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bennelson · 11-10-10, 04:31 PM

I HAD several 48V solar panels.
The neat thing about that was that I could wire one directly up to the 48V battery pack (through a charge controller.)

I actually ended up selling BACK the panels to the guy I bought them from (for exactly what I paid for them originally.) It was sort of a closeout/pallet deal. He was working on a big solar installation using the exact same panels, and they were short the same number of panels that I happened to have!

Anyways, I got to help out as a volunteer on that PV install. Here's a photo.

That's only one of the TWO banks of panels they had. It was well over 100 panel total.

Anyways, the downside of those panels is that they are VERY bulky for their rated wattage. With my limited solar space, mono or poly panels would be better.

I like the Evergreen panels. They are US-based (I'm not sure where the manufacturing is though!) and they use a different process that more or less makes a polycrystaline panel, but with much less embodied energy.

I have no idea how I would make just one or two dedicated circuits in my house.

The PV would be mounted on the (detached) garage.
I don't have much space around my circuit breaker in the house. It isn't in a basement or anything. It's right in the kitchen between the wall and the door. Not enough room to put in an automatic transfer switch or anything.

To do a dedicated circuit, the easiest thing to do would be to just take my entire garage off-grid, which I sort have been playing with, but haven't had enough PV to make that work of any great amount of time.

If I got four 12V panels right away, it would be easy to wire them in series for 48V to charge the battery pack. I possibly could locate an inexpensive 48V grid tie inverter (ebay, china made, etc.)

Four 12V panels would maximize flexibility, as they could be seriesed or paralleled for 12, 24, or 48V systems.

The trouble with those 48V panels that I had was that they couldn't be used with ANYTHING 12V.
The other think I found out is that solar panels have fancy, dedicated power connections on them. They are named MC3 and MC4. Buying cables that go from the solar panels to a charge controller or anything else get expensive real quick.

All the solar panels have "male" and "female" connectors on them. To set them up in series, you just plug one panel into the next. That's it. Then get the fancy cable just to connect the two far ends to the rest of the system.

With the 48V panels, I had to get a pair of fancy cables for EVERY panel I wanted to hook up.

11-10-10, 04:31 PM	#3
bennelson Home-Wrecker Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: SE Wisconsin Posts: 546 Thanks: 3 Thanked 165 Times in 96 Posts	I HAD several 48V solar panels. The neat thing about that was that I could wire one directly up to the 48V battery pack (through a charge controller.) I actually ended up selling BACK the panels to the guy I bought them from (for exactly what I paid for them originally.) It was sort of a closeout/pallet deal. He was working on a big solar installation using the exact same panels, and they were short the same number of panels that I happened to have! Anyways, I got to help out as a volunteer on that PV install. Here's a photo. That's only one of the TWO banks of panels they had. It was well over 100 panel total. Anyways, the downside of those panels is that they are VERY bulky for their rated wattage. With my limited solar space, mono or poly panels would be better. I like the Evergreen panels. They are US-based (I'm not sure where the manufacturing is though!) and they use a different process that more or less makes a polycrystaline panel, but with much less embodied energy. I have no idea how I would make just one or two dedicated circuits in my house. The PV would be mounted on the (detached) garage. I don't have much space around my circuit breaker in the house. It isn't in a basement or anything. It's right in the kitchen between the wall and the door. Not enough room to put in an automatic transfer switch or anything. To do a dedicated circuit, the easiest thing to do would be to just take my entire garage off-grid, which I sort have been playing with, but haven't had enough PV to make that work of any great amount of time. If I got four 12V panels right away, it would be easy to wire them in series for 48V to charge the battery pack. I possibly could locate an inexpensive 48V grid tie inverter (ebay, china made, etc.) Four 12V panels would maximize flexibility, as they could be seriesed or paralleled for 12, 24, or 48V systems. The trouble with those 48V panels that I had was that they couldn't be used with ANYTHING 12V. The other think I found out is that solar panels have fancy, dedicated power connections on them. They are named MC3 and MC4. Buying cables that go from the solar panels to a charge controller or anything else get expensive real quick. All the solar panels have "male" and "female" connectors on them. To set them up in series, you just plug one panel into the next. That's it. Then get the fancy cable just to connect the two far ends to the rest of the system. With the 48V panels, I had to get a pair of fancy cables for EVERY panel I wanted to hook up. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.