Looks like we're finally going solar

[wdfifteen]

They started Wednesday and are finishing the installment today. It's been a long process, we signed the contract in September. This is a non-standard installation and the contractors are from Indiana, where the codes are different. Lots of delay in permitting and some miscommunication between the Ohio engineer and the Indiana installers.

11.1 KW of power should cover 65% of our use on an annual basis. In Feb, March, and April we should be net producers and get credit on our summer bill from the utility.







The panels are going on the barn which is a couple of hundred feet from the house.

[Rusty Heap]

Nice Ranch.

We have 5 acres and am tempted to install solar on my 3000 square foot shop on the left bay that faces south. Can I asked your total install costs including batteries, ?

[Seahawk]

Can I pm for some details?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Can I pm for some details?

Sure, or ask here in public.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

Can I asked your total install costs including batteries, ?

I didn't have batteries installed, I don't remember the numbers, but at the time I calculated the batteries didn't pencil out. We have a generator, so they would be kind of redundant. Total cost of the installation, permits, etc was $30k with a $9k federal tax credit.
Nice tractor!

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I didn't have batteries installed. We have a generator, so they would be kind of redundant. Total cost of the installation, permits, etc was $30k with a $9k federal tax credit.
Nice tractor!

So, without batteries you have only sun time power? Is it grid independent?

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Sure, or ask here in public.

Thanks!

What is the power loss over the distance from the solar panel on the barn to the house?

We'll do batteries because of the sump pumps must run if we are not here.

Thanks for this thread!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

So, without batteries you have only sun time power? Is it grid independent?

Yes, power only during sun time. Connected to the grid.

I don't remember all the calculations, but we figured the big power users are the AC units, clothes dryer, car charger, and pool heater. We plan to alter our lifestyles to maximize daytime use. Run the clothes dryer during the day. Set the timers on the car charger and pool heater to run them during the day. The AC naturally runs less at night. The batteries just didn't pencil out.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

The batteries just didn't pencil out.

The only reason they, for lack of a better term, "pencil in for me" are the sump jumps that keep the basement dry if we are gone.

Like you, I have plenty of generators on the farm that can run everything if I am here.

I have looked at the "Generac" solution but burying a propane tank can't be done here since we on on the water in a critical area.

No issues from me, that is important to the health of the Bay.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Thanks!

What is the power loss over the distance from the solar panel on the barn to the house?

We'll do batteries because of the sump pumps must run if we are not here.

Thanks for this thread!

I don't know about the power loss, voltage drop is supposed to be minimal. Maybe some electrician here can make the calculations. It's about 200 feet of 3 ought aluminum, 220 volts, I don't know the amperage but could be anywhere up to the 200 amp breaker. Once they are finished I'll get a set of the engineering drawings, that should have everything in it.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Yes, power only during sun time. Connected to the grid.

.

Is it true that if the grid goes down it disables your system?

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Is it true that if the grid goes down it disables your system?

Not sure but I think it has to.

The power generated from the panels has to go somewhere. If there’s no load from the house, it would have to go back on to the grid. If the grid is down, it would be a back feed on to the grid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Evans, Marv]

If the grid goes down here, the panels quit also. They have to have a bit of power to enable them. A friend of mine has a two-battery Tesla Powerwall. I think it has a 20+ kW capacity, & the cost was $26K+. It didn't pencil out for me either, so for the time being I'll get along with my generator powering certain circuits during outages.
We have a "net metering" program here that credits us for the extra power we feed into the grid. I'm on the original program. The follow on programs are less advantageous, & the power company continually tries to whittle down on the metering program advantages for solar and continually lobbies the state power commission for new fees and costs to be born by those who have solar. They were originally gung ho about solar until they realized it cut into their profits. Now it's a continuous assault.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Is it true that if the grid goes down it disables your system?

It disconnects the solar system from the grid. If you have batteries I think the batteries can still provide power for your home. I do know they system I have needs to see 220 volts from the grid to stay connected. If the grid goes down, it disconnects. It's a safety feature for the line workers. They can drop the power from a transformer, but if the solar system is still connected, the lines they are working on are still hot.
There is also a manual disconnect that the fire department uses. When they respond to a fire they pull the main meter. In the past the solar system kept working and had to be disconnected manually. With the current system, if the meter is pulled, the solar system automatically disconnects. It may still charge batteries, I don't know, but there is no power to the house.

[oldE]

That seems to be the same as my system. The controller is keyed to the sine wave of grid power. Without that the panels are not enabled. If the power goes out I don't have to shut down anything if I want to run my generator. With 20 panels on a south facing roof ( close to the 45th parallel) we feed about as much power into the grid as we use.
No batteries. Not worth the hassle.

Best
Les

[wdfifteen]

Question for Les and Marv:
Where are the disconnects and inverter located in your system?
Some counties down here require that the disconnect be situated in the main feed between the meter and the house and be no more than 6 feet from the meter.
Fortunately my county allows the disconnect to be at the panels, wherever they are. That was part of the confusion when the installers showed up with a trencher and wanted to start mounting the disconnect on our house next to the meter. I had gone over the plans with the engineer and we agreed to put the disconnect on the barn - no digging and no tearing up our landscaping.
Looking back (it's been almost a year since we started planning this) the location of the disconnect is one reason we don't have batteries. If we had batteries running the house when the grid went down we would HAVE to have the automatic disconnect at the meter - and we don't want it there.

[Nickshu]

We just put solar and batteries on our house. In our area we don't get paid for what we put back on the grid, so getting solar without batteries is a big loser. We went with Enphase and a smart switch that will use the batteries based on how we configure it w/ an app. Then a transfer switch to run fully on battery. Supposedly we can run for 24h on batteries alone if we don't use A/C. That does not include additional power the panels would put back into the batteries during that 24H, so possibly longer.

I feel your pain on the permitting and inspection process. We started the process in August 2022, it took until this month (February 2023) to get it approved to be installed. It's still not operational b/c electrical modifications were needed during the install and the city is requiring us to re-permit the project before they will inspect it. Who knows how long that will take.

I feel like I am dealing with the town council on Clarkson's Farm.

[oldE]

Around here the disconnect must be within 3 feet of the meter. Because my meter is on a west wall at a corner and the solar controller and disconnect are just around the corner on the south wall there is a sign by the meter pointing out the location of the shut off.

Best
Les

[carambola]

those panels look incorrectly installed, for sw ohio the panels should be angled at 38.5* for best efficiency.

[oldE]

Panels are very forgiving with regards to angle of incidence. Most are just mounted to a rack system like you see there so they are parallel to the roof deck.
15 years ago my sister's farm had a tracking array. It was supposed to follow the sun through the day but it was a maintenance PITA. Now you see more powerful arrays rigidly mounted. Maybe not quite as efficient, but hassle free.

Best
Les