Solar Panels

I am not a huge fan of solar as the BTUs required to mine and manufacture the panels are not broken even until about 15-25 years of use.  But it does have a few good applications.  I saw a kit on Indigogo for a permission free system.  This setup uses a real time meter on your main power lines and will trickle in a little bit less than you are using thus nothing ever goes out onto the grid.  It has a huge 24V lithium battery to store excess power so it can trickle AC power back to the circuit 24hrs a day.

The videos from Legion Solar make it look easy but it is MUCH more involved.  I needed to run a dedicated circuit to the shop to plug it in.  I needed to make a water tight cable run through the roof to run the AC and DC wires.  I added a few extra safety switches so it can easily and safely be disconnected from the house.  The main problem now is the meter needs to be within 30 feet of the panels for radio communication.  I need to run some new antenna extensions.

This is the tricky part. You need to put the magnetic meters on the main power lines coming into the house. These wires are hot and will kill you.  You can do this on the roof or in the box. You also need an AC outlet nearby and some weather protection so I stuffed it all in a plastic tool box.
You also need a dedicated circuit to the panels. I tried unsuccessfully to fish new wires through existing conduit so ran my own flexible conduit to the workshop.
The PVC at the top is what goes through the roof. The AC is plugged into the new AC circuit (I didnt hardware it but may do so in future) The DC wires snake around to the left and go to the battery in the workshop.
Here is the battery. 42 pounds of lithium. I put some high current switches to quickly disconnect if needed. I will add an AC inverter next to run free power. I might add a bitcoin mining station here.
The racking system is pretty slick. Lightweight aluminum with flashing. Went together faster than expected.
This is what 300 Watts looks like. I have room for another 300W if it makes sense.
How will I know if it is working? Adult onset of OCD has prompted me to graph power usage in this house. Hopefully I will see an improvement here which will justify 2 or more panels.