JohnMo Posted July 5, 2023 Author Share Posted July 5, 2023 Many thanks. Photo of the inverter. It is located on the rear wall of what was/is an overflow wood shed. My ASHP is at the front of the shed, the area between the inverter and ASHP remains clear of logs etc. The two pipes on the right are the flow and return to the ASHP, the logs are being used as a make shift work bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 32 minutes ago, JohnMo said: Photo of the inverter. I can't remember if you are going grid tied or off grid with this installation? Does that inverter island? (can't see a model number) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted July 5, 2023 Author Share Posted July 5, 2023 Grid tied - no it doesn't island. Model Solis-1P3.6K-4G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 3 minutes ago, JohnMo said: Grid tied - no it doesn't island. Model Solis-1P3.6K-4G. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 I assume you know this but mention for the benefit of other readers, DC from the panels is lethal. At the very least leave each string of panels incomplete, i.e at least one dc plug and socket not connected so there is no potential on the cables while wiring the dc isolators and making the connection to the inverters. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted July 6, 2023 Author Share Posted July 6, 2023 (edited) To amplify @ProDavecomments, this is the procedure I am following. DC panel connections. Make extension wires from first and last panel, install MC4 connectors and terminate at isolation switch. Clip all wires into place - I used UV resistant cable ties secured to unistrut. Connect panels in series and connect extension leads. Using multimeter check voltage is present at isolation switch. Mark each positive wire terminal. DISCONNECT TWO PANELS IN EACH STRING. Use multimeter to verify no voltage present at isolation switch. Make up and terminate cable between isolation switch and inverter. Ensure positive and negative terminals are not mixed up. Make all AC connections prior to connection to consumer unit. Once all connections are made reconnect PV panels. Then follow switch on procedure detailed in inverter manual. Edited July 6, 2023 by JohnMo Added details 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted July 6, 2023 Author Share Posted July 6, 2023 Well that's everything up and running, pretty cloudy today, and the sun does come out it's still not completely clear, but at 2pm was generating about 2.7kW. Only thing I had to correct was the meter got wired the wrong way round so it wasn't recording export. 10 mins to sort out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 1 minute ago, JohnMo said: but at 2pm was generating about 2.7kW. That is quite impressive for the first week in July, though the sun only gets 54° high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted July 7, 2023 Author Share Posted July 7, 2023 Full details of costs, all labour by myself, so not costed Panels 12x 285W, used £700 £40 fuel to collect panels Inverter £150 Posts and postcrete. £400 Unistrut, £300. 4 core cable and three core cable £300 Isolators AC and DC, generation meter, stickers and MC4 connectors, £99 M20 glands £2.50 M25 glands £30 Coach screws £9 M4 bolts and nuts £9 Square plate washer £13 M8 Allen bolt £18 Panel mounts £32 DC cable £70 MC4 connectors £7 So cost all in £2210, for a fully installed ground mount 3.4kW PV system. Array mounted 52m from inverter. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 1 hour ago, JohnMo said: So cost all in £2210, for a fully installed ground mount 3.4kW PV system. Array mounted 52m from inverter That is pretty reasonable. The 52m from the property raised an interesting thought in my mind, which is pretty warped. 50m away from me us probably 20 homes. There is a bit of land that currently has 1 tree on it, a large sycamore. If diameter of the canopy was replaced by a circle of PV, the area would be around 250m2, the sides could be around 60m2, a third of that would be easily usable, especially if it was allowed to track the sun, like a merry-go_round. A quick look at PVGIS shows that at 0.6kW/m2 it would produce around 100 MWh per year. With almost 6MWh in December. That would work out at 300 kWh per house, 10 kWh per day. That would pay for 3 bath fulls of water, or heat my house for a day. Well worth cutting a tree down for, and the ground below could become something useful, it is currently a dog toilet. Nonsense to do, but shows what could be done quite easily and cheaply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilT Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 6 hours ago, JohnMo said: Full details of costs, all labour by myself, so not costed Panels 12x 285W, used £700 £40 fuel to collect panels Inverter £150 Posts and postcrete. £400 Unistrut, £300. 4 core cable and three core cable £300 Isolators AC and DC, generation meter, stickers and MC4 connectors, £99 M20 glands £2.50 M25 glands £30 Coach screws £9 M4 bolts and nuts £9 Square plate washer £13 M8 Allen bolt £18 Panel mounts £32 DC cable £70 MC4 connectors £7 So cost all in £2210, for a fully installed ground mount 3.4kW PV system. Array mounted 52m from inverter. Highly commendable effort. Looking forward to hear how this and the new hp perform throughout the year. Wish I was still young enough to do all that kind of stuff again😒 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted July 7, 2023 Author Share Posted July 7, 2023 22 minutes ago, PhilT said: Wish I was still young enough to do all that kind of stuff again Never too young. Have plenty of when retired or semi retired to do stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted December 14, 2023 Author Share Posted December 14, 2023 (edited) So just as an update, no issues experienced so far, even in the high winds we have had. Was comparing the house output and the vertical array today. Both a similar kW rating, house at 45 degrees, this array vertical. Vertical array was generating 1.5kW while house was generating 1kW at the same time, this was at 11am, when sun direction suited the house array (SE) better than the vertical array (SW). So circa 50% (or more) uplift in winter performance. So fulfils the design brief I gave myself, generation between both arrays was 4.5kWh between 10am and 2pm and a sun/cloud day. Attached is a composite of the total output of house and hill top array, from the battery software. Edited December 14, 2023 by JohnMo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HughF Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I need to ground mount my current array, as the building it’s on needs to come down. Given me food for thought… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I considered a ground array, was going to make it adjustable (from scaffold poles) to max out summer/winter gain . