My Radio Brian's Solar Panel Installation

[BriansBrain]

 

My Radio Brian's solar installation has begun.
12 x 460W panels in place and wired up.
Each weighs 25 kg and is 2.11m x 1.05m x 35mm deep.
Each pair are wired in series providing +/- 90V @ 10A then all in parallel.
Cable runs just need tidying up now 

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[Dave]

My Radio Brian's solar installation has begun.
12 x 460W panels in place and wired up.
Each weighs 25 kg and is 2.11m x 1.05m x 35mm deep.
Each pair are wired in series providing +/- 90V @ 10A then all in parallel.
Cable runs just need tidying up now 

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Do you tilt them towards the sun BB?  I know at this time of the year the sun will be right above you but what about in the winter? Having been to the Canaries lots of times I can't remember the suns position at Christmas.

[BriansBrain]

Do you tilt them towards the sun BB?  I know at this time of the year the sun will be right above you but what about in the winter? Having been to the Canaries lots of times I can't remember the suns position at Christmas.

OK - good question Dave

1) - Cost - either aluminium frames or concrete angle blocks are expensive.
2) - The flat roof has been fiberglass sealed then painted so drilling any holes in it would cause a problem.
3) - + it's not my property, we rent.
3) - + if the were fixed moving them to try other positions for testing would be difficult.
4) - Sometimes very high winds up where we are therefore safer sitting 20mm of the ground on rubber feet.
5) - If it was just the 6-8 Panels I need to produce the power I need yes they would have to be tilted.

But it's a big roof, I have the room, so I over paneled @ 12 = No problem 

[BriansBrain]

 

The unit of power is the Watt (abbreviated W).
In the case of solar irradiance, we usually measure the power per unit area,
so irradiance is typically quoted as W/m², that is, Watts per square meter.

Just over a year ago I made a little program to automatically copy W/m2 solar data
(called website data scraping) from the local weather station 14 hours a day...
http://www.meteomaspalomas.com/

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The page updates every 5 min however I decided data from every 15min would be fine
I now have real (not estimated) data every day for a year June > June

This is the average MAX W/m2 in June
And the average MIN W/m2 in December
Both plots in one graph so I know what I need to plan for.

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[Dave]

It seems you have it all worked out BB 

[BriansBrain]

It's all connected and on test now 

[BriansBrain]

 

Now I have three Pylontech 48V 3.5 kWh US3000C batteries ready for winter.

+ The 1000W Elenos Transmitter is on the rack


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[Dave]

Now I have three Pylontech 48V 3.5 kWh US3000C batteries ready for winter.

+ The 1000W Elenos Transmitter is on the rack


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How long will the batteries run for BB?

[BriansBrain]

How long will the batteries run for BB?

Obviously it depends on the load   

The three fully charged will give a usable 9360W of power.

So that =
18.72 hrs at a mains power load of 500W.
-or-
9.36 hrs at a mains power load of 1000W.

etc.

 

[Dave]

How long will the batteries run for BB?

Obviously it depends on the load   

The three fully charged will give a usable 9360W of power.

So that =
18.72 hrs at a mains power load of 500W.
-or-
9.36 hrs at a mains power load of 1000W.

etc.

 

Is it just for Brain or is it for the home also? If it's just for Brain how long would he run for?

[BriansBrain]

Is it just for Brain or is it for the home also? If it's just for Brain how long would he run for?

OK... 

It's first priority is Brian' transmitter for 16.5 hrs a day.
During the day time I run it at 1000W.
Mornings and night time I reduce it to 750W.

Plus in the days when it's sunny and the batteries are fully charged
I connect the hot water boiler to have free electric from the panels.

 

[Dave]

Is it just for Brain or is it for the home also? If it's just for Brain how long would he run for?

Plus in the days when it's sunny and the batteries are fully charged
I connect the hot water boiler to have free electric from the panels.

 

That's a good plan, I like it 

[BriansBrain]

 

I've had to change the Solar Panel layout because of the shadow the water tower casts in the Winter.

I hope the all day results will be as good as expected.

 

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[Dave]

I've had to change the Solar Panel layout because of the shadow the water tower casts in the Winter.

I hope the all day results will be as good as expected.

 

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I take it the sun comes up directly over the tower? Lucky you didn't permanently fix them to the roof.

[BriansBrain]

I take it the sun comes up directly over the tower? Lucky you didn't permanently fix them to the roof.

Yeah....

In the Winter the Sun is lower and casts that shadow at Midday, in the Summer no problem.

The panels are just on four 20mm rubber feet, I can place them anywhere on the roof