diy solar

diy solar

Tell me about SolArk.

Mine is a 1969. Bought it in 1987 as a daily driver. From what I can tell, it is within 1000 of the last one made. Needs a LOT of TLC on the body, but the frame is sound.
The idea is that later we will upgrade our little camper to a coach and bring the Healey along in a box trailer as a street legal "golf cart" to cruise around in.
Hoping to find a way to use 280Ah cells to power it. If I can fit them, I'll have 28kWh for over 100 mile range.
The math on the motor looks MUCH faster than your VW. Top end would be 140+ mph. With far less range of course. ??
 
I could do east and west facing panels, but the south facet of the roof is the largest and is less visible from the street. If needed, I can still fit another 7 of the 380W panels to push me up over 10kW.
 
...I have a plan to convert an old Austin Healey Sprite in my garage to electric. When that happens, I will need to add more panels. I'll have to do the math, but if another 4kW doesn't support it, then I will add some panels with microinverters on the AC side to leave more power on the DC side for charging batteries.

Gasp.. sacrilege! Grew up with my father’s ‘67 Austin healey 3000 mark iii and loved the slow purr of the straight 6. Of course that was when it was running and he was not dealing with electric issues... ?
 
I could do east and west facing panels, but the south facet of the roof is the largest and is less visible from the street. If needed, I can still fit another 7 of the 380W panels to push me up over 10kW.

Bigger is better... especially with cloudy weather.
 
It sounds like you have a solid plan with your system. I like the idea of adding panels with micro inverters later.

I'm in the Clearwater area and my house is about the same size as yours. Our projects are very similar. We are going to get a lot of bang for the buck.

I think Sol-Ark would recommend you keep the AC coupled micro inverters closer to 20% of your panels.
 
That's interesting.
I'm wondering what kind of loads you are running if you need over 24kW of solar. You must have a pool and lots of other power hungry items like electric cars or something. That certainly sounds rich to me! ??

I originally wanted to go with 10kW of panels, but the math worked out that I can generate all my power and sell some back with less than 8kW. That's an 1800sf home in Florida with the A/C running almost all year. That's not even replacing the 18 year old A/C, or water heater.

I have a plan to convert an old Austin Healey Sprite in my garage to electric. When that happens, I will need to add more panels. I'll have to do the math, but if another 4kW doesn't support it, then I will add some panels with microinverters on the AC side to leave more power on the DC side for charging batteries.

I'm told that the SolArk works fine this way. Unless I start running a battery build business on the property, I don't see how I get to those levels. If I do, there will be a separate system that is paid for by the business.

Ya i use a lot of current. I have a couple shops that use an airconditioner. House has 4.5 ton unit, and i use 3 - 25k btu units in my shops. Not to mention aircompressors, plasma cutters, welder etc etc.
 
PV Rapid Shut Off is now required for all new solar installs here. This is a shut down to turn off all the power on the roof. Under the "old" rule, a relay at the combiner box was good enough, but now they want it at each panel. All wiring has to be under 30 volts in under 30 seconds from hitting the kill switch. Micro inverters and PV optimizer boxes now do the rapid shut down, but string inverter systems need an added box at each of the panels now.
There is an exception in the code that if an install of the DC PV equipment only enters a building dedicated to housing that equipment, it does not have to comply with rapid shutdown.

IE: if you have a ground mount solar array and all the DC circuits go to a solar shed right next to it, and it is only used for PV equipment, rapid shutdown is not needed.

So put a shed next to your ground mounts, invert to AC then pipe that AC where you need it.

Screenshot_20200829-102637_Adobe Acrobat.jpg
 
There is an exception in the code
And I believe the solar panels on my patio are classified the same way. The unknown question is that my inverter is in my garage?
My guess is that since the code is to protect firefighters who might be on the roof of a residence only inverter level shutdown is required for my patio cover arrays. In my case that is simply a switch labeled RSD next to my service panel.
 
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And I believe the solar panels on my patio are classified the same way. The unknown question is that my inverter is in my garage?
My guess is that since the code is to protect firefighters who might be on the roof of a residence only inverter level shutdown is required for my patio cover arrays. In my case that is simply a switch labeled RSD next to my service panel.
You cant have any DC circuitry enter your dwelling with 6' or more length. So that basically means if your inverter is taking in DC power within your home, you will need rapid shutdown.

Solar sheds are the best way around this with a ground mount.
 
You cant have any DC circuitry enter your dwelling with 6' or more length.
Thanks, that helps to clarify it for my particular situation. That DC is in conduit that is labeled but it does enter the garage where the inverters are mounted. I will have to do some thinking about how to resolve that. I already plan on using the RSD on the outside to shut down the hybrid inverter which will in turn shut down the AC coupled Solaredge inverters whose panels are are on the roof. I guess I need to intercept the DC coming into my hybrid inverter in the garage. I could use a relay on the DC but it may have to be a high voltage relayor contactor. I think I will clarify with my building department which level of code regulations that they are on. I have a great deal of respect for firefighters so I want to do all that is necessary for their safety.
 
Do you have rapid shutdown modules on all of your panels Ampster? I noticed AltE store added them to all of my panels on their quote.
I know your micro inverters have rapid shutdown.
 
