very nice! I am completely off grid in the northern MN forest with a lot less. I use multiple small arrays positioned to benefit depending on the season and where the sun is. I have a design for power pole vertical mounts I will try this summer.
I would cut down heaviest trees behind your solar array to eliminate the possibility of them destroying your array. Extra benefit is free firewood. You can save a ton of money on batteries by going with 16x EVE 3.2v 280ah LiFePO4 cells for 14.5 kWh total storage capacity. They cost like $110 a piece plus shipping from Texas. There's plenty of youtube vids about them. Just make sure you compress them to 11psi using compression foam sheets like Rogers Poron EVextend material. That will extend the cycle life into 6k daily cycles good for 20 years of service. Since you already got everything permitted you can quietly install a diy battery and no one needs to know. Assuming 80% cycle depth for 20 years that's 2.2 cents per kWh cycled. If you do not have net metering then it's a great deal, they pay for themselves and you get battery backup.
you and I my friend are on the same page, my lovely wife is on a different page :) We did remove a few questionable trees, the array is fully insured for no extra money as one of my accessory structures.
@@minnesotacountrylivin4674 Haha, awesome! I am sure she will appreciate your solar setup once another "1 in 100 years" polar vortex hits and everyone around loses power.
HOWdy M-C-L, ... Thanks for the Video ... I believe we both used the same GROUNDING LUGS on our PANELS ... YUP = I utilized Stainless Steel on all my connectors 4" X 5/16" Lag Bolts ... with a large Fender Washer to hold my PANELS to my treated 2" X 6" boards ... there is just over 5/16" spacing in between each panel Top & Bottom & Side to Side ... I purchased 23 used panels for $ 800.00 total ... ( I'll have to acquire one more panel eventually ) no WARRANTY at all ( so far ALL of my panels produce as expected ) ... ... making your own MC4 connectors is very easy with the correct wire strippers & the correct CRIMPERS & then you never need to wait for an odd-ball length of cabling ... I purchased 100' spools of Red & Black ... 8 AWG tinned ( MARINE Grade ) WIRE which works (oversized) for connecting the PANELS - but - also inside my underground Conduit from my panels to the INVERTER ( 60' distant) ... I do not want the UTILITY COMPANY involved = so I am staying OFF-GRID with the DUKE Electric utility in stand-bye mode for $14.00 / month to KEEP their METER on my home ... Hopefully I just will NOT consume Grid-Power at ALL or "often" ... I purchased three 48 volt EG4-LL batteries to run the home through the evening & low SUN days ... Thanks again for SHARING your SYSTEM COOP the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA ...
@@Steve-wz5pz = ... I have had my "Ground Contact TREATED" Green LUMBER holding my ALUMINUM Framed Photovoltaic PANELS for several years now with no appearance of trouble or corrosion ... but ... thanks for the WARNING ... ... What should I be looking for between the WOOD & Framework ? ... the Aluminum FRAMES on my PV Panels do appear to have a substantial CLEAR COAT applied to all surfaces ... the ALUMINUM REPLACEMENT Window industry has been attaching ALUMINUM FRAMES to WOODEN CASINGS for decades with no apparent deterioration. Thanks again for your concern COOP ...
I don't know I am I installed solar panels 30 years ago they work from day one they work 25 years later they work 30 years later actually they work 35 years later still giving me the power I need and if you take care of them keep them clean keep checking the wires and stuff yeah they'll never go bad not that I can tell so far course those soda pounds were really expensive and they didn't come with any warranty I didn't know those are such thing as a warranty back then because when I bought them I bought them over line and while I didn't buy a mobile line I just bought them over a book and sent the money order over a mailing and they mailed them to me but they weren't so many solar panels there's just a few I start to see what I can do with it it wasn't very many wattage but it was some the help keep the bill down a little bit it did save me a hundred bucks a month even though it didn't run all the power of my house just made me more conscient conscience of what I would have plugged in and unplugged stuff cuz I didn't knew they have any watch really I mean it was just a real tiny small amount of wattage like two tiny small starter kits now I got more solar panels three different stands not all the stands for full and that one of the stand is not completely finished yet I don't have bifacial solar panels yep but I can get some now I'm not sure what I'm really going to get but I want to get something besides now that I have more solar panels I still don't got enough power my whole house but it's quite a lot and people asking if it's enough to part of a house more if I don't use my kitchen stove my water heater or my antique refrigerator or my microwave yeah that's enough to power my house but otherwise it won't be enough to promise and I went to time it's not nearly enough sometimes got to use a little bit of electric heaters for a little bit of heat living in Wisconsin not the warmest place to live and the winter time and when you run low on wood I use a little bit of electric heat and electric heat where the wood doesn't actually heat.
