My Solar Shed Construction Starts in a Week

[Will Prowse]

It is a 6x10 Tuff Shed. Total cost was 2,500 bucks. It will have air conditioning to keep my LiFePO4 battery collection nice and happy. I will install a MASSIVE 48v 5kw system in it (this one). It will serve as a backup system for my house if the grid were to fail for prolonged duration. And as a super cool man cave:


This is how I designed it to fit into my back yard and to match the color scheme of my house:

I will have the front door facing north, and the south facing roof covered in solar panels. This MPP unit has 2x mppt's, so I will have 2x separate arrays on my property. Will talk about the solar panel array in another post.

The hardest part of this system is temperature regulation. It will be 110 degrees plus here in vegas. Luckily, we have lots of sunshine to run air conditioners off of solar power. If I can regulate the temperature of this shed with a couple of small ground mounted arrays, I will consider it a success.

What I love about sheds is that you can store/charge dangerous chemistries of batteries inside of them without the stress of having your house burned down. I do not use combustible batteries for solar (as many of you know haha) but I have some long range fpv drones I will be building in the following months. I have caught those batteries on fire too many times! And I am scared of them. I will charge them only in this shed.

I will also add lights, security cameras and so much more. I can't wait!

Let me know what you think or if I should add something

 

[victorpr]

well this setup looks amazing i wish i live near NV to help you, i help alot people here on P.R. mounting solar system.

 

[gnubie]

Are you putting insulation in the shed? Some decent batts on the underside of the roof will certainly help keep the temp down when the sun is beating down.

 

[Aitch]

Perhaps look at temperature controlled roof vents like they use on greenhouses and floor level vents to get air circulation from the cooler soil.

 

[Deleted member 165]

I'm just finishing up my solar shed. This pic is from about 2 weeks ago, it's almost buttoned up now. I can't wait to see how you do yours! Sounds like we have similar ideas. The door is on the north, panels on the south side, nice and close to keep the wiring down. Everything will be in there, including 2 100# propane tanks with an isolated ventilation system. I have some solar powered vent fans I'll be installing with the idea of running a passive swamp cooler type thing. Lots of work, never enough time...

 

[svetz]

How will you keep the scorpions out?

 

[Rider]

Let me know what you think or if I should add something

A 24/7 public camera so we can keep an eye on you.....

 

[Deleted member 165]

Will, Owens-Corning just came out with R15 for 2x4 walls. It's very worth it when it comes time to insulate. I've only found it at Home Depot so far.

 

[Getyourbone]

It is a 6x10 Tuff Shed. Total cost was 2,500 bucks. It will have air conditioning to keep my LiFePO4 battery collection nice and happy. I will install a MASSIVE 48v 5kw system in it (this one)...

It’s about time you review that one!… Should make Ian happy!

 

[dirk]

Hmm, internet access from your house to it would be good I think. So either bury an outdoor CAT6 or higher ethernet cable in the yard, or use something wireless. And some Smart Home thingies are also nice. Ring doorbell, Nets Hub, some lights, wifi etc. Looking forward to the build videos!

 

[crozza]

It is a 6x10 Tuff Shed. Total cost was 2,500 bucks. It will have air conditioning to keep my LiFePO4 battery collection nice and happy. I will install a MASSIVE 48v 5kw system in it (this one). It will serve as a backup system for my house if the grid were to fail for prolonged duration. And as a super cool man cave:

View attachment 66
This is how I designed it to fit into my back yard and to match the color scheme of my house:
View attachment 65
I will have the front door facing north, and the south facing roof covered in solar panels. This MPP unit has 2x mppt's, so I will have 2x separate arrays on my property. Will talk about the solar panel array in another post.

The hardest part of this system is temperature regulation. It will be 110 degrees plus here in vegas. Luckily, we have lots of sunshine to run air conditioners off of solar power. If I can regulate the temperature of this shed with a couple of small ground mounted arrays, I will consider it a success.

What I love about sheds is that you can store/charge dangerous chemistries of batteries inside of them without the stress of having your house burned down. I do not use combustible batteries for solar (as many of you know haha) but I have some long range fpv drones I will be building in the following months. I have caught those batteries on fire too many times! And I am scared of them. I will charge them only in this shed.

I will also add lights, security cameras and so much more. I can't wait!

Let me know what you think or if I should add something

Being from Australia, in the southern hemisphere I need to remember that when I read "facing north" to translate that into "facing south" ... could be a bit of fun.

Anyway, we a building a house to be off grid for power, and the panels will be mounted on the roof of each of the two 40ft shipping containers we will making our garages.

