Steve's House build in Spain

When Steve contemplated a new house build in Spain the concept of building a house predominantly powered by solar energy made perfect sense, his house is now powered by a 12v system.

 The power is collected through two 210 Watt Sanyo HIT PV panels running at 24v (this means the feed cable to the powerhouse at the rear of the house on the picture can be a smaller diameter than if the panels were running at 12v). They deliver through the MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) controller to the batteries, of which we have four 270 AH Elecsol batteries. The MPPT is fitted with a Studer Battery Monitor, which means we have a digital readout giving us battery voltage, Amperage input (from the panels) Amps used, Amps remaining (at a given consumption), battery temperature plus a percentage readout for quick reference.
 The batteries power are distributed through several outputs.

• Products Used:
• 0-605-00 Isolator switch
• 0-673-63 Transfer pump
• 0-856-15 1500w Inverter
• 0-856-99 Inverter remote switch
• 0-234-18 fuse box

Jims Nova Windscreen Wiper

Jim was looking for a solution with his Nova VW kit car regarding the windscreen wiper, he found the solution at The ToolBox Shop.com

  "I ended up using The ToolBox Shop.com, as their product range had been referred to many a time on forums and NOVA Int., their office was very helpful and answered technical queries and forwarded on scanned technical drawings to allow me to check dimensions. I ended up ordering two possible permutations, they charged no P&P on top of the web prices which helped."

• Products Used:
• 0-867-01 12v unswitched Motor
• 0-893-70 700mm pantograph arm
• 0-895-60 600mm wiper blade

  The system, set at 80 degrees gives a full sweep right to the edges and top of screen (important for my height!). More importantly I used it today in the rain and it does the job ! I have not yet set up the second speed or auto park as I have a simple 1 position dash switch only. This will get changed for a 2 speed version in time (have run multicore cable to wiper in preparation)
The quality of the parts seems good, and all were well packaged, and delivered very promptly.
 If thinking about this motor you do need to be aware it needs spacing away from the inside of the canopy by aprox 22mm ( I used two metal tubes).

The wiper shafts are equal sizes, so I did need to enlarge one of my original holes. The mounting plate supplied for outside the car is a good size so would cover any minor damage in this area.

Intelliplugs installed at Leicester College

After consultation with The ToolBox Shop.com to find an energy saving solution at Leicester college 100 units of DSK105 intelliplugs were shipped out 6th June 2008.

    After considering energy saving products for the computer equipment in the college, ADR Components were consulted in respect of the Intelliplug range of products, With their ability to switch off associated equipment and reduce the standby wattage consumed the DSK105 and CSIMP205 units were dispatched to Leicester for trials,

• Products used:
• DSK105

  The DSK105 was chosen as the best cost effective solution although the CSIMP205 was more functional in trails, the DSK105 was found to be suitable for requirments,

On the 6th of June 2008 100 units were shipped to Leicester College and installed ready for the New enrolments in september,