Questions tagged [solar]
The solar tag has no usage guidance.
118
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How big of a solar panel is needed to run a 300 watt water pump?
I have a water pump in a pond that is rated as using 300 watts. I'm not concerned if it shuts off at night. Overcast days are super rare. I don't plan on installing batteries, just want to connect the ...
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How can I evaluate solar panels to power night lights in areas that don't get direct light?
I have a creek crossing in the woods:
This photo is in the early spring. During the summer it's a bit like a jungle. We've considered the idea of putting foot lights along the edges of the crossing. ...
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Solar powered heating, the 1st step on the research phase
We've just bought somewhere in Portugal and the gas prices are very expensive.
Portugal gets a lot of sun, so we figured let's see if we can heat with solar.
We ideally do not want to be adding things ...
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Trying to improve and expand "professional" solar installation
Several years ago I contracted a local firm to install 56 solar panels on my roof. I know they used a licensed electrician and the utility company approved and installed my Net Meter but the system ...
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How can I tie a solar inverter in with my generator for use when grid power is lost?
I currently have a SMA Sunny Boy 6KW inverter for our solar system which is grid connected. I also have a 125 amp/50amp manual transfer switch to allow my 9KW propane generator to route limited power ...
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How can I convert Single Phase 220v to 2 Phase 120v?
I purchased a SMA Sunny Boy 5.0-US-41 Inverter and brought it to the Philippines. Many connections in Manila are 2 Phase 120v. I am in the province, where we have Single Phase 220v. I called SMA ...
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Upgrade 100A panel to use more solar [closed]
My question is: Is it reasonable to upgrade to a 200A main panel but with a 125A breaker?
Here is a draft of my thinking based on feedback so far:
Upgrade my main panel with 125A service over ...
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Like for Like Main Panel Replacement (PG&E)
I'm located in the bay area - PG&E territory.
I have a Federal Pacific panel that needs to be replaced but it is within 3 feet of gas line. My wires are underground so it'd require trenchwork and ...
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Lights flickering
I have a off grid solar system with 110-120v pure sine inverter. All my outlets work with power but GFCI blinks red every min or so and my all my LED lights flicker when on. I feel like I'm not ...
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Can I run a home run to the main breaker in an attached building with a subpanel?
I'm working with an installer on a solar system that can power essential loads when the grid is down, and this requires moving all essential load circuits (refrigerator, boiler/furnace, etc) to a new ...
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Most efficient heating system @ ~41° N
I'm researching building a home on a property I just bought. Water is plentiful but there is little or no chance of getting municipal services such as natural gas or electricity. However I have open ...
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Sharing solar energy
Solar installers have said that our flat-ish roof isn't going to work for panel installation. Our neighbor is building a new house that will have ample electricity generated by his panels. They are ...
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Solar "side tap" configuration
I am finalizing my configuration for a solar upgrade, and want to do a sanity check.
Jurisdiction: US, NY
The service is 200A, which routes to the meter and then to the main panel in the house. Off ...
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How can I run cable from a solar inverter to a cupboard room where my consumer unit is situated?
The cupboard room is not next to an external wall, about 5 metres into the house. The power to the house comes in through a conduit, quite large, more like a drainpipe, about 5 inches in diameter. ...
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Subpanel and grounding for solar shed to off-grid cabin
I am building a purpose-built shed that will support solar panels and contain all of the solar equipment such as charge controller, batteries, inverter etc. All of this is off-grid.
An A/C feeder ...
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Inverter switches to fault when sun emerges from cloud
My solar setup consists of 3x270 watt panels, a charge controller, a battery and an inverter. It has mostly worked fine for many years, but I've found that the inverter faults when the sun comes out ...
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Can water heaters receive hot water through the inlet pipe without malfunctioning?
I'm using solar powered water heater panels now, and I want to reuse my old gas heated water tank, as just a reservoir for accumulating hot water from solar without gas powering it (disconnected from ...
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How should I ground a shop and a house who both have 2 breaker boxes? One fed by the grid and the other a solar inverter
As the title states, I have a house and a shop both with 240 feeders coming from the grid.
I have solar panels and a solar inverter in the shop.
The solar inverter is powered by panels, a 48v ...
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How can I bypass the motion sensor on a Handy-Brite solar flood light?
I need to rewire a solar flood light so that when the switch is in the "on" position, the flood light remains on continuously being shut off at the switch. In the "off" position, ...
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Why would a wall outlet read 12 V AC at 3 kHz?
I have an exposed wire coming out of a wall, I believe the old owners of the house had a wine fridge or some other appliance installed in the space. I went to install an outlet on this wire and ...
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Second hand SolarEdge 10000H-US Grid tied inverter
My question is how I can safely test whether this inverter is functioning. It requires dc optimizers and I haven't purchased them yet but before I go too far purchasing compatible optimizers, I want ...
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Solar installer
I'm considering purchasing my own solar panels and installing myself and doing all the paperwork. I want to do it myself for the experience. The problem is that my HOA won't allow me to do the work ...
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Does a diverter valve based on temperature exist?
I want to install a solar water heater in my house in the future, so I've been thinking about how I could do it, something like this:
Cold water enters the solar heater, hot water comes out.
If it's ...
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Choosing a feeder cable from solar shed to off-grid cabin
I have questions regarding electrical feeder sizing for an off-grid solar system. I am building a purpose-built shed that will support the solar panels and house all of the equipment such as charge ...
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Solar? Lots of room for panels, so should I ditch oil? [closed]
First post for me. Long time reader.
