PunchySunshine
Solar Enthusiast
Hello All!
I just joined the forum but like most all of you I've been watching Will and working up the courage to build a nice big system. I built my first small PV system back in 2016 in order to charge batteries in the field. LaserSaber was the guru for me before Big Willy. I welded the 30 Ah battery pack out of new Samsung 20R 18650s and got the BMS from AliExpress. Same source for the charge controller and I used a 300 watt Samlex inverter. I threw everything in an big ammo box and I use a 100 watt flexible panel in a PVC frame so I can mount it to a C stand. Here it is saving our a$$, next to my buddies Jackery 1000 during a FOUR DAY power outage we here had last January.
Well, after that 4 day power outage in January in Colorado, my wife was a bit more on my side to get us properly backed up and scale this solar up!!
I had started spec'n the system with the Growatt inverters and the EG4 batteries but then Big Willy dropped that video with the EG4 inverters...you know the one....
So I started over using his schematic and finally worked up the courage to order all the parts at the start of August 2022.
Of course the panels show up first before literally everything. Great....I completely forgot about proper material staging
Then the parts just kept coming while I was out of town in Telluride working "hard".
Finally, I was done with work and helping family....I could break ground on Sept 28th 2022! Rented a full size skid with a 24" auger and the extension. We didn't wind up using the extension but I'm sure we'd have needed it if I wouldn't have gotten it. Only used a half day with the skid so that was great and we didn't break anything either!! :D Good start IMO!!
I realize I may have gone a bit overboard here with 4.5 feet down and 2 feet wide per footing but we got 100 mph north winds last winter and I would rather err on the side of caution. We also had to stay within our interpretation of our city code and that's why I've made two arrays instead of one big one.
Next was the forms and I used "Handeeman" on youtube just for the idea "suspension". I guess it's mentioned in the Ironridge docs but I didn't see that until after I built the damn thing.
Got four footings poured the first day and the last four the second. About a half a yard per footing, we definitely should have ordered the concrete instead of mixing onsite. 80lbs bags was a mistake....I'm gettin to old for this $hit!
The next mistake was not renting a trencher attachment for the skid when we did the holes. I didn't really know where the trench was gonna go but digging that by hand hurt my back and morale.
More to come....only 10 pics per post....
I just joined the forum but like most all of you I've been watching Will and working up the courage to build a nice big system. I built my first small PV system back in 2016 in order to charge batteries in the field. LaserSaber was the guru for me before Big Willy. I welded the 30 Ah battery pack out of new Samsung 20R 18650s and got the BMS from AliExpress. Same source for the charge controller and I used a 300 watt Samlex inverter. I threw everything in an big ammo box and I use a 100 watt flexible panel in a PVC frame so I can mount it to a C stand. Here it is saving our a$$, next to my buddies Jackery 1000 during a FOUR DAY power outage we here had last January.
Well, after that 4 day power outage in January in Colorado, my wife was a bit more on my side to get us properly backed up and scale this solar up!!
I had started spec'n the system with the Growatt inverters and the EG4 batteries but then Big Willy dropped that video with the EG4 inverters...you know the one....
So I started over using his schematic and finally worked up the courage to order all the parts at the start of August 2022.
Of course the panels show up first before literally everything. Great....I completely forgot about proper material staging
Then the parts just kept coming while I was out of town in Telluride working "hard".
Finally, I was done with work and helping family....I could break ground on Sept 28th 2022! Rented a full size skid with a 24" auger and the extension. We didn't wind up using the extension but I'm sure we'd have needed it if I wouldn't have gotten it. Only used a half day with the skid so that was great and we didn't break anything either!! :D Good start IMO!!
I realize I may have gone a bit overboard here with 4.5 feet down and 2 feet wide per footing but we got 100 mph north winds last winter and I would rather err on the side of caution. We also had to stay within our interpretation of our city code and that's why I've made two arrays instead of one big one.
Next was the forms and I used "Handeeman" on youtube just for the idea "suspension". I guess it's mentioned in the Ironridge docs but I didn't see that until after I built the damn thing.
Got four footings poured the first day and the last four the second. About a half a yard per footing, we definitely should have ordered the concrete instead of mixing onsite. 80lbs bags was a mistake....I'm gettin to old for this $hit!
The next mistake was not renting a trencher attachment for the skid when we did the holes. I didn't really know where the trench was gonna go but digging that by hand hurt my back and morale.
More to come....only 10 pics per post....
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