Solar Tracker Setup

[Branch Gordon]

I'm putting together a list of everything I'm going to need to complete an off-grid solar setup in my home. I'm looking for suggestions on good equipment.

I'd like the 80amp Solar Tracker of course, and some larger (maybe 300W) solar panels on the roof. I'd rather have larger batteries than many smaller AH batteries.
And I've determined I need a sine wave inverter.

1. Does anyone have a great brand or model you would recommend for any of the above?

2. Does the order of setup go Sun -> solar panels -> Solar Tracker -> batteries -> inverter? Anything else that I'm missing?

3. Would I need two battery banks, or can the power run through the solar tracker on days of full sun and not use the batteries?

4. What equipment would I need to have on hand for maintenance?

Keep in mind that I'm interested in a setup that will last a very long time, and that I don' have to jack with very often.

Any suggestions would be helpful, and please keep in mind that I'm just starting my research so I may be ignorant of some things.

Cheers!

Branch

[Branch Gordon]

Bump....

Would love some advice.

I'm putting together a list of everything I'm going to need to complete an off-grid solar setup in my home. I'm looking for suggestions on good equipment.

I'd like the 80amp Solar Tracker of course, and some larger (maybe 300W) solar panels on the roof. I'd rather have larger batteries than many smaller AH batteries.
And I've determined I need a sine wave inverter.

1. Does anyone have a great brand or model you would recommend for any of the above?

2. Does the order of setup go Sun -> solar panels -> Solar Tracker -> batteries -> inverter? Anything else that I'm missing?

3. Would I need two battery banks, or can the power run through the solar tracker on days of full sun and not use the batteries?

4. What equipment would I need to have on hand for maintenance?

Keep in mind that I'm interested in a setup that will last a very long time, and that I don' have to jack with very often.

Any suggestions would be helpful, and please keep in mind that I'm just starting my research so I may be ignorant of some things.

Cheers!

Branch

[Tom C]

Bump....

Would love some advice.

well you need to size your load.... get a complete run down of the MAXIMUM number of watts you would need for your house. sunny boy, zantrax or outback for the inverter. you need solar panels, solar tracker, batteries, inverter. better to have enough panels to run the house PLUS what you need to charge the batteries, then you do not have to worry about using the batteries except at night.

it is actually quite a bit more complicated than that. some of the more sophisticated hybrid controllers have an inverter and a charge controller built in. with the solar tracker you do not need that. what you will need is a way to smoothly switch over at night to the battery bank. if you want to run off batteries alone then the tracker, and an inverter and manually switching banks will work.


Tom C

[Branch Gordon]

Thanks Tom!

Any recommendations on good panels? I was looking at Kyocera 315W panels...

Is there a piece of equipment that you know of that would smoothly switch between two battery banks, so there wouldn't be an interruption in power in the house?

In calculating the number of panels I need, is there a way to take the effect the Solar Tracker has on that math? I have read it's supposed to extract more energy from solar panels than a normal charge controller would...so seems like I wouldn't need as many...

well you need to size your load.... get a complete run down of the MAXIMUM number of watts you would need for your house. sunny boy, zantrax or outback for the inverter. you need solar panels, solar tracker, batteries, inverter. better to have enough panels to run the house PLUS what you need to charge the batteries, then you do not have to worry about using the batteries except at night.

it is actually quite a bit more complicated than that. some of the more sophisticated hybrid controllers have an inverter and a charge controller built in. with the solar tracker you do not need that. what you will need is a way to smoothly switch over at night to the battery bank. if you want to run off batteries alone then the tracker, and an inverter and manually switching banks will work.


Tom C

[bediniman]

DC Switch for Multiple Battery Banks and Power Sources DC Switch for Multiple Battery Banks and Power Sources [MWBS200A] - $49.98 : Missouri Wind and Solar, DIY Wind and Solar Energy

Hey I hope This will Help Its a dc switch...

[Tom C]

Thanks Tom!

Any recommendations on good panels? I was looking at Kyocera 315W panels...

Is there a piece of equipment that you know of that would smoothly switch between two battery banks, so there wouldn't be an interruption in power in the house?

In calculating the number of panels I need, is there a way to take the effect the Solar Tracker has on that math? I have read it's supposed to extract more energy from solar panels than a normal charge controller would...so seems like I wouldn't need as many...

you always want absolutely as much as you can afford when it comes to solar. I have never had too much power. I would not count on the gains at the edge of any chargers performance. I have kyocera's 250 watt they are stable. this is year 2 and averages seem stable over the same time period as last year, photovoltaics are hard to gauge unless you have daily photometric data to compare it with. keeping the panels clean is just as important, you can lose 5 to 10 % from dirt on the faces of the panels.

Tom C

[Branch Gordon]

Thanks man! So will this work both ways? It looks from the wiring diagram like it is used to switch charging between two battery banks.

What I want to do is switch the OUTPUT of the two battery banks into the inverter, so I have a continuous stream of power coming from one or the other bank.

DC Switch for Multiple Battery Banks and Power Sources DC Switch for Multiple Battery Banks and Power Sources [MWBS200A] - $49.98 : Missouri Wind and Solar, DIY Wind and Solar Energy

Hey I hope This will Help Its a dc switch...

[Branch Gordon]

Thanks Tom! That's good to hear about the Kyocera's...

What would you recommend I have on hand to handle maintenance? Battery testers, tools, etc.?

I know the Solar Tracker is supposed to prevent sulfation...does it prevent it 100%? I know the batteries should last longer...will they last pretty much indefinitely with good care + the benefits of the solar tracker?

you always want absolutely as much as you can afford when it comes to solar. I have never had too much power. I would not count on the gains at the edge of any chargers performance. I have kyocera's 250 watt they are stable. this is year 2 and averages seem stable over the same time period as last year, photovoltaics are hard to gauge unless you have daily photometric data to compare it with. keeping the panels clean is just as important, you can lose 5 to 10 % from dirt on the faces of the panels.

