http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/ General Solar Topics. For non-technical discussion of all types of solar and renewable energy. en Mon, 20 May 2013 16:42:18 GMT vBulletin 90 http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/images/misc/rss.png http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/ http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19839-Successful-Tiny-House-Solar-Setup&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 21:19:10 GMT http://tinyhouseoverthehill.blogspot.com/2013/04/solar-system-design-and-installation.html Stumbled onto this while following one of my favorite... http://tinyhouseoverthehill.blogspot...tallation.html

Stumbled onto this while following one of my favorite tiny house groups. It's a successful tiny house setup using a very simple solar electric setup. :) Just thought I'd share this with you as I know you like examples of these kinds of setups and applications. ]]> General Solar Power Topics Steven Lake http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19839-Successful-Tiny-House-Solar-Setup http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19836-WIRING-Diagarm-for-XANTREX-Prowatt-1750-remote-switch&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 04:51:24 GMT Greetings, I have just bought a XANTREX ProWatt 1750 but unfortunately the seller could not find the remote switch panel and cable for it. I... Greetings,

I have just bought a XANTREX ProWatt 1750 but unfortunately the seller could not find the remote switch panel and cable for it.

I have seen them advertised on the NET by various suppliers and they are anything from $25 to $35..... I can make one for about $10......

I would like to make a remote switch panel for the unit but need the wiring diagram, I noticed that they use a telephone cord type connector....all I need is the pin wiring configuration.

Anyone out there that can help please.

Thanks a million :D ]]> General Solar Power Topics Retired747 http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19836-WIRING-Diagarm-for-XANTREX-Prowatt-1750-remote-switch http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19835-RV-Solar-set-up&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 04:39:11 GMT Greetings, I have just installed a total of 3 x 12v solar panels on my RV (2 x 120w and 1 x 100w) I have also bought a 30A MPPT controller. I... Greetings,

I have just installed a total of 3 x 12v solar panels on my RV (2 x 120w and 1 x 100w) I have also bought a 30A MPPT controller.
I have a couple of questions, so here goes:

1) Is it possible or worth connecting the 2 x 120w panels in parallel then wire them in series with the 100w panel (total 24v) feed it into the 12-24v MPPT that in turn is connected to a 12v deep cycle battery (yes 12v)?
2) Is the MPPT capable of recognizing that there is a 12v battery connected even though I am feeding the MPPT with 24v?

OR should I just wire all 3 panels in parallel and be done with it!?

Looking forward to all suggestions

Thanks:confused: ]]> General Solar Power Topics Retired747 http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19835-RV-Solar-set-up http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19742-MidNite-Surge-Protective-Device&goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 10:31:54 GMT Greetings: I bought and installed the MidNite Solar Surge Protective Device. http://www.solar-electric.com/mnspd300.html Installation: *Green*... Greetings:
I bought and installed the MidNite Solar Surge Protective Device. http://www.solar-electric.com/mnspd300.html
Installation: Green wire to Ground bus bar; Red wire to DC HOT IN in my mx60; and Black wire to NEGATIVE (WHITE) IN in my mx60.
According to the Manual, 2 LEDs in the device should glow blue when everything is alright. In my MNSPD no LEDs glow.
Did I do something wrong?

"The MidNite Solar surge protection device (SPD) is offered in three different models: MNSPD115, MNSPD300 and MNSPD600. The model you need will be determined by the voltage of the circuit being protected. The SPD is designed or AC and DC circuits for indoor and outdoor applications. These can be used on single devices or can be connected to an electrical load center. Blue LED indicators will light when voltage is present, showing you that your system is protected." ]]> General Solar Power Topics JESSICA http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19742-MidNite-Surge-Protective-Device http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19679-Pass-through-power&goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 15:29:47 GMT Not sure I am not grasping the full relationship of the PV panels, charge controller, and battery bank relative to power use in daylight. Does your... Not sure I am not grasping the full relationship of the PV panels, charge controller, and battery bank relative to power use in daylight. Does your inverter receive what I will call "pass through power" from the PV panels and charge controller when the battery bank is fully charged or must the bank be pulled down to its (preset) recharge level before the charge controller will allow any PV power through to charge the batteries? Thanks. ]]> General Solar Power Topics TexasDan http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19679-Pass-through-power http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19675-Why!-Did-thjis-Amish-man-not-get-electrocuted&goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 01:49:49 GMT An Amish friend of mine cut a tree down and it caught on a high power line. So he cut the tree up a little higher so it would fall off the power... An Amish friend of mine cut a tree down and it caught on a high power line. So he cut the tree up a little higher so it would fall off the power line. What saved him from electrocution? I ask him about it and he said he felt some tingling and the tree was sparking and smoking. I had a similar experience with a log skidder. I had a tree hanging on the powerline. I left the skidder against the tree and leaped off the back tire as far as I could and didn,t get shocked. Our crew went to the resturant and the lights were flickering in there. when we got back the tree was on the ground and the top op the tree burnt off. Probably 6 inch dia. where the tree burnt off. :Dsolarvic:D ]]> General Solar Power Topics solarvic http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19675-Why!-Did-thjis-Amish-man-not-get-electrocuted http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19669-Professional-Water-Turbine-Installer-in-Michigan&goto=newpost Thu, 02 May 2013 18:48:49 GMT Not sure if this is the right forum -- feel free to move.

I've tried Google searching and can't find anything specific or that looks reputable. I have a friend who runs a business -- on the business site they have a dam that could produce quite a bit of power and they would like to feed this back to the power company. This is rural, the power company supports this type of install and has provisions for the backfeeding, but does not have a recommended vendor or know of anyone who could do an install.

