Solar solution for deep well request

We purchased the 6 new Kyocera KD215GX-LPU 215W 16 Volt solar panels. They'll be picked up this weekend. Nadja said it was a good deal and to stash them. That doesn't leave much money toward solar for the well for this year but.... plenty of time to learn what to be on the lookout for to buy next when more money's available.

 

Bruce , in the last couple of months or so, Trojan has been having a lot of returns on the L-16's or otherwise a large failure rate. Two of our local stores have switched brands on a comparrable sized deep cycle battery. There have not been any problems that I am aware of with the T-105's.

 

there is a company that will make a hose up to 400.ft and in the roundness size that you need..

the company is named ..McGill hose and coupleing company ..the phone number is 800-669-1467 413-525-3977

i called my brother and asked him what company did he used as a the back up hose set up for going down into the one well there in Az and he called back with the name and number of the company

so call them and see if what they can do ..

 

Nope...about 1/2 that.

8.06amps at max power x 6 = 48.36amps....which will be peak for a very short period of the day when the sun hits the panels as close as possible to perpendicular.

 

And if you use that Trace 3624 inverter, remember you have to have a 24v battery bank, set the C60 to 24v, and wire your panels in strings of 2.

 

"And if you use that Trace 3624 inverter, remember you have to have a 24v battery bank, set the C60 to 24v, and wire your panels in strings of 2." Materials list please. "Plan B is you put in 2-4 panels, a 2500-3000 watt inverter, some batteries and run it off that." I've got the 2-4 panels you suggested I'd need and my eye on an inverter greater than that which you originally suggested. Do you know of a source for a C60 with an LED cover?

 

Ummm... they don't do anything stacked in a garage with nothing else purchased to go with them except a very sincere desire to get my well on a stand alone solar system. We bought 6 of those panels because they wouldn't sell only 2. It was a local "package" deal. We had to buy all 6 or no deal.

 

Specs on that panel:

Model KD 215GX-LPU

Max Power 215 Watts

Voltage at Max Power 26.6 Volts

Current at Max Power 8.09 Amps

That isn't a "12"v panel, as such...the voltage is too high ( look on the back of the panel to confirm these numbers )....nor is it a "24"v panel, as the voltage is too low.....

So, guess what ?......you HAVE to use an MPPT type controller, such as the Outback FX60, not the C60. ( what you saved in panels you're now gonna spend on a charge controller.....education ain't cheap, is it ? )

The FX60 will allow you to string the panels in series up to 150v total ( less de-rating )....so you connect two sets of 3 ( giving you about 80-90v input on each string ) in series.

Then you program the controller for 24v out ( which will actually be about 26-28, depending on what your batteries need at any given time )

 

I told my husband to wait until more people replied but noooooo…. he said if we waited we’d lose them!!! Twenty whips with a wet noodle for my husband. Just kidding…. he tried and…. I’ve made far worse decisions before that cost us a lot more than $600. I’d been hoping to have all the “components” purchased by this coming Oct/Nov but now it might not be until spring of 2012…. Oh well… water over the bridge… this too shall pass and in the bigger scheme of things…. spring of 2012 isn’t that far off. On the bright side of things…. I’ll have 4 left over panels we can use for something else some day from a manufacturer that offers a decent warranty in the event we discover there’s something wrong with the output of any of ours. Appears it’s ok letting them just sit there collecting dust because of the warranty or I suppose I could always re-sell the panels we won’t be using if push came to shove but…. I think I’d rather hang onto them. Moving along since I try really hard when things like this happen being a “the glass is half full” kinda person…. TnAndy found this for me which knocks out the C60 w/ LED cover, Solar Cell, Solar Panel, Solar PV, Solar Products, Charge Controllers, Solar Trackers. Thank you so much for catching that…. it’s doubtful I would have caught it on my own.
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So I’ve got 3 items on my materials list:
Solar panels, Model KD 215GX-LPU
Xantrex Trace TR3624-120-60 3600 watt inverter
Outback FMX60 controller
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Can we go for the gusto and try to list everything I’ll need except a concrete pad so my husband and I don’t make any more costly mistakes? I know I’ll need some sort of a mount and frame and it would be nice if what ever I choose tracks the sun a little. I’ve been eye balling this mount, Zomeworks UTR 020 Universal Tracker, Active & Passive Trackers - Zomeworks Tracker UTR020. I do need at least one battery if not more but what type is beyond me right about now. I’m pretty sure there’s more I’ll need like cables and wiring but…. I’ve read so much lately my head is spinning.

