Special room for solar & electrical stuff

[solitarysecluded]

Hey guys. Was planning to construct a small room for the system, making it hard or inaccessible by the little kids.

Any idea what's the best design for it? Air tight wall, concealed door = less humidity? Or with ventilation, air outward flow?

The terrain is uphill surrounded by trees, far away from seawater. Probably lots moisture in the air. Rain throughout 1/3 year.

 

[JCSchwarb]

I live in FL so understand your humidity concern. I built an 8x10 power room constructed on concrete slab, 2’ above grade. I used solid PT 4x4 with anchor bolts and sealed to concrete around all edges with silicone. Then my 2x4 walls and OSB was installed followed by glued 1/2” Polyiso Insulation board. Then 1x3” vertical furring was installed and lastly smart panel. I did the same under my metal roof. I build all my buildings using the continuous external insulation method as it pushes the envelope away from the inside. I went through a case of the large tubes of construction adhesive as all gaps are glued. Lastly I stuffed the 16” spacing with fiberglass batts. I used cement board/tile board for my inside walls and ceiling. My door is fiberglass with a window that is lockable. I can tell you things that I would liked to have improved in retrospect: Longer wall to fit all inverters horizontally, installation of external raceway box, as too much time spent routing wiring inside the walls.

I added an in-wall mini AC 23 SEER with digital therm control.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Happy building!

 

[toms]

I built my power room from coolroom panels on a concrete slab. Ventilation is from a vent through to my house that has climate control.

 

[JCSchwarb]

I built my power room from coolroom panels on a concrete slab. Ventilation is from a vent through to my house that has climate control.

Not familiar with cool room panels. Are those structural?

 

[solitarysecluded]

Hope this gives you some ideas. Happy building!

Thanks for sharing! appreciate it. Agreed. Maybe more to rectangle size.

 

[solitarysecluded]

Anyone doing any customization to this extend? centralized ventilation, wall ceiling cooling or just sprinkle water on roof

 

[toms]

Not familiar with cool room panels. Are those structural?

yes. plenty of info available online.

 

[toms]

Anyone doing any customization to this extend? centralized ventilation, wall ceiling cooling or just sprinkle water on roof
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Super complicated for what is required.

We get 50°C days here, and drawing air from our games room that is usually around 27°C on those days keeps the battery room below 35°C.

Keep the room as small as possible to get the best effect.

You can see in this photo i have a sliding wall that goes in the bottom channel and seals off this area. The exhaust fan is in the fixed wall and the vent is under my other inverter and draws air from the house.

 

[solitarysecluded]

Thanks toms. Agreed on keeping the room small.

 

[solitarysecluded]

Most people just install air-conditioner? allocate 10-15% solar energy into maintaining temp on power room?

I might do it too. Looks like the easiest solution

 

[toms]

I might do it too. Looks like the easiest solution

That’s how i started off, then i realised that i could aircondition my family games room and duct that into my powerhouse for only a fraction more energy use. Now kids AND electronics are happy in summer.

 

[solitarysecluded]

That’s how i started off, then i realised that i could aircondition my family games room and duct that into my powerhouse for only a fraction more energy use. Now kids AND electronics are happy in summer.

Agreed. It's a win-win solution. What is the HP aircon and consumption usage in watts?