Solar, take 2.0
Since I had to pull the solar arrays off the house I have been running with a lot less solar overall. The shed is still hooked in, but only puts about 1.5kw of energy in during the winter. Which pretty much matches what the house put in.
The little 10*12 shed is the new home for 50% of the house panels. So far I have installed 12 of the 75 watt panels on the shed giving a total potential of 900 watts. Add that to the 1.2kw on the big shed and I have a total of 2.1kw of solar for the summer.
Now I just need to wire it. Fortunately I can re-use the interconnections I made when we did the house, and I just wired in two more panels for a total of eight. Tomorrow I should be able to get the last 4 connected, at which point I can mount the Sunny Boy on the shed and figure out *how* to tie all that into the house lines.
That could be complex: Right now I have only one 20a line going to the shed. And it's currently hosting both of the main shed's SB700's on it, so it is full from a solar standpoint. What I need to do is install a new 30a 240 volt feeder out to the shed and power *that* from the house.
In the meantime there is something else I can do: I can hook up the solar panels in a slightly different way and use them as a backup charging source: I could then build a big charging system to allow me to run the house in the event the main power failed.
That might be next.
Chris
The little 10*12 shed is the new home for 50% of the house panels. So far I have installed 12 of the 75 watt panels on the shed giving a total potential of 900 watts. Add that to the 1.2kw on the big shed and I have a total of 2.1kw of solar for the summer.
Now I just need to wire it. Fortunately I can re-use the interconnections I made when we did the house, and I just wired in two more panels for a total of eight. Tomorrow I should be able to get the last 4 connected, at which point I can mount the Sunny Boy on the shed and figure out *how* to tie all that into the house lines.
That could be complex: Right now I have only one 20a line going to the shed. And it's currently hosting both of the main shed's SB700's on it, so it is full from a solar standpoint. What I need to do is install a new 30a 240 volt feeder out to the shed and power *that* from the house.
In the meantime there is something else I can do: I can hook up the solar panels in a slightly different way and use them as a backup charging source: I could then build a big charging system to allow me to run the house in the event the main power failed.
That might be next.
Chris