Difference between revisions of "New solar system"

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{{Blog|1=We made out first panels (2x75w) at the end of 2012, and then made another two 150w panels about a year later. These have served us very well, but we've finally decided to replace the whole set up with a completely new and more powerful system.
 
{{Blog|1=We made out first panels (2x75w) at the end of 2012, and then made another two 150w panels about a year later. These have served us very well, but we've finally decided to replace the whole set up with a completely new and more powerful system.
  
First I took all the old panels and structure down. The first pair of 75w panels were in pretty bad condition! one of them had stopped working completely, but amazingly the other was still putting out about 75% power even though all the wood was rotten and the cells were all broken! One of them disintegrated and fell when I was lowering it down with a rope, but luckily the glass didn't break. The second pair of 150w panels were still operating pretty well, but the glass in both of them was cracked, the first by [[The super-hail is coming!!!|super-hail]] and the second due to the roof and wood slowly bending out of shape.
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First I took all the old [[Building our solar panels|home made panels]] and structure down. The first pair of 75w panels were in pretty bad condition! one of them had stopped working completely, but amazingly the other was still putting out about 75% power even though all the wood was rotten and the cells were all broken! One of them disintegrated and fell when I was lowering it down with a rope, but luckily the glass didn't break. The second pair of 150w panels were still operating pretty well, but the glass in both of them was cracked, the first by [[The super-hail is coming!!!|super-hail]] and the second due to the roof and wood slowly bending out of shape.
 
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|[[File:RIP v1 panels.jpg|452px]]
 
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The new set up involves 6x260w panels with a 1Kw charge-controller/inverter unit and two 240Ah batteries. I had installed the controller and batteries a few days before, and after spending the whole morning removing the old installation from the roof, I only had time in the afternoon to get one pair of the new panels installed. The next session a couple of days later I got the rest of the structure ready for the remaining four panels. I had to raise two of the bottom ends of the vertical metal bars up a bit to compensate for how bent our roof is! Unfortunately this will mean that two of the pairs won't be at exactly the same height, but it's better to ensure that the panels are sitting nice and flat than to have it looking nice.
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The new set up involves 6x260w panels with a 1Kw charge-controller/inverter unit and two 240Ah batteries. I had installed the controller and batteries a few days before, and after spending the whole morning removing the old installation from the roof, I only had time in the afternoon to get one pair of the new panels installed. The next session a couple of days later I got the rest of the structure ready for the remaining four panels. I had to raise two of the bottom ends of the vertical metal bars up a bit to compensate for how bent our roof is! Unfortunately this will mean that the right pair will be at a different angle than the others, but it's better to ensure that the panels are sitting nice and flat than to have it looking perfect.
 
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|[[File:V3 controller and batteries.jpg|254px]]
 
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The new system seems to have some problems though. First I couldn't figure out how to attach the panels to the structure properly using the parts supplied - our panels are 35mm thick, but the clamps seem to only support 40mm panels even though the manual says they somehow support both. I've had to temporarily raise the panels up with a stack of washers until the people at the shop can explain the situation.
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I had to wait a week before I could finish the installation because our panels are 35mm thick, but the clamps only support 40mm panels even though the shop sold them all together. The manual said that the claps work for both sizes of panel but I couldn't figure out how that can be, the only way I could get it to work was by raising the panel up with a stack of washers! I went back to the shop and asked how the clamps can work for our panels, and after trying to figure it out they came to the same conclusion as me - that they need to be raised up - the odd thing is that nobody had ever reported this problem to them! I got a bunch of 5mm steel pieces to raise them up more reliably than the washers.
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|[[File:Panel needs raising.jpg|254px]]
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|[[File:Panel raised better.jpg|452px]]
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[[File:Panel needs raising.jpg|452px]]
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The final session to get the last four panels up ended up taking all day and I put my foot through the roof twice! I've just covered the holes with some spare roofing panels for now and will have to nail them in properly later :-( I was just using metre long planks of wood to sit on to try and distribute the pressure to protect the roof, but it wasn't enough, I found that putting the aluminium ladder flat on the roof was much safer and worked well.
  
