Solar Setup

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Clyde

Clyde

H.M.F.I.C.
Neighbor
Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
5,240
Location
Communist State Of Kalifornia
Since I live in earthquake country, my solar system consists of a Yeti 1250 by Goal Zero. I also have two 30 watt solar panels and one 300 watt solar panel. The Yeti 1250 has Anderson Powerpole for both charging the unit and attaching things like CB or Ham radios. a 12 volt "cigarette lighter" type plug (i know I am aging myself calling it that), 3 USB and three 110 volt outlets. I have used this in many camping trips and Amateur Radio Field Days. It is a work horse. However, it isn't the lightest thing on the planet as it weighs over 100 pounds.
Yeti.jpg
 
BillMasen said:
good piece of kit then, you should be able to link it to a pair of 110 ah deep cycle batteries which i am told is the normal setup.
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Yes, I can hook up 110 AH batteries in series. I would like to put one or two more on. This solar generator proved itself during our last power outage. It was during the summer and thankfully I was able to keep my refrigerator running for length of the outage which, if memory serves, was about 13 hours. Not the power outage of the century, but a good way to see if my plans would work.
 
My In-law is a guide and is out in the middle of no where sometimes for weeks. He loves his yeti , he has a couple different models. We borrowed his when we had a 2 week power outage and it was amazing but heavy as can be!

Last year he got a lithium power station & it's so much lighter but holy hell the price difference. (Thank god it was a business right off for him)
 
To help with the weight, mount it some wheels. A small folding cart or cobble some 2x4's and wheels would work. Then, you may have to have a ramp to put it in a vehicle, as an example. No one needs a hurt back in an emergency situation!
 
I have a 100 watt solar panel, a digital control box, two 35 Ah gel batteries and an inverter that will turn the 12V into 220 V / AC up to 5000 watts. Additional batteries are coming soon. We tested it and can keep the fridge and freezer going. Just do not know how long, have done no stress tests till the inverter shuts the system down under
9.0 V-DC (automatic shutdown). The inverter can be used in the entire European continent by having FUNNY looking sockets which are specially formed to take any of 5 different plugs, 4 USB sockets with each 5.2 milliamps. Only cost about $30 in the UK in e-bay with delivery to Germany.
 
Here in the US, most appliance run on 120volts so we have to use a different inverter.

I currently have 6 100 watt panels charging two 110 AH gel batteries using 24volt. Have a 24v to 120 volt "pure sinewave" inverter. Just now getting this setup and hope to run a fridge, freezer and TV. I am still running the wiring under the house and hope to get it all up and running shortly. The travel bans are slowing me down a little as I need to still some more items to finish building the mounts. But, if necessary, I can get what I have up and running.
 
Sounds good. When I did a total rewire in my BOL, I ran the normal wiring for the 220V and then I ran a second circuit into each room. There is one wall socket in each room with a different color, these are not connected to the 220V. They run outside into a special box on the terrace. If I lose electricity, I can open the box, connect either 12V or 220V from a solar or a generator and have electricity in each room to run lights, TV, radio, fridge or freezers and things. These separate plugs never have any electricity otherwise. One of the normal plugs also has a 2.0 amp 5.3V USB connector built-in for charging anything over the USB type connection.
 
Exactly what I am doing but, unfortunally for me, it was not added when the house was built so now I am having to add the additional outlets. Lots of extra work but, as you did, I do not want any of these connected to the power grid. I don't want to have to involve the power company.
 
Great Jack, remember, if you get the system up and working, try something. Shut the power off completely or at least in one room, using the energy supply from your
off-grid source, build a plug from an old piece of cable, make connectors on both ends to look like an extension cord, BUT with MALE connectors on both ends.
If you go from the generator, you stick a male connector into the socket on it. Then you have a female connector on the other end, Normally. Now if you stick the male end into the off-grid source and the other male end into a wall socket in the shut off room, you should be shooting off-grid electricity into your regular ON-GRID electrical system. This is an indirect supply of power which goes to the lights and other wall sockets in the whole room, or even the whole house and you do not need to run other extension cords into all the other rooms in the house. GP
 
saw a tv show today "how do they do it" where they showed how they made solar powered street lights, thought that if things went south and you need lighting and have those kind of street lights in your area,it could be good to "salvage" a few as they have everything needed in a compact and durable package,only perhaps extend the wireing...
 
JackDW said:
Here in the US, most appliance run on 120volts so we have to use a different inverter.

