solar instulation

[cityfarma]

You must got really really good batteries. Who made those batteries? For typical lead-acid batteries, the self-discharge rate is greater your panels can produce.

The batteries were about 10 years old when I got them over 5 years ago. The only problem I get is in the summer when the regulator starts to chop and interferes with the radio. I have to turn on a few lights to divert some power.

I use about 25Ah per day and in summer the weekends power is replaced within a few days. In winter it takes a little longer but still charges by the time I visit again. So why do I have such a big bank of batteries Because I can

One day I am going to do a capacity test. I expect it will be somewhat lower than what is written on the side of the batteries. The problem is going to be charging them up again after the test Due to the capacity, I would need a large charger but don't have mains power. To let the panels do the charging would take a looong time and therefore damage the batteries due to leaving them undercharged.


Cityfarma

 

[RonMar]

I have since read more of this thread and before anyone asks, I have a couple of banks of series parallel batteries. Each bank is protected by a fuse where they become one bank but individual strings do not have fuses. To join in the two banks from each caravan, I have welding cable with a fuse on each end to protect the banks in the event of a short. This would probably not meet your regulations but works for me. If I had a house, I certainly would set things up differently.


Cityfarma

IF you open the circuit anywhere in a series circuit, you interrupt current flow throughout THAT series circuit. Because of this, you can protect a series circuit with a single fuse placed ANYWHERE in that circuit. Each series string is an independent power supply and should have it's own associated fuse, ESPECIALLY if it is placed in parallel with any other power supplies, such as another series string of batteries. Don't think this is a problem? take one of those series strings of batteries out of circuit and replace it with a piece of wire and see how long it takes to draw massive current from the other paralleled power sources...

There are many products out there to accomplish this fairly easilly. Perhaps something like this between any two batteries in a series string.
100 AMP FUSE
or this:
100 AMP FUSE
or these:
ANL Fuse and Holder - DonRowe.com
or even these(little spendy though):
Class T Fuse and Holder - DonRowe.com

These links were the result of about 30 seconds of Googling "Battery Fuse".

With the potential energy in a high capacity series battery circuit, it is pretty cheap insurance against a parallel circuit backfeeding dangerous ammouunts of current into an inadvertently shorted series circuit.

 

[tommu56]

I was waiting for rob to post on his thread so here is little bit I got done.


I got the inventor, manual bypass, and braker panel in.

The meters are in too to monitor battery and charge controller and inverter

We wanted to test it last night we watched tv and had it on for about 7 hrs my wife vacuumed for about an hour and battery s were at a little over 80%.

[/IMG]

I had tractor trouble with the loader that put a dent on what I could get done on the solar stuff but thats another thread.

tom

 

[3RRL]

Tom,
I have nothing constructive to add to your thread.
I don't know diddly squat about solar myself. I had a solar contractor do my place. I'm strictly a user. In fact, Loretta is the one who maintains the solar shed and its components.
Sorry dude. I am a dip s*** when it comes to electricity.

 

[firefighter9208]

Tom,

This is a little off subject, but I saw that you have a stove pipe running out the eve of your building. It looks like triple wall and then single wall for the up pipe. I want to put a small wood burning (cast iron) stove in my barn inside a 8x16 room. The room is built inside a 24x36 pole barnd and I ould have to go through the ceiling OSB with 2x6 rafters and then up 2 feet and through the tin roof of te barn 2x6 purlins. I don't want to go to the expense of triple wall pipe. What did you use to go through the wall and then use single wall pipe? Do you have single wall on the inside also? What diameter is the pipe?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Chris

 

[Red55]

CHECK the CODES But I've seen alot of installations where single wall (with plenty of clearance-like 18" to combustibles) that is adapted to triple or metal bestos pipe about a foot before it runs into the ceiling and is continued outside to the cap. Single wall outside will be hard to maintain draft (cools down) and problems with cresote build-up. Ed

 

[tommu56]

firefighter9208

Chris

I'm sure it isn't code but.

That pipe is for a gas heater on second floor I took a peace of 8" duct about 12" long and 2 caps cut a 4" hole in center of caps making a double wall pipe 8" with a 4" in side was the flue.

It doesn't get as hot as the wood stove on the other end of building

The wood stove one I cut a bout 24" square hole in siding (plywood) framed around it.
I then laid up some clay brick to a clay thimble in center of hole and finished brick work to close hole and caulked outside.

I will look for picture and post it if I can find one.

Edit
Here is the only picture i could find of flue with a lot of other junk too.

[/IMG]

Tom

 

[tommu56]

firefighter9208

Chris

the actual name is flue rings

Logan Clay Pipe-Flue Liners

tom