My Solar System in Maine

[WindWizard]

I have not gone through a summer yet with the solar in the cellar. But we do have a humidity gauge and it gets very wet down there. The humidity can approach 100%. We run a dehumidifier for the entire summer to keep things from dripping.

The patio may be an option if it comes down to it. It would take some major work to find a location for all this stuff. The humidity is better there. The temperature is a bit warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter. I would say around 46 f in the winter and 80 f in the summer. I would have to convince my wife and put a few holes in the ceiling/wall.

 

[jbird526]

If you run a dehumidifier a few hours a day in that room you should be fine. I run my dehumidifier 8 hrs a day during off peak times and it stays dry as a bone without even having a concrete floor.

My main concern has been all the water sources directly over your battery bank.

Again, I think containing the bank in some plastic totes may be a cheap solution and you don't have to relocate. Just an idea.

 

[WindWizard]

I do appreciate all of your input. I am definitely going to do something. Right now I am basically brainstorming and coming up with things that will work. Disassembling the battery pack is a lot of work and time and I have had problems with my first pack. I stripped out one of the holes and had to retap and put in a heli-coil in. Not a fun job and it just is down right scary. You do not want to go to deep with the drill and you do not want to destroy your cell. Right now the connections are good with less than 3mv per connection with 100 amps. Then the loss in power while I am diddling around with everything. I would pick a rainy/snowy day to do it. But right now I am just mulling over all of the options and looking for a solution that will work for me. I just want to do it once and not have to redo it again.

 

[WindWizard]

If you run a dehumidifier a few hours a day in that room you should be fine. I run my dehumidifier 8 hrs a day during off peak times and it stays dry as a bone without even having a concrete floor.

My main concern has been all the water sources directly over your battery bank.

Again, I think containing the bank in some plastic totes may be a cheap solution and you don't have to relocate. Just an idea.

It took a while but I finally moved the Cells. I used your suggestion and put them on the adjacent wall. I ended up building some shelves for the Cells. I also just got in another 32 Cells to make the array 64 Cells. All of the Cells are 280 ah with two BMS. I needed the extra capacity to power through some of the cloudy days. Once the Cells are charged I should be able to go for 3 days with our current power usage. But thanks for your suggestion on avoiding a serious water problem.

 

[400bird]

Great looking system, nice set up.

The manufacturer on those cells recommends compression. You might want to look into that to ensure the cells last.

 

[WindWizard]

Great looking system, nice set up.

The manufacturer on those cells recommends compression. You might want to look into that to ensure the cells last.The most a cell might see is .1c so I really do not see where compression would help much for me.

Thanks it seems to work fine for me.
I did some study on compression and I am only running the Cells at .1C and so compression is not an issue. If I was running them at 1c then I would certainly use it.

Why compression will not extend battery life (something else kills them before).​

 

[jbird526]

It took a while but I finally moved the Cells. I used your suggestion and put them on the adjacent wall. I ended up building some shelves for the Cells. I also just got in another 32 Cells to make the array 64 Cells. All of the Cells are 280 ah with two BMS. I needed the extra capacity to power through some of the cloudy days. Once the Cells are charged I should be able to go for 3 days with our current power usage. But thanks for your suggestion on avoiding a serious water problem.

I feel better just looking at it now.

Congrats on all the hard work.

 

[Sky Noris]

I started out building on the ground so I could have easy access to my panels and be able to tilt them a few times a year easily. eventually though I started to run out of space. So now my last build went on my garage roof. Hopfully, I don't regret it and end up moving them. ? I've just got a hot tub but I'd like to eventually heat it with a system like yours. Right now it just uses up exessive power production but seems like a waste of energy.

 

[WindWizard]

I started out building on the ground so I could have easy access to my panels and be able to tilt them a few times a year easily. eventually though I started to run out of space. So now my last build went on my garage roof. Hopfully, I don't regret it and end up moving them. ? I've just got a hot tub but I'd like to eventually heat it with a system like yours. Right now it just uses up exessive power production but seems like a waste of energy.

I just added a relay so that it uses the power from my inverter to heat rather than the grid power. It is only heating at 1kw which is fine with me. It normally is hooked up to the 220 which makes it a 4kw. It has worked very well. The only thing that I can not do with the Magnum Inverter is the hot tub pump. It is just to much for it. That runs about 4kw a day for electricity. I would have to add another inverter to take care of that but for me it just is not worth the expense. The savings already are around $160 a month. The wife is pleased with a bill of $40 a month.

I have been very pleased with the results after adding another 30Kw of batteries. The batteries have not been worked so hard. I am still working to get them fully charged. They are staying in balance very well so far with no top balance. My thoughts are to get them in service asap and then deal with them. I am making about 44kw a day of electricity a day off the panels and hope to get more after I get the panels off the roof later in the summer.

