Solar brewing?

[eulipion2]

Hello,
I'm building up to go eBIAB, and am toying with the idea of slapping a solar panel and batteries on my brew rig to go solar, at least in nice weather during the summer. In inclement weather, or during winter I'd plug in to my 240v dryer outlet.

Has anyone tried this? If so, pics/specs? Limitations?

 

[CUrchin]

It would be very expensive. Just the batteries to run say 5kwh will be several thousand dollars.

I have a small summer "camp" that "runs" on solar. In reality the hot water, cooking and refrigerator are all propane because the demand would be massive if those items were electric.

 

[m1batt1]

What CUrchin said. Not to mention the inverter to convert DC to AC. Plus to be able to run a 240v heating element you would need a decent solar array to keep up with the demand.

 

[eulipion2]

Well drat. I'm having trouble convincing SWMBO that I need a $3000 saxophone. She'd never let me spend that on beer stuff! Guess I'll tuck this idea away until small-scale solar becomes a little more affordable.

Thanks guys.

 

[mjohnson]

I saw a guy boil wort with a fresnel lens. He also used food grade black hoses filled with water out in the sun to preheat water for mashing. Can't get more solar than that.

 

[CUrchin]

Direct water heating and perhaps pumping could probably be achieved. But an electric system that also could be plugged into a 240v outlet would be cost prohibitive.

 

[Husher]

I'm sure of the lights went out for a year, we'd figure something out. But the conventional solar panel and battery approach would be right out. That approach assumes the need to store solar heat energy as electricity, and then convert back into heat immediately (or later). Using a black tub and a bunch of mirrors might get a boil, though It would take some time and a lot of mirrors to get 6 gallons going. Not impossible, but not practical in comparison to a stovetop. Like I said, it the lights went out, one of us would figure out a way to keep drinking.

 

[wbarber69]

Just build a woodgas generator. It would give you heat for hot liquor. And vaporized fuel for an 8kw generator. That would give you plenty of power.

 

[eulipion2]

I was hoping something like THIS KIT from Amazon would be sufficient, but based on what you all are saying, I'm guessing such a thing is underpowered, yes? Would have been so convenient! I'll just have to save on energy in other areas of the home so I don't feel so bad about electric brewing.

 

[wbarber69]

Feel bad? It costs less energy to brew electric than it does to use propane

 

[eulipion2]

Hmmm. Fair enough.

 

[Devilsnight]

You could probly power the lighting in your brew room with a setup like that, bout it. You'd still need to store the power that the panels collect. I'd give it 20 years, solar oughta be alot more affordable.

As someone kinda stated, you could build a solar waterheater for use on sunnydays. Wouldn't cost much, You could even collect rain water into the water heater and maybe(?) achieve 160 deg. water for mashing? Seems like a lot of work though.

 

[lotusworker]

I saw the guys on Brewdogs use a fresnel lense to heat rocks that were used to boil the wort. It was actually pretty cool, but those things are really expensive.

 

[tdexterc]

I saw the guys on Brewdogs use a fresnel lense to heat rocks that were used to boil the wort. It was actually pretty cool, but those things are really expensive.

That episode was fantastic and was the first thing that came to mind on this thread. fortunately however you can likely get a giant fresnel lense for free! If you scour craigslist (or roadsides on garbage day) you'll often find people giving away their old massive rear projection tv's. Take it apart and in about 5 minutes you've got a massive fresnel lense.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Giant-Fresnel-Lens-Deathray-An-Experiment-in-Opti/#step0

 

[jotakah]

Pretty sure this guy used a large TV screen and mounted it to a wood frame to make a fresnel lens

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIkTNsw2fU4#t=46[/ame]

 

[Husher]

That episode was fantastic and was the first thing that came to mind on this thread. fortunately however you can likely get a giant fresnel lense for free! If you scour craigslist (or roadsides on garbage day) you'll often find people giving away their old massive rear projection tv's. Take it apart and in about 5 minutes you've got a massive fresnel lense.
[/URL]

And just so we're clear, Hundreds of people die every year because they take apart electronic devices with no understanding and get electrocuted. TV's especially have capacitors that can retain a charge 20 years since they were last plugged in. So if you take one apart and touch the wrong part, ZAP, you're dead. If you want one bad enough, bring the set to a repair guy and have him take it out for you.

 

[Bensiff]

Perhaps use solar heating instead of electricity like a few of the Seattle breweries have done:

http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/hales-ales-going-solar/

I'd imagine with some copper tubing, misc parts, some google-fu, and a little ingenuity you could come up with something pretty efficient.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Perhaps use solar heating instead of electricity like a few of the Seattle breweries have done:

http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/hales-ales-going-solar/

I'd imagine with some copper tubing, misc parts, some google-fu, and a little ingenuity you could come up with something pretty efficient.

my father rigged a "solar heater" up for his pool many years ago. He took a large coil of black plastic water piping and threw it in a box with a sheet of that reflective insulation behind it (I would have just painted it black myself) and some clear corrugated plastic roofing over top. It did noticeably heat the water over time, but was a little leaky.

 

[tektonjp]

Boiling grain for one hour?