For this week, since we have built the two battery 50Volt drawers, we decided to get on with installing the second string of Solar Panels, up on the P section of the Roof, which faces the Sun during the morning hours. We didn’t start until Wednesday, removing and cutting the slates for each metal bracket position and proceeded to mount eight brackets for the first row of two Solar Panels, then another eight brackets for the next two Solar Panels and then finally ten brackets for the third row of three Solar Panels, situated up near the top of the sloping roof.
We used lengths of timber screwed to a completed line of brackets, to afford us some safe footing as we worked our way up the roof.
P-All-Brackets-
We also cut the aluminium bars into three completed sets, two approximately 3900mm long and the third set 5500mm and then painted the various parts which will be exposed, in a black colour, to blend with the dark slates.
Then on Saturday, we took up our newly painted aluminium bars and started at the top row, mounting the horizontal bars across their five brackets and then brought up three Solar Panels and clamped them down to the bars, connecting up the wires etc. We did a quick electrical test by connecting the trailing cable to the third panel and went indoors to our Utility Cupboard to measure 118Volts coming out the other end which is very good. We then, after lunch, repeated the same process for the second row, this time, two Solar panels, and then finally the third bottom row with two more Solar Panels, doing the same electrical test for each row completed and all was just fine.
P-Solar-Panels-installed
It was a very hot day in full sunshine and hardly any wind to cool us down! Phew! But we now have seven more Solar Panels installed and connected to our Solis Inverter box, generating another 2.8kWatts maximum during the earlier hours of the day.
The final task of the day was to disassemble our working platform that helped us get on and off the roof, the two platform modules had their legs unscrewed and stored back in the Swimming Lane for another occasion and the two flat tops were also stored in the lane too. We now have a cleared path all the way around the house. Lovely!
Update: Sunday was a lovely day and after a cloudy start the rest of the day was almost perfect. The P roof started generating a usefull amount of power at 8am and by 9 was going strong. It peaked @ 2.68kW (96% of Max) about 11am. The Total output peaked at 1pm @ 4.86kW and the combined system generated more than 28kW hours of energy. This is enough to charge the battery by over 18kWh.