Solar system update and winter angle change

[@dianetuttle6817]

That’s a real big change in the angle. what happens if you have a wind storm?

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

It is a big change. It really represents how different the angle of the sun is between summer and winter. We have zero concerns about the structure tipping over as it is fully cross braced and each post is in almost a yard of concrete. The array is through bolted at every connection point so I’m not concerned there either. I will have to watch side to side movement at the top of the panels, but the panels themselves will provide shear strength to prevent that. When we do get wind it is usually from the south. The panels are protected from a north wind by the trees behind it. I am more worried that a tree will fall on it😳

[@michaelchownyk5255]

Thanks for the video it’s always interesting to see what people come up with. I’ve been doing off grid solar since 1998. I live off grid myself and I know all about cleaning snow off panels. Mine are all ground mountain so I can reach them with my long handle broom. I also have a leaf blower that’s pretty powerful cordless electric. I did see something that is a bit alarming make sure that the solar panel prop rods don’t come out when you are under the pivot point because if it fell, you could be trapped and you wouldn’t wanna be squished by your beloved Solar Panels. Keep up the good work.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

We appreciate the advice, safety is always a priority. the push rod is captured by a pocket while lifting, I was concerned that the pocket might not hold and I will inspect it prior to each move the pressure from the winch cable holds it tight into the pocket

[@Gary-wh7ce]

That is one large set up. I did mine buy using water pipe and 4x6 posts like an H and then tilt the panels with a harbor freight boat winch that was $19 bucks. Been working since 2015 here in Michigan. nice video.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Sounds great! glad to hear that it has lasted almost 10 years.

[@Forest_Actual]

"Smooth and Luxurious" power???? I want some!!! LOL

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

😂😂

[@SignatureSolarEthan]

t’s a clever idea to adjust the angle of the panels for the winter. I'm glad to hear the EG4 batteries are working out well for you!

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

We’re excited about how the batteries are working out.

[@blaizacmichel576]

Great 👍

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Thank you 👍

[@dtpyow2024]

the magic of timelapse.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

It removes the boring😂

[@bobmonztr]

I have 11.6kw this year, lowest day was 6.2kw vertical with snow average day 10.2 kw in overcast. I bet 7kw more solar and we could sell our generators. I never need to clean my panels, the snow boost was so high my 3300 went to 3800w before it over amped, had to shade a panel. Gen time Nov last year 150hrs, this year 14hrs. I don't know about your area but my weather app promises sun 5 days a week and haven't seen 1 min since Nov 6. As far as dirty power I run the 9kw gen at 6200w and get a steady 60.1 hrz, I turn off all surge appliances as that causes the low/high freq errors.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

It sounds like you are doing a great job maximizing your solar potential!

[@bobmonztr]

@1KGoffgridhomestead Almost,I never saw sun last year, didn't know where the shading occurred, I have to move 2 arrays in summer.

[@loucinci3922]

Enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Thanks for watching

[@Sr22002]

I like that they're high enough that the lawn mower is not going to throw a rock at them

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

That’s for sure. Good to hear from you

[@davidpollock2245]

The chargeverter does not “clean up” the sine wave; it converts the AC current to DC which has no sine wave.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Correct, it does however accept dirty power and convert it to DC where there MPP inverter can not handle the dirty input. sorry for the mis-statement

[@ExpertAmateur-xn6dr]

