flatfourfan Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 (edited) So for the last 9 years or so I've had a simple 12v lighting system in the house with a 120ah battery running off a 12v 120watt panel in turn running 34 led lights. I've had zero failures of any of the equipment and the battery that I had lasted me a good 7 years. Success. The new install had to actually work around the small panel as I refused to move it or change anything attached to that system. I decided to up it a bit, but knew that I was in over my head. So Alumo did the install yesterday. 12 x 470w panels, 8KW Sunsynk and 2x 5.5KV greenrich batteries. I'd added Cbi wifi timers on my geysers and have 1 geyser on the system (smaller one) and one on the grid. I've been in a mad rush to finish painting the area where the panels were going to go as the roof hadn't seen any paint in the last 9 years. The final plan is to add more panels towards the back of the property as we have space for a good 10-12 more. The set up has been installed in our laundry and I couldn't wish for a better layout. It sits right next to my existing system and that system got a few smiles from the installer who said....meh, it works and it works well. Edited May 18, 2023 by flatfourfan add on mzezman, zsde, Garthox and 13 others 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Energy-Jason Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Congratulations!!! flatfourfan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsde Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Many happy middle fingers whenever they try to restrict the electricity that you pay for. Hope your neat setup provides you with years of independence. flatfourfan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McGuywer Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Pics of your 12v system? flatfourfan and BryanOC6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Measure Posted May 19, 2023 Share Posted May 19, 2023 Nice install, congrats! I love the way that the panels look like a single pane of glass, your installer clearly took the trouble to get them looking like that. What mounting kit was used? 19 hours ago, flatfourfan said: I've been in a mad rush to finish painting the area where the panels were going to go as the roof hadn't seen any paint in the last 9 years. Another excellent decision, good planning. The benefits are huge, and you will reap them in 10 years' time when you will only have to paint around the panels, and not have to remove them completely. Looking forward to your feedback in 12 months or so on the Greenrich batteries. zsde 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FixAMess Posted May 19, 2023 Share Posted May 19, 2023 3 hours ago, YellowTapemeasure said: Another excellent decision, good planning. The benefits are huge, and you will reap them in 10 years' time when you will only have to paint around the panels, and not have to remove them completely. I just went through this exercise...Remove panels, paint 2 coats, reinstall... It took me and 2 others 1hr to remove 8 panels. Prepare for paint, paint, dry, 2nd coat.. Reinstall panels, also took 1 hr. Sad thing is I found where the installer had taken shortcuts on connecting the rails. There is a small connector that slides into the end of the rail to connect them. He did not use them and I could not see when inspecting because they were covered by panels. Lesson....Inspect each phase of the install. Roof 1) Placement of brackets to rafters/beams...Make sure tiles are in tact and repositioned correctly. Also correct spacing and insertion of brackets 2) Make sure rails are installed correctly, all joins dealt with 3) Panels are installed correctly, wiring tidy and placed in conduit if that i what you required. zsde, mzezman and flatfourfan 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Measure Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 14 hours ago, FixAMess said: I just went through this exercise...Remove panels, paint 2 coats, reinstall... It took me and 2 others 1hr to remove 8 panels. Prepare for paint, paint, dry, 2nd coat.. Reinstall panels, also took 1 hr. Sad thing is I found where the installer had taken shortcuts on connecting the rails. There is a small connector that slides into the end of the rail to connect them. He did not use them and I could not see when inspecting because they were covered by panels. Lesson....Inspect each phase of the install. Roof 1) Placement of brackets to rafters/beams...Make sure tiles are in tact and repositioned correctly. Also correct spacing and insertion of brackets 2) Make sure rails are installed correctly, all joins dealt with 3) Panels are installed correctly, wiring tidy and placed in conduit if that i what you required. Hence my point. 