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paulz
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# Posted: 3 May 2015 08:58pm - Edited by: paulz
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Here's an aerial view of my 7 acre plot. Sunny spots last about 20 minutes at my cabin. I get no wind. Anyone put solar 150' up a tree? Any other options for power? The trees make a lot of oxygen, how about an oxygen power generator lol.
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groingo
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# Posted: 3 May 2015 09:13pm - Edited by: groingo
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My place used to look like that, it felt like living in a rabbit hole till I had the front half of the property logged off, that was twelve years ago, no more getting dark at 2:30 p.m. year round, my mood changed over night from grouchy S.O.B. to not so grouchy S.O.B., that was twelve years ago and never regretted it, new vegitation has come along nicely, lots more birds and wildlife and my solar though still not the ideal setup has done 110% of asked 24 /7.
Regarding the trees, I loved them till they started falling on my house and ultimately totaled it so am a believer in house here trees there.
I know it probably didn't help but I sure feel better, now back to Top Gear reruns.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 3 May 2015 09:14pm
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Well, I wouldnt want to cut down any of those trees either. You are stuck with a Honda EU2000i.  Hey, its not bad at all. I use one to power my cabin.
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paulz
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# Posted: 3 May 2015 10:03pm
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I'm on a north facing slope (hey it was cheap..). Even if I cut my trees, the trees on the adjacent property would still block the sun's path.
I use car batteries mostly now, I get them for free (long story). I'm thinking about setting up a spot in my truck bed to hold batteries with cables to charge them when I'm driving around. Anyone ever do this? It means a lot of battery clean and jerks but it's cheaper than a gym membership.
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 3 May 2015 11:18pm
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Got any water on that property? Micro-hydro generator?
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groingo
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# Posted: 4 May 2015 09:57am - Edited by: groingo
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If I had some Latitude and longitude I could get a satellite fix and see more clearly but the shot of your cabin indicates you have decent exposure just that they Pit set your cabin so it is setting below ground level or is dug into a hillside judging by the the berm to the right of the truck and the large trees looming above the cabin with chopped roots, you have a lot bigger problems than power and they are the trees on the high ground surrounding the cabin, they should be taken back at least the distance of the tallest tree soon.
My place got hit five years ago by a 85 m.p.h. micro burst two trees came down on the rear center and punched over thirty holes in the roof and drove one limb through the rear canopy and through the wall (kept it as a reminder), and just when I thought all was clear another came down and took off the corner of the place while this year fortunately another 80 footer dropped just behind the place.
The place was deemed unsafe even if repaired due to the proximity of surrounding trees was black listed as a hazardous zone by the insurance company so now the place is kept weather tight and used for storage.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 4 May 2015 08:24pm
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With trees that dense I would ask for advice from the State Forestry department. I will guess they will tell you that you have way too many trees for the health of the trees. With that in mind I would do a serious tree survey and think of possibly making a clearing so you could have at least a few hours of decent sun. With an oversized array, for the battery bank size, that could work well. Not to mention fewer trees = more available water per tree = healthier forest.
Personally I hate generators when they are the prime or sole source of power. I love trees, but I love healthy trees more than quantity. Most forest lands in the west and SW have too many trees per acre, unless they have been recently thinned.
G/L
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 4 May 2015 08:25pm
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And, NO I would not try to place PV panels on a 150 foot tree.
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paulz
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# Posted: 5 May 2015 10:40am
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Thanks guys. You are correct about thinning the trees. I will look into that.
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groingo
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# Posted: 5 May 2015 10:55am
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Paulz:
Because the root systems have been disturbed either by cutting on the high slope or stacking dirt on root systems (which will suffocate a tree) the best rule to protect your cabin is to remove far enough way from your cabin that a tree can not strike your cabin from any angle, don't leave trees standing if they are not in groups, singles need the group to resist high winds, might check with a state forester for advice but this is pretty much common sense rule of thumb.
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ejes
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# Posted: 7 May 2015 10:37pm
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have you thought of geothermal? how about steam?
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KSalzwedel
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# Posted: 7 May 2015 11:54pm
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We were in the same situation. 12 acres of thick spruce, birch, and aspen. Forest fire less than 2 miles from our place meant a busy husband and chainsaw all winter. Thinned. Extra talls removed near cabin, and area cleared for new retirement home (by cabin). I sleep better.
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paulz
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# Posted: 8 May 2015 12:41am
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Quoting: ejes have you thought of geothermal? how about steam?
Don't know a thing about them but I haven't seen any steam coming out of anything. I have a creek but it does not flow often enough (maybe a couple weeks a year) to do much with.
