James Cormican's posts

bump for a nice weekend post, good work tom.

- james Alt-E staff

if you dont have a lot of 12v appliances, I vote for keeping it simple and going all 24v on the dc and AC after the inverter.  it will keep the wiring simpler for sure and avoid the what do I use for plugs/receptacles issue.

- james Alt-E staff

here is what james from phocos had to say:



Thanks for passing this on to me.  To my knowledge, we did not receive an email to our local address from your customer regarding these complaints. That would lead me to believe that the customer contacted the headquarters in Germany.  Normally this would not be an issue, but, I think that most of the support engineers in Germany are currently working on many other projects (new product testing etc.) and perhaps they may be a bit slow in responding to support requests.  I apologize for that.

I think it may make some sense to direct technical questions that require the customer to contact the manufacturer to our general email here in the US (info-usa @ phocos.com). We're pretty good at getting a response out the same day.  We generally can answer most questions locally, but, if for some reason we can't, I think we can get a response from our colleagues in Germany quicker than if the customer emails tech support in Germany themselves.

For this question, I do need to contact the software engineers in Germany to answer adequately.  I hope to have the situation rectified by the end of the week.

Thanks again!!


Sincerely


James Polcyn, Sales & Marketing Director

Phocos USA
742 E. 46th Street
Tucson, AZ 85713
USA
Phone: 520.882.9100

--------------

james cormican - Alt-E staff

oh yeah, i hope i did not come off as a jerk, i just had the controller around so i took the photo.

i know a little, but i could stand to learn a ton more.  everybody around wants more RE out there and working.  the forum is a good way to distribute info, but the format may make it seem like I have some authority, which couldn't be further from the truth.  I'm just one guy that loves this stuff and the more folks we get contributing their info, the better the community is for it.  so thanks much for sharing your problem, and insight.


- james

we contacted phocos.  they are on it and I expect to have more details soon.

regarding the connection order, the sunsaver has big numbers over the terminals to remind folks what to connect first.  check out the numbers in the squares.

see the pic here - http://gallery.altenergystore.com/James-Cormican-gallery/v/8674952267/?g2_page=2

- james - Alt-E staff

pv design and install manual is top of the heap as far as I am concerned.  i used it as a text at san juan college, i use it to train/crosstrain our staff, and it is designed by the good folks at sei.

for thermal, there are other resources, but for pv, this is the best. 

here's the link.

http://store.altenergystore.com/Books-Seminars-Videos/Solar/Photovoltaics-Design-Install-Manual/p481/


- james - Alt-E staff

bummer to hear about the system, you asked a ton of good questions and I'll try to dig in to some tomorrow.

for the sake of others, disconnecting the battery side of the charge controller with the pv still attached in daylight can destroy some controllers, and is a general no-no.  hopefully that is not the case for you, but if you did it during daylight, I fear the worst. 

disconnect switches (circuit breakers) can save many from this problem, if pv to controller has is disconnected (with breaker) and controller to battery is disconnected (with breaker) then nothing is live, you can insert your ammeter, then flip the switches, and everything is cool.

- james - Alt-E staff

for now, dont buy anything.  you are not going to be able to run a desktop computer directly from a photovoltaic module.

your best bet is to step back and calculate the loads you intend to run, and how long you have to run them each day.  once you have that figure in watt-hours per day, you need to figure out how many days of storage you want in your battery bank, in case of lack of sun.

use the load calculator in the how to section.  please dont waste your money with us or anyone else without doing the necessary system design work necessary.  you can use solar to run the computer, just not directly.  you can do the necessary design work yourself, or lean on one of us by calling or emailing.


check out home power #111, page 60.  this article should by right up your alley in terms of running a computer system off of pv.


- james  - Alt-E staff

click on the explorer link on top to see the appropriate page after clicking the link.

- james

hey everybody,

It has come to my attention that square d has issued a recall for some of the most popular disconnects in the pv industry. see link below.

http://www.squared.com/us/squared/corporate_info.nsf/unid/D80CF820F4747CFA8525723D004E60DA/$file/GDSS_Recall.htm

We are now working to contact everyone who has bought one from  us in the affected date range.

If you know anyone that has used one of these products in the appropriate date range please let them know.  Get the word out to the pv community asap so that nobody gets hut.

-james Alt-E staff

 

we still carry turbine parts.  we received sooooo many calls from folks thinking that the plastic pelton wheel was the whole hydor setup that we took them off the site and replaced them with this blurb on the turbines page.


