2. tech-talk
  3. 1274938876

Listening off grid with batteries

Finished the design phase for my new home which will be in a remote off grid location. The design and modeling process has taken over a year. Absolutely amazing what can be done by a talented architect, computer modeling, shading,virtual tour etc. Now it's down to the music room details before we start.

Electric Power will come from solar and micro hydro. Gen set for back up, but only as a last resort.
Does anyone here on Agon have any first hand experience with this kind of set up.
Thinking of a split electrical system where one grid is for the hifi and the other is for the home. Some say it's a waste of time and money but I want to get it right the first time.
Is this necessary when using a solar set up ?
Building homes for 25 years but this will be my first off grid home.
rugyboogie

Showing 2 responses by peter_s

peter_s
1,318 posts
 
Rugyboogie - I'll have to keep my ears open next time I get up that way kayaking! Maybe I'll be able to hear your system from the water! I've not been up in your parts exactly, but nearby off of Vancouver Island. Looks beautiful up there.
peter_s
1,318 posts
 
I looked into this long ago - started a thread - way back though. Since most gear converts AC to DC internally, I always wished I could just use the DC from the batteries to directly power the gear - get rid of the sine wave altogether. I'm not sure if that is possible, as you'd have to seriously step up the DC to high voltage. Some gear (Redwine, Teres Turntable, Sutherland PhD, etc) is designed to run off DC directly. I would certainly pursue this. I wonder if some manufacturers might be willing to accomodate a "special" version that could be switchable b/t AC and DC input. One manufacturer who might be amenable, as he is interested in the technology, would be Ralph from Atmosphere. Maybe you could get one of his amps and preamps made for DC - and be quite happy with that. I think it's a good idea to have a dedicated set of batteries for your hifi, so "sag" from other parts of the system doesn't effect your sound - but I don't know enough about it. I do know that when I was looking, the choice of inverter seemed to be an important question. The inverter makes the sinusoidal waveform, and you want a pure sine wave form - and you want to know how well the inverter can handle short peaks in power demand.

What region of the world is your island in? I'm in the Pacific NW (USA).
More to discover