6 man hours to remove and refit is quick, but add the production downtime while you prep, paint and wait for it to dry, plus the risk of electrical shock and damage to panels. Far better to do it before the install. zsde, FixAMess and flatfourfan 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revnge_SevnFold Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 @flatfourfan How did you fix everything to the tiles in that room or did you drill into the tile? I am sitting with the same scenario, as my DB board is in my laundry room and that is fully tiled as well. flatfourfan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfourfan Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 On 2023/05/19 at 10:01 AM, YellowTapemeasure said: Nice install, congrats! I love the way that the panels look like a single pane of glass, your installer clearly took the trouble to get them looking like that. What mounting kit was used? Another excellent decision, good planning. The benefits are huge, and you will reap them in 10 years' time when you will only have to paint around the panels, and not have to remove them completely. Looking forward to your feedback in 12 months or so on the Greenrich batteries. The mounts seems to be standard type that they use for corrugated zinc style. These mount a bit higher as the stands can be adjusted for dips in old roofs. Quite a cool set up. I'll snap a pic over the weekend when I'm up there. They had a team who's job it was to just do the panel side of things and they were up there for a few hours on day one and again when the panels arrived the following day. I've heard the nightmare of leaks developing under the panels and how much pita it is to get the job done. This way I'm relaxed for another 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfourfan Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 (edited) On 2023/05/18 at 6:24 PM, McGuywer said: Pics of your 12v system? The 12V system in here got no love back in 2015 when I posted it up. Dunno if it was snob value or what, but it cost me around 8k and ROI has been about 4-5 times over that period, even with buying a new battery after 7 years. Havent had a single globe fail or anything break, we use it everyday and love it. I told the Alumo guys that they are not to touch this system at all during the install time and even the panels that they mounted were to be mounted around my 120w 12v panel. I kept everything 12v, so cable sizem solar controller and fusing was kept super simple. Edited May 22, 2023 by flatfourfan McGuywer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfourfan Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 (edited) On 2023/05/20 at 3:43 AM, YellowTapemeasure said: Hence my point. 6 man hours to remove and refit is quick, but add the production downtime while you prep, paint and wait for it to dry, plus the risk of electrical shock and damage to panels. Far better to do it before the install. exactly. I spent two saterdays on the roof with grinding it down, sanding it, washing it and then priming and then painting it. The section of roof was huge, but I could not imagine doing this with the panels already in place. I probabl;y had a good 16 hours in that roof, but I knew that I had to do it right. Edited May 22, 2023 by flatfourfan Yellow Measure 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfourfan Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Revnge_SevnFold said: @flatfourfan How did you fix everything to the tiles in that room or did you drill into the tile? I am sitting with the same scenario, as my DB board is in my laundry room and that is fully tiled as well. Revenge fan hey? Yup, they drilled through the tiles. I had them mask up all of the spots wheer they were going to drill and then to use a ceramic drill bit on non-hammer mode to get through the tiles without damaging them, then once they hit concrete they swicthed to a masonary bit on hammer drill. Rawl-bolts were used with everything except the trunking mounts as they were speed plugs I think. Not much weight to hold there. Revnge_SevnFold 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McGuywer Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 On 2023/05/19 at 10:01 AM, YellowTapemeasure said: Nice install, congrats! I love the way that the panels look like a single pane of glass, your installer clearly took the trouble to get them looking like that. What mounting kit was used? I was wondering about this, is it not advisable to have a gap between the panels to help with any cooling? Or is it minimal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfourfan Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 19 minutes ago, McGuywer said: I was wondering about this, is it not advisable to have a gap between the panels to help with any cooling? Or is it minimal? Yup there is a gap there or about 2cm between each panel. The brackets only allow the panels to get so close anyway The fact that the rails are straight gives the impression that it's one large piece. McGuywer and Yellow Measure 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Measure Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 On 2023/05/22 at 10:03 AM, McGuywer said: I was wondering about this, is it not advisable to have a gap between the panels to help with any cooling? Or is it minimal? The gap between panels isn't a biggie, the gap underneath the panels (between panel and roof) is actually more important for cooling. flatfourfan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfourfan Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 20 hours ago, YellowTapemeasure said: The gap between panels isn't a biggie, the gap underneath the panels (between panel and roof) is actually more important for cooling. Yup, I actually have the mounts on the highest adjustment which gives me around an extra 50mm clearance. Yellow Measure 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.