Videos

Educational videos from the altE staff on everything from what is a solar panels, how to troubleshoot a solar panel to how to size solar charge controllers and inverters.

Midnite Solar Introduces Grid-Tie Inverter at SPI 2016

Amy Beaudet October 6, 2016

altE’s Andrea Belford, visits with Midnite Solar owner Robin Gudgel at Solar Power International 2016 to discuss Midnite Solar’s new module grid-tie inverter line. Full Transcript Andrea: We’re with Robin from Midnite Solar, and we have a bunch of fascinating new…
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Inverters, Videos, Wind Energy

grid-tie inverters, inverters, midnite solar, spi, wind turbines

IronRidge Solar Ground Mount Racking

Amy Beaudet September 30, 2016

We are here again with Mike from IronRidge and we are going to talk about their solar ground mount solution. Benefits of Solar Ground Mounts There’s a lot of reasons why you could use a solar ground mount. If you have the space, a lot…
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Solar Panels, Videos

ground mount, ironridge, schedule 40 pipe, solar ground mount, solar mounts, solar panels, xr-1000

IronRidge Company Overview

Amy Beaudet September 30, 2016

We sat down recently with Mike August from IronRidge to learn more about the California-based, solar racking manufacturer’s 20+ year history. alte: We are here with Mike from IronRidge. Could you give us a little bit of an overview about IronRidge as a company?…
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Solar Panels, Videos

ironridge, mounting, pole mounts, roof mounts, rooftop solar, solar mounts, solar panel racking, solar panels

Charging a 24V Battery with 20V Solar Panel & MPPT Charge Controller

Amy Beaudet September 29, 2016

In part one of our series, we demonstrated how to charge a 24V Battery with 20V Solar Panel & PWM Charge Controller. Today, we’re going to be doing the same demo, but using an MPPT charge controller instead. In our…
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Batteries, Charge Controllers, Solar Panels, Videos

20V solar panel, 24V solar panel, 60 cell solar panel, 72 cell solar panel, canadian solar, deep cycle batteries, grid tie solar power, mppt charge controller, pwm charge controller, solar panels, solarworld

How To: Wiring Solar Panels in Parallel with Couplers

Amy Beaudet September 28, 2016

We’re here today to give a quick demo of how to wire up two solar panels together in parallel, using couplers. Couplers provide a nice, easy way to wire up two solar panels, say if you are wiring up for a little cabin…
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Solar Panels, Videos

charge controller, couplers, solar panel wiring, solar panels, wiring solar panels

Kill A Watt Meter: Creating a Loads List for Off-Grid Solar

Amy Beaudet September 27, 2016

Customers often ask how to figure out how much solar power and batteries they need to do an off-grid solar system. Kill A Watt Meter & Loads List The first step to do is to create a loads list. We have a…
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Off-Grid Solar, Videos

kill-a-watt, kill-a-watt meter, load calculator, loads list, off grid solar, off grid solar system

Charging a 24V Battery with 20V Solar Panel & PWM Charge Controller

Amy Beaudet September 26, 2016

We have done previous demos, showing the difference between a 20V (60 cell) and a 24V (72 cell) solar panel. What we want to show today is some real world usage of it; trying to use either of them to…
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Batteries, Charge Controllers, Solar Panels, Videos

20V solar panel, 24V solar panel, 60 cell solar panel, 72 cell solar panel, deep cycle batteries, grid tie solar power, pwm charge controller, solar panels

DC Coupling With Schneider Electric

Amy Beaudet September 24, 2016

We sat down recently with John Webber from Schneider Electric to talk about different options for adding battery backup to your grid-tie solar system. Watch the interview below. Full transcript. DC Coupling vs. AC Coupling altE: Now John, we’ve seen a lot in…
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Charge Controllers, Grid-Tie Solar, Videos

ac coupled, ac coupling, charge controller, DC coupled, dc coupling, grid tie solar system, grid tied inverter, schneider electric, solar panels

String Inverters, DC Optimizers & Micro Inverters – What’s the Difference?

Amy Beaudet September 22, 2016

What’s the difference between several different types of grid-tie inverters, including a string inverter, string inverter with DC optimizers and micro inverters? Our Solar Queen explores each option. String Inverters With a string inverter, as its name suggests, you would wire…
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Grid-Tie Solar, Inverters, Videos

dc optimizers, enphase, grid-tie inverters, inverter, inverters, micro inverter, micro inverters, solaredge, string inverters

First Look: New Solar Power System from Midnite Solar

Amy Beaudet September 20, 2016

At last week’s Solar Power International 2016 show in Las Vegas, NV, altE CEO, Sascha Deri, visited with Roy Butler from Midnite Solar. Roy showcased Midnite Solar’s new groundbreaking solar power system – a module system with room for up…
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Charge Controllers, Inverters, Solar Power, Videos

inverter, midnite charge controller, midnite solar, solar charge controller, solar power system, spi, spicon