Hey all! Have been tinkering for years, now wanting to plan... : )

[JL43062]

Just introducing myself for now. I'm a tinkerer... Doesn't make me unique here, I know. I have a steel sided cabin that is ~900sq. ft. I want to make the place energy independent. I'm efficiency minded and believe it's in good shape with low energy appliances, lighting, etc. It currently has Duke Energy utility, but I'd like to reduce dependence on Duke. It's in SE Indiana, gets decent sun, has East/West pitched roof. It has land/space around it, but I'm leaning toward roof mount panels. This is it for now... Will only heat the place with solar as a biproduct. It'll use wood fuel primarily. : )

So what his best mount on a east pitched roof for mounting panels, angling south? The roof has trusses are East/West. The steel roof has corrugated ridges that are East West. This is where my focus is at the moment. I haven't found these answers yet, but will find... Others must deal with this a lot, so I'll keep looking. If anyone knows of a link to anything related, please share.

I'm happy to be part of the forum/community. Thanks to the moderators! All take care.

--JL

 

[svetz]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[curiouscarbon]

Hi @JL43062, welcome to the forums

I respect your hunger for resilience and encourage you to share your goals and project progress on this forum to whatever degree you feel comfortable with.

I’ve learned so much from this forum and still working towards a build.

Good luck with your design and parts selection and assembly and commissioning!

 

[CJay]

Perfect thread title to introduce myself. I also been tinkering for years and now trying to get more serious about it. And I'm looking for

I set up two systems a couple years ago at a remote family property. The first is a pair of 100W, pole mounted solar panels and wired into a small 12' x 20' cabin to provide lighting and power to a 12V RV water pump. The other is also a pair of 100W panels mounted to the south side of a storage barn/shop used for lighting.

This summer I'm planning to move the pole mounted panels to a west pitched steel roofed gazebo and tap off that battery back to add lighting to the gazebo. So any metal roof mounting suggestions are also appreciated. So far I've just been looking over various kits from the Amazon.

Also planning to add and inverter to the barn/shop for hand tool power supply. May be upping the solar to a pair of 165W panels.

And finally, I'm looking to install a new system on a travel trailer I just purchased, so I no longer have to work from home at home. Current plan is for a pair of 175W panels to a Renogy Adventurer charger charging a LiFePo4 battery.