I'm in south west Massachusetts.
I just bought a new two-story home. 9ft ceilings. With garage, it is about 2,600 sq ft plus 2,000 square feet of garage space (...
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Installing DIY Solar, I need help bringing the power into my home
I'm going to disconnect my home from the grid (I will not be grid tied). I plan to remove all 240v appliances. My question is would I still need a split inverter 120v/240v to run the whole house?
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When doing a line side tap, Can ground and neutral be tap before the main panel?
The picture shows what I’m asking.
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How do I make these Gama Sonic lanterns theft-proof?
Does anybody have a good idea on how to secure these solar lights? I've mounted these to some brick posts in front of my house and a few have been stolen.
The first time the thieves were able to ...
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Electrical design for large property
Need some help checking out what i'm doing and making sure everything sounds right and nothing fishy.
I have a large property with no service at the moment, I am working with the electric company to ...
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Need help buying the right sized off-grid solar system
I'm planning on using solar power to supply electricity to a 12x24' building. This building will be located near our main house, but will have no connections to the house, electrical or otherwise. It ...
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Solar Charge Controller and grounding the battery
I am just getting my feet wet, so I have one 100 watt panel and a 12v marine battery. I plan on running a small water pump to circulate water in a black hose to see if I can heat some water.
The ...
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Aligning pergola rafters to the sun?
I live near Denver, Colorado (so northern hemisphere, some good snow storms in the winter, lots of baking UV in the summer) in a 1970s-built home and I'm putting a pergola over a patio in my back yard....
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How many amps electrical panel
How many amps is my electrical panel and what size solar can I add?
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AC can only go one direction
I'm currently sending grid power from my house to a shed, and I'm now trying to send solar power from an inverter back to the house. I'm confused because the house can power the shed (120V AC ...
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"Non-Retail" House Battery
I need a ~3.5kw battery to power an emergency circuit if the power goes down. I've been quoted $13,000 to add an LG Chem 9kw to our existing system but that does not include the inverter upgrade. ...
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How to ground solar transfer switch
I am installing an off-grid solar system to power some external buildings, but I want an automatic transfer switch so that outlets will be grid powered when the solar batteries are low.
Can I run a ...
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Can I connect a normal 12 Volt 150AH C10 battery with a solar 12 volt 150AH C20 battery in series for my 24Volt solar system
I have an Exide invamaster 1500imst short tubeler normal battery of 12 volt, 150AH, C10. Now I want to connect this battery with a solar battery of 12 volt, 150AH, C20.
Can I connect this normal 12 ...
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Lights start flickering on Luminous inverter when I connect my Desktop CPU
I am using luminous solar nxg 1100 solar inverter. At my home, I have 4 fans, one tv, 10 led lights, 3 laptops and a desktop. All the equipments work fine when there is main supply. If there is no ...
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Charging a battery bank with Solar Cells
So essentially bought one of these "solar battery banks" for a weather station project i am working on.
Long story short the power output for the built in cell is awful.
Now the question is,...
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Solar electric home
I want to see if my house can go completely solar. It's a small house with 240v 100A of electricity so about 24kW. I'm still new to this whole solar panel subject, this is my first time utilizing it ...
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Battery bank in parallel/series or series/parallel
I'm trying to help some friends who live in a remote village in Africa to get the best out of their solar installation, and I'm trying to understand whether there's an optimal way of hooking up the ...
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How to identify electrical panel busbar rating
recently I got a bid from a solar company and they said I don't need to upgrade my eletrical box since it is rated at 125 amps, and for that value, I can install a 7k system based on calculation here ...
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Battery Backup for 240V (USA) Water Well
I have a well pump. I want to build out a battery backup (and, eventually, charge the batteries with solar and, more eventually, move to solar full time).
It's 1/2 horsepower on a 240v circuit. It's a ...
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Spacing between solar arrays
I'm considering a solar farm in my backyard so I'm doing my initial research. Found this video. Here's a still from that video:
What's the point of that 12' gap between the arrays? Seems like a waste ...
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Can I use hot water to transfer heat from a greenhouse into the house?
We have a vacation house that has a (south-southeast facing) greenhouse off of one of the bedrooms. On a sunny day in winter, the greenhouse can easily reach 80F or more. When we are there, we open ...
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Solar Battery Pack for outdoor lights
I recently bought a really old house and the light outside has not been working. I just found that there was a little solar battery charger laying on the floor of my front yard, broken to pieces. So I ...
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Solar system with both grid tie-in and backup power without battery? [duplicate]
My wife and I have been talking for a few years now about getting some solar panels installed on our roof. We even went so far as to have a sales rep for an installer come out and talk through our ...
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What kind of inverter do I need for an inductive load?
TLDR: My shed AC unit (maximum draw 8A 120V AC) keeps tripping my 1100W inverter. It seems to have troubles occasionally when the fan turns on. It's pretty much guaranteed to have troubles when the ...
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How to run Romex cable to Enphase Combiner box 3?
In designing in the solar panels, I've decided to run the wire inside of the house. So far, I am running 10/2 Romex from the attic all the way to the Enphase Combiner Box surface mounted on the ...
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suspending a 36x26 solar panel on a single 4x4x12 post (9' above ground 3 feet into the ground)?
I'd like to suspend a 36x26x1 aluminum solar panel 9 feet above ground on a SINGLE 12' 4x4 timber with some 2x4s at the top. I'm in central Florida.
Will it be too top heavy? wind issues?
it's a ...
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