Simple solar gal needs bigger ideas

[icarus]

Fyi, Missouri Wind and solar does not have the greatest reputation on this forum. I am not proffering an opinon, but you might do some research.

Tony

[BB.]

Personally, I am not a big fan of small wind--I think it does not supply much power and demands a whole bunch of maintenance (time and money). The turbines are usually not too expensive--It is the tower and the installation that is typically the excessive costs. Also, you may have to take the turbine down every year or so (+/-).

If you are interested in wind power, here are some links (wind power supporters):

Wind Power Links
www.otherpower.com (good forum for DIY Wind Power)
Hugh Piggott - Scoraig Wind Electric site for tons of info (from mike90045)
www.greenpowertalk.org (added from "russ"--Like here but more wind/less solar)

I have some other links with wind problems--But we can leave that for another day.

My suggestion, start with solar/grid backup/generator backup first. Then once you have a stable system, look to wind (if you still want) to supply power during cloudy weather.

More or less, you need a 60' tower, 500' from any obstructions, and 30' above local obstructions. Most places, you should be seeing "flagging" trees from prevaling wind (although, I have heard that Florida does not really have prevailing winds). And, most turbines do not generate much in the way of power until 11-12 MPH, and rated power around 25-30 MPH--And many shutdown above 35-50 MPH winds.

Basically, you only get power when it is miserable to be outside from the winds. It is true that good 12' wind turbine may generate 400-600 kWH per month in a good area with steady winds--12-15 mph wind 24 hours a day * 30 days per month (it averages out--higher wind velocity for shorter periods, etc.). But, for off grid use, you are usually limited to storing about 2-3 days of power in your local battery bank--So excess wind power (and solar) is lost.

If you have lightning in your area--A whole new kettle of fish (60' tower and lightning strikes).

-Bill

[Photowhit]

Florida (Tampa to Tallahassee) is very bad for lightning, and while no regular wind, you should have a sea breeze much of the year with winds just after dawn and sunset as the land or sea cool and the wind goes with the rising and lowering pools of air. I'm not a huge fan of wind, but it might be viable.

Look like you have close to 4Kw of solar array, paid for and ready to be hooked up. That is a pretty sizable system. You might well be just fine. Even in Missouri, Missouri Wind and Solar doesn't have a great rep.

I think at 4 Kw I'd be looking at a 48 volt system, this will be a choice made for a lifetime(or at least expensive to change) While your Charge Controller (CC) will adapted easily to a different voltage, inverters and batteries don't. Inverters are voltage specific and it's not good to mix old and new batteries (some of that reasoning about getting the batteries on a charging/maintenance cycle) if the L16 are truely new adding 4 more now might not be a bad idea. If your conserving as much as you feel is practical, your electric bill will give you, and us, a good idea for your KWh usage. your big expenses will be a Cc and an inverter.

The 24 vs 48V is important, I had built a cabin and figured to be there for the forseeable future and bought a 24 Volt fork lift battery (often the best bang for the buck) with in the next couple months I found someone selling a 2000 model mobile home on 2.2 acres for silly cheap price ($12K), now I wish I had gone 48 volt... The battery may last 20+ years so I'm stuck undersized. I'll go back to golf cart batteries at the cabin.

[Fiddler]

Thanks for the heads up on Missouri Wind. I was exploring all options for a control panel with as much work completely done. I need a plug and play control system. The all in one control board they had offered looked old school but not terribly efficient. I don't have any photons to waste. So I'm looking over my choices not wanting to buy anything twice while I'm getting this project together. Question: on the combiner box what exactly has to be in the combiner box and its proper location? Also do I need a separate DC disconnect? I'm trying to get a shopping list together of the components it will take making sure I get the right stuff. Gina

[Photowhit]

You may not need a combiner box if you'll run your numbers through the Midnite classic sizing tool...(dang I've heard that before) if you decide your going to put up the additional panels, you'll need one, so... a combiner box normally goes close to the panels so you only need to run a single set of wires back to the Charge Controller. Seriously if you do consider "...relocate the panels about 70 ft away from the batteries..." You will want to run higher voltage from the panels to the CC, in warm Florida weather you might well be able to run 2 strings of 4 panels, even if you have to go with a classic 200, rather than a classic 150. The Sizing Tool will tell you where the cut offs are for each.

If you want to make life, and by life I mean wiring, easier, I think you can order and E-panel, a Midnite Classic charge controller and an Outback, or Magnum inverter from Northern Arizona Wind and Sun and have it all prewired! Prewired system link. You might also consider some lightning protection for the box (CC and inverter)

While I was on site at NAWS I saw that they had a link to a Home Power article on choosing an inverter for water pumping, though the article is for an off grid system...

I like to have both a DC disconnect (between the battery and inverter) and an Array disconnect (between the combiner box and the CC) I think the E-panel is setup that way, or can be it has a a spot for an Array disconnect (not sure this is required by code but makes life easier if you ever need to service panels.

[vtmaps]

Question: on the combiner box what exactly has to be in the combiner box and its proper location?

Didn't this get answered in post #16 and #17? The configuration of the panels and the combiner box will depend on your battery voltage. If you go with a 24 volt system (which was your original preference) you should go with 4 strings of 2 panels in series with a Classic 150 controller. If you go with a 48 volt system you will need 2 strings of 4 panels and a Classic 200. If you do go with 48 volts, an even better solution would be to acquire 1 more panel and go 3 strings of 3 panels with a Classic 150. The classic 150 has higher current (and wattage) capacity than the classic 200 and either classic will run cooler and more efficiently with a 3 string of 3 panels configuration than a 2 string of 4 panels configuration.

Also do I need a separate DC disconnect?

The E-panel has all the breakers and disconnects you could want. Do you mean a disconnect on the combiner box? It is nice to have an external disconnect on the combiner box, but if you don't have an external disconnect you can just open the box and flip the breakers for each string of panels.

--vtMaps