Energy Anybody know anything about solar systems?

Your latitude is below 25°, use the latitude times 0.87... So, 19X.87= 16.53 degrees. You would be fine at 17.

 

Solar is remarkably tolerant of slight misalignment, millwright precision is way plenty overkill. Point to geographic south (not magnetic; if you use a compass, you will be a tad over 10 degrees too far to the west, or east, I forget) at about the same angle as your latitude, that is as close as you need and as you have said (and Dunerunner loves his degree splitter - ). Dunno what that PV optimizer can do for you if both panels are in full sun and aimed in the same direction. IIRC, a pv gadget is useful if there are more than one set of panels and are aimed in different directions to take advantage of (say) seasonal or roof angle differences of insolation. It will be part of the control system used for that sort of lashup.

ETA: Cheap trick to find geographic north and align your panels. Drive a peg in the ground vertically and watch its shadow. At exactly noon local to the panel (your time zone is close enough) the peg shadow will point directly north, regardless of season at your latitude. With winter coming, the shadow will be longer and easier to see where it points. (A year on the equator, well that did my sense of north and south NO good at all.) You might put that peg in right on the bottom edge of the panels and see if the shadow lines up nicely with the edge of the panel at noon.

 

So, @Lilikoian ... How are the batteries doing? I take it since you are off line they didn't fair well. Just curious.

 

I would still save for a small generator and battery charger. When it is pouring rain, you aren't going to be able to run extension cords to a neighbor who may or may not have power. It's a prep. and you can use the generator to equalize charge your batteries once a month. Then, you are somewhat energy independent.

 

1. Panels
2. Inverter
3. Generator and on this, look for one that runs at 1800Rpm or less....

 

Most of those fans are "Brushless" and they work just fine.... They use a tiny Computer Chip to make the waveform, and drive a few Tiny PowerFETs that drive the Coils... Very Low Power to Work Produced Ratio... (Efficient)

 

Great example @DKR. I thought the same thing. My old motorhome had two of those mounted on the dash and they worked great! This would, however; require running a fused D/C circuit into the cabin, directly from the battery source and wiring it into a connector of some sort or hard wiring it into the fan.

 

Gotta disagree, get the gennie first. That way, you can keep the batteries up to snuff until the inverter and panels fit in the budget.

I add, gratuitously, that the small gennies are 4 cycle invertor type and typically crank over quietly at more than 5000 rpm. Work fine and last plenty long enough when used sparingly and when needed. The older rule about slower is better is still true, but applies to older and larger machines particularly.

 

I am so glad your batteries were serviceable and are now back online storing power for you. Rule of thumb, check electrolyte levels monthly. Keep a chart, and check them off when completed.

 

Glad you're back in business. Now for the small gennie to make sure you don't fall behind on charge ---

BTW, I don't think that pv optimiser will do anything for you at this point. It's more for larger fixed panel arrangements as might be found on the roof of a house with different angled peaks.