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 Sunny day yesterday, 1/3 of electric came from the 45 deg array, the other 2/3 from the vertical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 How did i miss this thread? Anyway, whilst my 4.5kw array sits on a pallet, its somewhat acedemic, but my intention was always to optimise winter performance. Which leads to the obvious question, in order to improve further, could the panels rotate to track the sun. I see you can buy such a device commercially, but it seems bonkers money, though it adjusts in both planes. I was thinking more simple like a rod between each panel with a ball joint each end with a motor to drive all the panels in one go. Thats all easy enough. Its how you control the motor to move the panels to the appropiate angle thats the difficult part? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Or is the improvement in production simply not worth the complication? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramco Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 2 minutes ago, Roger440 said: Or is the improvement in production simply not worth the complication? Changing the angle to vertical might not be worth it. Ours are set to about 45degs instead of the ~33degs to get maximum output. But the maximum output is in the summer when you've got more than enough, you need the panels more vertical in the winter to get the most out of the winter sun. Go on to PVGIS and try out several different angles - for us the overall production wasn't much different between 45 and 33 but the curve for 45degs was flatter, so less maximum output in the summer and more output in the winter. As for rotating the panels, that sounds like too much complexity...... Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 I have a southeast array at 45 deg roof mounted and a vertical array bush split into 2 south east and nearly west. My generation profile looks like this. Late start is due to trees in the way and finish time is sun dropping below horizon (more trees). Not sure the faff of tracking is worth the hassle. In summer you are making loads of energy anyway. So I just optimise for winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Here the most productive angle in winter is about 70 degrees. However as the sun adjusts every day its forever changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 9 minutes ago, Bramco said: Changing the angle to vertical might not be worth it. Ours are set to about 45degs instead of the ~33degs to get maximum output. But the maximum output is in the summer when you've got more than enough, you need the panels more vertical in the winter to get the most out of the winter sun. Go on to PVGIS and try out several different angles - for us the overall production wasn't much different between 45 and 33 but the curve for 45degs was flatter, so less maximum output in the summer and more output in the winter. As for rotating the panels, that sounds like too much complexity...... Simon Sorry, may not have been clear. My intention was as per JohnMo, vertical or close too. Depending what PVGIS tells me. That angle would be fixed, but they would rotate on the vertical axsis to track the sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 11 minutes ago, JohnMo said: I have a southeast array at 45 deg roof mounted and a vertical array bush split into 2 south east and nearly west. My generation profile looks like this. Late start is due to trees in the way and finish time is sun dropping below horizon (more trees). Not sure the faff of tracking is worth the hassle. In summer you are making loads of energy anyway. So I just optimise for winter. Yes, looking at that, id be lucky to gain 2 hours extra generation from tracking on solely the vertical axsis. Its a south facing site with no obstruction over about a 160 degree arc. Might still add up over time tough. The mechanical side is pretty easy. Just the control of it. I did consider a manual winding handle, but thats definitely to much faff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceverge Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 18 minutes ago, Roger440 said: Yes, looking at that, id be lucky to gain 2 hours extra generation from tracking on solely the vertical axsis. Its a south facing site with no obstruction over about a 160 degree arc. Might still add up over time tough. The mechanical side is pretty easy. Just the control of it. I did consider a manual winding handle, but thats definitely to much faff! Add up the cost maybe. It might be cheaper just to add another panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 9 minutes ago, Iceverge said: Add up the cost maybe. It might be cheaper just to add another panel. Depends what the limiting factor is- space or budget. I'm sure you could knock something up using threaded rod and a windscreen wiper motor. Not sure about the control side of it but it can't be that hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 17 minutes ago, Crofter said: Depends what the limiting factor is- space or budget. I'm sure you could knock something up using threaded rod and a windscreen wiper motor. Not sure about the control side of it but it can't be that hard. There is no space issue. I could add another 100 panels if needed. So, you are right, cheaper to add panels. They seem to go for circa £100 a go on ebay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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