How to Build a Small Solar Power System

After World War One, even tanks and other military vehicles were used to tow barges (picture above), without much success. The vehicle was a small, three-wheeled trolleytruck (see the first picture). The trolleytruck system only worked during daylight (at night too many drivers would end up in the water) and it could not be operated in winter conditions. In France, tractors started slowly and gradually increased their speed in order not to get pulled into the water by the barge. I may have to replace the aging suction pump in order to get IFR certification. The speed of the cable could be adjusted in order to pass the sluices. The system was installed in the 1920s and was used to enter and leave sluices on a few canals in northern and eastern France. The network was gradually enlarged (maps here- scroll to the right -, here and here) and mechanical mules became a common sight on almost every canal in Northern and Eastern France.

The following year, the "Société de Halage Electrique" set up the technology on a 43 kilometres long stretch of the "Canal de la Deûle" and the "Canal d’Aire", from Béthune to Douai (close to the city of Lille in Northern France, on the border with Belgium). Much later, in 1933, another line was set up on the "canal de la Marne au Rhin". Only one electrically powered funicular system was effectively built and operated, on two separate parts of the "Canal de la Marne au Rhin". As with the animal powered systems, two persons were needed to operate the convoy: one on the banks (driving the locomotive or truck) and one on the boat (steering). Using this method none of the boats were equipped with a motor, which resulted in the same advantages as with the funicular system: any boat previously towed by mules or horses could be hauled in this way without any adaptations or the need for a specially designed towboat, and no wash was created, leaving the delicate canal banks untouched and eliminating the need for deeper waterways. The cable was moved by a fixed motor, also placed on the banks of the river, and the boats were attached to the cable by means of hauling ropes.

From that year on, only mechanical means were allowed to tow barges. Between 1990 and the year 2000, utility employment in power generation dropped from 350,000 to 280,000, as utilities looked for ways to slash costs, to be "competitive." Over the same decade, employment in transmission and distribution went from 196,000 to 156,000, in a system that is growing more complex by the day. When current is flowing, there are actually a few more electrons in the cable then there were when the cable was non-energized. The many local loops that a class-5 or exchange switch serves terminate (in the case of modern electronic switch) at what are called "line cards." The line card is responsible for managing all of the electrical aspects of a small set of local loops connected to it. You also need to take into account the conditions of the local climate. Furthermore, there was no need to place an engine onboard, which meant that no cargo space was sacrificed, and that existing barges could be used without any further adaptations, or without the use of a towboat. Unfortunately, they calculated that to justify the expenditure, the canal required 3 times as much cargo volume, and that never happened.

In 1901, a 16 kilometre (9.9 miles) stretch of the canal between Brussels and Charleroi was equipped with electric mules (both on rails and on tyres) by Léon Gérard (picture on the right). Many different systems were designed and tested, of which the system invented by Richard Lamb became the best known (picture above). George Cove, a forgotten solar power pioneer, may have built a highly efficient photovoltaic panel 40 years before Bell Labs engineers invented silicon cells. Of course, you may just as well get a 24V solar panel. However, solar panels rarely reach their maximum power production, so you should oversize the solar panel a bit. However, other appliances - such as all electronics - need a precise and steady input voltage. Both charge controllers (for use with a battery solar system) and DC-DC converters (for use with a direct solar system) need to be compatible with the voltage produced by the solar panel. In a direct solar power system, there is no need for a battery or a charge controller.

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