The inverter needs between 170volts dc - 500vdc to operate, a solar panel is around 20-60vdc each in the sun when you put them in series it adds the voltage up(similar to batteries), essentially I have 4 strings of 6 panels, 2 parallel groups of 6 series panels on each mppt input. This may or may not affect me negatively with the shading, but unless I bought top of the line enphase micro inverters I would experience greater losses from clipping. And in that case I would have no battery backup capabilities unless I bought the enphase battery.
If I heard you correctly. Your watt total of all panels (9300 watts) should be multiplied by the number of sun hours from your area. So a system like this outside of the woods theoretical max would be 9300 watts * ~4.5 sun hours for Minnesota = 42129 watts or 42.1kw. I don’t see how you could be even getting close to this with that shading. Did you mean you are getting just the watt total (9300) for the WHOLE day?
I am seeing between 40kwh and 60kwh a day spring to fall, in the summer months I start getting partial solar production at 8-9am , full production mid day and it fades away around 6-8pm. 4.5 hours is an average, there are many days in December when the days are short where 10-20kwh is all you get.
If a tree falls over on your panels it will break your stand don't worry about that and it'll break some of those solar panels it just won't break all of them then you have to rebuild your sand replace some solar panels but for all in all your solar panels are probably last about 20-30 years in all in all your stand would last longer than your solar panels anything that's seeing outside of it will probably go bad but the inside will stay like almost new this is someone who reuses his dance from one set of solar panels to another set of solar panels still using an old stand and also has two new stands now and they're all made out of wood.
What I'm saying is the wood underneath the solar panel does not go bad does not rot does not go bad the color may change a little bit but it still like brand new 30 years later ask me I reduced my stand 35 years later to put different solar panels on it bigger solar panels and the smallest solar panels I built the smallest stand for it which actually built it for some other solar panels I don't have yet so I'll probably take those small pins off and put the bigger solar panels on and then I got to figure what I'm going to do with those good 15 watt solar panels 18 watt solar panels 25 watts solar panels 80 w solar panels 60 w solar panels and one 100 watt solar panel all line of smaller stand that I just built for those but actually built it for a different solar panels oh I know I'll just put them on the side of my house bolt them right to the house I mean I could put them on the north side of my house I mean they still make power even on the north side of the house they're able to charge my batteries that way and then I really wouldn't have to put them on a different stand because there's kind of a standing back there already that hasn't been covered up with solar panels for many years it's just been sitting there for many years.
@@minnesotacountrylivin4674 nice, that’s a clutch set up. I don’t understand how people get solar and no batteries. To me, solar is expensive, you will likely break even or pay more for set up when you break it down over 5-10 years, when you include maintenance. But for me it’s not about that, it’s about piece of mind knowing If power went out, I’m good.
The panels came from SanTan solar, they have great deals on new panels without manufacturer warranties as well as even better deals on used(tested) panels
FYI you could put galvanized metal or something reflective sheet metal wall behind it just use a few poles to mount it on to reflect a sun to underneath could increase 20-30% if it's at the right angle. Also I've seen people use aluminum foil and reflective peel and stick squares
More batteries/panels> generator. Any day. F a generator. Everyone should be on solar 20 years ago. Big oil should rule the skies and some military/cargo ships only.
I did it too. I just did an updated tour video as well. Works pretty well as long as we don't have thunderstorms all the time or blizzards.
Great video. Looking forward to more info on your system and how it performs, lessons learned, costs etc. subbed…
Beautiful setup WOW
very nice! I am completely off grid in the northern MN forest with a lot less. I use multiple small arrays positioned to benefit depending on the season and where the sun is. I have a design for power pole vertical mounts I will try this summer.
Well done.
I would cut down heaviest trees behind your solar array to eliminate the possibility of them destroying your array. Extra benefit is free firewood. You can save a ton of money on batteries by going with 16x EVE 3.2v 280ah LiFePO4 cells for 14.5 kWh total storage capacity. They cost like $110 a piece plus shipping from Texas. There's plenty of youtube vids about them. Just make sure you compress them to 11psi using compression foam sheets like Rogers Poron EVextend material. That will extend the cycle life into 6k daily cycles good for 20 years of service. Since you already got everything permitted you can quietly install a diy battery and no one needs to know. Assuming 80% cycle depth for 20 years that's 2.2 cents per kWh cycled. If you do not have net metering then it's a great deal, they pay for themselves and you get battery backup.
you and I my friend are on the same page, my lovely wife is on a different page :) We did remove a few questionable trees, the array is fully insured for no extra money as one of my accessory structures.
