wiseacre
Solar Addict
Wile E Coyote, Super Genius ?
Easy way to cancel the refund is to forget sending the old one back
Easy way to cancel the refund is to forget sending the old one back
Unfortunately they were going to send me a new unit and if I did not return the old unit by Sept 22 they would charge me another 119 bucks, but....I got in a chat session with Amazon and they cancelled the return so I am good to go now. The new battery and solar panel just arrived in the mail so I am a go for setting my system up. Just stopped by Ace and picked up a bore bit to widen the existing hole in the side of my house. The owner does not want me drilling new holes but he was good with me making use of an old cable TV hole that was already there and not being used, and the location is perfect, it is where I want my panels and within two feet from an AC outlet and I can hide the entire set up behind the kitchen table that is butted up against the wall. This is going to be great.Wile E Coyote, Super Genius ?
Easy way to cancel the refund is to forget sending the old one back
Mine will be a simple wood frame big enough to hold the 3 panels. It will either lay flat on the ground or tilted towards the sun via either attached legs or by simply using a metal folding chair that happens to be in the back yard. I was able to find a good location that gets early morning sun and late afternoon sun, probably the only place in the yard that does. And that location just happens to be right where the pre-existing old cable TV wire hole that was drilled into the home and just on the other side of that wall is the set up. I might paint the frame to help keep it from warping due to moisture or whatever. I am still sorting through the adjustment mount in my mind. When I go to home depot I will see what hardware jumps out at me and forces me to buy it. I am also considering using a piece of weather resistant ply wood, but I am concerned about heat build up for the one flex panel. On a side note, has anyone ever considered using large mirrors to increase the amount of sun that gets to a panel? Just a thought.I too plan on making a frame tomorrow. I was going to extend my current frame to add two more panels but decided to build a "movable" platform so I can better catch some winter sun. The current array is fine for summer but gets shadowed by the house during "prime time" in winter, by the time the sun hits them the day is almost over. Once I figure out the best location I'll build a permanent array with adding more panels in mind. Both set of frames are/will be adjustable for best summer/winter angles, I doubt it makes much difference but I like to squeeze as much out of my panels as possible.
I'll take some pics too. It will be interesting comparing our small frame builds.
There were large installations built using mirrors. Nowadays a mirror is probably more expensive than PV!On a side note, has anyone ever considered using large mirrors to increase the amount of sun that gets to a panel?
Good point. My thought were more of a if you have an extra mirror laying around, put to work. I will probably do at test with a tall mirror that is just standing in the hallway just to see if extra sunlight actually makes a difference, more of a let's see thing. Like you said, depending on what you have available the sky is the limit. I like that though, use a swing set or lean it up against a fence. Here the fence is more of a block than help although I do have long enough cables attached to make one of the fences a good morning tilt location. Food for thought...thank you.There were large installations built using mirrors. Nowadays a mirror is probably more expensive than PV!
No reason not to place your panels in a position were they get reflective light off opposite wall etc if there is no other reasons not to!
The cheapest frame I've used ( other than just hanging them vertical off the fence) are from old swingsets with 2 horizontal channels from the tip.
For a solution to your earlier problem, and the one I use, rather than a ATS is a mains/dc psu (240v/12v here) just left on 24/7 connected to the battery. It must be larger than your expected power use (not peak just normal) and with diodes for protection when the pv is higher,Food for thought.
It could be that I am drinking some port wine at the moment, but that went so far over my head that I am sure it hit an airplane flying over the house. Did you just say that using a PC (computer) PSU will do what to who? I really have to lay off the hooch.For a solution to your earlier problem, and the one I use, rather than a ATS is a mains/dc psu (240v/12v here) just left on 24/7 connected to the battery. It must be larger than your expected power use (not peak just normal) and with diodes for protection when the pv is higher,
A PC PSU will suffice, however its V and with the added diodes is slightly below 12v, My ideal is 12.6v for lead acid. I've had to keep changing and adding psu's as the system gets bigger and am waiting on the arrival of a 1500w variable supply unit from China that is also suitable for a change over to LiFePO4.
You need to do some creative thinking to account for the loss from 240v-12v-240v and running 24/7. The standby current is very low and they are only outputting when the v is below theirs.
Yes. Converting old pc psu's for 12v power been around far longer than the how-to's on youtube.using a PC (computer) PSU will do what to who? I really have to lay off the hooch.
