solar panel fitting

[Ex- Member]

Hi Julian

 

I did splash out, yes, on Stainless steel nuts/bolts, only because I had visions of rusty ones dripping onto my newly painted cream roof!

 

The valve has been placed on the side, between the panel and the box surrounding the ball/bowl outfit, where I can put the pump in and pump it up a bit if I need to. With regards to grease, what would you recommend? I was thinking spraying on some WD40 onto the top of the ball but wasn't sure if it might compromise the rubber of the ball? Or maybe some of the grease that I use for in the stern tube in engine room????

 

The dog bowls are plastic, and I bought them on a whim, thinking that if I've wasted £3 its not really a big deal. I bought the bowls first and then bought the basketballs from Argos the day after.... perfect fit! it was like someone was looking down on me

 

 

 

Really?! I didnt know you'd thought all this up yourself? Do you think we're the first to pioneer it!?

 

Now I feel a bit guilty, like I've stolen your thunder or something. Hope you don't think so? I'd have held off if I knew you'd not finished your array yet but I thought you had seeing as you'd posted pictures of your frame the other week?

 

 

At least on a positive, you've had someone, kind-of-test it out for you first?? (albeit slightly differently)

 

I'll definately post the pics up tomorrow. They're on partner's phone so will have to upload them tomorrow when they're back from work, otherwise I'd have done it now!

 

I did splash out, yes, on Stainless steel nuts/bolts, only because I had visions of rusty ones dripping onto my newly painted cream roof!

 

Absolutely, good thinking.

 

The valve has been placed on the side, between the panel and the box surrounding the ball/bowl outfit, where I can put the pump in and pump it up a bit if I need to. With regards to grease, what would you recommend? I was thinking spraying on some WD40 onto the top of the ball but wasn't sure if it might compromise the rubber of the ball? Or maybe some of the grease that I use for in the stern tube in engine room????

 

Thick grease Lewis, WD might upset some plastics and is too thin, you could also try Vaseline it's inert, but standard cheap grease would suffice.

 

The dog bowls are plastic, and I bought them on a whim, thinking that if I've wasted £3 its not really a big deal. I bought the bowls first and then bought the basketballs from Argos the day after.... perfect fit! it was like someone was looking down on me

 

 

Nice one, hope my SS bowl fits the same, still if it don't it'll make a good cycling helmet

 

Really?! I didnt know you'd thought all this up yourself? Do you think we're the first to pioneer it!?

 

Now I feel a bit guilty, like I've stolen your thunder or something. Hope you don't think so? I'd have held off if I knew you'd not finished your array yet but I thought you had seeing as you'd posted pictures of your frame the other week?

 

We might well be the first Lewis If I wanted to keep ideas to myself I wouldn't publish them, If they work for anyone then all's good as far as I'm concerned. I'm more than pleased it has worked for you ok as you might have sued me I'm really glad it works to be honest, when you think stuff up in your head it doesn't always work out I can assure you I was pretty confident with this one though, although my array is twice the weight, but my ball is tougher than yours ------

 

 

 

 

[lewisericeric]

Remember, great minds discuss ideas

 

(p.s - still up as I can't sleep?! I'm too excited about tomorrow -> child.at.christmas!)

[Ex- Member]

Remember, great minds discuss ideas

 

(p.s - still up as I can't sleep?! I'm too excited about tomorrow -> child.at.christmas!)

 

 

I'll give you a tip. run through your plan tomorrow when your head's on the pillow, usually sends me off to the land of nod quite quickly.

 

When you kick off in the morning, don't rush into it, have a good long tea or coffee then spend 15 to 20 minutes scanning over all the stuff you have to do, or a walk through as I call it. I always try to do the tricky stuff first, that way the job gets easier as the day goes on. Always try to think a few steps ahead. Take regular breaks, a clear relaxed mind makes less mistakes. Don't set time limits and don't watch the clock, there's always another day. A rushed job is usually a poor job.

 

Basically take your time and enjoy.

 

 

 

[lewisericeric]

Cheers Julian

 

And thanks for all your advice on the whole of this thread - i'd have ended up buying those crap alu brackets or mounting flat if it wasn't for your ideas and egging me on to do it

 

We'll enjoy tomo, when we replaced the batts and fitted the smart gauge we didn't have a clue what we were doing but had a brilliant day in the end and had a good sense of achievement after!

