Brainstorming they say...

[snoobler]

At this rate sounds like I can also power up a gate opener too! Will feel bad if I went that luxurious out here, one neighbor 3 miles out burns her house to ground every few years other ones live in campers/RV's on gensets (me and wife placing bets before they burn out) and another has dirt floor shack built from scraps.

You'll likely be able to repeatedly open the gate like a kid rapid-flipping a light switch from sunrise to sunset and end the day at 100% SoC.

 

[Roswell Bob]

If you have 24x395W of panel then you have nearly 10kW of power. Assume 4 hours of sun then we got 40kWh of energy. Are you using 40kWh each day. My guess is no unless you are growing a lot of weed indoors or producing anvils. Can you live with 20kWh of energy each day? That is quite a bit of energy. If the answer is yes then you can sustain 50% losses in the wiring. Best way to do it as already been discussed is to go with the higher voltage. Putting the inverter at the panels in my mind is not the way to go. You still have 750' to deal with and you can't afford voltage drops on the AC side. Inverters do not have remote sensing capability to compensate for drops in the line. 10-4 cord if you can get it for $1.20 a foot would put you close to a grand for wire. #10 wire is 0.001ohm/ft, so we're talking 1.5 ohm round trip. Lets assume a configuration of 3S4P configuration for each pair of wires. . That would keep the max DC voltage near 120v with say 40amps. At 40A you will loose about 60v so efficiency is close to 50%. That is without going broke. You can try other combinations that you may like better. As others have already said your best bet would probably be a 12S2P configuration, but then you are messing with considerably higher DC voltages which tend to get dangerous.

You may want to relocate that Aims inverter away from battery. The battery gassing will eat up the pc boards in a hurry.

Looks like you have a nice setup out there. I've been cross-country a few times and make a point to go through Big-Sky country. Woke up in Butte one morning in the back of a station wagon. It was 30 below.

Good luck

 

[Roswell Bob]

Most I weld is 1/2". I have inverter welder too.

One other thought - since you weld. I put together a pole mount system for cost. I used 8" schedule 40 for upright. Bought the 22' pipe and had it cut in half for two mounts. Welded pipe flange on top and sunk em into a yard of concrete. Welded a 6' piece of junior beam to another flange for the cross. Mounted a trailer axle across the top beam and hung panels on axle. In the winter they go up to near verticle and never a problem with snow. Sun comes up and whtever little snow has collected is gone. Many up here in NH do roof mount and have terrific problem in the winter with snow. I would guess same probs in Big Sky country. Pics are on my FB page. Roswell Bob LaFrank.

 

[Weldman]

If you have 24x395W of panel then you have nearly 10kW of power. Assume 4 hours of sun then we got 40kWh of energy. Are you using 40kWh each day. My guess is no unless you are growing a lot of weed indoors or producing anvils. Can you live with 20kWh of energy each day? That is quite a bit of energy. If the answer is yes then you can sustain 50% losses in the wiring. Best way to do it as already been discussed is to go with the higher voltage. Putting the inverter at the panels in my mind is not the way to go. You still have 750' to deal with and you can't afford voltage drops on the AC side. Inverters do not have remote sensing capability to compensate for drops in the line. 10-4 cord if you can get it for $1.20 a foot would put you close to a grand for wire. #10 wire is 0.001ohm/ft, so we're talking 1.5 ohm round trip. Lets assume a configuration of 3S4P configuration for each pair of wires. . That would keep the max DC voltage near 120v with say 40amps. At 40A you will loose about 60v so efficiency is close to 50%. That is without going broke. You can try other combinations that you may like better. As others have already said your best bet would probably be a 12S2P configuration, but then you are messing with considerably higher DC voltages which tend to get dangerous.

You may want to relocate that Aims inverter away from battery. The battery gassing will eat up the pc boards in a hurry.

Looks like you have a nice setup out there. I've been cross-country a few times and make a point to go through Big-Sky country. Woke up in Butte one morning in the back of a station wagon. It was 30 below.

Good luck

Thanks on the compliments and I have had that Aims inverter/charger down there the past 2 or 3 years now with plenty of ventilation with no problems and is of a temp set up. I bought the rig for $750 was a beverage truck I cut in half and welded a pedestal for the camper on bottom half then fabricated 4 doors to access the bottom which was broken up to 3 open compartments on each side, water on one side solar on other right next to rear axle for traction. Next rig as I have snapped the axle on this one will have more room for solar on board to keep such things separated. Could of would of should of bought a new 3rd member for this rig but it's time to get a rig with air brakes (I already have CDL w/air brakes endorsement) and stop wondering if I am going to lose the brakes on Homestead Pass.