This might sound crazy but I think I understand what you are talking about. That would have been preferable to simply putting a smart charger into the mix. If I understand what you are talking about, the PC PSU would not do much as long as the battery voltage was greater than the PSU but...once the battery reached or fell below the PSU out voltage, it would start producing enough power to keep the appliance running while maintaining the battery charge enough to keep it from going critical. I am drunk as a skunk but am I even close? It's also good to know that when the unit is not actually producing power, the insertion loss is not that great.Yes. Converting old pc psu's for 12v power been around far longer than the how-to's on youtube.
Just remember watts are watts! So you need to match that for input to output.
Daytime is ok, battery and pv covers the power use. At night only what is under the psu output is left on.
That is the right solution. Clearly you needed the storage, and because you’re using solar to enable savings in another area there is essentially no cost to you. It will break even in months.twice the battery power and 4 panels backing them up.
That’s great! Using the bonus power well.voltage was 13.1 and the wife had her phone charging and the heating pad running. No sign that the transfer switch ever needed to use grid.
That is the right solution. Clearly you needed the storage, and because you’re using solar to enable savings in another area there is essentially no cost to you. It will break even in months.twice the battery power and 4 panels backing them up.
I’m hoping you have a pure sine wave inverter cabable of ~1200W (10A@120V) not a mod sine. Because a pure sine could maybe run your fridge with the sun out at ~400W of solar. So then you’re in reach of emergency grid replacement during outages.because I have inverters, so for that price, I am going to buy one because I have everything else I need to make a working system no matter what.
The inverter is a cheap 1000 watt unit with fan cooling. I do have a super whamydyne 5000 watt inverter with blue tooth control but the insertion loss is much more and the extra wattage is not needed. I am only needing up to 140 watts of power, but that allowed me to unplug the huge central heating unit and that is where the savings are coming from. My baseline power usage for gas went from being the worse in the neighborhood to being more energy efficient than nearby "efficient homes" and significantly better than similar homes. Electric usage is lower than similar and near the efficient homes level.That’s great! Using the bonus power well.
That is the right solution. Clearly you needed the storage, and because you’re using solar to enable savings in another area there is essentially no cost to you. It will break even in months.
400W is ok-ish to add a fridge. You might need more batteries, though.
Probably what you have going is maximum savings over minimum time (ROI) but no you have the power; adding to it a tad could be a fun hobby.
(what inverter?)
I’m hoping you have a pure sine wave inverter cabable of ~1200W (10A@120V) not a mod sine. Because a pure sine could maybe run your fridge with the sun out at ~400W of solar. So then you’re in reach of emergency grid replacement during outages.
I have and can run up to 700W of solar. No grid nearby. Been running on only 400W all summer.
It’s still weird in my head when I realize I just make coffee and such and don’t think about being careful with power consumption anymore.
Actually there are ‘true sine’ inverters that are cleaner than the grid sometimes and often better than gas generator outputs.I don't know if my inverter is a pure sign wave output but I could pop a scope on it and see, although from my measurement point of view, even the so called pure sign wave outputs would still look like crap to me. Also I think most of the appliances I am using could care less
You'd probably be better off putting the relays on the feed from the solar panel to the controller (rather than battery to controller).If you have mains power available you can set the low voltage disconnect/reconnect settings on your SCC to switch a couple of relays to turn on a charger for your battery bank at your desired voltages. Transfer switches usually incur a small power interruption, but staying on inverter power can mitigate that if interruptions are undesirable.
My Epever 4210AN is configured to do as such and the mains wires go through 2x relays so the charger is not powered on when on standby.
Actually there are ‘true sine’ inverters that are cleaner than the grid sometimes and often better than gas generator outputs.
If the inverter was $50-$100US it’s probably modified sine; $165+ maybe true sine , $189-$1000?! it is very likely a true sine.
The heat blanket and usb outlet could’nt care less, but many/most other items will care about pure sine. I ‘knew’ this but yet I killed many more dollars than a pure sine inverter cost with mod sine inverters before I stopped being stupid. Sometimes a plug-in charger will work with mod-sine, others it could kill. Just an FYI.
How so? I don't follow what you mean by battery to controller.You'd probably be better off putting the relays on the feed from the solar panel to the controller (rather than battery to controller).