diy solar

diy solar

Bi Facial output

... My flat roof will be painted white ...
What will/did you use? "New" snow has an albedo of 0.96 to 0.98 in the visible and near-UV range. I have Henry Tropi-cool Bright White (88/73), but the new NCC acrylics are amazing for solar reflectance (image is also a link to the Cool Roof Org database):

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Don't forget to check for local rebates/tax-incentives when switching to a high-efficiency roof coating. Mine was worth about 20% the cost of the materials.
 
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How measured?

12° from vertical or 12° from horizontal?

Either way, it sounds like there wasn't any realistic exposure to the back side of the panel, thus you weren't getting any significant input from the back side.

If 12° from vertical, that's hard to believe unless it's incredibly cold, and the cells are incredibly cold as well. ~20% over rating is possible under optimal conditions, but 40% is hard to believe.

If 12° from horizontal, that's impossible.

I'm very inclined to think that you are not getting accurate readings. There's just not enough sun at 47°N latitude to get those kinds of numbers.
After thinking a vertical mount during hart of winter would work best if not attended to I went to the shop and set the single panel vertical and locked it to the garage door.
It was 10am , windy, nots of snow, very cloudy and set about 35degrees off of proper angle. Started at 65watts when tilted at 25degrees then dropped to 43watts when vertical. 3.5hours before Solar noon.
Just a test of vert mount No cleaning needed and output for winter.
This should give some indication of winter gain with no cleaning needed. You can not see it in the photo but it’s nasty out. 22degrees. I will check on it this evening to see what power came in?
Picture attached.
 

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After thinking a vertical mount during hart of winter would work best if not attended to I went to the shop and set the single panel vertical and locked it to the garage door.
It was 10am , windy, nots of snow, very cloudy and set about 35degrees off of proper angle. Started at 65watts when tilted at 25degrees then dropped to 43watts when vertical. 3.5hours before Solar noon.
Just a test of vert mount No cleaning needed and output for winter.
This should give some indication of winter gain with no cleaning needed. You can not see it in the photo but it’s nasty out. 22degrees. I will check on it this evening to see what power came in?
Picture attached.
Hello All,
Got back to check things about 7PM EST The Midnite Classic SCC was resting having fully charged the batteries, I had not expected this. It showed .6 KWH of power in. I do not know what time it went to Resting? What I can say is it was heavy clouds, 26F, snowing most of the day and still is heavy clouds now at 7:48. Here is my take on it. One 445 bifacial panel set tight to a door in the vertical position with no bifacial gain possible. It had solar gain in horrible conditions of .6 KWH for sure. Stopped charging when it went to resting. 4 panels would be about 2.4 KWH. The vertical angle is about 37 degrees off of proper for this time of year but it sheds all snow and no cleaning needed. This would be3 great for December through March in the UP of Michigan. The gain of 4 panels would exceed the 1.8 KWH of my normal camp use if I was there during these months. Could I have missed something? Yes. I am running a space heater now to drain the batteries for another test tomorrow when I can be around my shop to get more details. Easter visits to my children:) More important then the test. Really!
I had not figured the batteries would have fully charged and caused the SCC to go into resting thus kinda screwing up the full test???????

The forecast for tomorrow is cloudy all day. Cold in the high 20's. Panel vertical with no rear bifacial power pick up. I will discharge the batteries to about 80% to cause the SCC to go into bulk charge for the test. At this time I feel the solar gain will far exceed my needs even in bad conditions with vertical panels and no cleaning. I will report on my finding tomorrow and see how it all rolls out???

Hope this sharing of information helps some of you. I enjoy learning so as to not screw up on my plans. I much appreciate it when you share your experiences as well.
 
Hello All,
Got back to check things about 7PM EST The Midnite Classic SCC was resting having fully charged the batteries, I had not expected this. It showed .6 KWH of power in. I do not know what time it went to Resting? What I can say is it was heavy clouds, 26F, snowing most of the day and still is heavy clouds now at 7:48. Here is my take on it. One 445 bifacial panel set tight to a door in the vertical position with no bifacial gain possible. It had solar gain in horrible conditions of .6 KWH for sure. Stopped charging when it went to resting. 4 panels would be about 2.4 KWH. The vertical angle is about 37 degrees off of proper for this time of year but it sheds all snow and no cleaning needed. This would be3 great for December through March in the UP of Michigan. The gain of 4 panels would exceed the 1.8 KWH of my normal camp use if I was there during these months. Could I have missed something? Yes. I am running a space heater now to drain the batteries for another test tomorrow when I can be around my shop to get more details. Easter visits to my children:) More important then the test. Really!
I had not figured the batteries would have fully charged and caused the SCC to go into resting thus kinda screwing up the full test???????

