Of the knowledge base here - Has anyone gone solar?

[Peyton Manning]

I live on 6.5 acres and would like the photovoltaic panels just to cut down on my bill.
But I have never gotten around to looking into it

 

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[Peyton Manning]

and can you boost the efficiency of the panels by using mirrors?

 

[Roadhse2]

We have 5060 watts of solar panels, one 36v, 900ah, forklift battery and one 12v 245ah AGM deep cycle battery.

None of this is installed as of yet, but i have had and used solar in the past on a smaller scale (480w of panels, 4 12v deep cycle batteries, 2000w inverter and two charge controllers)

I also have 2 wind generators that i have had in service before and will be reused....plus 2 solar water heaters along with tank etc.

All of this is going on our new in ground off grid house, with no grid tie (by choice) to the local utility company.

Total cost so far is under $6k...add another couple of thousand by the time it is in service....All work to install done by me.

The 5060w of panels (22, 230w panels) cost 75 cents a watt plus shipping
The forklift battery was at a friends scrap business with a broken cell, it is in a metal case, 2 volts per cell to make 36 volts, $40.....All cells test good except the broken cased one....by cutting the buss bars i can isolate it to either 12 or 24 volt system and eliminate the bad cell, plus have extras in case of failure. The 12v AGM battery, brand new, fell off of a truck on a secondary hwy in front of a business i rent space at to work on my car projects...Hwy Patrolmen stopped and drug it off the roadway, to our driveway...on the way home i noticed a large gray 'box' in the way of traffic leaving our place so got out to move it....was delighted to see it was a brand new battery...not so much fun was that it weighs 160 pounds and i was a lone to load it...lol Being an AGM, no acid can leak out even if the case is broken...all cells test good and it charged up fine. Discounted cost online $859...my cost, free AND priceless to me!

Best place to buy inverters is a larger truck stop, 2000w is about as small as you want for serious power in the home, 5000w even better..Charge controllers off of Ebay from China sellers...we run one inexpensive one ($15 or less shipped) for every 2 panels and keep 2 on the shelf just in case of failure. Keeping an extra inverter handy is good insurance too as the rest of the system is pretty much bullet proof, but electronics can fail at any time no matter the brand.

We dont have a steady enough wind source, over 12 mph, to get much out of the wind generators, but i like them....fun to watch ...

Glen

 

[Roadhse2]

Mirrors.....You can...but it will produce hot spots on your panels and actually lower efficiency...heat is not your friend on the panels...

 

[Roadhse2]

I also have several friends i have installed systems for, with no problems in the last 4 years here. Systems can get confusing with all the different types of electronics needed.

One of those is the inverter, true sine wave inverters are more expensive as they make a electrical 'signature' the same as utility power has, Modified sine wave works fine for almost all applications. When true sign wave IS needed a smaller inverter (500 to 750w) on a dedicated circuit, for the computers, big screen tv, some appliances (items that like a cleaner signal) along with a modified sine wave for all other household usage can save you a bundle....hook both up to the same posts on the battery bank, they will work independently and be fine.

There are many ways to save money when building a system and still keep it reliable....research is your best tool.

Glen

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Glen, thank you for the input. Fear of the unknown keeps many of us on the grid!

 

[Roadhse2]

NP...right now is the cheapest time to get into solar ever seen....panels are at a very low price point....everything else is running about normal pricing, but panels are your main item, so stock up if you can....buy as many as you can because shipping will be about the same on 2 as 20...

 

[A2coins]

I haven't seen anyone yet!!!!!

 

[BigWaveDave]

Man Tommy, you sure know how to bump a thread!