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    Hi...I came on here a few months ago and had to bail until I got a permit for my install. Anyhoo, still waiting for the permit and the weather has turned, so I'm buying this week.
    I've decided to go with the following and would appreciate any comments before I splash the cash.

    I'm buying...
    4no. 270w Talesun polycrystaline panels
    2no. Ultracell UCG-230-12 gel batteries
    1no Must 50A 24v 3000w inverter/charger
    and a pile of cables and stuff.

    I'll be running a small fridge, 3 or 4 LED lights, a couple of laptops, my cellphone as a router, 50W or smaller TV, cell signal booster (4G). I'll also be using a 2hp compressor about once a month IMG-20181004-WA0003.JPG
    This is my "posh" shed. The panels will go below the windows. The wall is over 5m (16.5 ft) across.
    It's a south facing wall. Roofs around here are pitched at about 22 degrees and I'm at 41 degrees latitude so I need more angle.
    The wall should also protect them from wind (hurricane force at times) and ice and snow storms, all of which tend to come from the north or north west.

    TIA


  • #2
    Your gel batteries will be destroyed in less than a year if your over sized Inverter does not burn the place down first. That is what happens when you just grab stuff and throw it together and praying you guessed correctly.
    MSEE, PE

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    • #3
      Thanks.... .

      I've just sized everything up and I'm only using around 500w max (without compressor), so adding 25% would give me 625w inverter, however once you have something you tend to use it and I can see me charging and using tools. If I settled on an inverter around 1000w could the batteries cope ok with that? I'm wary of small inverters because I've a 300w 12v one in my truck and it craps out when I try to charge various tools.

      Just been on a crash course of all this...
      so....
      panels (4 x 270W talesun polycrystalline at 60 cells per panel as speced above)
      batteries (2 x Ultracel 230-12 as speced above @ c10 200ah in series)
      charge regulator 24v 30A PWM Must
      inverter 24V 800VA Victron Phoenix

      SunKing...am I getting better or worse?
      Last edited by nomadros; 10-10-2018, 06:02 AM.

      Comment


      • #4
        If you're using 60 cell panels you need an MPPT charge controller capable of accepting at least 100 Voc. and wire your panels 2s2p. 60 cell panels aren't 24 volt nominal. 24 volt nominal panels are composed of 72 cells. usually.
        2.2kw Suntech mono, Classic 200, NEW Trace SW4024

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks littleHarbor....blimey, this is difficult. Trying to get a low wattage 24v inverter is like trying to buy a pentium p60 chip in 2018, so (and I hope you're all sitting down with a large whisky) I've decided to rip it up and start again...at 12V. Yes, I know, the sheer horror.

          So....
          Batteries: TBD probably 2no. TROJAN TE35-GEL 210Ah 6V
          Inverter/charger: Must 1000w 12v, charge regulator 50A PWM, charge current to batteries 20A
          Panels: 4no. 200W 12v (72 cells (6x12)) polycrystalline

          Is this acceptable?

          I'm now away to find a cellphone repeater which is kind of like walking into Dodge City with your pants around your ankles and your gun at the repair shop.

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          • #6
            Well, I bought 4 no 12V 200W talesun polycrystalline panels, a 1000w 12V MPPT 40A combined inverter/charger, a 230Ah GEL battery, wall mounting structure for the panels and various cables. and connectors. Awaiting delivery. The inverter/charger and the battery don't get very good reviews but I can only buy what's available here, so I did. I figure the only way to get the hang of this stuff is to get your hands dirty, start at the bottom and take problems as part of the earning curve. I'll post a pic when it's all mounted and/or on fire. Thanks littleHarbor for the help.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by nomadros View Post
              Well, I bought 4 no 12V 200W talesun polycrystalline panels, a 1000w 12V MPPT 40A combined inverter/charger, a 230Ah GEL battery, wall mounting structure for the panels and various cables. and connectors. Awaiting delivery. The inverter/charger and the battery don't get very good reviews but I can only buy what's available here, so I did. I figure the only way to get the hang of this stuff is to get your hands dirty, start at the bottom and take problems as part of the earning curve. I'll post a pic when it's all mounted and/or on fire. Thanks littleHarbor for the help.
              Fortune favors the bold (but slaughters the foolish). If the reviews where not that good, but that's the only equipment, one likely option would be to forego buying the poorly reviewed equipment.

              You can't always get what you want.

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              • #8
                JPM, I've spent the last 3 and a half years living in a tent without heat or light. I nearly got killed last winter when one night the snow weight collapsed the thing. This winter, I have 4 walls and a roof, a fireplace and will have light and power. All the stuff is under a 2 year warranty anyway. I'll hopefully get permission soon for the large building I need which will have a quite big solar installation so I need to learn this stuff. I'm treating this install as a test to give me an idea of strengths and weaknesses and buy me some time to source parts I really want. For example CanBat seems to get good reviews, but can't find a reseller here. I'm a software developer learning to farm on mountainous terrain and way off grid, so everything from tractors, quad bikes, communications, irrigation, bee keeping, poultry keeping, designing harvest equipment which is cheap, to chainsaws and clearing saws I'm learning as I go, along with the 2 languages I need to speak here. I'm operating on a "research, buy, try, iterate, move on" system in order to chomp through all this. This winter when the weather goes bad, if I can sit in front of a fire with the TV on or doing some coding, I'll be in heaven.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by nomadros View Post
                  JPM, I've spent the last 3 and a half years living in a tent without heat or light. I nearly got killed last winter when one night the snow weight collapsed the thing. This winter, I have 4 walls and a roof, a fireplace and will have light and power. All the stuff is under a 2 year warranty anyway. I'll hopefully get permission soon for the large building I need which will have a quite big solar installation so I need to learn this stuff. I'm treating this install as a test to give me an idea of strengths and weaknesses and buy me some time to source parts I really want. For example CanBat seems to get good reviews, but can't find a reseller here. I'm a software developer learning to farm on mountainous terrain and way off grid, so everything from tractors, quad bikes, communications, irrigation, bee keeping, poultry keeping, designing harvest equipment which is cheap, to chainsaws and clearing saws I'm learning as I go, along with the 2 languages I need to speak here. I'm operating on a "research, buy, try, iterate, move on" system in order to chomp through all this. This winter when the weather goes bad, if I can sit in front of a fire with the TV on or doing some coding, I'll be in heaven.
                  Life's a bitch huh ? NOMB, but how much of all the perils you describe were due to choices you made ?

