My Solar System in Maine

[WindWizard]

I just wanted to share my system and maybe give back a little bit of all I have gained from you. First a big thank you for all of your insight and knowledge. It was a big help on obtaining a quality system that should last for years to come. My wife was the great instigator of the project. She set the goals and wanted to achieve them. I was the person who decided on what pieces to buy and also the one who put it all together. My wife did not want to go Grid Tie. She hated the idea of dealing with CMP and electricians and all the government stuff. She also refused to hire it out because of cost and serviceability.

My original system:
16 Lifepo4 3.2V 280 ah Cells
Magnum Inverter MS-pae 4448
Outback FM-80 Charge Controller
12 280 watt solar panels

Quickly found out that it was not enough so added an additional
16 Lifepo4 280 ah Cells (thanks Docan Power)
Outback FM-80 Charge Controller
12 320 watt solar panels

I find that the 12 panels I mounted on the roof are not working for me. Snow kills the power. I spend to much time trying to keep the panels clear of snow. They are coming off the roof and onto some more ground mounts this summer.

The system was to help reduce/eliminate CMP power bill. The results are very impressive. Daily KW useage was 20-27kw. Now it is down to 4-6 kw per day. We have a hot tub which the Inverter does not like. (draws to much power). I have everything in the house except for the Hot Tub on a separate Breaker box. We have 2 freezers, 2 fridge, circulators for the boiler, washer, dryer, etc. I switch between the Grid and Solar depending on the battery voltage level. If the suns out then the batteries will last the night and get a full charge during the day.

Again a big thankyou for all of your input and support. My wife is a very happy camper. Happy wife happy life.

 

[jbird526]

That is an impressive system but I'm going to be a dick and ask this question. Are your batteries sitting under your boiler radiant supply lines?
Maybe never an issue but water over electric just makes my butt pucker.

 

[TorC]

Very nice. For your hot tub, I'd look at a water heating panel or two, with a small pump to run them and a differential temperature controller. Once you get the panels full it will take very little power to run them. If outside you can just drain the panel for winter as part of your normal winterization tasks. If your tub is inside then you might want to think about a refrigerant heat exchanger system.

 

[WindWizard]

That is an impressive system but I'm going to be a dick and ask this question. Are your batteries sitting under your boiler radiant supply lines?
Maybe never an issue but water over electric just makes my butt pucker.

Lol. I never noticed that. The cells are 3.2V and the connectors are covered. Under the cells is a drain that goes to an outside drain. It keeps the cellar dry.

I think that you would have a real issue with my solar hot water system. I decided to heat the pool with solar. I mounted 6000 feet of 1/2 inch black tubing in the pool house directly below the metal roof. Some of tubes started leaking above the electrical box. They dosed the electrical box with water so I disconnected them. Last summer I was able to heat the 17000 gallon pool to 92 degrees.

 

[WindWizard]

Very nice. For your hot tub, I'd look at a water heating panel or two, with a small pump to run them and a differential temperature controller. Once you get the panels full it will take very little power to run them. If outside you can just drain the panel for winter as part of your normal winterization tasks. If your tub is inside then you might want to think about a refrigerant heat exchanger system.

Thanks for your suggestion. I have already done some work on it. I removed the cover on the hot tub and found the hot tub heater. I ran some wires from the control to a relay with the relay connecting the hot tub heater to the inverter. I had a few issues but I believe it is working now. My wife was not happy when the hot tub had an over temp. Happy wife happy life.

 

[wiseacre]

I see what you did with hinges.
Nice, simple adjustable tilt.
So much less bulky than my PT wood mount

 

[WindWizard]

I see what you did with hinges.
Nice, simple adjustable tilt.
So much less bulky than my PT wood mount

It works very well. It has the two 2" pipe mounted in the ground in concrete with one 1/2" bolt on both sides supporting the solar structure. All materials were purchased at Home Depot except for the hardware at tractor supply and some rubber washers online. The panels can be easily adjusted for tilt. The support structure is the Super Strut. A whole lot less expensive than some of the commercial ground mount units. The panels needed to be off the ground due to the high level of snow we get around here.

 

[jbird526]

Lol. I never noticed that. The cells are 3.2V and the connectors are covered. Under the cells is a drain that goes to an outside drain. It keeps the cellar dry.

I think that you would have a real issue with my solar hot water system. I decided to heat the pool with solar. I mounted 6000 feet of 1/2 inch black tubing in the pool house directly below the metal roof. Some of tubes started leaking above the electrical box. They dosed the electrical box with water so I disconnected them. Last summer I was able to heat the 17000 gallon pool to 92 degrees.

