My small array

[Frank S]

 Well sometimes it takes me a while to get things done, Scratch that it always takes me a while to get around to doing things
 My 1.1 KW worth of panels started arriving around the 7th of May
Then I spent some time building the frame out of scrap that was laying around my friend's shop that I have taken upon myself to repair the roof that fell in from snow load in 2008
Not $1.00 was spent on the frame or the mount and the pole
Not easy squaring up a 6" pipe with a 4.5" band saw

Start of the frame
sliced in half to make it easier to transport later
Round tubing hammered semi square for stiffener
Frame almost finished

Frame install
 

[Frank S]

the Array has been making electricity for a little over a week now
 I used #2ga THHN from the combiner to the Charge controller then from the controller to the bank total of about 40 ft from the combiner to the controller and 3 ft from the controller to the bank I pulled the wire out of the building so again no $$$ spent on copper The first day I got 150 amphours or about 1.95KWH
 the next day I got 500AH  6.5KWH since then we have had solar squashed days 1 day only 50Ah another 250Ah today there was some sun we got close to 320AH
  The old Satellite  positioner actuaters are not powerful enough to Osolate the array from E to W on the origional pipiot so I have been manually rotating it on the Stem every couple of hours
 One time I saw 72 Amps @13.5v for a few seconds but mostly when there is full sun 56 to 63 amps is about the limit.
 On the cloudy days we have been having a lot of the time there is only 10 to 13 amps at times
 Still this has allowed us to run the generator less then 3 hours per day to keep the batteries high enough to run the inverter the rest of the time. 

[tanner0441]

Hi Frank

What a difference a coat of paint makes, Turns so much welded scrap into a thing of value and beauty. I am envious of the little band saw though I would imagine it is easy to get a wobbly cut if your too enthusiastic with the pressure...

Brian

[Frank S]

Brian that band saw is handy  to have around saves a lot of oxygen and acetylene not hard to make nice straight cuts if your are careful. Bit tricky when cutting something too large to fit between the guide rollers.
 Later on I plan to add 1.5 KW directly to the roof of the buss and am going to add a 150  to 250 amp alt to the generator to replace the non working Kubota Dynamo   

[tanner0441]

Hi

As you have the bits lying around could you not weld an arm to a nut on a length of all thread and drive the all thread with a 12V motor 100W should be more than enough, and with plenty of grease, and mounted in a plastic pipe should move your array. Or a linear geneaver linkage OK you manually reset it once a day but then you can forget it.

I always wanted one of the steel slow RPM chop saws until I bought one, it was very good but I have never wasted so much suds oil it used to go every where and it would run out the ends of any pipe you were cutting.

Brian

[Frank S]

Brian those cold saws are better suited for cutting large solid bars  When cutting tubing or pipe a saw whether it is a rotary or a band saw there is no stopping the coolant from getting inside the work you just need to place a  bucket or something to catch it in. Also when buying blades careful planning for the materials to be cut helps . if cutting a lot of very thin tubes then a fine tooth blade should be used . For cutting solid or thick bars then a coarse tooth should be used 

[Frank S]

Hi

As you have the bits lying around could you not weld an arm to a nut on a length of all thread and drive the all thread with a 12V motor 100W should be more than enough, and with plenty of grease, and mounted in a plastic pipe should move your array. Or a linear geneaver linkage OK you manually reset it once a day but then you can forget it.

 Brian

What I need to do is move the actuators further out so they would have better leverage. they were OK for an 8 ft mesh dish but not nearly enough for 450 LBS of array I knew this from the beginning and wasn't planning on using them for anything other than holding.
 For now I am content in just rotating once in a while until after we make a permanent digs out in the western part of the state

[gww]

Frank
Thanks for the pictures as you go.
gww

[Mary B]

If you have another actuator double them up. I use 2 on each observatory roof panel and this winter I lifted 12 inches of wet snow on a 4x4 foot panel.