The forecast for tomorrow is cloudy all day. Cold in the high 20's. Panel vertical with no rear bifacial power pick up. I will discharge the batteries to about 80% to cause the SCC to go into bulk charge for the test. At this time I feel the solar gain will far exceed my needs even in bad conditions with vertical panels and no cleaning. I will report on my finding tomorrow and see how it all rolls out???

Hope this sharing of information helps some of you. I enjoy learning so as to not screw up on my plans. I much appreciate it when you share your experiences as well.
Update: got home and checked the weather for tomorrow—— changed! —-partly sunny in the am for 4 hours. I will still run the test but conditions will not be as bad as it was going to be. Oh well, can not control Mother Nature.
 
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Update:
I thought I would run another bad weather vertical panel test but the weather changed.
Here is what I then did.
Panel set vertical-445 bifacial with no rear gain. Heavy clouds till 10 am then cleared. Gain was .7kwh by Solar noon. High watts was 280, Very good for a single.
At Solar noon, tilted panel to 38degrees as it should be and got 454 watts which is over it’s rated output but at that angle it could have had a touch of back side gain.
Final thoughts.
A winter install of vertical for no care will provide ample power from my 4 panels. This even without back side gain.

During snow free months these panels will provide huge power for my needs.

I’m pleased with them and now confident they will meet my needs.
Hope this info helps you all in some small way:).
 

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Update:
I thought I would run another bad weather vertical panel test but the weather changed.
Here is what I then did.
Panel set vertical-445 bifacial with no rear gain. Heavy clouds till 10 am then cleared. Gain was .7kwh. High watts was 280, Very good for a single.
Waited till Solar noon, tilted panel to 38degrees as it should be and got 454 watts which is over it’s rated output but at that angle it could have had a touch of back side gain.
Final thoughts.
A winter install of vertical for no care will provide ample power from my 4 panels. This even without back side gain.

During snow free months these panels will provide huge power for my needs.

I’m pleased with them and now confident they will meet my needs.
Hope this info helps you all in some small way:).
How did you test there were no rear gains? Covered the back?
 
I forgot to attach pictures. My bad.
It was tight to the garage door. Then I tilted it.
 

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I forgot to attach pictures. My bad.
It was tight to the garage door. Then I tilted it.
VEry cool. Ordered a pallet of the bluesun 460s from SS... hoping to get anyhelp from backside in snowy winter (and often clouded) days :D
 
Wow! 10 panels!! Your going to start a solar farm:). Put up 8 and hold 2 for spares?

I did the math and if tilted proper with almost no back side gain my 4 panels will provide 10kwh on a nice day.
Good luck and please give updates on your project.
 
Wow! 10 panels!! Your going to start a solar farm:). Put up 8 and hold 2 for spares?

I did the math and if tilted proper with almost no back side gain my 4 panels will provide 10kwh on a nice day.
Good luck and please give updates on your project.
35 lol. Enough to power house and car in summer/fall/spring and give something in winter ?
 
VEry cool. Ordered a pallet of the bluesun 460s from SS... hoping to get anyhelp from backside in snowy winter (and often clouded) days :D
I was curious as to what kind of system you're putting in (inverter, battery backup, mounting system). I'm working on a system for our place. Have been spending a lot of time on Signature Solar's site, that's for sure. I'm also leaning toward the Bluesun 460W bifacials.
 
