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.

Today’s podcast is a treasury of tips provided from our Facebook feature, “Tech Tip Tuesday.” Wyatt, David, and Wes relive some of our top tips that we’ve published there and discuss 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 [email protected].

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 spend 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:

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

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

The Missouri Wind and Solar staff gets 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!

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!

David, Wes and Wyatt talk about Missouri Wind and Solar’s latest edition to the product catalog, the Relion Lithium Iron Phosphate battery  They discuss how it compares to the traditional work horse 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.

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.

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

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.

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