Rick's Ramblings

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Is My Solar Electric System Problem Solved?

After two years of total frustration, I think we may finally have solved the problem behind my inability to get electricity from my PV system…the PV panels are likely bad! We will know more this weekend. For the scoop, read this post on the Sand Creek Park Forums site.

Comments:

1. Yes! Installing new panels fixed the problem.

   I have spent 2 years and thousands of dollars trying to fix this problem. I am really upset that I contacted the PV panel supplier and they assured me that the panels could not be the problem. So, I replaced the batteries, I replaced the charge controller, and I rewired the system…twice.

   Anyway, am getting about 32A of DC charging current (plus whatever the wind generator provides), so we should be in good shape now.

   Posted by Rick  on  05/16/2004  at  05:58 PM

2. Damn. When we arrived at the cabin for a weekend stay on July 9th, neither the PV power nor the wind generator were working!

   Seems the Trace C40 charge controller that manages battery charging from the PV array is dead—there were no readings from it and no charging was occuring.

   And, seems the stator in the wind generator has burned up. Ted will replace it this week. But, I really need to understand what caused this and get it fixed. I can’t take the risk that I don’t get charge in the winter when the cabin is unattended and I’m running the heat at a low temperature.

   I was able to wire the PV panels directly to batteries using a “brute force” charging method. And, I ran the gas generator for a couple of hours and we were in great shape the whole weekend.

   Posted by Rick  on  07/12/2004  at  10:43 AM

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