How I built a tilt able solar mount, Building an easy and affordable mount for your solar array
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2022
- How I built a solar mount, Building an easy and affordable mount for your solar array
The one thing you will run across sooner or later if you are living off grid is the managing of your solar panels. Solar panels lets face it can take up quite a bit of real estate, and finding a place for all of those panels can be a real pain in the you know what. So being able to build an affordable and functional solar mount can be a little tricky. In this video I show how I build a solar mount that is both very functional, in that it tilts, and affordable..
Link to Discount Lots
bit.ly/3ROP5HU
My promo code DLOFFGRID10 - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
![[ไฮไลต์] ฟุตบอลหญิง เยอรมนี vs ออสเตรเลีย รอบแบ่งกลุ่ม | โอลิมปิก 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/i_8UO61YqO8/mqdefault.jpg)
*Bracing wise you could always add an additional three vertical steel posts in concrete inside and inline with your originals.*
I’m not from the US but we use something called Mid Clamps and End Clamps to hold panels instead of holding them with washers or drilling holes in the panels. Just a thought 😊
I've been living off grid in southern Colorado for 29 years. I have four 100 watt panels mounted on an old satellite dish (dish removed) post. Xantrex charge controller, Xantrex 1000 watt sine wave inverter. I don't need a lot of power I don't use microwave ovens or blow dryers.
And that's exactly what most don't understand is that one can live on very little electric.
I basically did this but the hinged mount board on mine was the top piece of a strong A frame pivot trolley, fixed and hinged down one end and the other end had two wheels, I made a sun tracker circuit using light dependent resistors hooked up to an arduino hobbyist board, wrote a bit of software to compare light values from either side of a divider card and send output to drive a geared servo motor in the direction of the sun. Limit switches to determine end of day position and morning home return position.
It can be real difficult to knock something up from stuff you have laying about, timber if often used because you can get long solid lengths of it but you will always have warping issues.
One or two comments: 1. If your panel is showing only open circuit at 33v, then you could use a series connection to minimize loss to the controller and use smaller wire. Since I didn't know if you were using a PWM or MPPT controller that obviously is a consideration. However, the normal controller out there for off grid run in the 100-150PV voltage range and remember to allow a 10% PV voltage increase in COLD weather. Another thing to consider is that most PV circuit breakers are rated for 150V dc. Anything above that and then you're talking money OR you can switch to touch safe fuses that go all the way up to 1000VDC. Here in Michigan, under load my PV panels normally run about 38v but in winter I have seen as high as 42v. I have a tilting solar table but I used water pipe as the horizonal pivot and NOT hinges since over time they will fail unless you use thru bolts through the wood. So imagine the letter H where the center is the pipe and the ends are 2x8 or 2x10 doubled to HANG on the pipe with uprights being 4x4 and then 2 2x4s screwed into them making them 8X4s and cemented into the ground. This design has been up seven years so far. On the diversion and heat load, you could wire in a diversion switch and then choose where to direct the PV power to. I use Xantrex c-series controllers for the diversion resistors since I don't want to go with a more complex solution at the moment. I have two batteries (12 and 24v) and use diversion resistors to heat one room rather than running the heater.....however, in winter sun has been missing here in Michigan....so far 87% overcast in December. enjoyed the content
I bit the bullet and bought 30 kw of new lifepo4 a couple weeks ago and I also have 24 nossan leaf modules in a 24 volt configuration. I think those fork truck batteries are good to tho. I couldn't do lead acid because my 30 foot travel trailer couldn't handle the weight but for a house theh are probably good
Can you show a video of you tilting this mount of pv panels to show the angle variations? Thanks.
My wife and I are preparing to build a modified Earthship Biotecture style home. Our solar will temporarily be installed on a 40' Container while we build. I am quite firm about the absolute SHORTEST runs of solar and wind power to the inverter (etc.) to reduce resistance and increase performance. If you get the chance I would mount those panels on the Wall face of your second story of your house (if that is where your inverter is located). Great job on your project!
Since you're already doing solar, would a DIY solar hot water heater work in your situation? You'd need a bit of electricity to power a water pump to move the water through the system, but that might be negligible.You might have to switch to a 40 or 80 gallon tank heater.
I successfully heated water with only 1000 watts of solar. It took 2 days to fully heat 50 gallons which I thought was awsome.
Id just push that bow into place and screw it to the panels. It should kinda self correct I'd think. I like your idea with the mount. I ended up getting the aluminum 50 dollar each mounts off amazon and kinda wish I'd went a different direction. Thanks for showing what you built. With the help of you guys that make the videos I've been able to build a decent power system for my off grid camper I stay in when not on the road in this semi truck. I'd love to find a safe piece of property where I could leave all my equipment and trailer while I'm doing this long haul trucking. My biggest fear is someone taking my stuff while I'm gone
This gave me some ideas for the mount I want to make, thank you!
Your welcome, I'm glad it helped
The great thing about running a high voltage off those panels is less wire and very little loss over a greater distance. Go high voltage with a good charge controller and then to the batteries. Then make your solar dump load from a voltage sensing relay and an inverter is how I'd do it but the direct voltage to the water heater might be a great idea too. I'd just want that extra power going thru my batteries so that in the winter I was for sure to keep plenty of charge
Looks great man. My 20.6kW array is built from 48 ea 4x4's, 34 ea unitstrut, 3/8" ss bolts, large area ss washer that I turned into belleville washers using a ball peen with washer on a large socket, strut nuts to bolt panels to unistrut. I am working on my next 13.3kW array wood framework using 2" drill point machine thread screws, pilot drilling 2x4's to hold panels on from back. Different ways to do things. Try out solar water heating drainback system. Outdoor wood furnace if you have the wood. I like multiple ways to power my house, redundancy is the key. Same for hot water, 240VAC from inverter on one element, another direct DC from panels, then solar drainback to keep another open tank hot, then I run copper water lines through that tank to preheat my water before going into 80 gal water heater. Use a mixing valve to prevent scalding and proper thermostats, safeties etc. All found online.
Wow 20 kw! Is that grid tied?
@@veggitarianredneck No.
That sounds like an incredible system. How many charge controllers are you running?
@@veggitarianredneck two solark12k. 185A at 55.0V output from each today! Maxxed out with 20,600W..
I can't remember the name but you can but studs at home depot that have a wood thread on one end and machine threads on the other amd you can use either wing nuts or a regular nut to hold your panels, might ne cheaper then running long bolts
Yeah for some reason I can't either. Used to use those all the time in pipe fitting. But yer right those would work good
@@veggitarianredneck I used them to make removable access panels on a trailer I did skirting on years ago, my dad used them in Florida and put them around his windows so when a hurricane was on the way he could slap his plywood uo and bolt it down in a matter of minutes, never lost a sheet due to the studs coming out
Tilting your panels makes a huge difference