I currently have 6 100 watt panels charging two 110 AH gel batteries using 24volt. Have a 24v to 120 volt "pure sinewave" inverter. Just now getting this setup and hope to run a fridge, freezer and TV. I am still running the wiring under the house and hope to get it all up and running shortly. The travel bans are slowing me down a little as I need to still some more items to finish building the mounts. But, if necessary, I can get what I have up and running.
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I think you are undersized on the battery side to cover a fridge and freezer with cloudy days in mind. Even though it hurt I went ahead and bought 10 100AH AGM batteries. I am using 8 of the 250w panels to charge with. I purchased a pallet of 20 panels with the intention of making a second separate system down the road. I ordered a split pure sine wave inverter that does 4K continuous and a 12K surge with both 120 and 240v. The dual phase inverter added a lot of extra cost to the project but being able to run the well is a big plus. The inverter hasn’t arrived yet, and was due already. It is the last piece I need, well aside from the cabling, breakers, small panel box and miscellaneous. I have the uprights cemented in the ground for the panels now and want to start welding the bars together maybe today. The batteries, inverter and two charge controllers are all getting installed under a stairwell as that was the best location I could come up with. Heat dissipation was a problem in a confined space so I installed adjustable vents that will draw in cooler air from inside the house and vent it outside. I will monitor the temp and airflow once everything is operational and see if I need to adjust anything like adding a small fan. Fire resistance is also an issue with a wooden staircase above all this. I may line everything with cement board before setting the batteries. Every step so far has brought up more things to consider with the project. Overall though I should be in the $7000. range (actual materials, no labor) to run 1/2 of my house. Will try to see about uploading photos soon.
 
JackDW said:
Exactly what I am doing but, unfortunally for me, it was not added when the house was built so now I am having to add the additional outlets. Lots of extra work but, as you did, I do not want any of these connected to the power grid. I don't want to have to involve the power company.
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I plan to run a line from my inverter panel over to the main panel box, probably with a small sub panel. There I will tie in a light circuit or any other circuits I want and can handle the power draw. It’s a lot easier than adding receptacles.
 
I don't think we will ever be able to afford such a system. We just want to be able to run some small appliances and the lighting in the house. The bigger stuff will be on the generator, the wiring is alreadyset up, for it to be operated outside and the electricity runs directly into the pantry and the rest of the house and is 6 Kw/220 V/ 3 phase. Who knows what will happen tho. GP
 
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Brent the problem I ran into with my 6kW continuous inverter was cabling. The cables I bought on Amazon were not as advertised and finding the correct cables was like a wild goose chase at first.

I learned that my cables weren't the gauge they were supposed to be when I cut one in half and put connectors on the ends to make two cables. The correct connector for the advertised gauge was loose when I crimped it. I thought something was wrong with the crimping tool, but it wasn't, the cable was not what it was sold as.
 
DrHenley said:
Brent the problem I ran into with my 6kW continuous inverter was cabling. The cables I bought on Amazon were not as advertised and finding the correct cables was like a wild goose chase at first.

I learned that my cables weren't the gauge they were supposed to be when I cut one in half and put connectors on the ends to make two cables. The correct connector for the advertised gauge was loose when I crimped it. I thought something was wrong with the crimping tool, but it wasn't, the cable was not what it was sold as.
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No doubt cabeling can be a big expense. I’m going with at least 24v but may do 36 or 48. The higher the voltage the smaller the wire size. I’m waiting on the inverter before deciding which to use. I put a lot of thought in this and fortunately all the distances are pretty short for my system. I have had some issues with amazon not being as described as well. Luckily they have returns....
 
GaRp58 said:
I don't think we will ever be able to afford such a system. We just want to be able to run some small appliances and the lighting in the house. The bigger stuff will be on the generator, the wiring is alreadyset up, for it to be operated outside and the electricity runs directly into the pantry and the rest of the hours and is 6 Kw/220 V/ 3 phase. Who knows what will happen tho. GP
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Yeah, 7K just to power half the house is tough. The power bill wouldn’t be near that. This is mostly for a backup plan just in case. Luckily this figure did include 20 250w panels. So I won’t need to buy more of them if I do go ahead and do the second system.
 
I agree with the above comment that the system I am starting with is WAY undersized. This is an initial setup which I am hoping will allow me to grow once I get it working (example planning on starting with 24v and not 12v). Hopefully, it will just be a matter of adding additional batteries, panels and upgrading the inverter. I am hoping the wiring I install in the house will support the future growth.

In my case, I am a very amateur electrician and when it comes to solar setups, I would not even reach that level. That is what why I am starting small (not miniature) while planning for future growth.

That is why I am keeping a close watch on Brent's system. I hope to learn from his experience.
Thanks Brent. Please get us updated with the installation of your system and most important also include any mistakes that you makes so we can avoid them.
 
