Moving A Roof Mounted Solar Panel Array To A Ground Mount
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- Today I removed the solar panel array for my cabin from the roof to a ground mount I built from wood. My cabin roof faces slightly south west and is difficult to clean when it snows. I initially put the panels on the roof because I never thought of a ground mount and there is so many granite slabs near the cabin it's hard to dig or secure any ground footings. I still need to figure out the conduit and add some braces to prevent the mount from sagging with the panels on them. I ran out of time so I will pick it up next week. I am also preparing for 2 large dumpsters arriving September 29.
00:00 Intro
01:11 System Shutdown
01:15 Picking Best Spot for Solar
02:21 Taking Panels Off Roof
02:35 Solar Panel Removal Timelapse
03:39 Ground Mount Solar Panel Install
04:06 Solar Install Timelapse
04:24 Solar Ground Mount Reveal - Zábava
I plan on buying land in southern Colorado near Alamosa within the next year. What can you tell me about the soil in Colorado? Also I think mounting your solar panels on a device that either tracks the sun or something like what you have which can be moved around is more ideal than roof mounted ones. I have solar panels on the roof of my van so I am able to move my van to get the best sun, but as you know you cannot do much with them if you mount them on your roof.
Thank you for the comment. As for the soil in Colorado is very sandy depending where you are. We do have some good soil where the trees are but if you intend to farm, you will have to work the soil and improve it. Colorado is very dry and semi arid most of the time. It's called the alpine desert. We do get wettish summers with afternoon showers but again, the mountains very much affect the weather so they can block or allow certain weather patterns. We have a very bio diverse state depending where you are. I would think Alamosa would be more on the dry side.
I have some property in Conejos County south of Alamosa. I plan on building a 16’x48’ 1bed/1bath home for myself. I’ll use solar panels for electrical needs. I have water rights from a canal for irrigation . The place has been in the family since 1939. The biggest problem around Alamosa is the lack of ground water. Don’t believe everything the realtor tell you, investigate for yourself.
good move!
IMHO
what voltage are you running?
wire size will need to be larger...
Thanks James!. My battery bank is 12v. My solar panels are ~20v open circuit each. Since I'm cheap and do not want a big charge controller that handles a lot of voltage, I wired two 400w strings in series and parallel. So each 400w string is about ~40 volts and 10 amps and I have two Victron 100/30 charge controllers, one for each string that charge my lithium batteries to 14.4 volts. I am using 10awg solar wire and the distance is about 40 feet (two separate runs). Each 400w string is independent and not combined anywhere except after the charge controllers send in their metered voltage to the battery bank.
Thanks for the details!
I appreciate the redundancy, I wouldn't recommend the same for lead-acid batteries, though.
I have the same Renogy panels in their boxes - still building my system.
I ran your numbers through Southwire's resources/calculators. I think you can improve this by wiring the panels in each controller's string in series. This is open circuit of 80 volts - the Victron controller can handle this. The string then is nominally 48 volts and 6-8 amperes. It will cut the voltage drop in half.
Also note that other than UV protection, there is no advantage to 'solar cable' - regular individual THHN conductors will do just fine for the long run, will be easier to pull, and much cheaper.
thanks for posting!
@@jamesalles139 Thank you. I appreciate the feedback. I'm new to a lot of this and enjoy learning. I will consider your recommendations.
Also, on the move, I started collecting solar a full 2 hours earlier in the day! So far that is a huge plus. :)