@@minnesotacountrylivin4674 Haha, awesome! I am sure she will appreciate your solar setup once another "1 in 100 years" polar vortex hits and everyone around loses power.
HOWdy M-C-L, ...
Thanks for the Video ...
I believe we both used the same GROUNDING LUGS on our PANELS ...
YUP = I utilized Stainless Steel on all my connectors 4" X 5/16" Lag Bolts ... with a large Fender Washer to hold my PANELS to my treated 2" X 6" boards ...
there is just over 5/16" spacing in between each panel Top & Bottom & Side to Side ...
I purchased 23 used panels for $ 800.00 total ... ( I'll have to acquire one more panel eventually ) no WARRANTY at all ( so far ALL of my panels produce as expected ) ...
...
making your own MC4 connectors is very easy with the correct wire strippers & the correct CRIMPERS & then you never need to wait for an odd-ball length of cabling
...
I purchased 100' spools of Red & Black ... 8 AWG tinned ( MARINE Grade ) WIRE which works (oversized) for connecting the PANELS - but - also inside my underground Conduit from my panels to the INVERTER ( 60' distant)
...
I do not want the UTILITY COMPANY involved = so I am staying OFF-GRID with the DUKE Electric utility in stand-bye mode for $14.00 / month to KEEP their METER on my home
...
Hopefully I just will NOT consume Grid-Power at ALL or "often"
...
I purchased three 48 volt EG4-LL batteries to run the home through the evening & low SUN days
...
Thanks again for SHARING your SYSTEM
COOP
the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA
...
Aluminum frame in direct contact with treated wood is a ticket to serious corrosion.
@@Steve-wz5pz
=
... I have had my "Ground Contact TREATED" Green LUMBER holding my ALUMINUM Framed Photovoltaic PANELS for several years now with no appearance of trouble or corrosion ... but ... thanks for the WARNING ...
...
What should I be looking for between the WOOD & Framework ? ...
the Aluminum FRAMES on my PV Panels do appear to have a substantial CLEAR COAT applied to all surfaces
...
the ALUMINUM REPLACEMENT Window industry has been attaching ALUMINUM FRAMES to WOODEN CASINGS for decades with no apparent deterioration.
Thanks again for your concern
COOP
...
@@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369 Right, same position as all the guys with treated floors in their aluminum boats right before the leaks start. Good luck, though!
Super cool
Trees are a gift from nature, but unfortunately they are the enemy of solar panels.
I don't know I am I installed solar panels 30 years ago they work from day one they work 25 years later they work 30 years later actually they work 35 years later still giving me the power I need and if you take care of them keep them clean keep checking the wires and stuff yeah they'll never go bad not that I can tell so far course those soda pounds were really expensive and they didn't come with any warranty I didn't know those are such thing as a warranty back then because when I bought them I bought them over line and while I didn't buy a mobile line I just bought them over a book and sent the money order over a mailing and they mailed them to me but they weren't so many solar panels there's just a few I start to see what I can do with it it wasn't very many wattage but it was some the help keep the bill down a little bit it did save me a hundred bucks a month even though it didn't run all the power of my house just made me more conscient conscience of what I would have plugged in and unplugged stuff cuz I didn't knew they have any watch really I mean it was just a real tiny small amount of wattage like two tiny small starter kits now I got more solar panels three different stands not all the stands for full and that one of the stand is not completely finished yet I don't have bifacial solar panels yep but I can get some now I'm not sure what I'm really going to get but I want to get something besides now that I have more solar panels I still don't got enough power my whole house but it's quite a lot and people asking if it's enough to part of a house more if I don't use my kitchen stove my water heater or my antique refrigerator or my microwave yeah that's enough to power my house but otherwise it won't be enough to promise and I went to time it's not nearly enough sometimes got to use a little bit of electric heaters for a little bit of heat living in Wisconsin not the warmest place to live and the winter time and when you run low on wood I use a little bit of electric heat and electric heat where the wood doesn't actually heat.