We carry a wide variety of replacement parts such as new generators, pelton or turgo wheels, nozzles, bearing kits, etc... Basically, if you need it, we've got it! Please call our technical sales staff at 877-878-4060 for more information.

although I dont really feel confident with the "if you need it, we've got it" part, we do still carry parts and pelton and turgo wheels for sale.  If you know what you are after, and its from ES&D we can probably get it.

sorry about the confusion, good luck with the project

- james Alt-E staff

sorry for all of those trying to reach me unsuccessfully.  I am in new mexico to speak with current RE students at San Juan College (my alma mater) and also visiting manufacturers.  I will be back in the office (and in awful massachusetts weather) on monday.  If anyone really needs me before then, either post it or ask one of the other folks at the office to get in touch with me .

just so the community knows, I have had the pleasure of visiting with great folks.  big props to our friends at conergy (pump manufacturer and re supplier), as well as unirac (pv mounting), photowatt (pv manufacture), and zomeworks (pv trackers).  These guys are great, and their depth of knowledge is only superceded by their hospitality and passion for RE.

james - Alt-E staff

yes, we do have spanish speaking representatives.

use extension 201.

we also have the ability to accept skype calls as well.

si, tenemos personas que habla espanol.  despues del numero de telefono, usa numero internal 201. 

tambien, podemos usar skype.


- james Alt-E staff

usually, each system will have its own controller between it and the battery bank.  There should be no problem with this.  Like two streams feeding a lake.  Since both will be feeding a 24v battery bank, both outputs must be 24 volts. 

 some wind turbines dont have controllers and require the usage of a dump load controlller and a dump load AFTER the batteries.  this is usally okay too, but care has to be taken to select the correct components

james - Alt-E staff

kirk,

read the code corner article in home power 111.  I have included a link below. 

yes a QO load center would do.  the key is to have a load center with enough ampacity to handle the house loads PLUS whatever the pv inverter can put INTO that load center.  Also a load center where the branch circuit breakers are not marked line and load is a must. 

http://www.nmsu.edu/%7Etdi/pdf-resources/CC111.pdf

james - Alt-E staff

roger,

unfortunately you live in one of the worst areas for solar insolation in the country.  If you want to set up a grid tie system, you most certainly can (as long your utility is okay).  You wont see the production like New Mexico, but that is okay.  Sun hours in your area appear to be about 1.5 on average and better in the summer.

As far as practical concerns, putting modules on the roof may lead to snow and ice issues, and you dont want to be cleaning modules off in winter.  If a ground or pole mount is possible, that may be better because of the elements.  that way you can reach them to clean them off in the winter.

- james  Alt-E staff (back in the usa)

mother earth news magazine did a piece on solar air heating not too long ago. 

I dont recall one specifically from home power magazine, but they would be a good place to check as well. 

I know we have clients that have installled both types and I think we have one that installed one of each.  I think they may be posted soon in the gallery or as a story.

otherwise you can check the usual suspects of NREL and SRCC for any info,testing,and certifications.

-james Alt-E staff

interesting article, I am skeptical and worried about the fallout from a failure of such magnitude.  I think part of the point of owning pv modules is how they contribute to the energy independence of the owner.  even if you are grid tied, you offset co2, and you not only lower your costs but contribute to the common good.

as far as affordability, the issue to me is more of the demand than the price.  when I talk to "normal" folks like extended family that would not know a pv module from a toaster oven, they say it (solar) is way too expensive.  yet these same folks line up to buy granite countertops, new suv, and flat screen televisions.  when do those pay you back?  never, they dont want solar, they would like cheaper bills to have more money to spend on more commercialistic american junk.

also, many more banks are willing to offer financing to folks who cant take the up front cost of an RE system.  we here at the store even offer financing through Bank of America. 

I have never known money to be the obstacle standing in the way of someone who genuinely wants to be green,renewable,solar, etc.  The people who love it, live it to the best of their ability with the constraints of budget.  For the rest, to me, the money is a cop out.

the idea of renting/leasing is not all bad, but I dont want to see the work of two decades in pv get hit with another black eye by a big marketing plan not followed up with results and not implemented by real RE type folks.

sorry if I offend anyone, my views are my own and not necessarily the views of this company.

james - Alt-E staff (on location, Alt-E Costa Rica)

you should be able to hook that up without a problem.  If it were my house, I would connect to a power distribution block or polaris connectors from the battery terminals, and make necessary connections from there.  Going to the terminals would be fine, but I would use the terminal block to minimize post connections and keep things clean.  We should be carrying distribution blocks soon, and an electrical distributor would have polaris connectors(insulated terminal blocks).

there should not be a problem with hooking up the solar charge controller and the house charger, but you could always check the 110 charger manual to see if there are any warnings.

james - Alt-E staff

I vote no to the mppt controller with mixed modules.  Mppt works best when there is an array of all the same modules that have the same IV curve.  While having mppt wont hurt any, I dont think that you will gain that much with a mixed array.

bz products makes nice stuff, but I would not invest with a mixed array.  It is interesting to not that blue sky controllers fall back to pwm operation when there is no advantage to be gained from mppt.

perhaps some other folks can share their experiences.

james - Alt-E staff

oh, as for the shingles. . .

I love unisolar, but that is a complicated wiring job to say the least.  For grid tie, maybe, if you just loved the look of simulated regular shingles that produce electricity.

For off grid, I vote no.  They are way more expensive in price per watt, more difficult to wire, and then there are the other issues that ken brought up.

I would  pick nice simple framed pv modules that will look forward to serving your family for 25 years without moving parts, noise, or the responsibility of keeping your roof weatherproof.

