Home Solar
Goals
Provide basic 12V DC to support backup server infrastructure
Maintain APRS off grid JIC station.
Start of supplementing current power consumption at a minimal level.
Two or three or ? monitoring stations for unattended resources in MT
Plan
- get a couple small panels for home. 30W or 60W
- http://www.backwoodssolar.com/dasol-60w-module (60 watts, 18 volts - 3.33 amps for $114
- http://www.backwoodssolar.com/dasol-30-watt-pv-module (30 watts, 18 volts - 1.67 amps for $70)
- get a MPPT inverter/charger
- get an Internet grid tie inverter - experimental. (How measure this?)
Resources
- backwoods solar - http://www.backwoodssolar.com/
- Emphase Micro Enverter - http://tandem-solar-systems.com/buy-solar-products/enphase-m250-microinverters/ - may now be possible to simply use Enphase.
- http://www.solarblvd.com/ - sometimes .5watt/$
MPPT - What is Maximum Power Point Tracking worth?
Info
- http://solarcraft.net/articles/comparing-pwm-and-mppt-charge-controllers/
- Victron 75V 15A for $110
- Tracer 24V 20A for $110 at Amazon
- http://www.electronicslovers.com/2015/09/arduino-based-mppt-solar-charge.html
- http://smartmppt.blogspot.com/2014/09/hlder_24.html
- http://www.backwoodssolar.com/mppt-charge-controllers
- https://hackaday.io/project/4613-arduino-mppt-solar-charge-controller
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA3X8XLxWHU - review of a fake MPPT-M20 Charge Controller. Real MPPT devices have a large coil.
- TRace MPPT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFuZywwpfaU Trace MPPT device
MPPT Summary
- MPPT works better at low or high temperatures
- Mentioned advantages are 10-40% or 20%
- Looks like 400W MTTP controller can be had for slightly over $100
- For a small system like my two 30W pannels - just buy a third panel for 50% more output
page revision: 11, last edited: 29 Apr 2016 19:49