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Krime

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hey, a lot of you people are going, or thinking about solar. the industry interested me for obvious reasons (lol after all, im on this site) so im in a university for Sustainable Energy Technology, and only have about 3 months till I graduate with dang near all A's (2 B's), soooo if anyone needs some advice about solar, please feel free to ask. oh.....and btw....if you're thinking about going through a company, DONT in house finance through them, most times they rip you off.
 
hey, a lot of you people are going, or thinking about solar. the industry interested me for obvious reasons (lol after all, im on this site) so im in a university for Sustainable Energy Technology, and only have about 3 months till I graduate with dang near all A's (2 B's), soooo if anyone needs some advice about solar, please feel free to ask. oh.....and btw....if you're thinking about going through a company, DONT in house finance through them, most times they rip you off.
Do you have any suggestions on who to buy from? I'm going to put my own system up, and will do it in stages. I was looking at a co. Called grape solar, but would be interested in any wholesalers.
 
be careful with that, inverters are only made to hold so much power, and too big of inverters wont accomplish small loads. you could use micro inverters, but I hear they get warm quick, and can be linked to fires happening....unless you find like real good ones, but the fear is still there for me. I haven't really looked into actual solar suppliers as of yet, BUT be careful of what you buy, most good panels are 245watt and are usually warrantied for 20 years, but some, like Harbor Freight are pure crap for home usage, and some don't have the warranty.
I prefer these types of solar cells though because they more efficiently gather the suns energy. the bigger cells can dissipate that energy and not produce the same.
 

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Krime what is your opinion on Astronergy or solarworld or topoint?
personally, ive never heard of those companies. im in So-cal, and companies vary, However, I DID do some research for you, and out of those 3 im going to say Astronergy. and that reason is cuz they not only use the "mono" cells, but I hear tell the black ones are more proficient with "shaded light" which means even when the sun isn't at Zenith, its still pulling sufficient amps from non direct sunlight (I could be wrong on their types of panels not being what I said here, I haven't seen them up close) also, I checked and Solarworld doesn't offer the 20 year warranty on their panels it seems, but I couldn't find warrantys on either of the other 2 either....you really WANT to make sure that's in place. but I WILL say, that all of the panels I looked at seem like the high end type panels, and should have the long lasting effect anyway. with Astronergy you can always call to see if there is a warranty. if I can remember, on Monday, ill ask my professor, just to have a second opinion on it.
 
be careful with that, inverters are only made to hold so much power, and too big of inverters wont accomplish small loads. you could use micro inverters, but I hear they get warm quick, and can be linked to fires happening....unless you find like real good ones, but the fear is still there for me. I haven't really looked into actual solar suppliers as of yet, BUT be careful of what you buy, most good panels are 245watt and are usually warrantied for 20 years, but some, like Harbor Freight are pure crap for home usage, and some don't have the warranty.
I prefer these types of solar cells though because they more efficiently gather the suns energy. the bigger cells can dissipate that energy and not produce the same.
Balancing any electrical system is important. I think what I want are seperate systems, and hook a few circuits to each individually. If you have 3 seperate setups, the odds of all 3 going down at the same time are slim. Do you have a chart for determining how many of the 245 watt systems and batteries it would take to run a modern efficient refrigerator? It pulls 10 amps max. I'll check the chest freezer soon as well, but I'm assuming it's comparable. My first set up will be just for these two appliances. Any input is appreciated.
 
Lesson learned....I have a very well developed off-the grid power system (both solar and wind technology has been used) at my new BOL. It took all summer to make it happen, but it was lessons learned from my earlier investment on my home. I've actually enjoyed the benefits of solar system.

Here is our past discussion on solar systems.

http://www.doomsdayprepperforums.co...-energy-choosing-between-solar-and-wind.3886/
 
Balancing any electrical system is important. I think what I want are seperate systems, and hook a few circuits to each individually. If you have 3 seperate setups, the odds of all 3 going down at the same time are slim. Do you have a chart for determining how many of the 245 watt systems and batteries it would take to run a modern efficient refrigerator? It pulls 10 amps max. I'll check the chest freezer soon as well, but I'm assuming it's comparable. My first set up will be just for these two appliances. Any input is appreciated.
ok so you're doing a stand alone system, which means off grid right? be careful cuz batteries, even made for solar, need to be replaced every 5 years, and that can cost some bucks. car batteries only last like 3 hooked up....though I hear tell the people at Tesla are making a lithium that will change all that.
with individuals, id go micro inverter (but make sure you have enough ventilation for them to cool)
a car battery is usually 12 volts, so, you need to find the volts using Ohms Law, and in this case you have watts and amps so P/I=V so 245/10=24.5 which means youll need 3 12v batteries per 245 watt 10amp panel to make it work. now that we know that, we can figure out your fridge, youll have to pull it out and look at the back, theres usually a template chart that tells watts/volts/amps....though doesn't always say all 3 on them. EVERYTHING is configured by Ohms Law, so, I would suggest, you being a prepper and all, that you look seriously into learning it, cuz especially in solar, and anything electrical, youll use it A LOT!
 
