Rene M's posts

Thanks for all the help.
I like the idea of the dart stuck on the panel.
My panels are currently set for winter ( a little early )
The best thing is almost weekly I see an improvement in output and now that the leaves have all fallen off the trees I see a big change. Wish I didn't have to contend with trees but until I have a site evaluation done I'm stuck between a rock and a hard spot.
Just about any location I place the panels will get a little shading at some point during the day and season.
Not the best set up but it is what it is.
I just have to find the absolute best location that will give me the most, and preferably in the winter when if we do loose power I can still run my pellet stove and keep warm.
I can always throw food outside in the cold to keep it frozen if I had to.
And in the summer I can just run the fridge and live with a little heat.Just got to break down and pay the $ 70.00 for the site Evaluation.
Rene
Rene

Far enough so the gasses from the batteries are not going to ignite. sounds crazy but a lot depends on where and how your batteries are stored.
JUST remember connect your negative cable last then plug in and turn on inverter and when disconecting remove negative cable first.
There should not be a spark when connecting if there is something is wrong

Leads to my next question
Can I hook this to the same cc has my panels
I have a 20 amp cc and a couple small panel that only put out a total of 8 amps MAX
so if for some reason I had to run the Gen lets call it 9 amps and panels were putting out Max 8 amps total 17 amps
Rene

I have a 3000 watt Generator that has a battery charger 12 volt and I believe 8.5 amps output ( I don't have the spec sheet on it ) is it OK to hook this direct to my 12 volt 450 amp hour batteries to top them off and still leave the solar panels and cc hooked up and operating at the same time ?
Thanks
Rene

Ok 1 Iota transfer switch
1 morningstar relay driver
what did you use for relays ??
Thanks
Rene

Loved your blog ,have any detailed schematics you would like to share.I think you have hit on a great idea.
I'm getting to the point of being able to do such a thing and would need detailed instructions.
If you can't help with this, I truley enjoyed your blog and your idea.
Thanks
Rene

I am looking to change my 120 volt motion detector flood lights to 12 volts (These are outdoor flood lights.
can anyone recommend a GOOD 12 volt flood light bulb ??
Would the motion dector part of the fixture still work on 12 volts ?
Or if I went with a fixture that would come on at night and stay on for this I would want a 12 volt bulb of lower wattage.
The 12 volt motion detector fixtures are just too expensive
for me at this time,
Any suggestions???
Thanks
Rene

I know a lot of folks in my area who do just that when theres a power failure
pull the fuse and backfeed with a Generator
Hey it my not be wise but it works

Thanks
I also found a site that says to add 10 to 15 degrees to your latitude for winter use  so my lat. is 42 degrees north plus 10 to 15 degrees so I guess somewhere around 57 degrees is best
Thanks to all

Thanks John,
That sure helps
Rene

I am repositioning my panels and would like to set them at the proper angle for DECEMBER 21 2008,I guess that would be my best bet for most of the seasons seeing that is when the sun is lowest in the sky.
is there a solar calculator out there somewhere or does anyone know what angle to set my panels
the area I live at is

Latt.   41.91
Long     71.8739

The sun angle on the above date is 24.8 degrees  Solar NOON altitude)

DO I take the sum of Latt and solar noon alt and place my panels around 66 degrees
ANY Help Please
Thank You
Rene

This may be a minor question but are the kyocero 50w and 50wT compatable the 50 w T is advetised as 17 volts 54 watts so are they compatable ?

At this time I have 2 kyocera 50 watt panels hooked in parallel to one 20 amp charge controller
I also own a 15 watt panel that I could hook to a second 7 amp charge controller that I already own.

1... would it make sense to do this
2.... In doing this connection would it bring down the 50 watt panels charging ability and or wattage.
Everything would be connected to 4... 6 volt batteries that give me 450 amp hours.All panels are 12 volt
I'm just trying to maximize my charging amps to charge the batteries faster.
I will be adding more KC 50T panels in the future ( 1 a month)till I get to around 500 watts or better This stuff is addicting.
That is what the pocket book allows.
Thank You
Rene

 Try this link for wire simulator and voltage drop
Rene




      http://www.freesunpower.com/wire_calc.php

Use a good deep cycle battery 12 volt or
2 .....6 volt The more amp hours it's rated for the better
Plan on spending $125.00 to 150.00 each for good 6 volt batteries. ( or more ) I have not priced out 12 volt batteries lately.
I'm using 4.... 6 volt batteries hooked to give me 12 volts and double my amp hours
Rene

This may help with wire size.
and it all depends how many bulbs and the distance of you circut run. Ex 6 bulbs drawing 1 amp each is 6 amps of draw
Don't forget to place an in-line fuse on that Positive wire
between battery and load.
I used 240 volt outlets and plugs so that you can't mix things up and plug a wrong lamp in the 12 volt circut.
Also if you rewire any lamps to 12 volts be sure to get your positive and neg wire on the correct terminal or the bulb won't work at all.
Rene



 The recommended maximum distances for AC or DC are listed in the cell below the wire size.



