My New Solar System And Garden Update

[JohnyMac]

I received a few PM's asking where I have been. One subscriber asked what jail he should send the file too.    No, I have been busier than a one armed paperhanger.

Been spending all of my time with my new 4.8 KWH/a day, solar system. The racking is done and four of the six, 67-pound  42"x84", 390 watt panels are up. A few of the parts that came with the solar purchase were wrong, so altE is rushing the correct parts out to me. Once here, the remaining panels will go up... Probably next Tuesday.


Racking almost done


Four of six panels on the racking


The folks at altE are very helpful and patient with me. I bug them about once a week with questions. I tend to save them up and send in one email. Earlier in the week I sent them a schematic for batteries and wiring of the system. My salesman replied within 10-minutes and asked if I had "fire insurance". He went on in his email wanting to know why I was building a small nuclear reactor.  Okay, okay I redrew the schematic, sent it in with his suggestions, and I got the nod. I am writing an article up on this build. It will be in three parts. Stay tuned.

Between now and next Tuesday, I will be focusing on our 2,000 sf garden. usually I plant my seedlings around June 1, due to frost. Here it is June 10th and they are still not in the ground. So, I am about one-week behind.

This year, I decided to go with weed blocking fabric. I have looked at using it in the past but to buy it locally was a small fortune. Being of Scottish heritage, I have put it off. A friend turned me on to a professional gardening company in TN. that had 5-year fabric at a very reasonable price.  More on this in a future article.

This coming years triaxle load of logs showed up last Saturday for our firewood. I need to get seven cords cut and stacked in the next several weeks to start the curing process. Once cut, I can split at my leisure in July. Anybody have a couple of days free to be put to work like a rented mule? I will feed ya' well 

So there you go. A quick update from the redoubt. My coffee mug is refilled so no excuse. Now, back off to the garden.

73 & God Bless


 

[grizz]

 
 

[special-k]

I like how you'll be able to sweep/blow off the snow from the upstairs balcony.  I'm sure ice will eventually overtake the surface... but you can buy some time.

EDIT:  If the panel surface is glass, I was thinking you should treat the panels with Rain-X in the early Fall (must be above 40 degrees).  That should go a long way to reduce the ice taking hold.

[JohnyMac]

Thanks for the suggestion Special-K. I will ask CanadianSolar, the manufacture of the panels.

The panels are now at Oct 1 through April 1, angle to the sun, of 33-degrees. Once all the panels are on I will raise them to May through September angle of 10-degrees.

It is tough to see in the pic's but, there are 6 telescoping columns attached to the racking. The columns are made of 1 1/4" perforated galvanized steel squares tubes. nestled into 1 1/2" perforated galvanized steel square tubes. I will raise the panels to the proper angle using a Hi Lift Farm Jack and 5' piece of pipe. 5/16" bolts will be used to secure the columns to the proper height.

This will be all in the article I am writing when I have some down time.

Off to buy some non-ethanol gas.

[pkveazey]

I'm still being a Slacker about mounting my Emergency Solar array. I would like to have them facing due South but they would look cockeyed from the house orientation so I'll mount mine parallel to the house and they'll end up being more SE. I live exactly at the 37th parallel so I'm going to tilt them back to 37 degrees or maybe even a little flatter so I can catch a little more of the afternoon sun. They pretty much will be straight at the morning sun when it comes up and rises until a bit after noon. From what Battle Born told me, I should get enough sun to top off my batteries for night use as long as I don't get all stupid and try to run everything in the house. Battle Born told me that running all my Lights, Well Pump, Freezer and Refrigerator would be a piece of cake. If I also try to run the AC/Heat Pump and Hot Water Heater, I'll never make it 'til the morning. Even though I've spent a good bit of money on the solar system, I hope I will be able to continue using the Gas Generator. The Solar thing is just in case I can't buy gasoline or just in case the Generator craps out. Actually, I'd prefer to go totally of the grid but I'm so old that it would never pay for itself before I expire.

