My Solar Shed Construction Starts in a Week

[eddie1261]

The hardest part of this system is temperature regulation. It will be 110 degrees plus here in Vegas. Luckily, we have lots of sunshine to run air conditioners off of solar power. If I can regulate the temperature of this shed with a couple of small ground mounted arrays, I will consider it a success.

A good ridge vent and an exhaust fan built into a soffit vent will help with that.

 

[Vanhalo]

Let me know what you think or if I should add something

Wouldn't a lean-to roof be better for solar?

 

[svetz]

...The hardest part of this system is temperature regulation. It will be 110 degrees plus here...

Check out CCRC. I put a new coating on my roof and got a rebate from the state making it all the sweeter. I used Henry Troopicool white.
Definitely check out your state's rebates for things like energy efficient refrigerators, AC, hot water; some are really great deals.

 

[HighTechLab]

I have a similar system to what Will is trying to accomplish - The only difference is that mine is in a shipping container. I ended up insulating the container with R16 insulation and 2x4's, will can insulate his shed as well. I then cut in an RV style air conditioner that I got for free (It had no controls) Then, I tied into my control panel so that I only run the air conditioner when there is extra power. Since my control panel has a PLC/HMI and touch screen, implementing this was as simple as adding a couple of relays, and a few lines of code and then drawing up a control panel on the HMI.

Hopefully this makes sense, video below for what I did on my system.

 

[b.james]

Using Treated pine and s/h materials here I could make that for less than $500. I guess its easier to just let someone else throw it up . You could pay for your inverter with the gain.

 

[Deleted member 165]

Using Treated pine and s/h materials here I could make that for less than $500. I guess its easier to just let someone else throw it up . You could pay for your inverter with the gain.

I just built an 8x8 and it cost me $2,200. Of course everything is insulated, including 12" in the floor, and there's rain gutters and all that, but I spent more than $500 on the framing.

 

[eddie1261]

So the Prowse House gets a Solar Shop Shed!! I like it!

 

[eddie1261]

Wouldn't a lean-to roof be better for solar?

That type of roof WOULD allow for more panels, wouldn't it?

 

[Deleted member 165]

That type of roof WOULD allow for more panels, wouldn't it?

I did a gambrel style on mine. It seems perfectly suited to panels, should I decide to put them on the roof.

 

[Supervstech]

I am interested to see how plastic sheds last in Vegas heat.
A dc minisplit tied directly into your 48v battery bank would be a better investment than simple AC. A tiny 9,000 BTUH mini would be cheap and could be hung from the ceiling to cool AND heat with a negligeable wattage hit.

 

[Deleted member 165]

I am interested to see how plastic sheds last in Vegas heat.
A dc minisplit tied directly into your 48v battery bank would be a better investment than simple AC. A tiny 9,000 BTUH mini would be cheap and could be hung from the ceiling to cool AND heat with a negligeable wattage hit.

His shed is wood.

 

[Supervstech]

His shed is wood.

Ugh, how did I miss that? The tuff name had me thinking plastic.

I hope he puts a metal roof on it. So much longer lasting, and reflects a lot of solar gain... of course... a roof covered in panels gets shaded as well...

 

[Deleted member 783]

Any update on this? Very curiously following...

 

[Will Prowse]

October 2nd, the shed is being installed I have panels and batteries coming. Temperature regulation in the works. I have two different methods of heating and an air conditioner to cool it down. Coming soon

 

[b.james]

You can always hang a few hesian potato sacks in the windows and doorways spray them with water and absorb the cool !!!

 

[Supervstech]

Slice the bottom off a used water heater. Use it as a fireproof tray to charge those drone cells in.

Or buy a water heater safety pan... not as thick as a tank bottom, but on the shelf at hardware stores and cheap...

 

[joekenjackson]

Encase your batteries, vent them to the outside, dryer hose works great with the mesh covering the outlet to keep out the birds or other creatures, split ac with heat pump option about 600 on eBay , easy install

 

[joekenjackson]

A few pictures, far from completion

 

[James12345]

It is a 6x10 Tuff Shed. Total cost was 2,500 bucks. It will have air conditioning to keep my LiFePO4 battery collection nice and happy. I will install a MASSIVE 48v 5kw system in it (this one). It will serve as a backup system for my house if the grid were to fail for prolonged duration. And as a super cool man cave:

View attachment 66
This is how I designed it to fit into my back yard and to match the color scheme of my house:
View attachment 65
I will have the front door facing north, and the south facing roof covered in solar panels. This MPP unit has 2x mppt's, so I will have 2x separate arrays on my property. Will talk about the solar panel array in another post.

The hardest part of this system is temperature regulation. It will be 110 degrees plus here in vegas. Luckily, we have lots of sunshine to run air conditioners off of solar power. If I can regulate the temperature of this shed with a couple of small ground mounted arrays, I will consider it a success.

What I love about sheds is that you can store/charge dangerous chemistries of batteries inside of them without the stress of having your house burned down. I do not use combustible batteries for solar (as many of you know haha) but I have some long range fpv drones I will be building in the following months. I have caught those batteries on fire too many times! And I am scared of them. I will charge them only in this shed.

I will also add lights, security cameras and so much more. I can't wait!

Let me know what you think or if I should add something

My caveman brain is confused. Are the solar panels going to be on the roof of the shed? How many watts can you cram on top? Perhaps just turn your back yard into a solar farm.

Oh, this leads to another question, how much is does your utility pay for solar energy you produce and put back on the grid? In the area I am from in Texas there is only one provider that will pay you for solar you put back on the grid. If I understand correctly you can't profit from it, only break even on your bill.

 

[Vanhalo]

My caveman brain is confused. Are the solar panels going to be on the roof of the shed? How many watts can you cram on top? Perhaps just turn your back yard into a solar farm.

This MPP unit has 2x mppt's, so I will have 2x separate arrays on my property.

I asked the same question at first.
Then I went back a reread his post.
He is going to put up 3 arrays (1 grid tie, 2 for backup on shed and yard I assume)
The 4.5kw grid tie will pay for most of his electricity and charge his car....the shed (2 arrays-48v 5kw) will be back up.