BATTERIES
I used Interstate L16 batteries 8 of them, each 6 volts, 412amp-hrs, for my 24v battery bank. 2 strings of 4
the following link refers to the ones I bought www.interstatebatteries.com/products/l-16s
20 years ago (1999), I got them for $140 + $20 core charge. Today I see they are...
thank you, this is helping my old brain
"set the voltage" refers to which setting? The "Grid Support Voltage" I assume.
There are so many "voltage setting" I try to fully specify its full name and which section (ie Grid Energy Management (Grid Support))
I have both Export Power Block Start...
PANELS - The Generators
There were several brands of solar panels and I went with Siemen 100 Watt panels. Just above middle of the road type of panel for the day. I thought a big company would stand behind their panels. Years later Siemens sold the division and left the business.
I used an...
I have gone with XW Pro, with plans to add a second unit.
I started 23 years ago with the XW Pro's grandfather, the Trace SW4024 followed by the father, Xantrex SW+5548. ALL great units
New combiner box
Here is the new 12 position MidNite Solar combiner box ($174) with DC circuit breakers
The array is still 24 volts incoming (future that will change) and I can add more
panels to it. The circuit will handle 50 amps. Today, each of the 6 24v circuits (2 100w panels in series)...
In 2015 my wife asked about the system and what it would take to get it running again. Remember we lost the batteries in 2010 and it was off line until 2015.
So new batteries were purchased along with 6 new panels for Array #2
First, here is array #2 mounted with 5 310watt 24v panels, these...
night time, 500 to 900 watts
daytime, 1 kw to 1.5kw
when on grid right now (as I am, transitioning to a XW Pro inverter), daily usage is 23-26kwh
when solar runs the whole thing, and full sun, 32 to 40kwh - I have a diversion load when batteries are full and heat water, 100 gallons to 110F...
Now looking to the future
With the current system in place I have desires (kinda urges, if you understand) to enhance and build upon what I have.
First is the age of the inverter and the charge controllers. My Trace SW4024 model has had a history of various failures as reported by web...
Also Will's tutorials and reviews of Tesla's battery sparked thoughts for me for upgrades:
New Batteries
my current set of LA batteries (12 of them) is for 24 volts. One should not mix new batteries with old as in buying another set of 12. Plus I don't have room for 12 more batteries and I...
As I mentioned I used an interesting set of panel mounts under Array #1 and they don't make them anymore. Which is fine. But as I designed Array #2, I found that I liked the UniRac solar mounts
unirac.com/solarmount/
I bought some long rails, had them cut in half so they won't go freight...
some have mounted panels to the outside of a building's southern wall, and it was a big wall without any shadows
panels are reaching the price point where we can "waste" some parts of them, due to bad locations. We don't need to optimize full sun access all the time.
actually I have 2 350...
I have caught my line diagrams up to reality and even a few features ahead
those are posted in Post #1 of My Build Thread (link in signature)
Now operations, processes and exception handling documentation, yeah, that is still TBD
definitely an example of "mixed use" storage of material, the explosions were some petro based kinectic event, and more than likely the batteries started things by being mishandled
and yes some people treat batteries "unwisely" shall we say
more than one path for electrons to flow
over time, one or more paths become electrons favorite path, neglecting other paths. Those favorite paths then "wear out" more and more and you only get partial capacity from the whole pack.
good work on the H2O. Retired last year myself, I know the value of not spending on things that can be cut out of one's life
Identifying what loads consume what power helps drive the design or load replacements
you might consider Emporia VUE monitoring...
Got the inverter lifted and tied down
other side view
wired up, tested, buttoned up and now inverter - I am BACK OFF of the grid
I admit I got one thing wrong, I plugged the cat 5 cable for the XW Pro's Xanbus into the Sync port. After verifying the entire run, I found that error...
Jack Rickard did a video on freq shift operation to disable or throttle grid-tied solar inputs into the grid and his observations
BTW, run his video at 1.25 speed to help understand him
maybe, but if using EG4 6000XP and 2 fedback breakers, mixing the hots screws things up. Just being consistent then with the main lugs. just following a common pattern of deployment to reduce issues
One thing I would do different today is to go with the higher voltage charge controller, Conext 100 600, and not the Conext 60 150.
I started with the 24v back in 2000 - it was the thing to do then. 48v was a top tier system and MPPT was just being used.
I had 2 24v MPPT controllers, $500 each...
I did MY BUILD THREAD (link in signature) not only as a show me log, but as way to REMEMBER parts, part numbers, and everything I did to make the things - hence dual purpose
I first installed 12 100 watt panels in 2000, I "retired" them in 2019 because of higher density panels were available.
I installed 6 310 watt panels in their stead
Those 12 panels were in my bone pile in the backyard until yesterday when I sold them to a friend for $10 each
we tested them...
I don't know if it will help but here is my 1 line diagram for my AC portion of my system, it aids in seeing the architecture of what I did
the disconnects and wire sizes are for my house
changes can be made for larger circuits, etc
I have manual transfer switch to allow for inverter...
been sometime away
some progress and some backsteps and some healings in flight
here is a picture of my "corn patch" where I mounted 2 solar panel on south wall of shed
well as the sun got higher in the sky, the overhang shaded the panels so I laid out 2 355w panels on the ground against...