The other problems are with the inverter, its web-page just shows zero for all the parameters, and the readings on the display of voltage and power don't match the readings we take directly from the panels with a multimeter. We're back in Caxias now and will be going to the shop soon to find some answers!
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Here's a couple of photos of all the panels up and running :-) We can now use all our power tools, the spinner dryer, washing machine and even our vacuum cleaner directly from the inverter!
 
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'''Update:''' Well we went to Caxias and got our answers... the problem with the power reading fro the panels is that the system limits the amount of power that can come in based on how charged the battery is and how much is needed to supply the load we're using. The issue with the web=page showing all zero is that we need to do some more configuration on the inverter to give the add-on card permission to access the necessary port. But the really strange thing is that they couldn't figure out the how to get the bracket to fit the 35mm panels either! They came to the conclusion that the only way to do it is as I've done by putting something under the panel to raise it up to 40mm! They said that nobody else had ever mentioned this problem so they didn't know about it!! So rather than use a stack of washers, I at least got some 5mm thick steel pieces of the right size :-/
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|[[File:V3 panels installed 2.jpg|452px]]
 
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|[[File:V3 panels installed 1.jpg|452px]]
[[File:Panel raised better.jpg|452px]]
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|2=}}<noinclude>[[Category:Blog items]][[Category:Posts by Nad]][[Category:Our fifth year on the land]]</noinclude>
 
|2=}}<noinclude>[[Category:Blog items]][[Category:Posts by Nad]][[Category:Our fifth year on the land]]</noinclude>

Latest revision as of 13:20, 24 June 2018

Posted by Nad on 07 November 2017 at 11:40
This post has the following tags : Our fifth year on the land


We made out first panels (2x75w) at the end of 2012, and then made another two 150w panels about a year later. These have served us very well, but we've finally decided to replace the whole set up with a completely new and more powerful system.

First I took all the old home made panels and structure down. The first pair of 75w panels were in pretty bad condition! one of them had stopped working completely, but amazingly the other was still putting out about 75% power even though all the wood was rotten and the cells were all broken! One of them disintegrated and fell when I was lowering it down with a rope, but luckily the glass didn't break. The second pair of 150w panels were still operating pretty well, but the glass in both of them was cracked, the first by super-hail and the second due to the roof and wood slowly bending out of shape.

RIP v1 panels.jpg
V2 panels still usable.jpg

The new set up involves 6x260w panels with a 1Kw charge-controller/inverter unit and two 240Ah batteries. I had installed the controller and batteries a few days before, and after spending the whole morning removing the old installation from the roof, I only had time in the afternoon to get one pair of the new panels installed. The next session a couple of days later I got the rest of the structure ready for the remaining four panels. I had to raise two of the bottom ends of the vertical metal bars up a bit to compensate for how bent our roof is! Unfortunately this will mean that the right pair will be at a different angle than the others, but it's better to ensure that the panels are sitting nice and flat than to have it looking perfect.

V3 controller and batteries.jpg
V3 panels, 2 of 6 installed.jpg
V3 panels, structure ready.jpg

I had to wait a week before I could finish the installation because our panels are 35mm thick, but the clamps only support 40mm panels even though the shop sold them all together. The manual said that the claps work for both sizes of panel but I couldn't figure out how that can be, the only way I could get it to work was by raising the panel up with a stack of washers! I went back to the shop and asked how the clamps can work for our panels, and after trying to figure it out they came to the same conclusion as me - that they need to be raised up - the odd thing is that nobody had ever reported this problem to them! I got a bunch of 5mm steel pieces to raise them up more reliably than the washers.

Panel needs raising.jpg
Panel raised better.jpg

The final session to get the last four panels up ended up taking all day and I put my foot through the roof twice! I've just covered the holes with some spare roofing panels for now and will have to nail them in properly later :-( I was just using metre long planks of wood to sit on to try and distribute the pressure to protect the roof, but it wasn't enough, I found that putting the aluminium ladder flat on the roof was much safer and worked well.

Here's a couple of photos of all the panels up and running :-) We can now use all our power tools, the spinner dryer, washing machine and even our vacuum cleaner directly from the inverter!

V3 panels installed 2.jpg
V3 panels installed 1.jpg