Hi guys. Long time lurker, first time poster. I dropped a little over 9 grand on a solar system today. Been waiting for Black Friday sales and they finally started today. I'll do my best to show you guys what I'm going to accomplish at my cabin.
So this is my place from the water...
The whole cabin and both shops are wired for AC. In the back, behind the cabin, is another shed that has been partitioned so half of it is a generator shack and half is storage/shower house. The generator is an old 7.5 kw, 3 cylinder kubota diesel with an auto start module that can be turned on from either inside the cabin or inside the first shop/guest cabin down by the shore.
There are 2 cables buried in the ground down to the Bunkie (the first shop/guest cabin) One of them is just a 14/2 for the switch to turn on the generator and the other is a fat cable for the panel, I cannot recall the gauge. All the power is Distributed from the generator shack....
This is the package that I purchased: https://solarpowerstore.ca/collecti...-houses-and-more-optional-split-phase-120-240
What I plan on doing is building a panel rack and mounting it on the shore line on the left of this picture. That way it's out of the way and exposed to the most sunlight. Gonna be a big array with 8 panels, but that's a good thing, yeah? It comes with 100' of pv cable, which I plan on running into the bunkie and installing the combiner box in there.
Here's where things become a little fuzzy. I was hoping to use the 14/2 switch wire to carry the current from the panels up to the generator shack and install the batteries and AIO up there, so it's close and convenient to the generator and distribution box. I'd just axe the switch, but it will no longer be needed in this set up. But I'm thinking that that cable isn't going to suffice. 14/2 I believe is capable of handling 20 amps and I bet I'mma be over that, but I'm not positive. I should be able to back feed through the panel no problem, but I don't think I'll be able to use the generator as a backup as intended going that route. I really don't want to have to bury another cable, but it's looking like I am going to have to. I have access to an abundance of tech cable, in all sizes, at little to no cost, so that's not an issue, It's just the thought of having to dig a trench up a hill, 300' or so is really unappealing. But, if I must, I must.
A little background, just for some context... I built this place. Everything from the massive water tower in the back, to the 2 boat houses. Been here since the mid nineties and built the cabin around '98. I am a Millwright/welder/fabricator and my entire family is full of electricians. I'm super excited to just have functioning power there without having to fire up the generator whenever I want to have light or something like that. We don't really use it in the winter. It's all set up for winter, we just don't go out there that often in the cold. So the system will just be decommissioned in the winter months and will be put back to just running off of the generator if we ever go out there, either with a transfer switch or a couple of different plugs on the wall.
Thanks for reading and any thoughts would be appreciated. I'll do my best to update this post as I get it installed, but it's winter here now and nothing will happen until the spring once it dries up a bunch.
Cheers.
So this is my place from the water...
The whole cabin and both shops are wired for AC. In the back, behind the cabin, is another shed that has been partitioned so half of it is a generator shack and half is storage/shower house. The generator is an old 7.5 kw, 3 cylinder kubota diesel with an auto start module that can be turned on from either inside the cabin or inside the first shop/guest cabin down by the shore.
There are 2 cables buried in the ground down to the Bunkie (the first shop/guest cabin) One of them is just a 14/2 for the switch to turn on the generator and the other is a fat cable for the panel, I cannot recall the gauge. All the power is Distributed from the generator shack....
This is the package that I purchased: https://solarpowerstore.ca/collecti...-houses-and-more-optional-split-phase-120-240
What I plan on doing is building a panel rack and mounting it on the shore line on the left of this picture. That way it's out of the way and exposed to the most sunlight. Gonna be a big array with 8 panels, but that's a good thing, yeah? It comes with 100' of pv cable, which I plan on running into the bunkie and installing the combiner box in there.
Here's where things become a little fuzzy. I was hoping to use the 14/2 switch wire to carry the current from the panels up to the generator shack and install the batteries and AIO up there, so it's close and convenient to the generator and distribution box. I'd just axe the switch, but it will no longer be needed in this set up. But I'm thinking that that cable isn't going to suffice. 14/2 I believe is capable of handling 20 amps and I bet I'mma be over that, but I'm not positive. I should be able to back feed through the panel no problem, but I don't think I'll be able to use the generator as a backup as intended going that route. I really don't want to have to bury another cable, but it's looking like I am going to have to. I have access to an abundance of tech cable, in all sizes, at little to no cost, so that's not an issue, It's just the thought of having to dig a trench up a hill, 300' or so is really unappealing. But, if I must, I must.
A little background, just for some context... I built this place. Everything from the massive water tower in the back, to the 2 boat houses. Been here since the mid nineties and built the cabin around '98. I am a Millwright/welder/fabricator and my entire family is full of electricians. I'm super excited to just have functioning power there without having to fire up the generator whenever I want to have light or something like that. We don't really use it in the winter. It's all set up for winter, we just don't go out there that often in the cold. So the system will just be decommissioned in the winter months and will be put back to just running off of the generator if we ever go out there, either with a transfer switch or a couple of different plugs on the wall.
Thanks for reading and any thoughts would be appreciated. I'll do my best to update this post as I get it installed, but it's winter here now and nothing will happen until the spring once it dries up a bunch.
Cheers.