometer can be a useful tool to keep an eye on electrolytes and specific gravity of the batteries.  Incorporating a battery desulfator will prevent sulfates from building up on the internal plates.  Battery maintenance is key to protect your investment.

Keep your batteries extreme temperature swings as much as possible and never allow them to freeze.  There should also be plenty of ventilation for the gases that are produced by the batteries (we recommend this DC fan).

Here are some links to our favorite products for keeping your batteries in tip-top shape:

• PowerPulse Battery Desulfators & Other Battery Tools
• Battery Hydrometer
• Low Voltage Shutdown Switch: Prevents over-draining the batteries

Other products mentioned in this episode:

• Blocking diodes
• Kill-a-Watt Meter
• Battle Born Batteries

To listen to our first podcast on batteries, click here.

For video, you can watch our Batteries for the Beginner video on YouTube.  If you want even more battery information, you can find articles and diagrams here.

Originally aired 1/3/2018

Protection: Fuses, Breakers and Grounding

Wes and David discuss the best methods for protecting your investment. They thoroughly walk-through the process of implementing fuses, breakers and grounding in your alternative energy system.

Fuses We Carry:

• Fuses & Fuse Blocks/Holders

Breakers We Sell:

• DC Breakers
• MidNite Solar Breakers
• MidNite Solar Din Mounted Breakers
• All Breakers & Breaker Accessories

Surge Protection Devices:

• MidNite Solar Surge Protection Device

Originally aired 12/27/2017