efuro:


@ GeorgeD

do a YouTube clip from start to finish. you may hit 1m downloads who knows.

ur Aircon go hear am! or do cold room business & smile to bank.

unfortunately i didn't shoot any videos during the entire process, however it's an
idea worth considering. also the cold room business.

DMerciful:
Thats y i always advocate for almost flat panel orientation. the slight tilt is the natural washing angle else flat is perfert

you're very correct. i almost fell for the near flat panel orientation during this recent upgrade but then
i realized that while that will give me optimum yield for a few months, maybe three or four, the likelihood
of the panels being covered over with thick layers of dust that will settle on it, six months from now, is very high.
here in the south-south, we mostly rely on the rains to wash dirt and dust off our panels. if you install on a
near-flat orientation, that advantage is taken away. besides the dust, another issue is the rain itself. the
tendency for rain water to gather on your panels for the next couple of hours after a major rainfall also
becomes very high. an inclined solar panel will allow rain water run off almost instantly and give you a bright
surface that begins producing juice almost instantly after rainfall without necessarily waiting for hours until
when the water on the panel surface evaporates.

Barezzi:
Good one GeorgeD1!!
I'm still plotting which bank to rob so i can be like you

I understand DC coupling is best for those with huge battery banks and high night time loads.
With your huge array, over 7kw, do you think you'll be better served with a small battery bank sized for night time consumption and a grid-tie inverter to maximize daytime usage?

barezzi,
to keep the answer simple, the seemingly large battery bank size is to provide extended hours
of autonomy especially on cloudy days.

DMerciful:
Oga GeorgeD1
From my count these are 315W x 24pcs amounting to 7569W ! My question is do you intend to power houses adjacent to yours, the whole compound else how do you intend to have a good capacity utilization? Kudos once again.

dmerciful,
lolz. definitely not.

7560w may appear to be a lot of power for a single household but i assure you it is still not enough to distribute
to adjoining houses unless you plan on growing grey hairs overnight. those guys will suck out your battery bank
with power guzzling devices and you will constantly run on red night after night. not to mention the constant
arguments and quarrels that will ensue.

JUO:
congratulations big Bros on your upgrade . I visited during installation. Thanks for being there for us all

brother,
your presence was highly appreciated. we should hook up more sometime

mcci:


@GeogeD1, Weldone and congrats.
Please in addition to questions already asked what configuration did you use 3x4 or 2x6 for such high watt panel?

mcci,
the panels are in 3 x 4 configuration making a total of 12 units for both sides.

bigrovar:

Your strong advocacy and time you take to stabilise us newbies is what gaves us the confidence to take the renewable leap. Keep the flag flying.

My question is what influenced the decision to install panel on the north side? Is it a case of available space? I ask because since Nigeria above the equator I have always thought and in line with what I have read that panels in Nigeria should be inclined towards south. Would appreciate your thoughts.

Also are the controllers charging different banks or the same battery bank.

bigrovar,
like i said in my reply to earthream, it is a calculated attempt to obtain maximum yield in the summer
months and the readings on my cc seem to be proving me right. although again, space availability had a part
to play in my decisions. if you check my south side pictures, you will notice that the roof is almost filled up facing
south.

its like getting the best of both worlds, in the sense that while the north facing panels will give me optimum harvest
during the summer months, the south side will kick in and take over the show during the winter/harmattan times
of the year.

yes, the charge controllers are both connected to same battery bank.

earthrealm:
@georged1, very sweet set up.
kindly state your total panel wattage for both north and south side, and your battery bank.am assumming ur morning star cc are both 80amps?
your battery bank still trojans?.
now that you didnt go ahead with the adjustable legs, would you still ur panel inclination 10/10?
i can see your roof isnt so step...maybe 20deg or so -- thinking you shudnt hv even bothered with the adjustable legs in the first place

earthrealm,
total panel wattage is 7,560w from a total of 24 units of solarworld mono 315w modules
array was split into two equal halves: 12 units on the south side, and 12 units on the north side
i'm still using my original 60a tristar mppt charge controllers but monitoring reports seem to suggest they are too
small for the array size. at maximum 3200w and 60a, the current limit alarm comes up and the cc starts clipping
the output/charging current. going forward, i may have to replace the 60a tristars with higher capacity charge controllers.
this will be the subject of another upgrade.

my battery bank is made up of 12pcs 260ah zenith agm batteries making a total of 780ah at 48v nominal system voltage.
thanks to my oversized solar array and use of battery life saver (bls) these batteries continue to provide reliable service even
after 4yrs of use.

the adjustable legs turned out to be unnecessary. my roof inclination is just 15 degrees which is very much in line with the
recommended solar panel orientation for the tropics. also, mounting the second set of panels facing north is a strategic way
of positioning them for maximum harvest in the summer months which we are in. interestingly, my tristar performance
data suggests that the north facing panels seem to be doing better than those facing south!