 

Well, it's not really costing you 600.....because you were going to spend SOME of that anyway on the C60. Plus, the FX60 is an MPPT controller and will make better use of what your panels produce. MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) type controller is the only way to go if you plan to have multiple panels and any size system, IMHO. That's what I would have gone with anyway.....the C60 is/was a good controller, but it's outdated technology now.

And shop some more on that FX60.....going price on them is in the low 500 range now. You can buy the FX80 for low 600 range now.

That Zomeworks tracker will only hold 1 of your panels ( if that ).....you're going to need to step up to about a $2k tracker to hold 6. I built mine for about 600 bucks, and have 10-175w panels mounted on it.

"Can we go for the gusto and try to list everything I’ll need ?"


Tell ya what.....you describe EXACTLY what you are trying to do with solar, both now, and future plans....give me ALL the info you can, including where the panels will likely mount ( roof, or free standing pole ), where you plan to install the electrical gear, and batteries, and so on, and I'll try to come up with a list and plan. OK ?

 

Bruce, I think you did miss something. The panels are 215 watts, which would put them into the 24 volt range, not 12volt. And so , therefore, a Xantrax C-60 in 24volt mode would just handle the six of these with a small margin for edge of cloud effect or sunlight over snow days.

 

Bruce, when I said the Trojan L-16 , I was not refering to anything but trojan l-16.

 

OK. I am going to have to stand corrected on this. Those panels are 16 volt for a reason, and I did not know about them I have talked to a friend of mine who owns a solar store now for about 12 years and is an engineer in elec. Those panels are designed for grid tie. However, if you wired 3 together to get 48 volts and the other 3 to do the same, then you would have aprox 6-8 amps on each bank of panels giving you a max of 16 amps or as he said on a really good day about 8 amps each. However, Bruce and TN Andy are both correct on this that you would have to have an mppt controller to handle the high voltage and produce it right. An outback FX-60 would do this with room to spare for yet another set or two of panels.

So, BTPost (aka Bruce) and TNAndy, I was wrong and you were right.

 

Nadja,

When I Google that panel model, and looked up the specs, I get they are a 26v panel, not 16v as Eq said. I asked her to go look on the back of a panel and get the VmP figure, so far she has missed that request. ( hint hint )

OK.....EQ.....if ALL you want to do is assure yourself of a steady water supply, HERE is what I would do:

Put in another pump.

Pull the old one, and set it aside to be reinstalled at some later date if you sell the house.

The pump you want is a GRUNDFOS SQ series pump. It will run on AC or DC ( up to 300vDC ).

The pump with pump controller will run you somewhere in the $2,000-$2,500 range. ( and by the way, unless you are watering a farm, you don't need a 1 1/4hp pump....a 3/4hp would do fine for that depth and still give you plenty of volume/pressure.

You DON'T need a charge controller (500), you Don't need combiner box with breakers (150), you WILL need a disconnect either way ( simple fused pull handle type....50 bucks ), you won't need the heavier wire you're gonna need from the panels to the charge controller, you won't need the batteries or the maintenance of them ( figure a 1,000 ), you won't need the 175amp disconnect between the batteries and the inverter ( figure 200 ), nor the heavy battery cables, and you won't need the inverter with a step up transformer ( figure 2,000 ).

ALL you need is the pump, the control box for it, and mount your panels, wire them in series, and run that smaller wire to the pump control box. The pump will run on AC, grid power as long as you have it. IF power goes down, the pump will run on DC as long as you have sun shining on the panels. It won't be "water on demand" like you have now, but the pump will turn anytime there is sun, and you can fill up anything you want....all day long if you want. I'd set a 300-500 gallon plastic tank in the basement, the barn, and outbuilding, the garage, where ever, and just let the pump fill it.

That is what I would do IF you don't want anything but your well pump to run.