MTM98290
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That is interesting, looks like it could work, how difficult is the setup on this?
Devising a solution short overcast winter days
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12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
At least here at 44.76x latitude I could figure optimistically at 25% but know reality is closer to 10% so she plied to his case 600W ain’t probably enough
Excellent. Because you probably need at least 2000W ?
Ya. I hear that!!
My 315W panels are ~46.xVOC so 3S is ~160V just guessing.
That is fairly dismal when you think about it.
I’d do that before batteries.
MTM98290
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We could buy 4 more of the panels that I have and build asteep angled rack on the rock next to cabin facing the sun. I dont think that I want to roof mount any more panels. It is too steep to stand on and required a custom built scaffolding that gave me 2 flat 2x6 bleacher type steps to sit on and work from.
The Silfab panels are made about 40 miles away from me and they sell them at a local electrical supply. I may have a tough time getting panels because they like to sell pallets but not 4 at a time. They did help me out last time and the place is local so I could just pick them up. I stacked them in back of our Suburban with the seats down between layers of foam insulation.
If I added another 2kw (double to 4kw) it would probably keep things going at all times, and It would be silent power. The long summer months could produce easily 42kw a day which I could never store or use.
Can I use the DC in 2 on the growatt without issues? Is it a seperate mppt circuit or will it share with the existing array?
I still worry that those ultra low sun days will leave a deficit of production, which makes the generator idea so appealing. If it works it is a way to import energy that may not otherwise be available.
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Buy a pallet
Winter production on a short solstice day at my setup is about 3% of array nameplate.
MTM98290
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The system made 0.8kw with an array rated at 1960kw so about 7.35% If it had been a sunny solstice I might have made much more, but it was not. I need more like 2x or 3x production not 36 panels that are 40.8"x89" No room or desire for a pallet. The cabin has 25'x25' roof and it sits on a large rock. I dont have the real estate or money for all that unless I mount them away from the cabin. I could add 4 without adding a Growatt. Maybe propane is the only reasonable way of adding the needed charge.
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12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
I’d be inclined to buy a pallet and sell all but four or six panels for 10% over your total investment each for the lot, and 15- or 20% over cost for onesey twosies, each.
I’d vertical mount them at northern latitudes. The “loss” at this time of year from not having tilt is negligible and pretty much guarantees no snow buildup.
On a sunny winter day one of my 400W arrays can put out 350-375W+ in vertical mounting. Low temps raise output, and no snow is worth the bit of potential harvest reduction.
In round numbers, 10% is typical ratio for easy figuring. So that’s basically normal.
That is the net result of overpaneling at higher latitudes for sure. While I’m ‘struggling’ this month, as usual, in May I’ll often if not always be fully charged by 8am.
MTM98290
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Do panels sell well on offerup or craigslist? I would not ship them, I would want to sell them quick. As I read it diy systems have no warrantee and most solar in my area seems to be grid tied systems installed by big dollar solar contractors.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Well I spent a couple of months trying to be the first reply to buy panels.
Eventually I was first or second on an ad for brand new 315W unused extras; he had a bunch but I couldn’t drive down for a couple of days. By the time I got there I bought the last six instead of the eight I had wanted. (Six panels only have two ganged-string possibilities, while 2,4,8,12,16,24etc weave together better)
I was fortunate to buy them for ~40cents/watt, however.
So here in Vermont/Massachusetts/New York they do sell well on socmedia ad platforms.
You should be able to get a pretty good discount on a bound pallet, and your picking them up is a real cost. So you sell them over your cost but maybe in the range of what the supplier sells onesie twosies. Of course if they’ll sell broken pallet you might not want to buy a full bound pallet if it doesn’t make financial sense to you.
HighDesertOffgrid
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Ouch! Is that with the array angle optimized for winter?
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Ha ha. When in doubt, panel your way out.
HighDesertOffgrid
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Well, it works for me.
But I have acres of unobstructed desert and Santan Solar on speed dial.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Had to’ve been some clouds involved, too
MTM98290
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I found a good price on a new generator that should make the Growatt happy. It is A Westinghouse igen4500DFC. It is quiet and efficient, although not big enough to charge while consuming power, but efficient use of fuel is a much larger conceen to me than having the ability to charge while using full power.
I am a little confused by floating neutral. The way I read it that just means that the frame of the generator is not bonded to neutral. The generator will be in place of the grid so I have no need for a transfer switch. The way I read it that should allow the ground to be provided through the grounded 120V AC breaker panel in the house.
The Growatt is unmodified so it should have neutral-ground bonding as I read it. The output of the inverter to the AC panel is grounded into a busbar where the groundwire to the rod is attached.
Is this all proper? It seems to me that this all works and only provides 1 point to ground, but maybe I am missing something.
I am a little confused by floating neutral. The way I read it that just means that the frame of the generator is not bonded to neutral. The generator will be in place of the grid so I have no need for a transfer switch. The way I read it that should allow the ground to be provided through the grounded 120V AC breaker panel in the house.
The Growatt is unmodified so it should have neutral-ground bonding as I read it. The output of the inverter to the AC panel is grounded into a busbar where the groundwire to the rod is attached.
Is this all proper? It seems to me that this all works and only provides 1 point to ground, but maybe I am missing something.
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I have also considered using a DC generator as a solution.
This is what I may try when I get around to it.
A 96V DC generator through an MPPT. I think that way, the DC voltage can vary, and the MPPT can fine-tune the voltage to the desired charging stage.
I haven't shopped around particularly, other than knowing 96V dc generators exist.
This is what I may try when I get around to it.
A 96V DC generator through an MPPT. I think that way, the DC voltage can vary, and the MPPT can fine-tune the voltage to the desired charging stage.
I haven't shopped around particularly, other than knowing 96V dc generators exist.
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