I use to work on swimming pools and a few home owners had roof mounted water solar on their pools. I can attest that if the pump was off and the water sitting up there would get really hot. So hot that when you open a ball valve to drain it, there was steam coming off. A burn hazard to be sure if not careful. I learned that the hard way once.... only once.

 

[WindWizard]

I know the solar collectors that we have get hot enough to create steam. I had the circulator pump fail and steam was shooting out of it.

 

[TorC]

Thing is, as long as both ends are submerged, it will continue to make steam indefinitely. There's no way for air to get in, so the line will be all steam and water - as the steam either bubbles out or condenses it will draw water to replace it, perpetuating the cycle.

 

[WindWizard]

Thing is, as long as both ends are submerged, it will continue to make steam indefinitely. There's no way for air to get in, so the line will be all steam and water - as the steam either bubbles out or condenses it will draw water to replace it, perpetuating the cycle.

The only way I could stop the steam was to cover the solar hot water evacuated tubes with a tarp.

 

[WindWizard]

My wife thought the electric bill was too high when it topped $200. She did not want to do Grid Tie due to dealing with CMP electric company, filling out forms, electrical inspections, regulations and etc. I told her that Off Grid is more expensive, but she wanted to do it.

The system that I put together is everything that we hoped it would be. Last months bill was $73. This month is going to be closer to $45. I don't have to mess with anything. When the sun is out the batteries get charged. If the battery voltage drops below 50.8 volts then it automatically connects to the grid. As the battery voltage gets above 52.8 volts then it turns the inverter on. A simple system that does everything well.

And you know the best part of it all? I had a lot of fun putting it all together. I think that is the best part.

 

[WindWizard]

That is an impressive system but I'm going to be a dick and ask this question. Are your batteries sitting under your boiler radiant supply lines?
Maybe never an issue but water over electric just makes my butt pucker.

I think that the radiant supply lines are not near of a problem as the kitchen sink and dishwasher are directly over the batteries. I did not notice or think of that until you brought it up. I hope you did not put a hex on me. I can just see the dishwasher dumping a ton of water on the batteries. The thought just makes me cringe.

 

[TorC]

Put a little roof over the batteries to shed any water to the floor in front. Add a hinge so you can lift it up and hook it to the wall for easy servicing. Keep in mind if you need to build out a few inches befor the hinge so your radiant heat pipes don't get in the way. You don't need perfect flashing to the wall, just ensuring that any reasonably possible drips through don't fall on the batteries. Water seeping down the wall isn't a big deal in this use case. Whatever is screwed along the wall might want a bevel on the bottom, long edge to the wall, to ensure the drips are back there, not over the batts.

 

[WindWizard]

You are absolutely right. I need to be proactive and prevent a catastrophe before it happens. We have some left over roofing material and it won't take that long to put it together. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[jbird526]

I think that the radiant supply lines are not near of a problem as the kitchen sink and dishwasher are directly over the batteries. I did not notice or think of that until you brought it up. I hope you did not put a hex on me. I can just see the dishwasher dumping a ton of water on the batteries. The thought just makes me cringe.

I wish I had the power to hex, not on you but there are others...

Sometimes its important just to get another set of eyes. I don't know how many times I've shown something and had an issue pointed out that is completely obvious.

 

[WindWizard]

I wish I had the power to hex, not on you but there are others...

Sometimes its important just to get another set of eyes. I don't know how many times I've shown something and had an issue pointed out that is completely obvious.

I really do appreciate the input. It really did take me by surprise. Of course I have been know to go somewhere to do a job and before I get there not only will I have lost half my tools but also forget what I was going to do.

There is always murphys law. Blame in on Murphy. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.

I am looking over the potential for water damage now and how to prevent it from happening. My wife has a few suggestions too. Happy wife happy life.

 

[jbird526]

Can you just "swing" the battery bank 90 degrees against the other wall? Is the sink and washer directly above that also?

 

[WindWizard]

That is certainly an option. There is not the room between the wall and the shelving unit for the entire battery bank as I have constructed. I would have to modify the shelf or do a different battery configuration to make them wider and less long. The other issue is that is an outside wall which tends to drip moisture because it is located in the cellar or basement. It is called a cellar in Maine but a basement where I am from.

The wall which I am using is dry because it does not have an outside wall. It use to be an outside wall until the room was constructed and covered.

I am not sure how well the cells would fair if I used a cover placed directly on top of the Cells. I want something that I can remove so I can service them if I need to.

 

[jbird526]

Having a dirt basement I can sympathize with moisture. How about if you configure the cells in a 4x4 configuration and put them in some large Home Depot totes? Cheap and plastic lid to protect from any water. In fact the basement could fill up with a foot of water and not touch the cells.