If you have a thing for unisolar, use the 64.  I like those a lot.

james - Alt-E staff

-

ken, thanks for the post, have been busy in preparation for going to costa rica.  I'll be working from our office down there for a couple weeks. 

lori,

as per usual, ken is on the money.  I'm not sure how you got the numbers you did, but I would try again.  remember, watts is a rate, like miles per hour. 

if somebody asked you how far you drove, you would not reply 50 miles per hour.  That is the same as saying we use 1750 watts. 

to do it right, take each load and note its RATE of energy usage in WATTS.  take that number and multiply it by the number of hours you use that thing in a day.  that will give you watt-hours - a quantity of energy used.

do that with everything that uses electricity.  sum up the total in watt-hours and multiply by 30 to get watt hours per month.

post again and i am sure you will get more help, or call the sales staff here.

good luck,

james - Alt-E staff

ken makes good points, voltage drop is a menace. both are okay choices and are of good quality.  Shurflo is a little more common and the control lcb choices are simple and not too expensive.  On the other hand, the folks at sun pumps are easy to deal with and have been helpful to us on the phone. 

 - james Alt-E staff

ugh, the fleet is in a sorry state right now .

golf: diagnosis dead tranny

rabbit convertible:  just yesterday blew oilpan gasket

Biodiesel jetta:  driveable but exciting due to clutch/tranny issues.

I'll be working at our latin america headquarters for until 23 feb, so I REALLY can't come get them.

somebody pick them up!!! and thanks for the effort steve.  At least batteries are fully recycleable.

james - Alt-E staff

Wow steve!

that is very generous of you to think of the RE community.  I wish my vw golf was running, I would have a hatch fulla lead, haha. 

jump on this guys!

good work steve

james - Alt-E staff

likely not. 

is the stove 240vac?

anyway, list what you REALLY NEED, and then find out the wattage each item .  If it does not say watts, remember,

Volts x Amperes = Watts (we wont worry about power factor for now)

or . . . use a kill-a-watt meter to find out EXACTLY the rate at which your loads consume electricity.

once you know this number in watts multiply it by the hours you use said item(s).  this is the coveted WATT-HOURS total you will need.

compare this to the watt-hours of storage in the battery bank.  convieniently batteries are listed in amp hours, not watt-hours.  take battery voltage x amp-hours to get . . . Watt-hours.



you happened to select very power hungry applications.  anytime electricity is used for heating (food, blankets, space heaters, hair dryers) it is very inefficient and takes gobs of energy.


use the equations and that should get you pointed in the right directon.  feel free to call us for more help.

james - Alt-E staff

you will want something like this:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Cables-Wiring/Wiring-For-Solar-Panels/MC-10M-MC-Connector-30-Feet-10-AWG/p4269/

known as mc connector extensions.  they have 10awg use-2 with a male end and a female end.  usually you cut them in half so the plugs go to the module, or in your case the pigtails for the module, and the bare ends go to the controller or where you need to splice into.

as far as the shunt, they are used for measurement.  most controllers do not need an external shunt to operate, but most battery monitors do.  typically they are on the negative.

james - Alt-E staff

1. the kyocera is a great choice for the marine environment, but the junction box will make simple Z feet mounting difficult because it sticks out farther than the frame.

2.  When sizing the controller, you use the ISC, not the IMP, so a 15a controller would not cut it.  It would likely be fine but it would not meet code and I would not suggest cutting it close.  for 2 of the kyocera modules at 12v a 20a controller is likely the choice.

3.  for this application I would suggest a blue sky 3024i, or 2512.  a bz products mppt 500 could also work.

4.  the pig tail connectors provide MC connectors for easier module hookup and series connection.  they are not necessary , but may be more attractive and easier than hardwiring.

5.  as far as the overcurrent device, its up to you.  I would have a circuit breaker after each series string, (possibly one additional total pv disconnect) and a disconnect between charge controller and battery.  We do have very small boxes (midnite solar baby box) to achieve such setups.  If you did not have a pv disconnect, it would not be the end of the world, but I would have one.  if anyting ever happened to it during daylight, you could be disconnecting it with live wires.

hope that helps,

james -  Alt-E staff

I have not had any personal experience with these, however, I am only aware of one return in the 1.5 years I have been here.  That fellow over surged it with power tools.  do you need a built in charger?

If not, something from go power or samlex would be okay.  usually they have duplex outlets on the front.  if you want a hardwire unit, you will probably have to step up a price level.

If yes then a xantrex prosine or magnum would be the next step up.  exeltech makes awesome sine wave inverters but they are pricey.

for what it is worth, we have an invertek inverter on closeout that might interest you.

james - Alt-E staff

I would not try to concentrate light/heat on pv modules.  Not only would the heat diminish performance, but the power required to do active cooling would create a net loss. 

In addition, this would not meet any electric and or fire code.

If it did have the desired effect, the modules' output could possibly exceed their series fuse ratings and burn themselves out.

I would strongly suggest not rigging up home-made concentrators for off the shelf pv. 

james - Alt-E staff