JackDW said:
I agree with the above comment that the system I am starting with is WAY undersized. This is an initial setup which I am hoping will allow me to grow once I get it working (example planning on starting with 24v and not 12v). Hopefully, it will just be a matter of adding additional batteries, panels and upgrading the inverter. I am hoping the wiring I install in the house will support the future growth.

In my case, I am a very amateur electrician and when it comes to solar setups, I would not even reach that level. That is what why I am starting small (not miniature) while planning for future growth.

That is why I am keeping a close watch on Brent's system. I hope to learn from his experience.
Thanks Brent. Please get us updated with the installation of your system and most important also include any mistakes that you makes so we can avoid them.
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I been reading and learning as I go here too. Luckily having an electrical background helps but I am by no means a solar expert. I can figure out most things though with a little research. One thing I read about is it’s not a good idea to add new batteries with your old ones. I was going to use 8 batteries and decided to go with the 10 when I learned this.
 
I guess you know this, but the more batteries you have, the more efficient each battery is because you get more amp hours out of an AGM (or any lead acid battery for that matter) at a lower current. So two batteries last more than twice as long as one battery, and so on.
 
DrHenley said:
I guess you know this, but the more batteries you have, the more efficient each battery is because you get more amp hours out of an AGM (or any lead acid battery for that matter) at a lower current. So two batteries last more than twice as long as one battery, and so on.
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So the more money you spend on batteries, the more money you save?
 
Rellgar said:
So the more money you spend on batteries, the more money you save?
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I think I was somewhat ambiguous with the sentence "So two batteries last more than twice as long as one battery, and so on" so let me rephrase that.

Two batteries deliver more than twice the amp hours of one battery under the same overall load because each battery is running at lower current. So the charge lasts more than twice as long with two batteries as with one.

So if each battery has a capacity of 100 amp hours, two batteries together will have a capacity higher than 200 amp hours under the same usage. Sometimes much much higher under heavy loads.

I don't know if they have over twice the life span, but the life span is greatly improved because for the same number of amp hours delivered, each battery is discharged less. So under use in which one battery may discharge 50%, two batteries will discharge less than 25% each. So I supposed it is entirely possible for the life span to more than double, but I don't know for sure.
 
I was messin
DrHenley said:
I think I was somewhat ambiguous with the sentence "So two batteries last more than twice as long as one battery, and so on" so let me rephrase that.

Two batteries deliver more than twice the amp hours of one battery under the same overall load because each battery is running at lower current. So the charge lasts more than twice as long with two batteries as with one.

So if each battery has a capacity of 100 amp hours, two batteries together will have a capacity higher than 200 amp hours under the same usage. Sometimes much much higher under heavy loads.

I don't know if they have over twice the life span, but the life span is greatly improved because for the same number of amp hours delivered, each battery is discharged less. So under use in which one battery may discharge 50%, two batteries will discharge less than 25% each. So I supposed it is entirely possible for the life span to more than double, but I don't know for sure.
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I was messin with ya Doc, thanks
 
Well, I was going to upload some pictures of the solar project here. When I try to upload a file it actually gave me an option to change file size so I was hopeful it would work. (I had stopped trying to upload photos a while ago when I got the new iPad and they were all to big of files to load here). So, it lets me change the file size but then disconnects from the site.... crap.
I lined the underside of the stairwell with roofing tin. I’ve always got a few pieces around here. It’s great stuff for all kinds of uses. Then I uncrated the ten batteries and brought them all in and set in place. Since heat buildup is a major issue with battery life I installed vents with one down low and one high up that vents to the outside. This should create an airflow that will take cooler air from inside the house and vent it to the outside. Once I’m up and running I will check the temperature in this area and will install a fan with thermostat if need be but am fairly confident I won’t have to. I have two rows of five batteries each. I put down three strips of plywood under them and left an inch between each battery too for airflow and heat dissipation. I had tried to contact the supplier about the inverter being overdue but never heard back from them so I canceled the order today. I found a replacement one that actually is a little better, and right at the same price. It is a split phase as well, 120/240v, is 4K continuous and 12k peak. It has a charge controller built in but I got a dual charging system already. I may save it for the second system I’m considering doing. All I would need to do is get batteries and another inverter for that now. I say all I would need but in reality those are the most expensive parts..... I bought the crimping tool Doc recommended. Once it arrives I will decide on the crimps for the battery cables. I hope to have the rack system for the panels completed by tomorrow, and then I will prime and paint all the steel components before installing the panels. It’s moving along at least.
 
I got all the welding done today on the solar racking. I hope to grind, clean and prime and paint all the welds tomorrow. I am going to paint the entire frame with a gray oil base paint that I have left over from a light pole we installed. It helps having extra wire and miscellaneous supplies for this project leftover from the business.
 
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