hey Z, I asked my instructor, he said 1st: they make black panels that don't gain on indirect sunlight (another wards, they work like normal panels) and 2: some of those panels, which I didn't even think about till he said it, are 1000 volt. its pretty much illegal in the united states to put those on an establishment, as anything over 600v then becomes medium voltage, which, ill say the wire for that gets into KCmill and takes expert electrician to wire up. you can seriously hurt yourself with medium voltage. technicians pretty much wear bomb protection when working on it. those panels are meant for industrial solar fields and such, so you can rule those out.
 
hey Z, I asked my instructor, he said 1st: they make black panels that don't gain on indirect sunlight (another wards, they work like normal panels) and 2: some of those panels, which I didn't even think about till he said it, are 1000 volt. its pretty much illegal in the united states to put those on an establishment, as anything over 600v then becomes medium voltage, which, ill say the wire for that gets into KCmill and takes expert electrician to wire up. you can seriously hurt yourself with medium voltage. technicians pretty much wear bomb protection when working on it. those panels are meant for industrial solar fields and such, so you can rule those out.
I used to work with 480 and it made me a little uncomfortable. I worked alot of live lines in my life, but always shut down the 480.
 
I can't see how any solar panel can generate 1000v, 24v is the highest I've ever seen in a single panel. You can certainly string them in series to create high voltages though. However I have many times seen their max system voltage quoted as being 1000v, but that's of no consequence in the real world and refers to the insulating properties of the various parts of the panel, for example at 1000v+ you can expect to get arching as various components that are normally not conductive break down and conduct. As to how you will achieve this 1000v outside of a testing lab is not clear, but some commercial systems do get to these levels I think, for example a string of 40 24-volt panels will give you 960 volts (all nominal levels, much higher with no load). There are good reasons for using a voltage as high as possible, but there are dangers involved as well.

Most domestic solar systems are 24 or 48 volts, some go up to 96 and conversely some are 12 volts, those with micro inverters have mains AC levels at the panel. If you stick to the lower voltages (12/24) things are very safe although you can get a buzz from 24. At 48 you are starting to get into the area of getting a nice tingle if you touch the wrong thing, at 96 you have to be very careful.

Regardless of the voltage there are some potentially HUGE currents involved, do not drop a spanner across two wires :)

Any combination of panels and batteries that are matched (IE all 12/24/48/etc) will "work", it just may not be optimal. For example you can have a 100 panels and a single battery, that's very badly mismatched and the battery will be fully charged by about 6AM, but it will work. Likewise you can have 100 batteries and one panel, that may even be a reasonable option in some weird situation, it's hard to imagine where but it will "work".
 
I can't see how any solar panel can generate 1000v, 24v is the highest I've ever seen in a single panel. You can certainly string them in series to create high voltages though. However I have many times seen their max system voltage quoted as being 1000v, but that's of no consequence in the real world and refers to the insulating properties of the various parts of the panel, for example at 1000v+ you can expect to get arching as various components that are normally not conductive break down and conduct. As to how you will achieve this 1000v outside of a testing lab is not clear, but some commercial systems do get to these levels I think, for example a string of 40 24-volt panels will give you 960 volts (all nominal levels, much higher with no load). There are good reasons for using a voltage as high as possible, but there are dangers involved as well.

Most domestic solar systems are 24 or 48 volts, some go up to 96 and conversely some are 12 volts, those with micro inverters have mains AC levels at the panel. If you stick to the lower voltages (12/24) things are very safe although you can get a buzz from 24. At 48 you are starting to get into the area of getting a nice tingle if you touch the wrong thing, at 96 you have to be very careful.

Regardless of the voltage there are some potentially HUGE currents involved, do not drop a spanner across two wires :)

Any combination of panels and batteries that are matched (IE all 12/24/48/etc) will "work", it just may not be optimal. For example you can have a 100 panels and a single battery, that's very badly mismatched and the battery will be fully charged by about 6AM, but it will work. Likewise you can have 100 batteries and one panel, that may even be a reasonable option in some weird situation, it's hard to imagine where but it will "work".
first, volts isn't even what you look at, its just common to say volts, but volts is just the flow of electricity. it IS possible to have high volts with absolutely NO watts or amps running through it. it is the amps that are whats rated when dealing with death and under. however, to RUN a 1000v panel your looking at medium voltage which uses special wrap wire that has to be hooked up by a pro....I wouldnt touch it even if I was a pro personally.
 
I just want something small
A simple system can be wired up in minutes, I did one two days ago, 8 panels, 500w, the largest job is physically mounting the panels, but the wiring is very simple. If you just want a simple 1-2 panel system it's (almost) a no brainer, even with no electronics experience.

@Krime, voltage is a measure of the POTENTIAL of current to flow, it is not the actual flow, that's the current. I've been an electronics engineer for 30 years, and although solar is not really my field I have wired up maybe 10 systems and have a pretty good grasp of the technology. If your instructor has access to panels that will generate 1000v (as opposed to being rated to work in a 1000v system) please provide a link to them. If they exist they have totally revolutionised the industry and I've missed it entirely.
 
If the panel has enough cells in series maybe...gonna be one BIG panel. But what on earth would you do with 1000 volts?
 
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Reckon, it is feasible I guess but I would think only practical in a lab or just maybe a huge commercial installation where they really need to reduce the current because they are generating mega watts. Even then it would be cheaper to string standard 24v panels in series. But it's nothing anyone here will encounter when knocking up a solar system for their BOL/BOV :)
 

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