Tom C

[Tom C]

Thanks Tom! That's good to hear about the Kyocera's...

What would you recommend I have on hand to handle maintenance? Battery testers, tools, etc.?

I know the Solar Tracker is supposed to prevent sulfation...does it prevent it 100%? I know the batteries should last longer...will they last pretty much indefinitely with good care + the benefits of the solar tracker?

I do not currently own a solar tracker, I have the first gen tesla solar power amplifier, works a bit differently. I cannot tell you how long a battery will last, until I get there weekly capacity readings will tell you how your batteries are doing. an impedance meter will also tell you the state of a batteries plates. higher impedance more sulphation. batteries come from the manufacturer with a stated internal impedance. if you want a battery to last a long time, you need to treat it like a living animal.... find out what it likes and it will treat you well. they have temperature/capacity ratings, C ratings, certain wire size they like, etc.

Tom C

[John_Koorn]

Hi Branch,

No device can prevent sulfation, as sulfation occurs during the normal chemical process when the battery discharges. The trick is to remove all of the sulfation during the re-charging process. The Tesla Solar Tracker III has a a de-sulfation mode built into it that kicks in when the battery is at the point in the charge curve where de-sulfation is most effective.

The is no other solar charger I know of on the market that does this.

Additionally, the Tesla Solar Tracker III also extracts all of the available energy from the solar panel and sends that to the battery. This is particularly useful in low light conditions where most chargers on the market just sit there waiting for the sun to come out.

John K.

[Branch Gordon]

Thanks John...

Hi Branch,

No device can prevent sulfation, as sulfation occurs during the normal chemical process when the battery discharges. The trick is to remove all of the sulfation during the re-charging process. The Tesla Solar Tracker III has a a de-sulfation mode built into it that kicks in when the battery is at the point in the charge curve where de-sulfation is most effective.

The is no other solar charger I know of on the market that does this.

Additionally, the Tesla Solar Tracker III also extracts all of the available energy from the solar panel and sends that to the battery. This is particularly useful in low light conditions where most chargers on the market just sit there waiting for the sun to come out.

John K.

[Branch Gordon]

First question: Does this all look about right?
Second question: What would be the appropriate size Tesla Solar Tracker for this setup?
Third question: Would I need less solar panels with the new tracker, since it is more efficient in capturing light?

---------------------------------------------------------

I did some calculations today in preparation for purchasing a solar tracker next month. I'm wanting to take my home studio off grid. The studio is situated in a tack room in my barn that I had finished and converted to a nice recording space.

Panel Calculations
Watt hours used per day: 3252
3252 x 1.5 to account for inverter losses: 5478
5.5kwh per day x 30 days = 165kwh per month

According to this calculator I need a minimum of 1309 watts of solar panels (I'm in zone 5).

1309 watts / 320w solar panels = 4.09 panels

Battery Calculations
5478 x 2 for 50 percent D.O.D. on battery bank = 10956 watts needed from battery bank
10956 / 12V for total AH of battery bank = 913AH
Using Trojan T-105 6V 225AH
913AH / 225AH = 4 batteries for 6V, 8 batteries for 12V

Pricing:
8 T-105 6V 225AH batteries = $1112
5 Kyocera 320W Solar Panels = $1995
500W Inverter = $???.??

[John_Koorn]

Hi Branch,

Everything looks about right apart from the solar panels. According to the specs of the Kyocera 320W panels (http://www.kyocerasolar.com/assets/001/5134.pdf) the KD320 is designed for a 24v system. It has a Maximum Power Voltage of 40.1v, which is too high for a 12v system. I would go with the KD220 as this has a MPV of 26.6v and is more suited to the associated Tesla Solar Tracker. However, this means that to achieve your target of 1309 watts of panels you would need 6 KD220 panels.

The next thing you need to look at is the Maximum Power Current that the panels will put out in order to size your Tesla Solar Tracker. For the KD220, it has a MPC of 8.28A so you would need a 10A-12V Tesla Solar Tracker.

John K.

[Branch Gordon]

Makes sense...thank you for clearing that up!

So since I'm in zone 5 in Indiana, I'm getting 4.2 hours on avg of full sun per day. But I know the Solar Tracker is capable of charging for longer, in lower light. Do you guys have any data tracking this advantage over standard controllers?

If the Solar Tracker is charging on a cloudy day at an efficiency that I would typically get from a standard controller with 5 hours of full sun, I definitely don't need as many panels I would think...

Hi Branch,

Everything looks about right apart from the solar panels. According to the specs of the Kyocera 320W panels (http://www.kyocerasolar.com/assets/001/5134.pdf) the KD320 is designed for a 24v system. It has a Maximum Power Voltage of 40.1v, which is too high for a 12v system. I would go with the KD220 as this has a MPV of 26.6v and is more suited to the associated Tesla Solar Tracker. However, this means that to achieve your target of 1309 watts of panels you would need 6 KD220 panels.

The next thing you need to look at is the Maximum Power Current that the panels will put out in order to size your Tesla Solar Tracker. For the KD220, it has a MPC of 8.28A so you would need a 10A-12V Tesla Solar Tracker.

John K.

[nte]

Are the solar panels going to have a fixed tilt position (mounted to the roof and not adjustable)? Will the orientation of the panels be 180degrees?

One thing to keep in mind is the solar insolation striking the panel. In the winter at your location, the optimal orientation for the solar panels is 180* and about 54* tilt. If you're not able to adjust the panels tilt you might not generate enough power on the shorter winter days if you go with less panels.