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 8 May 2015 07:58am
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Paulz, an idea that may work to your benefit.
Around here we have a lot of loggers and sawmills. A few of these fellows will come and cut down your trees for you for a percentage of the wood cut. This is a good deal if you have enough lumber grade on the property to make it worthwhile.
A couple of other lads with portable mills advertise that they'll come to your property to mill up your logs also for a percentage of the wood. This is really good if you can cut the trees yourself and get them to the sawing area. You'd wind up with a pile of good fresh lumber for more projects at a very low cost.
I love the trees on our property and cutting down a nice one is a challenge for me as I always feel I don't have enough of them (and it's a bush lot LOL) but I had to cut some big beauties for the safety of the cabin. Last thing I want to do, is to wake up dead @ 3am because a tree crashed through my roof... Someone told me there is a general rule about 30' clearance around occupied buildings for insurance companies. I have not been able to verify that and it seems a tad excessive to me but maybe that is a regional thing in some areas.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 8 May 2015 09:44am
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In a forested area the usual thing that drives the insurance rules is the danger of wildfire. The reverse, your house catching fire and starting a forest fire is a secondary concern. Here's a Firewise PDF document. Lots of good info in there. It is aimed at the whole process from designing a community in a forest, right down the line.
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Ruggles
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# Posted: 8 May 2015 11:04am
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Quoting: Steve_S Someone told me there is a general rule about 30' clearance around occupied buildings for insurance companies.
My primary residence has 75 foot Ponderosa Pines all around it and I've never had insurance problems. At least 4 are within 10 feet of the structure. I'm in Colorado so don't know about anywhere else.
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groingo
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# Posted: 8 May 2015 12:03pm
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Insurance companies in Washington don't have minimums, what they do is have a limit on claims you can file for similar damage, my place and many of the neighbors were unaware that the Insurance companies had black listed hazard insurance where I am, they'll take your money till something happens, in my case I was notified after that I was in a High Hazard Zone, no point fighting it, they have far to deep of pockets, I re grouped and built the place I had always wanted after removing hazardous trees but in case I missed something the cabin has a crash bar protection in the sleeping area, my safe room so to speak just in case.
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tverga
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# Posted: 12 May 2015 12:01pm
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Has anyone tried a Marine Fuel Cell?
http://www.avanteyachts.com/joomla/index.php/tech-topmenu-40/fuel-cell-technology-top menu-49
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mattd
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# Posted: 13 May 2015 10:29pm
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My plan is to bring a deep cycle marine battery back and forth. Charge it at home, then bring it to cabin to run some compact fluorescent bulbs, small fan, etc. I'll wire the cabin w 120v and have a heavy duty inverter w inline fuses.
The battery on my boat runs a 46lbs thrust motor moving a 18' boat almost all day. Hoping it will last the few evening hours I'd need it over a weekend.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 14 May 2015 08:53am
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it will work, I did it for years. Problem is batteries aren't getting much lighter, and I'm getting older. Lugging them all the time gets old. Use a good deep cycle, and get it on the charger as soon as you get home. Sitting in a discharged state is not very good for them and will shorten their life expectancy.
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razmichael
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# Posted: 14 May 2015 12:04pm
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Quoting: mattd My plan is to bring a deep cycle marine battery back and forth. Charge it at home, then bring it to cabin to run some compact fluorescent bulbs, small fan, etc. I'll wire the cabin w 120v and have a heavy duty inverter w inline fuses.
Couple of suggestions - use LED bulbs - even less draw than CFL bulbs. Price has continued to drop and they will last much longer than CFL anyway. In general you might be better to run the lights as 12VDC (can still run 120 for outlets in case you need them). Reason to consider this that the inverter will have a both an in use draw on the batteries (although more expensive ones will shut down when nothing is being run) and there is a basic loss due to inefficiency from 12 to 120AC that can be 10-15% or more. Given you are primarily only using lights and a fan, keep these things as 12VDC. Wire outlets and an inverter if you think you might need 120VAC at some point but no need to even turn on the inverter unless needed. Given only one Marine Deep Cycle battery (and Marine batteries are hybrid - not "true" deep cycle), a big heavy duty inverter might be overkill because you will not really be able to run much in the way of 120VAC from the battery anyway. Lots of other factors to consider (DC loss from length of runs for example) so take this all with a grain of salt.
I will add that I did something like this for 2+years using two 6V T105 batteries wired in a battery box on a small dolly and dragged this back and forth while we were using a pop-up trailer. I had modified the trailer and included switches, fuses, inverter etc so all this just migrated to the cabin when I built it. As Fishhog notes - they do get heavy!
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