Anyone here know of a firm that handles jobs like these?

Thanks and feel free to PM me for specifics. ]]> General Solar Power Topics PorkChopsMmm http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19669-Professional-Water-Turbine-Installer-in-Michigan http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19630-I-swear-APS-is-trying-to-confuse-me&goto=newpost Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:43:56 GMT OK so I currently use the APS 9am-9pm time advantage rate plan. https://www.aps.com/library/rates/et-1.pdf And they have offered me a new rate plan... OK so I currently use the APS 9am-9pm time advantage rate plan. https://www.aps.com/library/rates/et-1.pdf
And they have offered me a new rate plan because of the plug in cars. https://www.aps.com/library/rates/ET-EV.pdf

The new plan is a 3 tiered system while the old plan is 2 tiered. I think the new plan is a bit better because I can load shift some things like my pool, car charging, run down the AC temps on super off peak, etc. The real peak rate goes up quite a bit from the $0.178 on peak on the old plan to $0.2478 per kWh on the new plan, the caveat is I don't currently every buy much on peak and the purchase power has almost always been off peak on the old plan. The upside is the really high cost on peak time is much shorter, noon to 7PM.

Here are the old summer rates:
on-peak 9AM - 9PM $0.17892
off-peak 9PM - 9AM $0.05770

And the new plan
on-peak noon- 7PM $0.24784
off-peak 7PM - 11PM & 5AM - noon $0.06460
super off peak 11PM - 5AM $0.04195

The issue is it is very confusing, take a look at those PDFs, OMFG!

Anyone else run the numbers? Are they just trying to get change by obscuring the facts? ]]> General Solar Power Topics solar_dave http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19630-I-swear-APS-is-trying-to-confuse-me http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19581-MX-60-Controller-stuck-in-Sleeping-mode&goto=newpost Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:34:44 GMT I just returned from a few days off and found my MX 60 controller staying in the Sleeping mode. I tried to restart and wakeup, to no avail. ... I just returned from a few days off and found my MX 60 controller staying in the Sleeping mode. I tried to restart and wakeup, to no avail. Additionally, the breaker for MX 60 to Batteries was thrown. On the display, the Voltage Out reads the batteries voltage, but everything else is 000. Breakers good on array. Purchased in 2004, is it time for a new one or is there some trouble shooting I could do? ]]> General Solar Power Topics ken p http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19581-MX-60-Controller-stuck-in-Sleeping-mode http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19578-Exercising-the-credit-card&goto=newpost Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:26:09 GMT Have our sponsor have a 10% off sale :D Great timing, I had a whole list of miscellaneous items for my upcoming install. Due to my location the... Have our sponsor have a 10% off sale :D

Great timing, I had a whole list of miscellaneous items for my upcoming install. Due to my location the discount is able equal to free shipping but its handy to have one stop shopping. ]]> General Solar Power Topics peakbagger http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19578-Exercising-the-credit-card http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19571-Best-way-to-grow-(or-replace)-this-battery-bank&goto=newpost Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:08:53 GMT We're currently running only 1000 watts of panel and 8 Trojan T-105-RE's in series to create a 48 v system. This is for our off-grid homestead in SW Texas.

We decided to bite the bullet and upgrade everything. We're going with 15 250 watt Canadian Solar panels and we're looking to add batteries to match the solar.

I thought about 2 more strings of T-105-RE's but then i'm dealing with 24 batteries, 3 strings, etc. Just doesn't seem ideal to me.

So what I was wondering is... is there a battery out there that is similar in price to 16 of the T-105's but that would allow me to run one string? I'm not afraid to go with a bigger battery - i just want something quality that will last. I really know nothing about battery technology but for me, staying on top watering the batteries isn't ideal either. Is there a better option?

Thoughts?

Thanks! ]]> General Solar Power Topics Chris Miller http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19571-Best-way-to-grow-(or-replace)-this-battery-bank http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19561-The-Nature-of-Solar-Panels&goto=newpost Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:40:38 GMT I'm a Solar Noobie.

I just got my first serious Solar Panel yesterday.

A 100W Q-Cell panel (supposedly made in Germany).
MonoCrystalline.

Anyway, I was doing some tests on it (always feel I should immediately test things like this for performance
rather than set them aside for a month or two and find out later they don't work properly)

Anyway, I found that the panel would meet or exceed it's advertised Amperage and Voltage DEPENDING on certain things.

For example, if I moved my hand over the panel ANYWHERE and caused a small shadow, the Amps (current) dropped significantly.

Also if the panel is not exactly perpendicular to the sun, it would drop.

So, this panel is rated at 5.68 Amps, 17.75 Volts

In full sunlight, perpendicular to the sunlight, I got 5.71 amps (nice) and 17.88 volts.
But, If I moved my hand over the panel and created ANY shadow, it fell immediately to 3.68 amps

So, does this sound good to go? Any obvious problems? ]]> General Solar Power Topics KnowledgeSponge http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19561-The-Nature-of-Solar-Panels http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19559-midnite-spd-on-load-center&goto=newpost Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:03:11 GMT hi can any one advise on how i can install a mnspd 300 on a 120v load center/sub panel.The panels does not have a main breaker .Main utility breaker... hi can any one advise on how i can install a mnspd 300 on a 120v load center/sub panel.The panels does not have a main breaker .Main utility breaker shuts it off and i already have a spd on that but the panel id very far off so i want to put an spd dedicated to that panel.thankyou ]]> General Solar Power Topics mahendra http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?19559-midnite-spd-on-load-center