 12V TABLE

 POWER                                                               WIRE GAUGE
W(VA)/Amps   8awg 10awg  12awg  14awg   16awg  18awg  20awg  22awg  24awg   26awg

3W/.25A     3,733 2,396  1,508    947    595    376    234    146    93      59
4W/.33A     2,828 1,815  1,142    717    451    285    177    111    70      44
5W/.42A     2,222 1,426    898    564    354    224    139     87    55      35
10W/.83A    1,124   722    454    285    179    113     71     44    28      18
20W/1.67A     559   359    226    142     89     56     35     22    14       9
30W/2.50A     373   240    151     95     60     38     23     15    N/A     N/A
40W/3.33A     280   180    113     71     45     28     18     11    N/A     N/A
50W/4.17A     224   144     90     57     36     23     14     N/A   N/A     N/A
60W/5.00A     187   120     75     47     30     19     12     N/A   N/A     N/A
70W/5.83A     160   103     65     41     26     16     10     N/A   N/A     N/A
80W/6.67A     140    90     57     35     22     14     N/A    N/A   N/A     N/A
90W/7.50A     124    80     50     32     20     13     N/A    N/A   N/A     N/A
100W/8.33A    112    72     45     28     18     11     N/A    N/A   N/A     N/A
110W/9.17A    102    65     41     26     16     10     N/A    N/A   N/A     N/A
120W/10.00A    93    60     38     24     15     N/A    N/A    N/A   N/A     N/A

I currently have a charge controller that goes into a trickle charge float mode at 13.7 volts .
At the end of the day my battery may read 13.5 to 13.7 volts which I believe is the surface charge rate .
By morning my battery may read 12.8 volts.
Should I set the charge controller to shut down at a higher voltage lets say 14.5 volts in order to give me a fuller charged battery the next morning. I don't want to cook my batteries,so would 14.5 setting be ok? Or could I go a little higher even 15 volts ?
Thanks
Rene

110 watt 9.17 amps of 10 gauge should be able to go around 65 feet according to my chart so It looks pretty good

Stranded like in automotive wire or ac power wire
Between panel and battery the distance is around 15 ft to 18 ft.,14 gauge ,12 or 10gauge ?
50 watt panel 3 amps.
But will be adding on to increase amps.lets say up to 15 amps.
Rene

would it work OK to use house wire 12/3
to hook panels
black negative
red positive fused
green ground the system frames etc.
or would the system ground be too small a wire
Rene

I just purchased a new meterand the Panel reads volts 20.1 ....Amps 2.39
so it's working.Thanks to all for the help
Now I' sending back the new charge controller it still won't read amps.
JUTA CMP24 12/24 20 amp controller
I know I should have known better.
Lesson learned
Rene

My batteries are charging,I see the bubbles,my Charge controller won't read amps output out of my panels,
it does read volts charging
The system seems to be working fine I just found it odd I had no amp reading so I took my multi meter and same thing it reads open circut volts 21 volts,but won't read amps
at the controller end of the wires.
I used 12 gauge house wire,so I'm not sure why things are reading volts and not amps
AGAIN I am taking this reading off the wires coming off the panel with nothing else connected so from panel 2 wires +,-
coming down my roof to multi meter
Rene

I have a New kyocera 50 watt panel voltage output is up to around 21.5 volts +or-short circut volts  with my volt meter with my amp meter I cannot get a reading at all. Is this possible and what can I check for before going out and purchasing a new multi meter I am checking output at the positive and negative wires between the panel and charge controller eliminating the controller.Any Troubleshooting suggestions would help.I have watched your video and tested accordingly not right at the panel like in the video but at the wires coming from the panel.
Tomorrow I'll go up on the roof
Thank You
Rene

I found this link this evening.
it helps me so maybe it can help someone else

 http://www.windsun.com/PDF/cc72.pdf

I have a pellet stove that runs on 115 volts 60Hz 3amps
when calculating how long this will run off of 12 volt 450 ah battery pack do I use watts or amps draw ?
The reason I ask is I also have a couple of 12 volt 1.5 amp
bulbs that will run a very long time  drawing only 3 total amps
yet doing the math for the stove which draws only 3 amps the calculation comes out it will only run around 6 + or -
hours.
I know 115 volts X 3 amps = 345 watts
AM I doing this correct ?
I have used a couple different calculator one is system appliance run time the other is
Battery capacity calculator tells me ..12 volts 450 amp hour battery pack 345 watt draw will run the stove for 13 hours
Battery equipment run time calculator tells me 12 volts 450 amphours 345 watt draw will run stove for 6.52 hours
which is correct???
Thank You
Rene

sorry but now totally lost.
Is there a downloadable schematic or picture of some sort to show propper grounding and maybe even with lightning
protection ? My charge controller has lightning protection ( built in I guess )thats what the specs say
Thanks
Rene

I have wired a 12 volt system in my home using 10 gauge wire and 250 volt 20 amp ac outlets I wish to make some sort of pigtail so that I can plug my inverter into an outlet and run ac devises.
Is there any such adapter for this purpose ?
I would remove the battery cables and replace with 8 gauge wire unless this is too small a wire.
OR is there a way to get 12 volts into the house on a larger
gauge wire and some how place battery lugs in an outlet box and then I can connect the inverter to the lugs with the alligator clamps
This would only be used if the power fails

Or is there a better way with maybe junction boxes,fuse panels etc.
Thanks
Rene