Nice work, though it looks a bit complicated to change the angle, and I think in a storm you're likely to lose some panels. That's a lot of wind area to be secured with just two clamps. If it survives the storms you might consider running unistrut across your wooden rack so you can have four clamps per panel instead of just two. I can't see your pivots, though I'd be a bit worried about those too. Incidentally, the chargeverter actually outputs DC, not "clean" sine waves. I'm not familiar with your mppt/inverters but I've used a fairly funky generator with my EG418K PV all-in-one and it worked fine to charge the battery without a chargeverter. As cheap as the harbor freight winches are you might consider one for each set of panels pulling down the bottom of the panel set rather than pushing. I assume the unistrut poles are to lock the angle once it's where you want it. You could still do that. I designed my rack to be more or less balanced and I currently use winches on both sides, one to pull the rack down, which you can see in the first picture of this blog post, the second you can't see is on the other side to pull the pivoting rack up so I can lock it with cable tension. Next year I'll replace the cable stuff with a few linear actuators and an single axis seasonal "sunseeker" to manage the angle automatically.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Thank you for your advice I know it comes from experience. we really hope that our system can weather any storm. each panel is held on by 4 - 5/16x3" lag screws but I like the idea of adding more anchor points. We know we misspoke about the chargeverter we were just trying to say that it will accept dirty power where as our mpp inverter will not. because of our snow load I couldn't balance the arrays like you did because in the winter the bottom panels would be buried by the sliding snow or I would have to make it much taller. the sun seeker sounds like it will work awesome! Thanks for watching

[@loucinci3922]

I wonder if the lift would be easier if the pivot point was more in the center of the panel frames.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

It would definitely be better balanced, however in the winter position the bottom panel would be so close to the ground that sliding snow would block the panel and I would be constantly removing snow. Or we would have had to build it taller than it already is😜

[@burrowsal]

I'd offer the suggestion that you build hard stops at the winter angle so you have the angle every time and don't have to use the angle finder. it would also support the array. Do you have plans you could share? I really like the dual function of array and woodshed!

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Good idea, now that we know the winter angle we’ve marked the super strut so we don’t have to use the angle finder each year. We don’t have plans for the solar structure/woodshed but if you watch our solar play list you’re welcome to copy our design, of course because you’re location is different than ours you may want to have an engineer look at what you design.

[@user-ei3ml8jo1s]

The cross braced wooden substructure is not the concern. Each set of panels is only supported by 2 bolts through the unistrut that are in single shear. It’s not clear whether or not the pivot points are also single shear. As a Mechanical Engineer this structure was a great teaching moment for my students on not what to do.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

good to know, I am not an engineer, is there something we could change to make it better and still pivot?

[@user-ei3ml8jo1s]

@@1KGoffgridhomestead at a minimum all pivot points should be double shear. When one of the pivot points lets go, the panels will then see torsion forces and crack them. You currently have many single point failures that will result in panel loss. It would be challenging to fix the lack of torsional rigidity on your current design so eliminating all those single point failures is your best hope.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

@@user-ei3ml8jo1s Thank you

[@honumoorea873]

I agree, there will be a problem with this structure..

[@electromechanicalstuff2602]

The charge better doesn't clean the sine wave it just converts it to DC and is not sensitive enough to care how dirty the incoming power is

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Thanks for pointing that out. what we were trying to describe is what dirty power is and relay that the chargeverter will accept it where our MPP inverters will not

[@PjotrII]

Oh god, when wind take on the panels.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

The structure will take it and each of the six arrays have 4 points of attachment.

[@JR-xw5dk]

Have you considered a Flexboss or the 12000xp that should have lower self consumption and maybe save some gas?

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

we may upgrade our inverters at some point. a lot of great ones have hit the market since 2022 when we bought ours but all our money is going to finishing the house right now and the mpp inverters are working fine for now.

[@JR-xw5dk]

@1KGoffgridhomestead maybe if you have time make a video about the lower idle consumption of the newer inverters vs the older inverters. Lithium Solar did a video and I think his new inverters that had idle consumption of like 110 watts/ hour each. That is one server rack battery each 24 hr.

[@JR-xw5dk]

Maybe people will use your referral code.

[@billwood9841]

Love your battery rack...any info on it you can share?

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

I built the battery rack out of angle iron right before Signature Solar had an offer of a free rack when you buy batteries.