 

Will keep you posted.

take care

[Grace and Favour]

Cheers Julian

 

And thanks for all your advice on the whole of this thread - i'd have ended up buying those crap alu brackets or mounting flat if it wasn't for your ideas and egging me on to do it

 

We'll enjoy tomo, when we replaced the batts and fitted the smart gauge we didn't have a clue what we were doing but had a brilliant day in the end and had a good sense of achievement after!

 

Will keep you posted.

take care

 

The sun's shining Lewis . . . . . . . .

[matty40s]

The sun's shining Lewis . . . . . . . .

 

The Harlem SolarTrotters will be hard at their first cup of tea now......

 

 

I was getting more than 4A from the panel at 7am this morning, the panel is flat and theres a tree shading it slightly!!!

Edited May 16, 2012 by matty40s

[lewisericeric]

Hi guys - the sun is shining! Mini break with a coffee here!

 

Quick question: in the outback manual the (dodgy) looking diagrams are showing that the positive from the PV array goes into the PV+ on the outback

 

The minus from the PV array though, isn't going into the PV- on the outback but directly onto the battery, and then a wire from PV- goes to the battery also. is this correct? Shouldn't the minus from the PV array go to the PV- on the mppt controller? (same as with negative?)

 

I was going to wire positive and negative in the same way?

 

Hi guys - the sun is shining! Mini break with a coffee here!

 

Quick question: in the outback manual the (dodgy) looking diagrams are showing that the positive from the PV array goes into the PV+ on the outback

 

The minus from the PV array though, isn't going into the PV- on the outback but directly onto the battery, and then a wire from PV- goes to the battery also. is this correct? Shouldn't the minus from the PV array go to the PV- on the mppt controller? (same as with negative?)

 

I was going to wire positive and negative in the same way?

 

It doesn't make sense that the 4mm cable from the negative off the panel would go directly onto the battery?

 

Matty - 4amps at 7am! Wow, have you just got the one panel? What wattage?

Edited May 16, 2012 by lewisericeric

[lewisericeric]

OK all done and dusted and was getting a max of 47 amps out of a possible 57 Well chuffed. When the sun was shining we even managed to put the electric immersion heater on without it obliterating the batts!

Will post pics later

[Ex- Member]

OK all done and dusted and was getting a max of 47 amps out of a possible 57 Well chuffed. When the sun was shining we even managed to put the electric immersion heater on without it obliterating the batts!

Will post pics later

 

Hi Lewis

 

Job done it seems, well done M8

 

Managed to get the array basically finished, fitted the buoy ball, all went in a treat as planned. I managed to routed a nice circled bevelled edge for the buoy to nestle into, it worked a treat as there's no sharp edges against the buoys outer surface The buoy is secured by some 22mm tube set through the rope hole already set in the top of the buoy and then the tube set into the side panels of the centre hub. This holds the buoy secure and keeps it from moving, also if we have to lift the panel for any reason it won't fall out.

 

 

 

Next up was setting in the actual panels 2 x 250 watt panels already joined together. The edges of the timber frame were lined with 2mm thick Neoprene rubber, then the joined panels were set into place, it was a tight fit which is good, I even had to loosen the frame in places as the frame had shrunk a little over the weeks left hanging around. All tightened up and it's sitting pretty. 10 small 19mm L brackets secure the panels from underneath the frame.

 

 

 

The moment of truth was when the frame was upturned and sat on the buoy ball. All was well, hardly a creek or groan from the frame. The ball though went quite flat shaped at it's base on the bench, this will eventually be set in a bowl, but I'm going to have to get some more air in the buoy as it squashes a bit too much at the moment. The bowl I had gleaned was just a few CM's too small, so I'll have to hunt for one a bit bigger, until I have the correct bowl I can't finish the base, so not quite completed. I also have to trim the excess Neoprene from the frame, I applied it slightly oversized so the overlap gave a nice guide for the frame edge to nestle into.

 

It is heavy though around 55 kilos, so not likely to be nicked.

 

 

 

[lewisericeric]

Hi Julian, looking really good!

 

I have to say, I dont think my set up looks as effective as yours, but it does the job! The only concern I have, is that I only managed a peak of 47amps, even in full sunshine and with the panels tilted direclty at the sun (although by the time we'd got everything fitted, it was 3pm anyway)

 

What do you think? I can get a maximum of 57amps with my array but only managed a max (today) of 47 amps? Does that sound normal? I assume that you can never really get the full peak output anyway?

