08 July 2015

Less Sun = Less Solar Power

Wouldn't you know the day I turn on my little electric kiln the sun disappears behind the clouds.

The day I fired my bisque firing the sun was shining and the solar panels supplied all the power needed while the kiln was running.

Today I went out early to turn it on and the sun was shining, however the cloud has now spread to a grey and gloomy day.  The panels will still produce some power but as it is only around 15 degrees celcius outside we are also running our heater...



Not to worry, most days in Sunny Sydney we have ample sunshine and it is winter here now..


I repacked that top shelf after taking this photo.  I turned the shelf sideways so that the pots were not so close to the pyrometer... my theory being that it will get a more accurate reading in the more open part of the kiln.  Fingers crossed..

A day to cool so it will be Friday before I can see the results...


6 comments:

Caroline said...

Yes it's overcast here today in regional Victoria and it will mean shorter showers as we are also on solar.

Anna said...

Hi Caroline it is such a luxury to have a hot shower on a cold night.. I don't know how people managed before electricity... burnt lots of wood I suppose.

Linda Starr said...

wow, I am amazed that you use solar power, that is really wonderful, was it costly to have them installed ?

Anna said...

Hi Linda yes we installed panels on our roof earlier this year. The savings we make should mean we recoup the cost in about 4 years and in the mean time we have smaller electricity bills. We only have electricity here, no access to town gas so going with the solar panels was our best option. I also feel less guilty about the power I use to produce my pots.
In summer we can run the air conditioner in the house and keep cooler during the day now that we are both retired and home all day.

smartcat said...

Like Linda, I am amazed that you can fire a kiln on solar power! Recouping in four years sounds pretty good!
Kudos to you!

Anna said...

Hi Smartcat, thanks for your comment. Love that you and Linda follow my blog. Just to be clear, our whole house is setup to take advantage of the solar power which is supplemented by power from the grid. We have panels on the roof that feed power to the house and any additional solar power is fed back to the grid if we are not using it. The kiln is run from the same power as the house so if solar power is available it takes that first but if not then the power from the grid kicks in. This is why I am firing during the day where possible and hopefully on a sunshiny day. I have been influenced by one of my teachers, Steve Harrison, who does his best to live a sustainable lifestyle. He makes his own clay and glazes from materials found within a 100 km range of his home. Here is his website: http://www.hotnsticky.com.au/sustain.htm You might have to copy and paste to your browser.