If we go off maximum numbers it's technically 24x494W of panel at it's maximum wattage due to them being half cut bi-facial panels at 11,856 watts and it's for what I will get on the worse days reason I got so many. I'm not the only one that welds here either the wife likes to weld with her welding machine and run the power tools too. We have came to consensus that 11S2P is what we are going to run here and the other two will be just for spares i.e. electric fence to keep horses/cows out.
Speaking of welding solar array mount I plan on 4" drill pipe every 20 feet in the ground and just going in straight line with them at about 80 feet long that way don't have to worry about shading the back side of them and it's easier. The ground isn't leveled here at all so trying to put one set of panels behind other would required excavation and leveling out.

We got it down to 32 below zero with 50 below gusting wind this winter out here, wasn't bad only part sucked was trying to start any engines of anything. Stayed nice and toasty in here with diesel heater I installed plus 2 inches of closed cell spray insulation with 1 inch of loose cellulose insulation to break any thermal bridging and layer of sound dampening vinyl.
I don't mess with social media websites like FB or whatever might be out there so I can't see pictures.

I'm curious, did you mean to wake up in Butte or were you supposed to wake up in another city and did it involve alcohol?

 

[Weldman]

I looked it up and it averages 5 hrs a day here so after mathematics that's 50 kWh a day anywho here is the panels we offloaded here...

Alright hun that's one, twenty-three more to go...

 

[Roswell Bob]

Thanks on the compliments and I have had that Aims inverter/charger down there the past 2 or 3 years now with plenty of ventilation with no problems and is of a temp set up. I bought the rig for $750 was a beverage truck I cut in half and welded a pedestal for the camper on bottom half then fabricated 4 doors to access the bottom which was broken up to 3 open compartments on each side, water on one side solar on other right next to rear axle for traction. Next rig as I have snapped the axle on this one will have more room for solar on board to keep such things separated. Could of would of should of bought a new 3rd member for this rig but it's time to get a rig with air brakes (I already have CDL w/air brakes endorsement) and stop wondering if I am going to lose the brakes on Homestead Pass.

If we go off maximum numbers it's technically 24x494W of panel at it's maximum wattage due to them being half cut bi-facial panels at 11,856 watts and it's for what I will get on the worse days reason I got so many. I'm not the only one that welds here either the wife likes to weld with her welding machine and run the power tools too. We have came to consensus that 11S2P is what we are going to run here and the other two will be just for spares i.e. electric fence to keep horses/cows out.
Speaking of welding solar array mount I plan on 4" drill pipe every 20 feet in the ground and just going in straight line with them at about 80 feet long that way don't have to worry about shading the back side of them and it's easier. The ground isn't leveled here at all so trying to put one set of panels behind other would required excavation and leveling out.

We got it down to 32 below zero with 50 below gusting wind this winter out here, wasn't bad only part sucked was trying to start any engines of anything. Stayed nice and toasty in here with diesel heater I installed plus 2 inches of closed cell spray insulation with 1 inch of loose cellulose insulation to break any thermal bridging and layer of sound dampening vinyl.
I don't mess with social media websites like FB or whatever might be out there so I can't see pictures.

I'm curious, did you mean to wake up in Butte or were you supposed to wake up in another city and did it involve alcohol?

No Alcohol. I was heading out to Seattle to visit. Butte is one of my usual stops when driving across.

OK on FB. Easy to imagine what it would my pole mount would look like. I should have put in some ground rods when I sunk the poles. Maybe some lightning rods would drain charge away. Took a strike a few weeks ago
You may want to think about.

What progress do you have to report? Something good I hope.

 

[Weldman]

No Alcohol. I was heading out to Seattle to visit. Butte is one of my usual stops when driving across.

OK on FB. Easy to imagine what it would my pole mount would look like. I should have put in some ground rods when I sunk the poles. Maybe some lightning rods would drain charge away. Took a strike a few weeks ago
You may want to think about.

What progress do you have to report? Something good I hope.

Nope, I just got 9 of them up for sustaining what I have with 3 of them for over paneling to catch the sunset rays. I have been busy building a pole barn not post frame but pole barn. Spent last few months excavating a hill out to have level place to build such, so far 5 poles down. Also been busy tearing grain bins apart (16) of them at 18' diameter for roofing and side walls of pole barn.
Things move slower doing it yourself in middle of nowhere, where mail only runs 3 days a week at most using old equipment and basic hand tools.