My batteries will be mounted in a "shed" at the end of the house, out of the sun, insulated and "hopefully" safe enough not to burn the house down.

Great forum.

 

[Getyourbone]

Being from Australia, in the southern hemisphere I need to remember that when I read "facing north" to translate that into "facing south" ...

Do you have to mount you panels upside down?

 

[azdave85650]

Do you have to mount you panels upside down?

On the floor I think

 

[Rider]

Don't the electrons flow counter-clockwise?

 

[azdave85650]

The fact that Will seems to be embracing modular system is an encouraging sign... (Sitting on the edge of my chair, watching closely.)

 

[gnubie]

Don't the electrons flow counter-clockwise?

Geez, you guys just have no clue. Down here the panels emit light instead of absorbing it.

 

[eddie1261]

It is a 6x10 Tuff Shed. Total cost was 2,500 bucks. It will have air conditioning to keep my LiFePO4 battery collection nice and happy. I will install a MASSIVE 48v 5kw system in it (this one). It will serve as a backup system for my house if the grid were to fail for prolonged duration. And as a super cool man cave:

View attachment 66
This is how I designed it to fit into my back yard and to match the color scheme of my house:
View attachment 65
I will have the front door facing north, and the south facing roof covered in solar panels. This MPP unit has 2x mppt's, so I will have 2x separate arrays on my property. Will talk about the solar panel array in another post.

The hardest part of this system is temperature regulation. It will be 110 degrees plus here in vegas. Luckily, we have lots of sunshine to run air conditioners off of solar power. If I can regulate the temperature of this shed with a couple of small ground mounted arrays, I will consider it a success.

What I love about sheds is that you can store/charge dangerous chemistries of batteries inside of them without the stress of having your house burned down. I do not use combustible batteries for solar (as many of you know haha) but I have some long range fpv drones I will be building in the following months. I have caught those batteries on fire too many times! And I am scared of them. I will charge them only in this shed.

I will also add lights, security cameras and so much more. I can't wait!

Let me know what you think or if I should add something

Real time cameras in the shed trained on the meters so we can watch the panels work. Also maybe some youtube live sessions as you build things. As great as it is to see edited videos you post, I'd love to see the brainstorming happen live. And, guest accounts on your security cameras so we can watch your place for you when you aren't home.

 

[SenatorPerry]

I am a bit late to this, but wanted to toss in that I would love to see a switching set that allowed you to switch the batteries from series for the 48v into parallel to allow balancing. Not specific to the small balancing boards from China, but a mechanical switch that does something like disconnects the MPP Solar unit, then the next switches in sequence breaks the series connections, and then the next set of switches moves the entire pack into parallel. Then once the amps passing (balancing) slows down you can reverse the switches back to "on" ultimately putting power back to the MPP Solar.

The goal, of course, being that you eliminate the expensive balancers and adopt a more monitoring process that eliminates one of the more risky pieces in our systems. It would definitely make me feel more comfortable about my batteries.

It would also be neat to see you try some of the recipes for "Starlite" that would allow you to isolate batteries of different chemistries.

 

[eddie1261]

Geez, you guys just have no clue. Down here the panels emit light instead of absorbing it.

Is it true that the tassels on the strippers twirl the opposite way?

 

[Vanhalo]

It is a 6x10 Tuff Shed. Total cost was 2,500 bucks. It will have air conditioning to keep my LiFePO4 battery collection nice and happy. I will install a MASSIVE 48v 5kw system in it (this one). It will serve as a backup system for my house if the grid were to fail for prolonged duration. And as a super cool man cave:

View attachment 66
This is how I designed it to fit into my back yard and to match the color scheme of my house:
View attachment 65
I will have the front door facing north, and the south facing roof covered in solar panels. This MPP unit has 2x mppt's, so I will have 2x separate arrays on my property. Will talk about the solar panel array in another post.

The hardest part of this system is temperature regulation. It will be 110 degrees plus here in vegas. Luckily, we have lots of sunshine to run air conditioners off of solar power. If I can regulate the temperature of this shed with a couple of small ground mounted arrays, I will consider it a success.

What I love about sheds is that you can store/charge dangerous chemistries of batteries inside of them without the stress of having your house burned down. I do not use combustible batteries for solar (as many of you know haha) but I have some long range fpv drones I will be building in the following months. I have caught those batteries on fire too many times! And I am scared of them. I will charge them only in this shed.

I will also add lights, security cameras and so much more. I can't wait!

Let me know what you think or if I should add something

Spray foam it and turn it into a Yeti.