Solar Biz
S Seifert Ave, Jefferson, Wisconsin, United States

We re glad you found us, and were sure youll be happy as well. As one of the oldest and most experienced renewable energy equipment companies on the planet, we offer Lifetime Support and a low price guarantee for the products we sell.  While this is an internet store much like other stores we sincerely want you to know that were well aware, that with renewable energy equipment, most of the folks on planet earth are unfamiliar with what it is, or what goes well with what.  You have tapped into an invaluable resource here at Solar Biz™. So if youre unsure of what you need feel free to speak to one of our experienced engineers, all of whom live off the grid. Call toll free 888-826-0939.

Living Sustainably: The Key to Our Expertise and Our Low Prices!

Its been a half a century since Tom Duffy first began making and selling merchandise for renewable energy systems. That lifelong passion and commitment to renewable energy and green living is in evidence all around Solar Biz™. We put our products to the test every day. Our staffs knowledge comes from the best possible source: extensive personal experience with everything we sell.  We know our products beyond the data sheets. We know what works best, where and with what. While other dealers struggle with finding experienced talented employees, weve already been there, with every product we sell. Were not going to have to guess at what you need, we already know what will work for you and your particular needs.  Solar is not a "Cookie Cutter" product, thats why the mass merchandisers have had such a bad time of it in trying to sell packaged solar to "the masses" because youre not "the masses". Everybodys needs are different and to be super efficient, you need a design thats "just right" for you. Put our half century of experience in the sustainable living marketplace to work for you!

Our low price guarantee is unconditional and its no gimmick. Its the result of 50 years in the sustainable living marketplace, tracking down the most reliable products and the best deals worldwide. As one of the oldest and large renewable energy distributors, we can pass our volume savings on to our customers. Conserving resources at one of our fully self-sustaining offices and warehouse in Wisconsin, New Mexico and Bocas del Toro, Panama is not only good for the environment; it helps us (and you!) save big money.

Rather than see who can come up with the "cheapest quote" the smart thing to do is, speak with a solar electrical engineer to come up with the "right system" for you.

You have to be very careful with solar companies and their bids. With the hundreds of start-up companies over the past 3 or 4 years, most of them are newcomers to the industry. There are a lot of companies out there with sales people looking at computer screens selling packages, who have never even seen the product.  Solar is a new product on the planet, and most people dont possess the knowledge to make an informed decision, so they must rely on someone else, whom they hope knows what they are talking about.  It is easy for a company to come up with a lowball "Bid" and present it to you. If you dont know what is or isnt needed on that bid, it might look impressively cheap.  In the end, its the things that have been left out of the bid to keep the initial costs down, that you wind up buying it from your electrician or electrical supply house typically at a higher cost to you than you would have paid from a solar distributor. You see, you need all the product to make it safe and to make it work well.

Solar Charge Controllers

• The original and main purposes of solar charge controllers are to protect your battery bank from being overcharged and to turn off the solar panels at night to block current from reversing from the batteries to the panels (electrons can flow both ways). If you hook a solar array directly to a battery with no overcharge protection, youll boil the battery dry and ruin it.

• The first charge controllers contained a simple relay that opened at a pre-set high voltage, and closed at a pre-set lower voltage to allow the panels to resume charging the battery. Battery life was of no apparent concern as there was no way to properly fully charge a battery bank.

• Almost any charger can get a battery to 80% (Bulk) charge. The trick is the next 20% (Absorb) In the bulk mode we have variable voltage and all the available (Constant) current (Amps) when we reach a pre-programed voltage setting the charger pass off to the Absorb Mode (And Timer) this mode uses constant voltage and variable current for a pre-determined period of time (Absorb Time)

• If this calculation has been done based on the available solar watts and the amp hour capacity of the battery, the absorb time can be determined. This setting will then be programed into the charge controller (by you or your installer).

• The factory default voltage and absorb time settings are useless (unless youre trying to kill your batteries) because there is no way that the folks over at the factory could know how much solar you bought or what size battery bank you have. Sound too complex? Well no fear, well do the math for you when you buy a charge controller.

Hydro & Wind

The Harris Micro Hydro system is an efficient, durable battery charging Pelton turbine. It is especially well suited to produce usable power from springs and creeks that are too small to sustain the same level of useful power from a conventional AC generating system. Water is collected upstream from the hydro and piped downstream to where the turbine is located. As a rule the greater the head, (the difference in elevation between the collection point and the turbine is called the head) the better.  Because DC power can be stored in batteries, these small systems operate 24 hours a day collecting energy, a little at a time, to be delivered "on demand" from the batteries as the need dictates. For conventional houses which utilize AC electricity an appropriate inverter is configured into the system to change the stored DC energy in the battery system into "AC House Current".

Solar Hot Water Heating

Hot water from solar is what we call “Low Hanging Fruit”. In the USA we typically keep 60 gallons of hot water in a tank in the closet on the off chance that we might need to use it. Keeping this tank hot in the closet uses more energy than your car.  Most of the rest of the world makes hot water when and only when they need it. Having 60 gallons of hot water in a closet is akin to leaving your car running in the garage on the chance you might need to drive it.  Solar Hot Water is low tech; it is basically a black hose in a black box. It is so easy everyone should have a solar hot water heater.