With such a big array I'd be so tempted to raise them so it made a car port & storage area?
I wanted to, the local building codes had height restrictions. 😔
10.5 cent for 1 kwh, your electricity is cheap. Michigan is closer to 18 - 21 cent now.
Could you explain more about your reasoning for 2 series loops? With the shade potential, it seems to me it would degrade the array much more.
The inverter needs between 170volts dc - 500vdc to operate, a solar panel is around 20-60vdc each in the sun when you put them in series it adds the voltage up(similar to batteries), essentially I have 4 strings of 6 panels, 2 parallel groups of 6 series panels on each mppt input. This may or may not affect me negatively with the shading, but unless I bought top of the line enphase micro inverters I would experience greater losses from clipping. And in that case I would have no battery backup capabilities unless I bought the enphase battery.
😎👍👍
If I heard you correctly. Your watt total of all panels (9300 watts) should be multiplied by the number of sun hours from your area. So a system like this outside of the woods theoretical max would be 9300 watts * ~4.5 sun hours for Minnesota = 42129 watts or 42.1kw. I don’t see how you could be even getting close to this with that shading. Did you mean you are getting just the watt total (9300) for the WHOLE day?
I am seeing between 40kwh and 60kwh a day spring to fall, in the summer months I start getting partial solar production at 8-9am , full production mid day and it fades away around 6-8pm. 4.5 hours is an average, there are many days in December when the days are short where 10-20kwh is all you get.
I have plans for a one year look back video soon here, I have been filming content on a few things just behind on editing.
😎👍🇺🇸
What happens when tree limbs land on it?
Insurance claim, I have a few spare panels also.
If a tree falls over on your panels it will break your stand don't worry about that and it'll break some of those solar panels it just won't break all of them then you have to rebuild your sand replace some solar panels but for all in all your solar panels are probably last about 20-30 years in all in all your stand would last longer than your solar panels anything that's seeing outside of it will probably go bad but the inside will stay like almost new this is someone who reuses his dance from one set of solar panels to another set of solar panels still using an old stand and also has two new stands now and they're all made out of wood.
What you say??
What I'm saying is the wood underneath the solar panel does not go bad does not rot does not go bad the color may change a little bit but it still like brand new 30 years later ask me I reduced my stand 35 years later to put different solar panels on it bigger solar panels and the smallest solar panels I built the smallest stand for it which actually built it for some other solar panels I don't have yet so I'll probably take those small pins off and put the bigger solar panels on and then I got to figure what I'm going to do with those good 15 watt solar panels 18 watt solar panels 25 watts solar panels 80 w solar panels 60 w solar panels and one 100 watt solar panel all line of smaller stand that I just built for those but actually built it for a different solar panels oh I know I'll just put them on the side of my house bolt them right to the house I mean I could put them on the north side of my house I mean they still make power even on the north side of the house they're able to charge my batteries that way and then I really wouldn't have to put them on a different stand because there's kind of a standing back there already that hasn't been covered up with solar panels for many years it's just been sitting there for many years.
Get some batteries. This system is useless without batteries.
Done, and installed... they have worked seamlessly in the few power outages we have had
@@minnesotacountrylivin4674 nice, that’s a clutch set up. I don’t understand how people get solar and no batteries. To me, solar is expensive, you will likely break even or pay more for set up when you break it down over 5-10 years, when you include maintenance. But for me it’s not about that, it’s about piece of mind knowing If power went out, I’m good.
Hello
Can you send me a message please? I’d like some info on your panel source you mentioned, thanks in advance!
The panels came from SanTan solar, they have great deals on new panels without manufacturer warranties as well as even better deals on used(tested) panels
Thank you very much-I see some nice panels there at good deals, they have other equipment too.
Uu
You didn't ground the array. You created a direct path for lightning to travel down the wires to your equipment!
There are 2 ground rods tied to the panels at the array, as well as the code required, equipment ground in the conduit back to source.
Listening isn’t your strong suit is it?
𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕞 👀
FYI you could put galvanized metal or something reflective sheet metal wall behind it just use a few poles to mount it on to reflect a sun to underneath could increase 20-30% if it's at the right angle. Also I've seen people use aluminum foil and reflective peel and stick squares
White paint is better than foil it shines rather than reflects in all directions
More batteries/panels> generator.
Any day.
F a generator.
Everyone should be on solar 20 years ago. Big oil should rule the skies and some military/cargo ships only.
Problem is multiple cloudy days.