                  And, not a knock, but it seems you've changed equipment ideas a fair amount in the last 3+ weeks since your 10/09 post. Makes me wonder if you'd be better off with more education/research before you buy stuff. So, I'd endorse your idea of learning stuff, but I'd do the early stages of the learning via reading/study before buying and assembly. Just sayin'.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by nomadros View Post
                    Well, I bought 4 no 12V 200W talesun polycrystalline panels, a 1000w 12V MPPT 40A combined inverter/charger, a 230Ah GEL battery, wall mounting structure for the panels and various cables. and connectors.
                    Now you have compounded your mistakes on top of using Gel Batteries. A 40 amp MPPT Controller can only input 500 watts, you just as well toss one or two panels away. 800 watts into 12 volt battery requires a minimum 60 amp controller.

                    MSEE, PE

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                    • #11
                      Thanks all for the advice.
                      SunKing: at least I'll have spares!
                      JPM: next week I shall mostly be trying not to tip my tractor over.
                      Note to self: Must get skills.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by nomadros View Post
                        JPM: next week I shall mostly be trying not to tip my tractor over.
                        When I was a kid, I spent most summers and a lot of time on my grandparent's farm. When I was 8 yrs. old or so, I actually tipped over the tractor while operating it on the sly and trying to do a wheelie. Not hurt too badly, but I got no sympathy and into some hot water. My grandmother gave me the tractor manual such as it was back in the day and told me the injuries I got - a broken wrist & some bruises - were the consequence of not being prepared, and that if I was going to operate stuff, read up first.

                        What goes around, comes around.
                        Last edited by J.P.M.; 11-02-2018, 10:43 AM.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post

                          ....were the consequence of not being prepared, and that if I was going to operate stuff, read up first.

                          What goes around, comes around.
                          Short of having tracks, this is the lowest centre of gravity, hill tractor that I could find. 4 wheels the same size and reversible so I can turn the seat and steering wheel around and it's unbalanced without an attachment. Antonio Carraro TRG 9400 if you're interested. I really wanted a Carraro Mach 4, but couldn't justify the cost and it's a bit Mad Max for parking outside the bar.

                          According to the manual (which I read) my tractor will go along a 38 degree lateral slope, however my bollox aren't the size to take on that sort of nonsense. Anyhoo, off topic and this week I am mostly fighting builders and architects instead of working. Seems these days, everyone is an expert with much paperwork, except when it goes bang, when they all run away and hide. I have used the word "lawyer" to coax them into open ground.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by nomadros View Post

                            Short of having tracks, this is the lowest centre of gravity, hill tractor that I could find. 4 wheels the same size and reversible so I can turn the seat and steering wheel around and it's unbalanced without an attachment. Antonio Carraro TRG 9400 if you're interested. I really wanted a Carraro Mach 4, but couldn't justify the cost and it's a bit Mad Max for parking outside the bar.

                            According to the manual (which I read) my tractor will go along a 38 degree lateral slope, however my bollox aren't the size to take on that sort of nonsense. Anyhoo, off topic and this week I am mostly fighting builders and architects instead of working. Seems these days, everyone is an expert with much paperwork, except when it goes bang, when they all run away and hide. I have used the word "lawyer" to coax them into open ground.
                            Understood. Been there. But I've found such folks usually know more about what I'm needing to accomplish than I do, which means I can learn from them. So, I listen, think and try to learn more than I fight with such folks. Just sayin'.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post

                              Understood. Been there. But I've found such folks usually know more about what I'm needing to accomplish than I do, which means I can learn from them. So, I listen, think and try to learn more than I fight with such folks. Just sayin'.
                              Lol...The only thing I've learned is... having employed a registered local architect (obligatory) who produced a project which can be weighed in kilos (many lbs in American) and employed a registered local builder (obligatory) to do the work and having got a nature reserve permit (obligatory, criminal offence without one in a Zona Protegida Natural) to carry out the works and not being able to touch or comment on anything ...that it is my fault when it all goes tits up. I wouldn't mind, but I'm qualified and experienced in designing and constructing buildings and can spot a lemon a mile off. Oh, I'm also a qualified and experienced Solutions Architect in case anyone thinks I'm changing my story.

                              Yesterday, I got a permit to rebuild my house (I had to buy a Catalan legal address to get a Certificat de Empadronament, which is another long story) which is in Zona Protegida Cultural. This is because the building next door got knocked together in 1365, which is about 130 years before Columbus found America, and is therefore seemingly important.

                              The moral of this sorry tale is never let your girlfirend near the internet if she has a large amount of cash and a desire to spend it. The result being, the boyfriend spends 3.5 years in a tent sorting out the mess created.

                              Back on topic: Still waitng on a permit to stick those solar panels I bought to my shed though!

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