I'm in the midst of installing the upgrade to a 12kw solar backup system.
Today I got just 12 panels installed and took delivery of some of the batteries.
Only one upgraded inverter arrived and one of the batteries was damaged during shipping.
Suppose to snow tomorrow so I will be wiring up my auto gen start and keeping warm inside.
Since Alberta's power is deregulated, I signed up with a "green" provider who pays $0.15 a kWh for power I put back into the grid. I also locked in at $0.07 a kWh for purchasing when required.
Excited to have it all running and hooked up to my existing system by end of the weekend.
_________________
Deep in the night you will look into the ever looming dark and despair, and think...
"Damn it, I should have listened to Crier.... that bastard is brilliantly gifted with "supernatural common sense."
Nice setup...are those 6V cells?
Nice setup...are those 6V cells?
Yes, setting up a 48v system.
Battery specs: (canadian made)
http://rollsbattery.com/public/specsheets/S-600.pdf
_________________
Deep in the night you will look into the ever looming dark and despair, and think...
"Damn it, I should have listened to Crier.... that bastard is brilliantly gifted with "supernatural common sense."
A 48V system built on 6V batteries should give you plenty of power and really great battery life.
If you don't mind me asking, what inverter are you using and do you integrate DC items into the system?
A 48V system built on 6V batteries should give you plenty of power and really great battery life.
If you don't mind me asking, what inverter are you using and do you integrate DC items into the system?
Running parallel 6kw Schneider inverters. The only DC power running into the inverters is from the panels.
Today I mounted one inverter, the transfer switch and the meter base.
Took all day. Instructions for a DYI is very vague at best.
Wishing my buddy Steve lived closer....
Tomorrow I'm firing up the welder to fabricate my cabinet for the battery banks and hooking up the hydrogen gas ventilation fans.
_________________
Deep in the night you will look into the ever looming dark and despair, and think...
"Damn it, I should have listened to Crier.... that bastard is brilliantly gifted with "supernatural common sense."
Crybaby,
The quality I like most about you, is when you decide to do a project you don't screw around. It is either all or nothin'.
Your solar package would put Enmax or Atco Power to shame. Nice job. That should be enough backup to power a good size home.
Good to see you back on the Forum. Ride went well, I trust.
Cheers,
Mountainman.
Took off to Idaho for a few day to winterize my home down there and cut some brush.
Got back at the installation today welding up a battery cabinet from SS tubing and sheeting I had kicking around. Grounded the cabinet and installed the ventilation fan. Door hangs and fastens with four screws. Batteries will be tied together and online tomorrow.
Will start the programming which takes about a day.
_________________
Deep in the night you will look into the ever looming dark and despair, and think...
"Damn it, I should have listened to Crier.... that bastard is brilliantly gifted with "supernatural common sense."
so in real world usage terms (for a solar newbie) is this a large system? and what kind of power usage would a rig like this provide. I dont know anything about solar yet so bear with me. Thanks for the photos, looking forward to the completed project and final review.
See you all after.
This upgrade is a good sized system.
Will provide all my power requirements even based on 4.3 hours of winter sunlight a day.
And then some.
_________________
Deep in the night you will look into the ever looming dark and despair, and think...
"Damn it, I should have listened to Crier.... that bastard is brilliantly gifted with "supernatural common sense."
ok so lets say you have modern home conveniences (not sure what your power requirements are). so things like a fridge, freezer, home ventilation, some moderm tech (tv, etc), central heating, etc. Any idea what the average home power requirements are?
the reason I ask is because within the next 2 years (providing we dont explode on dec 21 😆 ) the misses and I are planning on purchasing our acreage. she wants to have modern home conveniences, and I want to be off grid as much as possible. How large of a solar power system would be required to provide us with all our power needs, as well as extra for high power usage times (such as when running shop equipment, laundry, etc). does it make sense financially to have the entire system running on solar? I would like to try and set something up similar to you crier, where your extra power usage is returned to the grid for a fee. I like the idea of the power company paying ME, and not the other way around haha. Sitting in a lawn chair drinking a beer, watching my meter spin backwards sounds like a great way to spend a sunday.
See you all after.
Bump to the top, cause I really would like more info on this. Or at least if anyone has any good resources to find the info out myself it would be greatly appreciated.
See you all after.
Bump to the top, cause I really would like more info on this. Or at least if anyone has any good resources to find the info out myself it would be greatly appreciated.
A quality grid tied 3Kw system with good power storage, a sufficient panel grid (24-32) is all that's needed for the average modest home.
More important is the ability to expand for possible future needs.
Today I averaged 6.332Kw per hour back to the grid.
_________________
Deep in the night you will look into the ever looming dark and despair, and think...
"Damn it, I should have listened to Crier.... that bastard is brilliantly gifted with "supernatural common sense."
An extra $8500 a year or so. Sounds like once you get a big enough system it pretty much pays for itself and then some. I like the sounds of that
This may be another stupid question, but what would happen to your system in a grid down scenario. Would it be effected in anyway?
See you all after.
It would be affected if it were a grid tied system only.... meaning grid dependent.
Here is a good article explaining it. (I don't agree with all of the article... Read the comments)
http://www.naturalnews.com/036194_solar_system_grid-tie_power_grid.html
An unshielded system would also be affected.
_________________
Deep in the night you will look into the ever looming dark and despair, and think...
"Damn it, I should have listened to Crier.... that bastard is brilliantly gifted with "supernatural common sense."
Very nice setup you have there. Is that the Xantrex 6048? I saw that one on sale a few weeks ago for 3000$ on some online store (plus shipping), it's a great 1-3 phase off grid/tie hybrid but the price for 6000 pure wave watts is pretty high at 2$ a watt, maybe more depending where you got it. Personally I like the idea of stacking off-grid inverters, they aren't as bulky and yet still mountable plus you can get away with wiring dedicated power to certain areas like a shop and generally they are cheaper - no, not foreign brands.. would never.
Those batteries look good too, how much did Shipping cost to Alberta? I've been pricing out my own solar requirements over the past 8 months or so and I have receieved a few quotes from a brand in the US called; Trojan Batteries.. They have some great industrial deep cycle batteries made for solar/wind/water power, the ones I have been looking at are the IND13 6v 1500 cycle, I believe the fact sheet on it says 820AH at 100 HRs(been awhile since I looked it over)... my last quote was 145$ per unit. Are they maintence free batteries?
http://www.trojanbatteryre.com/PDF/datasheets/IND13-6V_TrojanRE_Data_Sheets.pdf