Details and Pic's of my 3.1 Kw off grid system

[martycash]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and thought I would share my system build with you.

I will try to explain as much as I can

System details
Solar array- 12x Suntech stp-260 24V panels
Battery Bank- 16x Haze Gel marine 12v 282Ah (100hour rate)
4 banks of 4 series/paralell= 48V 1128Ah
Regulator- Plasmatronics PL60 60Amp controller
Inverter- Selectronics SA-42 48V/240V 3600W continuous pure sine wave (10kw Overload)
Array faces North @ 32deg which is our latitude, I have designed the mounting system to be adjustable being able to drop them down to the pitch of the roof (16deg) for summer in a couple of months, I'm still in two minds as to whether I should raise them to 45deg for winter, see what happens with power output come May/June. so I'm hoping that I will only need to adjust the panels twice a year?????

below is a few pics of the solar array I finished yesterday.
More pic's as i go along. Word of warning- Have someone help you
I put all this up myself and I'm absolutly stuffed, those panels are bloody heavy at 29kgs each (2000mm x 1000mm)

[russ]

Hi Marty,

Good looking setup and Well done! Like you pointed out - that is a lot of work!

Regarding the tilt you can try PV watts at www.pvwatts.org to see the difference in output at various tilts - depending on your requirements, FIT available (if grid linked) etc.

Russ

[Sunking]

Marty I am curious about your setup. From looking at the pictures of your installation, particularly the framing support of the solar panels, I cannot help think you designed this to be able to change the tilt angle over the course of a season. Or is it fixed?

What say you?

[martycash]

Hi Sunking, cut and paste from original

I have designed the mounting system to be adjustable being able to drop them down to the pitch of the roof (16deg) for summer in a couple of months, I'm still in two minds as to whether I should raise them to 45deg for winter, see what happens with power output come May/June. so I'm hoping that I will only need to adjust the panels twice a year

And Russ Thanks for putting me onto PVWatt, After trying that site to see if my requirements allow me to not have to raise the angle for winter,
I'm realy not too fussed if they stay where they are, looking at the data I don't really gain alot either way, summer or winter. but I am new to this and may find that when the time comes the extra watts/amps produced will help. what do you guys think?
below is from PV Watt website taken at the 3 positions.


regards...Marty

[Sou]

That looks great, Marty.

Re the tilt, how much power do you need in winter (esp June)? Seeing you're off grid, I guess that's what will determine whether you change the tilt or not. (June to August is when I use most power - mostly for heating the house and for solar HWS boost. it gets a bit chilly overnight in winter where I live.)

[Mike90250]

How did you attach to roof ? Seam clamps, drill thru & bolt ?

[martycash]

Hi Mike,

Not sure what seam clamps are?

Anyway my brackets are made up from Galv rafter beams cut down to
about 41/2" wide at an angle to suit
Bolted into roof with 4x 3/8x1 zinc bolts, flat and spring washers
I have 2 lengths of 6" C-channel running the length of the shed
between the sheeting and the rafters for the brackets to bolt on to.
I will be running roofing sealant around each bracket to stop water getting between them,
but where I am in Western Australia it is quite dry, we average 300mm/year rainfall,
this year will be lucky to reach 200mm.
The beams holding the panels and the uprights are galv 4" C-channel.
I will take some pics next time when i'm there next, they will explain a lot better than I can.

Marty

[MarineLiner]

[martycash]

thanks for bringing that to my attention MarineLiner, mistake corrected

[MarineLiner]

thanks for bringing that to my attention MarineLiner, mistake corrected

[Jmac00]

Is it me, or is PVwatts v.2 a piece of crap???

everytime I try and use it, it either can't find "the link" or it takes me back to the original world map (Solar atlas)

it seems to be VERY annoying to use. Then again it is a government agency

[russ]

You have pop ups blocked on your browser? PV Watts has to use a popup window as I recall.

Had a similar problem. Actually many of the government sites are great - PV Watts included. Not many governments make the effort to provide free information to everyone in the world.

Russ

[Jmac00]

uuum let me go check that, I think have that site as an "exception"

I'll have to try later, I have to go fix a couple of furnaces this morning