 

Anyway, here's some pics from last week and the fitting today:

 

Cut ply ready to go onto the back of the panel, with hole cut for the ball to fit in to allow panel to swivel:

 

 

Drilling hole to attach nuts/bolts to panel and ply

 

Nuts and bolts fitted

 

Basic fitting (even Eddie the dog helped

 

Erm....excuse the weird leg angle!

 

 

The first panel sat on the ball. The box surround wasn't painted at this point and was a basic first attempt before completing the proper, final boxes. Oh and the roof was a mess (busy, messy, hard work day!)

 

The panels sitting on the basket ball (Disguised with the wood box painted a matching shade to the roof) Also, you cant really see the ball unless you look right under. You can see it on this pic as I wedged the camera right under the panel! The underside of the panel is secured to the roof on either side of the ball using eye plates. Makes it look a bit messy, but needs must

 

Preparing the Outback:

 

 

Fitting the Outback 80

 

Screen shot (not the best but the camera couldn't really focus in on it) showing a good 30amps, despite being a thin cloud layer at this point !

 

The finished array:

 

 

Different panel angle:

 

And after all that, I came indoors and made a great Risotto for a well-deserved dinner:

 

 

I'm just looking at the data logging for today and have two figures (ive rounded rthem as it gives them to two decimal places):

 

76 Ah

47 Ap

 

I'm presuming the larger figure is the total amps I generated from the batteries today? Is that correct? Doesn't sound a lot, but we didn't get up and running until around 3pm and it was changing from full sun to cloudy etc

 

And whats the other figure????

Edited May 16, 2012 by lewisericeric

[Ex- Member]

I'm just looking at the data logging for today and have two figures (ive rounded rthem as it gives them to two decimal places):

 

76 Ah

47 Ap

 

I'm presuming the larger figure is the total amps I generated from the batteries today? Is that correct? Doesn't sound a lot, but we didn't get up and running until around 3pm and it was changing from full sun to cloudy etc

 

And whats the other figure????

 

 

Hi Lewis

 

Looking good, nice looking boat BTW

 

I would say 47 amps at 3pm was pretty good. I'm not sure how the data is collated, you'll just have to read up on it. I'ts unlikely you'll get full rated amps, the sun light would have to be square on the panel on a very clear hot day. BTW those fur trees look lovely, but shading the panels

 

If it's a good day tomorrow you'll probably get some good data. Can you link the outback to a computer BTW, would be nice to study it on the laptop.

 

I really ought to read up some more on it as It costs so much

 

Anyway nice job, keep the figures rolling in

[lewisericeric]

Cheers for the comments Julian. So you don't think it looks a little bit like I'm about to head into space?

Gettin 13amps right now when tilted to the sun and its 630. When flat, I'm getting 4 or 5

 

Definately glad I decided to go for the 360degree tilt

Edited May 17, 2012 by lewisericeric

[Biggles]

Without reading through the whole thread. Is where them Tracer 45 MPPT was discussed.

 

If it was I said I'd report back on mine.

 

Here's what I saw yesterday

[lewisericeric]

i think we did discuss the Tracer here Biggles, yes because it was me who was going to buy one but then went onto buy an Outback 80AMP incase i wanted to , erm, expand my array!

[Ex- Member]

Cheers for the comments Julian. So you don't think it looks a little bit like I'm about to head into space?

Gettin 13amps right now when tilted to the sun and its 630. When flat, I'm getting 4 or 5

 

Definately glad I decided to go for the 360degree tilt

 

Nice one, if it's a nice clear day you could try the panels orientated for a period then flat for the same period just to see what the difference is on average. Good news though that you're getting such a big increase orientated. Of course if the sun is low, panels laid flat will suffer quite a loss. Will be interesting when I'm all set up to compare figures as you suggested previously. I don't think I can get as much tilt as you though, I'll have to measure it when on the boat to get a fair comparison.

 

With hindsight you know, I'm wondering weather I should have done the same as you and have 2 smaller panels as I would have achieved a much steeper angle, bit late now though I'm well happy with the frame though it held up well given all the weight. Just got to get some more air in the ball.

 

What was the weather like where you are today, and what total amps did you collect?

 

 

 

[Justme]

Those bushes / mini trees have got to go.

 

Shade is a major issue.