http://solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-angle-calculator.html

kiekie,
mctrinity,
obimind,
earthrealm,
babaegun,
bigrovar,
mcci,
juo,
saipro,
dmerciful,
barezzi,
efuro,
dunka,
all,

thanks for the kind words. i am indeed overwhelmed.
as you can imagine, it's been a very busy time for me especially this weekend.
i will now attempt to answer your questions and queries - in no particular order.

monitoring in progress...

at the end of day one: back facing panels: 11kwhr
front facing panels: 10kwhr
total harvest: 21kwhr - solarworld!

testing the system. maxing out my array power. solarworld!

wiring the tristar charge controller: the heart of the system...

installing the combiner box. inside the ceiling, away from prying eyes...

work completes on north facing panels

north facing panels. work begins...

we attempted to use adjustable tilt legs but had to discard the idea when we noticed instability
and realized that the panels would be subject to severe wind forces...

south side completed

delicate work, transferring panels from ground to rooftop

panel laying: zeestone solar at work

zeestone solar on the roof. making measurements. calculating...

checking the panels. make sure there is no mistakes on the ground

battle ready and set up for roof work

now the real work begins: thanks to zeestone solar for help with the roof installation.
i decided to go with professional rooftop solar racks this time - a clear departure from
my former diy solar brackets made of iron which i found to have started rusting badly
after just 5/6 years on the roof

testing the voc

all,
in continuation of my system upgrade activities, i was able to secure a number of 315w solarworld
panels which were installed about two weekends ago.
recall that i gave out my old 200w suntech panels recently. this was to make way for higher wattage
panels which in my calculations will give me better performance while occupying less space.

thanks to kiekie for the speedy delivery. all through our discussions, i saw consistency, depth of
knowledge and attention to details. even when i almost made up my mind to go elsewhere, his
tenacity and business like approach to things pulled me back in. and in the end, i'm one more happy
customer adding to his resume of successful deals.

keep it up brother!

ola28:
Hello house, pls where can I get kill a watt meter?

Thanks

you can contact either juo or kiekie. i'm sure they will gladly help you out

microgiant:
hello GeorgeD1

I have tried to call you several times without success. A colleague just purchased the 100 liters solar water heater after I convinced him it is cheaper in the long run.

We went to his house to do some survey, but I don't have the experience to advice him on the best possible position and installation. My purpose of calling was for you to help link him to the plumber who installed yours to do the installation.

Please help oh, before he feels I gave him a wrong investment advice.

brother,
sorry i've been very busy lately. let me call you so we can iron this out.
with solar water heater, you can't go wrong. in fact i think there should
a law in place for every household to have a least one system installed.
my 300 litres is still performing wonderfully despite the onset of the rainy
season and i'll be doing a review soon.
believe me, that man will come to your house and thank you when his
system is finally up and running.
cheers!

reprobate,
don't rely solely on nameplate stickers or labels for energy consumption.
i'll rather suggest a more practical approach. why not use a watt meter to get actual power draw?
as we can expect, most of these manufacturers would rather post energy figures that makes
their products appear less power intensive than their competitors in order to gain market share.
using a watt meter will remove any doubt and beat them at their game!

therealmccain,
brother, we have already discussed so no need to bring this up in public space.
the panels i had on sale were a mix of poly and mono. i could have upped the price
for the mono but for personal reasons, i decided to give them all away same price.
when i posted the price and specs on this thread i neither indicated which type of
panels i was giving out only that it was 200w. if you say you are angry because i
sent you poly panels then its rather regrettable because you didn't specifically
indicate you were after mono panels. as for nameplate, i did promise to send you
details on watsapp which you agreed to. besides, the history of every single one of
my modules are replete on the pages of this thread like an open book for everyone
to read.
should you still have any other issues you want cleared up, kindly reach me via my
mobile and lets resolve. i don't believe we should regale honorable members here
with back and forth posts over what could be regarded as a private matter.

i'm sorry for the heartache this might have caused you but i assure you it was not
intentional.

all,
i want to appreciate all those who indicated interest in my used solar panels sales.
for those who placed orders, some of you have already received your packages and
for those yet to receive, be rest assured that yours is already on the way.
panels are now sold out, thus i'm no longer receiving fresh orders.
for those whose requests i was not able to meet, please accept my apologies.
it was done on a first come, first serve basis. nothing personal to it.
and for purposes of clarity, all panels sold were in good working condition and
were not defective in any way.
although 30k for a 200w panel may sound ridiculously cheap, it was just my way
of giving back to the house and helping to empower a few peeps here who yearned
for a way to jump start their journey into energy freedom but hitherto didn't have
the means to do so.
believe me, i could have given them out for free if not for some financial constraints
that came up during the course of this major system upgrade which is still on-going.

once again, thanks for the patronage.
break the myth!

SolnergyPower:
Please drop your email and phone number for quicker reach.

What's your location?

brother,

i'm in warri

therealMcCain:


My oga, I have been waiting for your call o

Kindly reserve my 4 pieces o

brother,
we have just spoken. i'll reserve the panels as discussed.
happy married life in advance!