I got the extra batteries because with just 30kw I was running out of battery power and had to drop back to the grid. I wanted enough capacity to basically have an off grid house except the hot tub motor. Which really is amazing considering all the stuff that I have running on my Magnum 4400 watt inverter. Two freezers, three refrigerators, full house hydronics heating, solar domestic pump, pool pump, microwave, toaster, small electric oven, lighting, computers, dehydrators, TV, internet, phones etc. A lot of stuff and the inverter sometimes the fan turns on but most times it just is there humming away.

Regarding your panels on the roof. I know after last winter mine are coming off the roof and onto a ground mount. I will not spend another winter climbing ladders with a pole to sweep the snow off. It is just to much work.

 

[Sky Noris]

I just added a relay so that it uses the power from my inverter to heat rather than the grid power. It is only heating at 1kw which is fine with me. It normally is hooked up to the 220 which makes it a 4kw. It has worked very well. The only thing that I can not do with the Magnum Inverter is the hot tub pump. It is just to much for it. That runs about 4kw a day for electricity. I would have to add another inverter to take care of that but for me it just is not worth the expense. The savings already are around $160 a month. The wife is pleased with a bill of $40 a month.

I have been very pleased with the results after adding another 30Kw of batteries. The batteries have not been worked so hard. I am still working to get them fully charged. They are staying in balance very well so far with no top balance. My thoughts are to get them in service asap and then deal with them. I am making about 44kw a day of electricity a day off the panels and hope to get more after I get the panels off the roof later in the summer.

I got the extra batteries because with just 30kw I was running out of battery power and had to drop back to the grid. I wanted enough capacity to basically have an off grid house except the hot tub motor. Which really is amazing considering all the stuff that I have running on my Magnum 4400 watt inverter. Two freezers, three refrigerators, full house hydronics heating, solar domestic pump, pool pump, microwave, toaster, small electric oven, lighting, computers, dehydrators, TV, internet, phones etc. A lot of stuff and the inverter sometimes the fan turns on but most times it just is there humming away.

Regarding your panels on the roof. I know after last winter mine are coming off the roof and onto a ground mount. I will not spend another winter climbing ladders with a pole to sweep the snow off. It is just to much work.

Very understandable cleaning roof mounted panels in the winter would be very tedious - risky. I've got a flat roof on my garage so I can give them a steep angle for the winter in hopes they will clear themselves. I'm currently sitting on 25 KW of storage and would like to double it before winter hits.

 

[RV10flyer]

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.

No worries. Most HVAC systems have water over 120 or 240VAC. Just throw in some preventative maintenance and daily inspection of your power plant or hvac and you'll be fine.

 

[WindWizard]

Very understandable cleaning roof mounted panels in the winter would be very tedious - risky. I've got a flat roof on my garage so I can give them a steep angle for the winter in hopes they will clear themselves. I'm currently sitting on 25 KW of storage and would like to double it before winter hits.

I doubled mine from 30kw to 60kw storage. It really makes a difference. What I have noticed is that the Cells are not worked as hard. Before they were going into full charge around 1PM or so and then the extra power was being wasted. Now the Cells are still charging and I am getting a lot more daily kw's. This has helped me remain on battery when the days are cloudy and rainy.

I have the spots marked in the yard for the new ground mounts to move the panels off the roof. I am hoping that they will be placed well to avoid shading. We have a number of trees in the yard which is making it a bit difficult to come up with an ideal spot. Winter the sun just barely comes off the horizon so this big pine tree takes its turn shading the panels. We are hoping to take it down.

 

[toluxa1]

I doubled mine from 30kw to 60kw storage. It really makes a difference. What I have noticed is that the Cells are not worked as hard. Before they were going into full charge around 1PM or so and then the extra power was being wasted. Now the Cells are still charging and I am getting a lot more daily kw's. This has helped me remain on battery when the days are cloudy and rainy.

I have the spots marked in the yard for the new ground mounts to move the panels off the roof. I am hoping that they will be placed well to avoid shading. We have a number of trees in the yard which is making it a bit difficult to come up with an ideal spot. Winter the sun just barely comes off the horizon so this big pine tree takes its turn shading the panels. We are hoping to take it down.

Hi. What percentage of your 60kw do you use daily? Are you off grid? Do you have air conditioning?
Sorry I'm asking because I'm just trying to set up my solar and even though 30kw is what I planned to do, but I'm thinking of just doing 60kw once and for all instead of having to think of upgrading sometime later. I want to make sure I'm not doing an extra overkill.
Unfortunately I'm not sure of what my load will be like yet as it's a new house we are still building

 

[keaton85]

So, did you not do any solar tax credit and you dont back feed the grid? I know CMP is a pretty bad company in peoples opinion but darn your just hurting yourself when CMP couldnt care less. A couple forms and your not only helping yourself keep costs down but your also helping the rest of the grid, and that's kind of the point isn't it?

Where did you get your cells? and did they come out to be cheaper than rack mount EG4 units?