Cool Solar install on the Rock!!

Can you beleive a solar application for an Island??? Kind of common but cool…

Hey check out this article. Neat post on making the Rock solar powered!

Solar Power Sentenced to Life in Alcatraz

Is the Rock really going solar?

So I am running on a 300 Watt Sine Wave Inverter now

You know after a while I downgraded my inverter to more match my needs and my power production capability. I decided against installing the windmill as it would be too loud for my neighbors. I went to the local marina after hearing that a neighbor had an Air X 400 installed on their sail boat.

300 Watt Sine Wave power inverter

Remote port on this inverter is the green socket on left. Just put in remote mode and use light switch to turn ON and OFF

So after visiting on a pretty windy day I decided it would be to loud for my neighbors only 25 Feet Away.

So my solar panels are the only charging system I have. I am able to get a pretty good run most days.

I am currently running a laptop, 23 inch LCD monitor, HP 8500 Wireless, and Kyocera Wirelss hub.

I like this is inverter because I have wired a switch to shut off at end of the day. It is a neat feature to put the inverter in remote mode and use regular light switch for a remote.

Got the solar installed!

I now have 220 Watts of solar powering my garage. I have more solar but need more time to get them installed.

Here is what i did:

I used two 110 watt solar panels. These were great, but I may switch to the new 95 watt panels for additional growth. The 95 watt solar panels are smaller and more efficent.

So I mounted the 2 panels on the roof using roof sealant and included solar kit brackets. These brackets were screwed straight into roof rafters.

I then used branch connectors to tie the panels together and ran down my MC cable to inside of garage. This is where i tied into my charge controller.

From the charge controller I ran the lead to the battery bank outside.

From the battery bank, I connected the power inverter. I did this using a set of cables connected to the battery and run back inside.

This system is working great. I only have enough power to run my Computer, Router, Printer, and 24″ monitor for 8 hours per day. Since I don’t often work any longer, it has worked out great. So far I have only lost power one time. (Forgot to turn off Power inverter at night)

Garage is coming along

After a few delays the Walls are up and the roof is coming!!!

Very Excited About This Progress!

The contractor promises to be done by bext week.

I already have a contractor lined up to foam the walls and roof deck, so that should go smoothly.

Working on the layout of the solar and wind portion. Hopefully should be done before the garage…

Will post some pictures shortly….

Foundation is being dug!

Ok the guys came out last week and got going on the Garage!!!!

YE Hawww.

They have put the boards on the outside of the foundation and are now digging the trenches. Won’t be a huge garage, 16X28 =448 Sq Ft

So it is decent area, but not too large.

Working on battery bank now. Have had about 5 calls for people to check out the solar install once we get going….

Pictures of my Wind Mill

I wanted to add some pictures of each of the pieces of my solar garage. The Air X 400 was the first to get displayed. More Pictures will come of the solar panels, power inverter, transfer switch and other items.

Top view of box with manual on top of packing on AirX 400

Front Nose Cone of Windmill

Back of Wind Generator Nose Cone

Wind Generator Blades

Mounting AirX 400

Air X 400 Wind generator

I am thinking about doing a gable mount on my AirX 400 , but I spoke with one of my customers who advised that it could lead to much higher vibrations. So I am unsure of which way to proceed. I think it will be best to use a pole, but alas I need a pole. Wonder if a TV antenna pole would work….HMmm

Oh Yeah Should Start Monday

We are supposed to Start MOnday, Dang.. Make that Tuesday…

Hopefully we can break ground on Tuesday….

Picking up my solar panels now to bring to my house…

Building my Solar Wind Inverter Powered Garage

Heck its been coming for some time. Lots of put offs and reason why not, but we hired a contractor to build our/MY garage.

Well it won’t be too big, looks like 28X16 with 10 Ft ceilings.

Costing about $15,000.00

i really want to go solar/ wind on this garage so I have started gathering my stuff.

Here’s what I got so far

Qty 2 80 Watt Solar Panels

Qty 1 100 Watt Solar Panel

Qty 1 400 Watt Air X wind turbine

Qty 1 Go Power 2000 Watt Sine Wave Inverter

Qty 1 25 Amp Digital Regulator

Qty 1 30 Amp Transfer Switch

 

I am going to make it off grid/ with Grid Backup. Usually I think it is kinda done the other way.

In other words I want to run on solar/wind/battery/inverter power until there is none left. Then I want to be able to switch back over to grid power.

This way I can benefit as much as possible from my alternative energy as possible without being unable to run devices.