Thanks, that helps to clarify it for my particular situation. That DC is in conduit that is labeled but it does enter the garage where the inverters are mounted. I will have to do some thinking about how to resolve that. I already plan on using the RSD on the outside to shut down the hybrid inverter which will in turn shut down the AC coupled Solaredge inverters whose panels are are on the roof. I guess I need to intercept the DC coming into my hybrid inverter in the garage. I could use a relay on the DC but it may have to be a high voltage relayor contactor. I think I will clarify with my building department which level of code regulations that they are on. I have a great deal of respect for firefighters so I want to do all that is necessary for their safety.

Solar edge stuff is already rapid shutdown ready. The hybrid inverter maybe you could move it out to a detached non-dwelling and pipe the AC back into the garage.
 
Do you have rapid shutdown modules on all of your panels Ampster? .......
The RSD is native to the Optimizers on the roof. Their inverter is AC coupled to my hybrid so when I hit the RSD button the hybrid turns off the Solaredge which turns off the rooftop panels. The issue is the DC from the patio covers coming into the garage.
....... The hybrid inverter maybe you could move it out to a detached non-dwelling and pipe the AC back into the garage.
It would be easier to intercept the DC before it enters the building and shut it off by opening a big DC contactor that I already have. It is rated for 500 volts and has an economizer circuit. I could put that in series with the RSD shut down switch that shuts down the hybrid inverter. Thanks for the suggestion. My inverter could go outside and if I have to move my batteries outside that is an option. I have some work to do at the building department. Usually that is the kind of stuff that I do over the counter but Covid has limited that for now.
 
You cant have any DC circuitry enter your dwelling with 6' or more length. So that basically means if your inverter is taking in DC power within your home, you will need rapid shutdown.

Solar sheds are the best way around this with a ground mount.
Seems to me if your PV panels are on a ground mount, a single disconnect switch provide "rapid shutdown" of that DC circuit in your home.
0 VDC and 0 W in milliseconds.
So no need to put power conversion equipment in a separate shed.
 
Seems to me if your PV panels are on a ground mount, a single disconnect switch provide "rapid shutdown" of that DC circuit in your home.
0 VDC and 0 W in milliseconds.
So no need to put power conversion equipment in a separate shed.
The way i understood it is that rapid shutdown has nothing to do with the actual DC circuits going to the home, it is just a clause that requires rapid shutdown. Rapid shutdown involves lowering the voltage in the array to below 48v within 30s of time.

So if you put a DC disconnect from the ground mount between the house, it fails compliance because the array itself hasn't lowered its voltage to 48v or less. If any solar DC circuits (including combiner runs) get within 6 feet of the dwelling, rapid shutdown of the array is required.

690.12 has an exception for buildings solely for PV equipment, and Its only going to get stricter. I can understand since this is usually in safety concerns for roof mounted systems and first responders. So a shed to pipe 240v AC to your home is a simpler solution around the Rapid shutdown requirement.
 
@Haugen, I was talking with an acquaintance who has several 8Kw Deye units in the US. He said the battery he bought to work with Deye uses "protocol 12" for the CAN. I have no idea what that means. Hope this helps. Grey market Deye Inverters are in the US now.
 
@Haugen, I was talking with an acquaintance who has several 8Kw Deye units in the US. He said the battery he bought to work with Deye uses "protocol 12" for the CAN. I have no idea what that means. Hope this helps. Grey market Deye Inverters are in the US now.
Am very interested in getting a BMS that can be programmed to communicate with the Deye/Sunsynk/Sol-Ark inverters.

I know there are batteries that can communicate with them (Pylontech, Dyness, Meritsun, etc), but those pre-built power walls are pricey.

And this is, after all, a DIY Solar Power Forum, with emphasis on DIY. :)

I wish someone can open up those batteries so we can have a look-see on what BMS they use. Since it's the BMS that communicates with the inverter anyway.

The Smart BMS of, say, Daly have the UART/CAN/485 ports, so there might be a possibility of having them communicate with the inverter.
 
Am very interested in getting a BMS that can be programmed to communicate with the Deye/Sunsynk/Sol-Ark inverters.

I know there are batteries that can communicate with them (Pylontech, Dyness, Meritsun, etc), but those pre-built power walls are pricey.

And this is, after all, a DIY Solar Power Forum, with emphasis on DIY. :)

I wish someone can open up those batteries so we can have a look-see on what BMS they use. Since it's the BMS that communicates with the inverter anyway.

The Smart BMS of, say, Daly have the UART/CAN/485 ports, so there might be a possibility of having them communicate with the inverter.
That's why I'm moving forward with the Heltec BMS if the CAN bus works, we will have at least one DIY option we can steer everyone towards.
 
I got the call over the weekend.
All the parts will be in by tomorrow.

I could have them installing as early as Friday, but I wanted to talk to their supervisor to discuss some of the details about the layout and the requirements.
I learned tonight that my jurisdiction does not require the 3ft aisle to be left open.
I'm going to urge them to not leave that space. There is no reason for emergency responders to get on the roof anyway. Its metal so there is no entry that way. Much easier access other routes.

I'll schedule them to come out next week when I can take some time off work.
My cells just arrived. They are beautifully matched, so I can do some testing on them and finally try out the Heltec BMS.

If I can get the battery built before the installation, I can leverage the knowledge of the installer to check out the CAN bus.

Wish me luck!
 
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