 

Oh & yes you can get the full amount, in fact on a sunny & cold day you can get more than the rated amount.

[FrigateCaptain]

Mine are up and running as a flat unit now, its only a little 200w set up but in 2 days I've collected 50ah! Well chuffed, its frequently hitting the 14.5v cut off too

[Justme]

I would say that that 200watt array is seriously under performing.

 

200w should be able to do about 15amps in full sun. You should be getting about 4 times that per day with the weather we have been having. So about 100-120ah over the two days.

 

Or you bats are quite full & so the energy available is not being collected.

 

Which if you are hitting absorb (which you hint at) is quite likely.

[FrigateCaptain]

I think that is the case, in the last 2 weeks I've fitted new batts, alternator, solar and lcd ammeter Ect and even with the alternator, within a hour of start up the ammeter is showing a output of around 10a of the engine and the voltage 14v.3 ish.

 

The panels are flat mounted mind

[lewisericeric]

12 O clock lunch time and averaging around 37 amps, no cloud, no haze, panels tilted to optimum sun angle , is this normal out of a possible maximum 57 amps and with an Outback 80amp controller?

 

Just to add -the little fur trees have been moved as well

 

12:45PM - 14.4V and 30.6amps. Switching things on in the boat though, makes the amps go up so I'm guessing it pulls more amps as and when it needs them? But... should it not be using its maximum capacity to charge the batts to full? SOC of batts at the mo is 82%

Edited May 21, 2012 by lewisericeric

[Ex- Member]

12 O clock lunch time and averaging around 37 amps, no cloud, no haze, panels tilted to optimum sun angle , is this normal out of a possible maximum 57 amps and with an Outback 80amp controller?

 

12 O clock lunch time and averaging around 37 amps, no cloud, no haze, panels tilted to optimum sun angle , is this normal out of a possible maximum 57 amps and with an Outback 80amp controller?

 

Just to add -the little fur trees have been moved as well

 

Do you mean optimum angle in direct sunlight, if so I would have thought a few more amps were available. Where are you with all this weather BTW although sun is beginning to come out here.

 

 

 

[lewisericeric]

Full sun here today julian, and yes I mean that they're tilted towards the sun as best as i think i can get.

 

Ive just edited my previous post Julian - have a look at the figures and I dont understand/not sure why it seems to put more amps in if we switch things on in the boat - it's like it pulls in more amps as and when you need it? But that means that you're never getting the full amount from the panels unless you start using stuff? that can't be right????

 

However, we let that batts get to 56% this morning and it has charged them up to 83% now since 10am?

[Ex- Member]

Full sun here today julian, and yes I mean that they're tilted towards the sun as best as i think i can get.

 

Ive just edited my previous post Julian - have a look at the figures and I dont understand/not sure why it seems to put more amps in if we switch things on in the boat - it's like it pulls in more amps as and when you need it? But that means that you're never getting the full amount from the panels unless you start using stuff? that can't be right????

 

However, we let that batts get to 56% this morning and it has charged them up to 83% now since 10am?

 

It might be down to exactly what your batteries can accept. As you know I'm no expert in this charging malarkey, but I think I know when a battery nears it's full charge it doesn't accept so many amps, so possibly your batteries already have a fair charge in them and the outback is regulating the supply as it gleans information from the battery bank. I wonder if you put a heavy draw on your system weather the amps will increase to compensate.

 

Overall though Lewis bearing in mind there's 6 hours + daylight remaining you should be ending the day with fully charged batteries, a result I would say.

 

 

 

[lewisericeric]

it'll be interesting to see what results you are getting Julian when you're up and running and if we have similar weather days etc.

 

Its now decreased to about 12amps even though we're in full sun, but the batts are now at 94% so guessing thats why. it would be interesting if perhaps, the batts were down to 60% ish at midday what amps id be getting!

[Rebotco]

it'll be interesting to see what results you are getting Julian when you're up and running and if we have similar weather days etc.

 

Its now decreased to about 12amps even though we're in full sun, but the batts are now at 94% so guessing thats why. it would be interesting if perhaps, the batts were down to 60% ish at midday what amps id be getting!

 

 

I seem to remember that the output of solar panels is greatly affected by their own temperature too. If it is really hot in the midday sun, they may not give out as much as they would on a similar, but colder day.

 

I think that is why there should be an air gap underneath them, to promote cooling.

But I'm no expert - I haven't even got any yet!