jdanderson
New Member
I recently entered the world of solar with my first DIY system.
We bought 30 acres of land in northeast Texas and we are building a 4000 sq ft shop and a 1600 sq ft house. Both will be powered from our system which is housed in a solar equipment room in the shop building. The shop will be filled with wood working equipment, much of it 240v machines.
Components from Currnet Connected:
2x Victron 10kw Quattro inverters in split phase
2x Victron MPPT charge controllers 450v 200 amp
Lynx Power In
Lynx Shunt
Lynx Distributor
Cerbo GX and 7" monitor
3 server racks of SOK 48v 100AH batteries (75,000 watt-hour bank)
56 Aionrise 330watt panels
I picked up 14 EG4 BrightMount racks for the ground mounted panels from Signature Solar, which is an hour from our Texas property. I also got a 48v 22amp charger and some Midnite Solar SPD's from Signature Solar.
I framed out our solar equipment room and mounted the charge controllers, inverters, and Lynx components on the wall. Once I had it all configured with the cables provided by Current Connected, I assembled the three SOK battery racks.
Currently I have 16 of the 56 panels deployed on temporary ground mounts. I assembled four of the EG4 racks (four panels per rack) and set them on 4x4 pressure treated temporary bases. This Spring I will pour four concrete piers per rack using 10" sonotube.
I set a 200 amp main panel, being fed by the two independent inverter outputs so I can run both 120v and 240v circuits.
I have 2" conduit runs underground from the solar room to the utility room in the house and to a central location in the wood working shop. Sub panels will be installed at those locations soon.We are currently powering outside and inside lighting (LED's), a refrigerator, and various tools we are using for construction.
We are also using a commercial induction cooktop, and an 1800 watt space heater inside our tent. It has not been a problem to power our currently minimal loads with 16 panels. Running the space heater overnight (as well as outdoor lights and the refrigerator) reduces our battery bank by about 10 or 12%. Our battery bank has been able to charge fully during the daylight hours, even on overcast days.
We live in Colorado and are making week long trips to our property about once a month. Progress is slow, but we are making progress.
I still have wire management to do and the system looks pretty sloppy as of now. I'll get all of that cleaned up on my next trip down.
I've been looking at the EG4 Split System/Heat Pump units that run off DC/AC hybrid input.
I plan to install a 24,000 BTU split system during the last week of January. I'll put it on 4 or 6 of the TaleSun 400w bifacial panels that Signature Solar has for $108 each right now. I'll run a 240v circuit from my main Victron system to supplement its operation overnight.
We bought 30 acres of land in northeast Texas and we are building a 4000 sq ft shop and a 1600 sq ft house. Both will be powered from our system which is housed in a solar equipment room in the shop building. The shop will be filled with wood working equipment, much of it 240v machines.
Components from Currnet Connected:
2x Victron 10kw Quattro inverters in split phase
2x Victron MPPT charge controllers 450v 200 amp
Lynx Power In
Lynx Shunt
Lynx Distributor
Cerbo GX and 7" monitor
3 server racks of SOK 48v 100AH batteries (75,000 watt-hour bank)
56 Aionrise 330watt panels
I picked up 14 EG4 BrightMount racks for the ground mounted panels from Signature Solar, which is an hour from our Texas property. I also got a 48v 22amp charger and some Midnite Solar SPD's from Signature Solar.
I framed out our solar equipment room and mounted the charge controllers, inverters, and Lynx components on the wall. Once I had it all configured with the cables provided by Current Connected, I assembled the three SOK battery racks.
Currently I have 16 of the 56 panels deployed on temporary ground mounts. I assembled four of the EG4 racks (four panels per rack) and set them on 4x4 pressure treated temporary bases. This Spring I will pour four concrete piers per rack using 10" sonotube.
I set a 200 amp main panel, being fed by the two independent inverter outputs so I can run both 120v and 240v circuits.
I have 2" conduit runs underground from the solar room to the utility room in the house and to a central location in the wood working shop. Sub panels will be installed at those locations soon.We are currently powering outside and inside lighting (LED's), a refrigerator, and various tools we are using for construction.
We are also using a commercial induction cooktop, and an 1800 watt space heater inside our tent. It has not been a problem to power our currently minimal loads with 16 panels. Running the space heater overnight (as well as outdoor lights and the refrigerator) reduces our battery bank by about 10 or 12%. Our battery bank has been able to charge fully during the daylight hours, even on overcast days.
We live in Colorado and are making week long trips to our property about once a month. Progress is slow, but we are making progress.
I still have wire management to do and the system looks pretty sloppy as of now. I'll get all of that cleaned up on my next trip down.
I've been looking at the EG4 Split System/Heat Pump units that run off DC/AC hybrid input.
I plan to install a 24,000 BTU split system during the last week of January. I'll put it on 4 or 6 of the TaleSun 400w bifacial panels that Signature Solar has for $108 each right now. I'll run a 240v circuit from my main Victron system to supplement its operation overnight.
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