[Felix]

Inspirational thread/update folks.   A bit overtaken by envy though.  While yours are in or coming to fruition, our project is still at the permitting level, size and scope has to have the nod from bureaucrats.   You know... those government folks who work for us?
On top of it all, the wife-person now has cold feet because of collector and loan size.  Has (hopefully only momentarily) lost her zeal for the savings long-term.   To the point where well pump, refrigerator/freezer, lights still working in grid down doesn't melt her butter.
As to recouping full value in our lives... that remains to be seen.  What is the value of water when it comes up from 400'?   
I'll be missing a big neighborhood meeting this Saturday.   Hosted by a volunteer fire dept member and a fellow who installed first solar hereabouts (his well now backed up by collectors and a Tesla wall battery).   Why am I not going to be there?   Will be on 14 hour drive to Northern CA for to get my female Griff to an arranged hot date.   Towing a trailer, will stay for live cover, might be offline for over a week.  Best wishes to all on continued progress.   I too leave some gardening planting yet undone... damn!

[JohnyMac]

To totally go off the grid the cost was just prohibitive. So, like I mentioned somewhere, we decided to just concentrate on our three freezer and 2 fridge's needs. I will have a little left over for our great room fan and the radios.

We currently have a chinesium 4,000 KHW generator which will be wired into the solar system if needed in the winter to top off the batteries altE suggested this. And of course with the inverter/charger we can use normal grid power if needed to top off the batteries too. Believe it or not, those five appliances account for 1/3 of our daily KHW use. The new solar system will give us 40% of what we use daily. In no way shape or form, will we recoup our outlay in dollars. Butttt....

We first looked at adding a nice sized Generac generator which would have cost ~$6K when all was said and done. Then add in the cost of the fuel along with the amount of fuel you can physically store. Our friends used their Generac generator for several days this past winter when the local electric took a dump. They used ~145-gal of propane. At that rate, you would need over 500-gal of propane for a week. OUCH! Then add the cost. 500-gal x $3.00 a gal = $1,500-.

Well, after the initial cost of the solar system, no fuel is needed. Minimal maintenance is needed either.

Our 1,500 sf cabin was built in 2010. From 2010 till when we went on the grid in 2014, we survived easily with a small 12volt battery system. We we are still using it today. In 2012, we ran a 10-gauge extension cord from our neighbors to power the refrigerator, and some minor accessories. For light we used Aladdin lamps, which served a dual purpose - Light and, heat in the winter.

What does this all mean, you may ask? When the grid goes down...And it will thanks to hackers, we will be better off with 40% of our normal electric use, than we were in 2012 even with the extension cord addition.

As a side note, as incandescent light bulbs burn out in the cabin, we are replacing them with 60w equivalent dimmable A19 LED bulbs. They last longer and use less energy to boot. Heck, we might even be able to run a few electric lamps when the juice stops flowing.

Just some thoughts from the redoubt.       

[Jackalope]

   Good thoughts and great solar system, Johny!  The power outage in Puerto Rico due to hackers and a resulting fire should provide some food for thought.  The Puerto Rico incident is a warning.  Folks should actively prepare for long term power outages.  Our solar system here is a modest system, but could be easily expanded with equipment we have on hand.  We actually have three different solar systems here at our little homestead.  For us, an extended power outage would be a minor inconvenience, not the end of the world.  Folks should also take in account the ramifications of having electricity when no one else does, and plan accordingly.  Try to blend in.

    For those concerned about permitting, google guerilla solar.  The nice thing about solar is that it can be done relatively cheaply, and expanded as your budget allows.  Batteries will probably be your largest expense. 

[JohnyMac]

Keep in mind that China is cutting back on solar power manufacturing. Buy now before the price goes through the roof.

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Chinas-Solar-Industry-Begs-Producers-To-Please-Not-Hoard-Raw-Materials.html