[@SuperMandme]

I like luxurious power 😂

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

so does Amy

[@richdobbs6595]

What was your reasoning for installing the panels so high above the ground? So that the pivot point was only about 1/3 the way up the panels? So that you went so tall, instead of wider? If my perc test goes okay tomorrow, I'll also be building next year in Northern Idaho. But, I can't say that I understand your design choices.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

As you know, North Idaho gets a fair amount of snow. We are at 3300 feet elevation if I place the pivot point closer to the center it would have better balance however it would put the panels too close to the ground in its winter angle and I would spend all winter digging my array out from the sliding snow, or I would have had to make the structure even higher. Being mindful of how much snow will shed from your solar array is key to producing power in the winter months. We hope your perc test goes well.

[@aspendell209]

Your smartphone has the same accelerometer in it as that digital level. You can actually just download an App to use the edge of ur phone as a level.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Very true, but then I couldn't have a cool gadget. this one also has a magnet to stick to my table saw blade.

[@samuelonthewall]

Why are you guys adjusting them to 70 degrees? The reference chart I use shows, for this time of year and in Northern Utah, to be about 32 degrees.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Northern Utah is closer to the equator than northern Idaho, so your angle would be different. Technically, for our location it is 18 degrees or 72 degrees depending on where you measure the angle from.

[@PhilZollman]

Great job. Are the kids going to use some of the power next year. Take care love you

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Yes, next summer their houses will be wired from the solar. They will both have a 30 amp service

[@Hal-wk3ks]

Great job. I like to watch anything to do with solar. Do you foresee having any problems with the wind in the winter position?

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

Thanks, We sure hope we don't have any problems. We have zero concerns about the structure tipping over as it is fully cross braced and each post is in almost a yard of concrete. The array is through bolted at every connection point so I’m not concerned there either. I will have to watch side to side movement at the top of the panels, but the panels themselves will provide shear strength to prevent that. When we do get wind it is usually from the south. The panels are protected from a north wind by the trees behind it. I am more worried that a tree will fall on it😳

[@oblitafier]

Those panels will get wrecked in the first major storm. The fixings used to mount the panels are nowhere near adequate. Sweet system, but please secure those panels before disaster strikes. Would love know how it’s hinged also.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

what size fixings would you recommend

[@oblitafier]

@@1KGoffgridhomestead You may be able to adapt purpose made module clamps to your existing rig. If not you’ll need to get the rails as well. Given how much you have invested, it would be a small addition to your overall cost. I could not see how it was hinged, but suggest you have a look again and imagine how it would fare in a storm.

[@arnoldreiter435]

the "dirty" power you refer to from the generator is also known as modified sine wave, an inverter generator produces pure sine wave power that your inverters will accept. campers learned years ago to use inverter generators to protect the electronics and appliances in their campers. most home owners still use modified sine wave and get away with it and only discover the issue when they have to pay for a new fridge or big tv that gets damaged by the dirty electricity from the gen. i know there will be many that say they have used dirty gens and never had a problem but if you actually do some research you will find out for yourself what is factual.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

agreed, we are using what we have at the moment, it is way undersized but we are putting all our money into there build, hopefully this little guy will make it through the winter. Thanks for watching.

[@pobybuf]

How does that rig withstand high winds?😂

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

haven't seen any high winds yet. it is protected from the north by trees and the kick stands will brace it from any south winds.

[@honumoorea873]

Let's say you got a 50km/h wind coming right in front of the structure, how many tons of pressure do you got on all those panels...just guess. I think you highly underestimate it.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

We may have underestimated the pressure. Every array has multiple shear points that each would have to fail before any damage. I have considered adding more points of attachment but I also want to keep it simple and not over engineer it.

[@michaelchownyk5255]

You can’t clean up the generator power, because the source of fuel is dirty to begin with. In truth, the is producing dirty DC Wouldn’t it be better just to add 50% more solar panels and not bother with moving them .

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

We're trying to be as efficient as possible with the resources we have on hand. Thanks for watching! if we didn't change the angle the panels would be covered with snow all winter

[@honumoorea873]

That's flimsy and dangerous, it will break at the next wind burst.

[@1KGoffgridhomestead]

interesting, have you watched all the build videos? what suggestions do you have for us to make it better?