diy solar

diy solar

Off-Grid Adventure in the High Jungle

AgroVenturesPeru

New Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Messages
409
I'm going to post this ongoing solar diary. Please feel free to interrupt at any time to point something out if I'm doing something wrong.

It feels like a gauntlet just to get this point. I haven't even started the installation yet, and I have absolutely zero background in electronics. I first started paying attention to Will and other stuff at the end of August 2020. That was the first time I was exposed to the topic of solar. Since then, I've been watching videos, reading articles, asking tons of questions on this website, dealing with plenty of poor customer service in my part of the world, and finally acquiring all the tools I need to make my dreams a reality.

My wife and I decided to build a house in this spot:

Panorama.JPG

We are still working on the house, and are getting close to completion. Just a few details now like painting... and tying up some other loose ends. We already had an electrician wire the house, and install outlets, light switches etc. We had him leave a connection for what comes next: the solar system. This will be our first house. A small, 8m x 5m pad, but it will feel like a blessing after living and working together for years in the sleeper cab of a long haul truck.

Here's a picture of the house from a couple months ago. It is a lot further along now:

Roof 1.jpg
 
I have been working on upgrading my string box for the past couple of days. It has been my first experience with cutting, stripping, and crimping wires. I did the best I could to anticipate all the tools I'd need for the whole installation, and ordered a bunch of stuff on Amazon to have it shipped down here. I certainly paid a premium to have everything imported. One of the tools is a handy ferrule crimpy, which has been very helpful so far.

This is the original string box meant for a 4s3p solar array:
IMG_2509.JPG

I decided that we were probably going to need to use a gasoline powered generator from time to time with the 4s3p system, so I did my research and calculated that a generator just did not make economic sense. Instead, I figured it would be a better investment to spend the same initial amount on upgrading my system with four more panels to a 4s4p array.

I think I did alright on upgrading the string box. For the upgrade, I was following local advice from another installer from a distributor in the capital. He seems to know solar very well. It was a little challenging working with the wires in such a confined space, because the size of box was meant for a 4s3p array.

Improved stringbox.jpeg
 
We purposely left one section of interior wall incomplete in our house. Just a couple weeks ago, we had the welders come out in order to customize a structure to our specifications. I had to draw everything to scale, and fiddle around for quite a bit on graph paper, due to the limitations of the pre-wired stuff my distributor sent me.

20210403_112524.jpgPlatinamedidas.JPG



I'll try to upload a picture soon of the wall. I'm probably going to start mounting the components to it this week.
 
I bet those bangs you're hearing have something to do with the interaction between your metal roof and your panels/mounts expanding and contracting at different rates.
 
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