Sun Direct Power (formerly Sound Wisdom) SG-1 5,000 Watt Solar Generator

[Timberwolf]

OMG! I laughed soooo hard reading this.

That made my Monday.

[stamic55]

WOW! Awesome

[edkemper]

It's a concept where some "new" self described expert thinks we are a bunch of country bumpkins living in funky little log homes just outside the ghettos. If this one list subject doesn't dispel that, I'd be surprised. It amazes me how many people we have here with some really exceptional expertise.

I again what to hope that after Rod is finished learning about this subject, I hope he'll share with us. <smile>

Rod, I now know far more on this subject thanks to your help and knowledge. I think we all appreciate your help. It also helps us knowing that we have family members that can steer us away from snake oil sales pitches.

[Timber]

thank you also for your imput lilbluehonda
i think your shorts are safe for now!

like Rod says this solar generator might have some good prospects//at least for emergency sakes when power goes out?
certainly not a off the grid system!

So Rod offered the olive branch...good man

this site is for learning..not fighting...
maybe sound wisdom got some sound advice

[rreidnauer]

Well, the physical product he is selling isn't necessarily bad, and I wouldn't call it snake oil. Merely, (and keep in mind, despite Joshua bringing up other videos and portions of his website, it is the video mentioned in this thread that is the topic of this conversation) how it is presented, is what I take issue with. The general public is quite naive when it comes to things electric. Heck, even the function of a common three-way switch in a home will befuddle many folks. It's all too easy to mislead people when it comes to solar and batteries.

Renewable energy equipment and it's performance is all too often overstated. I've had people ask me to build up a materials list for their home, and after spending time to gather their usage data, and spending a few hours calculating up the required equipment, I don't even get a thank you for my efforts because of the shock of what I presented. I don't undercut my numbers, especially the batteries, which are the most vulnerable portion of an RE system as far as irreversible, user-inflicted damage is concerned.

Here is a great example of overstating a piece of equipment. (completely unrelated to SW) Before the advent of the MPPT charge controller, a solar panel with a rating of, lets say, 100 watts, was never able to put out that much wattage to charge a battery in a real world scenario. The reason is, a solar panel is more or less an amperage pump, and voltage is regulated by the battery itself. Looking on the back of a solar panel, and if you know how to read electrical abbreviations, you'd see something like: "Vpmax - 17.7V" What that means is, that is the voltage which maximum power (the rated 100 watts) is created. Quick math divides 100 watts by 17.7 volts to give us 5.65 amps. The difference between amperage at Vpmax and short circuiting the panel is only a 9% difference typically, so that same panel would be putting out roughly 6.16 amps if shorted across it leads. You can see there is little change in amps, and why I refer to solar panels as "amperage pumps." Now, let's go back to using the panel to charge a battery. We connect them together, and surprise, surprise, the voltage from the panel will drop down to battery voltage plus some depending on the state of charge. Let's say the battery voltage is now showing 13 volts while charging off the panel. We know the amperage will be somewhere between 5.65 and 6.16, and figuring the battery voltage is about 73% between 0v and 17.7v, I can calculate the amps at roughly 5.79 amps. Now multiply 5.79 amps by 13 volts, and you get (drum-roll please) 75.27 watts! Hey, what the?!? The salesmen said these were 100 watt panels! What gives?

That's the nature of the beast, and again, how it's all too easy to deceive the public. Up until the the advent of the MPPT controller (which is able to get full or very near full power out of a panel through fancy electronics) I always believed that panels should have been required to state real world values.

[Timber]

that is some of the best spanish i have ever read...

[jrdavis]

darn those "vacuums".....
you can't live in them or even speak in them any more.
way to go Rod....
Ruining it again for us "susceptible" folks.
<<tongue firmly in cheek>>

BTW -- I've NEVER understood, how you can ETHICALLY say its a 100W if you can only get 75W. Just IMHO.
JD

[Ghostwalker]

Cool thread. Can I play?

I am really amazed at how many of you love to play the numbers game without having the actual product in your hands so you can give "expert" testimony about it.
No, not amazed...my bad...baffled and astounded is closer to the truth.

So, in light of the foregoing "flame war" - (flame war means you can't discredit the product because you don't have one in your hands, so you try to discredit the person...also known as presenting a logical fallacy), would anyone care to debate me on the subject?
Doesn't "flame wars" violate your terms of service also? I think it does.

Last time I went camping (6/6/2011), my SG1 allowed me to watch two movies on my PC (4 hours@540 watts per hour), make and keep warm coffee for 8 hours (900 watts to brew for 4 minutes, then 48 watts to maintain heat), charge my cell phone (3 watts for 20 minutes), maintain my 135 watt fridge 24/7 for 4 days/nights and ran my electric blanket 8 hours per night. It even recharged my batteries for my flashlight and radio.

The unit is mounted on my Suburban.

A few days ago, I jump-started a bulldozer for the county and the local police have my number in case they need power in an emergency (like a night-time wreck).
I have four 8D batteries and two 120 watt panels and one 235 watt panel that COMPLETELY recharges my system in 6.5 hours of direct sun (no clouds).
Each 8D holds 220 amps or 2,640 watts.
Here, let me do the math for you: that is 10,560 watts or 10 WHOLE KWH's to play with PER NIGHT with no sun to operate right off the panels!
Now, if we divide that 10 KWH by the number of hours required, which in my camping case is 8 - sun down to sun up - I can use slightly over 1 KW per hour. That is 1,000 watt hours per hour. That is 1 WHOLE KW I didn't use those nights!

As for the "cheap inverter" one of you claimed that I PERSONALLY OWN is crap...you are sadly mistaken.
That "cheap inverter" maintains my frig, pc, printer, lamp and my quartz heater for cold mornings without even getting warm when NOT camping. And that is with a 100 foot extension cord running from my Suburban to my house.

So, please...tell me again how your product knowledge of something you DO NOT even own is superior to someone who manufactures it or for that matter, OWNS ONE!

Still wanna play? Do any of you have actual experience or do you just speak from hearsay - what you heard someone else say? Thought so.

Quote by Rod - "That's the nature of the beast, and again, how it's all too easy to deceive the public."

I do believe that all of you self-styled "experts" with ZERO knowledge of the product or how well it performs have succeeded in deceiving the public. Good Job!

[edkemper]

Ghostwalker,

I think I can probably speak for the family, we wish you well wherever it is you go next. <wink>

[Ghostwalker]

Well, thank you edkemper.

You know how nomads and gypsies are...we just go wherever our little feet take us, or friends/clients need us to set the record straight.

Give the "family" my best and have fun with your logging adventures.