questions

[Frank]

Hi all,

I have a few questions and hope someone as some experience to help.

1- I will be installing solar panel with controller. I will be using : 3 x 300 led strip, 1 x led 12 v light bulb, 1 fm radio, 1 rv pump for sap from tank to evaporator. how big should my panel be ? is a 10 watt good enough ???

2- As anyone with a small operation installed a reverse osmosis. i'm planning to get 500-600 taps for 2014. so 3 choice either keeping my 2x3 and adding RO. upgrading to a 2x6 without RO. or if really needed go to 2x6 + getting RO ?????

3- filtering ??? was hard last year. all I had was cone filter + pre-filter in a bucket and it was always clogged. should I go to a filter press or keep using cone filter but with different technique ????

I guess these are my first questions. thanks for all your help

[Bucket Head]

Frank,

No idea on the solar panel. Somewhere your devices should show what they consume for watts/amps. You need to total all that up- just like you would when sizing a generator. Is solar still in the plan when an RO and/or a filter press shows up?

I would shoot for a 2x6 now. You will need at least that, and an RO too with the taps you mentioned. Many folks handle that many taps with a 2x6 and an RO comfortably. You will be disapointed with anything smaller that the 2x6, trust me.

I think just a better technique is needed for the cone filters. You need more of them! With pre-filters in them also. That way you can keep pulling prefilters as they clog, which prolongs the filtering capacity of the cone filter. Have several buckets/filters lined up and ready to go before you start boiling. The hotter the syrup, the better. As syrup gets cooler, its goes slower through the filter. Pair that with clogged prefilters and filters and you get the dreaded "syrup standstill"! Filtering was a struggle for us too until we went with multiple filtering receptacles and filtered off the evaporator. Still not as nice and quick as a filter press, but much more "doable" now. Good luck.

Steve

[maple flats]

For the solar I might be able to help a little. My sugarhouse is solar powered, I have 6320 watts total solar panel array. I actually am grid tied and net metered too. (I sell the utility any excess at retail until my meter shows I sold more that I used at my anniversary date of connecting to the grid, then all excess is sold at the utilities cost price.)
1st. You must do a worksheet for your energy needs. Add the hourly watts time the longest time you will need them. Then send me a PM with the info. You also need to look up the solar insolation for your location. You can not go by the hours of daylight. Insolation will give you the equivalent number of full noon sun you get. Next, if this will just be for maple season, look at those months only. You should use the lowest number during maple season. It might be Feb-Mar-Apr. (Jan?)
PM me this info and I'll help you thru, to decide if you can afford solar. (basically, realize that the panels sold in Harbor Frt catalogs and other variety tool etc catalogs or web sites are not worth what they charge. I can steer you to better panels at the best prices.
Dave