Off-grid optimization of solar system - Getting more out of what we have!

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Күн бұрын

We're always striving to make our systems as productive as possible, so here is an upgrade to our solar system. A few more panels added and changing up the angles to gain the most power possible even with minimal sun. It's all about using what we had to get more power - not buying more batteries or motorizing the panels. This makes solar a solid choice even in a cloudy, equatorial climate!
(Eve230Ah, LiFEPo4, lithium batteries, Victron, Santan, Electrodacus)
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We are an American family living permanently in Ecuador, transforming a mostly-untouched 30 acres of jungle mountain into a working, self-sustainable, off-grid farm. There are a lot of trials, errors, successes, and lessons to be learned along the way. We hope to share it all with you, to tell our story, to inspire, and to hopefully help answer the questions you didn’t know to ask.
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Пікірлер: 18

@jasonvickery9256 4 ай бұрын

Good job brother. I have watched a few of your videos over time. I didnt realize I wasn't subscribed. I am now.

@tinyhandsbigdreams 4 ай бұрын

Thanks! let me know if you have any questions.

@jacobhn2 3 ай бұрын

It's a good setup you've made, it will work fine, just disconnect the panels when the highest voltage is reached on one of the cells. I have a small setup of two panels of 40v/10A mounted in parallel, my mppt can only do 12A and that is fine enough for me.

@tinyhandsbigdreams 3 ай бұрын

The SBMSO unit does that automatically, its a fully functional BMS as well. it is set to disconnect at 3.60 volts when any cell has reached it for a duration of 6 seconds. i can adjust any parameter related to it.

@garyodriscoll3009 4 ай бұрын

Great idea ..just found you ..

@tinyhandsbigdreams 4 ай бұрын

necessity is the mother of invention...

@makemoney1894 3 ай бұрын

What about setting the panel convex style and not concave style? This way you avoid them reflecting one another...

@tinyhandsbigdreams 3 ай бұрын

Fair enough, but in our particular situation that would point one set of them into our canopy, so that wouldn't work for us.

@larryheij1783 4 ай бұрын

Hello See you are trying to develop the solar energy intake. But your idea is not optimal because your side panels lose a lot of energy when the sun's rays come from the side, not directly against the solar panel. Also loses effect when the sun shines directly on the flat panels, the panels on the side lose a lot of energy because the sun's rays bounce off and are reflected away from the panels. Get more total energy during the day if all the panels lie flat. You get the best effectiveness if the sun shines at 90 degrees to the panels. Without being able to measure the effectiveness of your setup of the panels, I am convinced that you have reduced the effectiveness of your facility. The positive thing is that you try new ideas. Good luck with your installation SINCERELY Larry

@tinyhandsbigdreams 4 ай бұрын

Hi Larry, sometimes when making improvements it is necessary to start without assumptions. I started with flat panels and it wasn't enough power under non-ideal conditions. What is flat? flat to the earth or flat to the sun? they started flat to the earth but they dont receive energy from the earth, so i made them flat to the sun at different times of day. each panel still receives a possible 4 hours of light a day. The sun does not appear directly overhead at 90 degrees for the day, it moves, clouds move, rain happens, fog rolls in, etc. i optimized for a moving target, and the chaos of weather. Its working much better now, even as we approach the lowest solar altitude of the year in a couple weeks. last year at this time was the biggest struggle with power, now i am roasting coffee and using my power tools heavily on rainy cloudy days without having to burn fuel in the generator. Do not be so convinced because of your assumptions, it is working much better than before.

@larryheij1783 4 ай бұрын

@@tinyhandsbigdreams Hi is working on the development of solar energy myself. The optimal is straight towards the sun. Then you have to keep track of the ingredient what the sun can give, varies all the time. To always take what the sun can give, sun followers are the only thing that counts. For best results check what slope you should have on the solar panels depending on the latitude you live at (the angle to the sun) for the best results for the whole year. A lot to think about. MVH Larry

@tinyhandsbigdreams 3 ай бұрын

hi Larry, we didnt want any moving parts to have to deal with, both for cost and maintenance reasons, and usually it becomes more cost effective to use more panels instead of tracking hardware. we live at 2 degress south of the equator, so i could tilt them 4 degrees to the north for optimal, but it doesnt work with the mounting we have.

@larryheij1783 3 ай бұрын

@@tinyhandsbigdreams Hi no, it's not always suitable with solar trackers but for some it's ok, I think for your part it's important to find a place where you can get the optimal angle of your solar cells for the whole year's intake of electricity, MVH Larry

@anzzgar 4 ай бұрын

Whatttt? I have 3 mppts they are running over 10 years now and i know guys that have their super old mopts for 12years now. Youll destroy your batterys with this waaaay faster, but youll see bc i told it a few times. It will degrade your betterysfaster than youll need a new mppt

@tinyhandsbigdreams 3 ай бұрын

i have to disagree on destroying the batteries, they are nicely taken care of by the controller. why do you think they will be damaged? the mppt in testing has been shown to be slightly less efficient as well. re-capping electronics is a common repair, especially in power supplies. they lose effectiveness. if you ran your chargers on an oscilloscope under load vs new, youll see a degradation over time.