I was curious as to what kind of system you're putting in (inverter, battery backup, mounting system). I'm working on a system for our place. Have been spending a lot of time on Signature Solar's site, that's for sure. I'm also leaning toward the Bluesun 460W bifacials.
Ok, my system is:
Victron Multiplus 24-3000-70 inverter
Midnite Classic 150 SCC
4 Canadian Solar 445 bifacials
Midnite Solar MNPV3. Combiner box
Renogy 500 battery monitor
2 Jita 12vokt300ah lithium batteries or home built 8s. 280a battery with JK BMS 200amp
Home made ground based tilt panel frame

The home built frame will be metal. It is free standing and can be anchored where needed. I will take pictures soon. I’m making it free standing so if I need to move it to another location, it can be done. I am doing metal because I have it but I have a 4x4 treated plan option that would take maybe 4 hours to build plus adjuster. Either will hold 4 to 6 panels. Tilt vertical to 65degrees.
 
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I definitely like the bifacial modules, 2% more per watt for a lot more upside on the ground. 30 year warranty is a plus too, no plastic.
these data points are cool, when we first started we had guys getting 550w out of 390w panels
 
I definitely like the bifacial modules, 2% more per watt for a lot more upside on the ground. 30 year warranty is a plus too, no plastic.
these data points are cool, when we first started we had guys getting 550w out of 390w panels
Yes, my testing showed over 650 from 445 panels. I was surprised. Coming soon is the real life summer test then the winter (most important ) test. Less need for over paneling if these work out good.
 
Interesting stuff. I am looking to replace the hard top on a boat (43-foot cruiser) and since I boat in Florida and the sun reflects off the water and white deck really well, was thinking bi-facials would make sense. Only draw-back seems to be weight...may have to shore up the supporting frames to handle the weight is rougher seas and wind.
 
Ok, my system is:
Victron Multiplus 24-3000-70 inverter
Midnite Classic 150 SCC
4 Canadian Solar 445 bifacials
Midnite Solar MNPV3. Combiner box
Renogy 500 battery monitor
2 Jita 12vokt300ah lithium batteries or home built 8s. 280a battery with JK BMS 200amp
Home made ground based tilt panel frame

The home built frame will be metal. It is free standing and can be anchored where needed. I will take pictures soon. I’m making it free standing so if I need to move it to another location, it can be done. I am doing metal because I have it but I have a 4x4 treated plan option that would take maybe 4 hours to build plus adjuster. Either will hold 4 to 6 panels. Tilt vertical to 65degrees.
Thanks. Did you get your CS panels from Santan Solar? I had seen that they were selling the same ones you have. They were $262 a panel on their site.

I was also asking @hipringles the same question about his system setup, especially with a pallet of Bluesun panels!
 
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Ok, my system is:
Victron Multiplus 24-3000-70 inverter
Midnite Classic 150 SCC
4 Canadian Solar 445 bifacials
Midnite Solar MNPV3. Combiner box
Renogy 500 battery monitor
2 Jita 12vokt300ah lithium batteries or home built 8s. 280a battery with JK BMS 200amp
Home made ground based tilt panel frame

The home built frame will be metal. It is free standing and can be anchored where needed. I will take pictures soon. I’m making it free standing so if I need to move it to another location, it can be done. I am doing metal because I have it but I have a 4x4 treated plan option that would take maybe 4 hours to build plus adjuster. Either will hold 4 to 6 panels. Tilt vertical to 65degrees.
An update. A bit short on time to do the final assembly. Need two guys to do it.
I took a picture of the panel base frame and the H frame for mounting the panels to.
This unit can carry 4 or 6 large panels (42x82”). It will tilt from vert to 65degrees.
It can be moved and weighted or cabled down where needed.
I have a wood design similar that takes about 4 hours to build. I used metal because I already had it.
 

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Thanks. Did you get your CS panels from Santan Solar? I had seen that they were selling the same ones you have. They were $262 a panel on their site.

I was also asking @hipringles the same question about his system setup, especially with a pallet of Bluesun panels!
I got the panels from AltEStore. I think they were $236. They sold out fast. I have seen the CS 390 at two places, and the Bluesun 460. I will have to check out Santan?
 
I got the panels from AltEStore. I think they were $236. They sold out fast. I have seen the CS 390 at two places, and the Bluesun 460. I will have to check out Santan?
Adding pictures of components on a rolling shop scaffold so I could move them to needed test areas. One 445watt panel has gathered 2.4 kWh today.
Victron inverter
Regony 500a battery monitor
Midnite Classic 150
Midnite combiner box
Insulated heated box with 2-12volt 300a lithium

Add to these are 4-445watt Canadian Solar bifacials
 

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