Video http://s226.photobucket.com/user/maryalanab/media/Observatory%20pics/roofopening1.mp4.html

[Frank S]

since installing the array we have had very few solar good days most were solar garbage days
one day we only received 1.4 KWH for the whole day most came in around 3.6 to 4.1 KWH
 @ 4.8 I can just squeeze by without starting the gen.but the bank will only reach 12.4 by the end of the day  and will be down to 11.3 by the next morning.if the wife waits until an hour after sunup to make coffee the inverter doesn't kick off due to low input voltage. the day before yesterday we had as near perfect day as I have seen since returning to Texas
We received 650 AH or 7.8 KWH  the bank made it up to 13.2 just to have a 300Ah or 3.6 KWH yesterday and today was not much better with only 400 Ah or 4.8 KWH
 So running the gen tonight to bring the bank up to full.
 I've got to get to the desert area of west TX I can't stand this humidity and I hate cloudy days
 A near solar perfect day

 Screwed up by this single cloud
[ Specified attachment is not available ]
 Chris I don't know how you can stand it where you are with so many solar Zero days in the winter
 

[Frank S]

Today is one of those days that could only be considered good for ducks.
 I've simply got to get my friend's building finished so the wife & I can head out to the desert.At least there you only have clouds while it is raining
 Today is starting out to be a RE zero day so far  Less than 1.8 input amps showing

[keithturtle]

Today is one of those days that could only be considered good for ducks.
 I've simply got to get my friend's building finished so the wife & I can head out to the desert.At least there you only have clouds while it is raining
 Today is starting out to be a RE zero day so far  Less than 1.8 input amps showing

I guess if you want perspective, would you rather be in Q8?

Turtle

[Frank S]

Nope I'd rather be in the real part of TX the part where the deer & the antelope play and the skies are not cloudy all day You got to get west of  Odessa before TX begins  then it really gets good above 4000 ft.
 The only 3 things bad about Q 8 are it is flat, too much traffic even @ 3 AM, and the 3rd thing I'll leave that to your imagination but for them it happens 5 times a day   

[Frank S]

well there was finally enough sun to get almost 175 Ah  or 2.1 KWH it wasn't until a few hours before sundown though and once the readout on the PWM showed 61.3 amps it seems that the sky clears up the closer to sundown. last night the sky was completely clear through out the night and looks as though tonight will be a repeate  I guess what is needed instead of solar PV is someone to invent lunar PV then we could have night charging as long as there was moonlight LOL Also no wind hear for the last couple of days not that would have done me any good yet with no possibility of erecting a turbine at this time.

[Bruce S]

Frank S;
This seems to be one of those years were the weather is going to feed on itself, kinda like it was back in 2005 I think. The gulf has moisture feeding right up your coastal area causing the whole day heating thing to feed the clouds and nice pretty stars at night.
Here in St. Louis we're having the same issue, great weather all week long (while at work) then sudden gully washers on the weekends.
I'm just lucky my solar setup is more a hobby and teaching/learning setup than main source otherwise I'd be hooking up the 150cc as a genset and BBQ-ing a lot of proteins!
Today June 7th , we woke up to 58F! usually already in high 70s and 120% RH.
Ahh boiled coffee at 5AM and 58F, really can't complain:)
Here's hoping the sun visits your panels on a regular basis!!
Cheers
Bruce S

[Frank S]

BruceS you're right about the weather cycle this year I think.
 I'm originally from a much drier part of TX I moved to the Ft.worth area when I got out of the Military back in 77 for economic reasons, then found myself stuck here but I traveled all over the world and the US so it wasn't too bad, until I escaped to Q8 for 10 years. Now that I'm back I'd whole lot rather be serenaded  to sleep by the cry's of a PUMA than be within 10 miles of a housing district.
 with all of my projects that I have going we are purposely budgeting our selves to the wife's retirement ck only and are not touching any of my income for a year other than what I had previously set aside for the projects.
 I think I have enough set aside for another 3KW of PV later this year just before we should be moving