How about a solar car port on a budget?

[Crossy]

 

Meanwhile, the car port made 760.19 kWh in November.

This vs our consumption from PEA of 259.7 kWh over the same period.

Madam is happy ???? 

 

[BritManToo]

35 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Meanwhile, the car port made 760.19 kWh in November.

This vs our consumption from PEA of 259.7 kWh over the same period.

Madam is happy ???? 

Bad month for me due to rain, my 5 panels only made 118 units.

Leaving us with a bill for 200 units from the PEA, about 800bht.

[Crossy]

I have to apply the brakes a bit so that we don't over-produce (I'm going to automate it one day).

 

On Monday our PEA consumption ended up as -11kWh

[007 RED]

 

My 4 panel system has now been running on our car port roof for just over a month and has managed to produce 157kWh during November, despite rain and clouds most days during the month.   Nice to see the disc going clockwise occasionally, so I'm happy with this and looking forward to seeing a reduction in our bill on or about the 16th.

 

[Crossy]

The December numbers are in, 785kWh from solar vs usage of 349.8kWh from PEA.

 

More sunshine please!

 

[BritManToo]

My 5 panels produced 141 units, and I bought another 172 in December.

I'd buy another 2 panels if the price hadn't gone up so much.

[Crossy]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My 5 panels produced 141 units, and I bought another 172 in December.

I'd buy another 2 panels if the price hadn't gone up so much.

 

Yeah, it was pure luck I got my extra dozen panels just before that price hike.

[Crossy]

A little early morning maintenance. Dew on the panels pre-softened the dirt, helped off with the hose and pool brush.

 

[KhunLA]

9 minutes ago, Crossy said:

A little early morning maintenance.

 

I think you need more roof ... ????

[Crossy]

7 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I think you need more roof ... ????

 

There's room for another 6 panels close to the camera, but they would be shaded later in the day and with the current high prices it's not worth adding them. Maybe next year ???? 

 

The smaller (150W) panel bottom right is for 4 x 10W floodlights on the back of the house.

[dinga]

On 12/1/2021 at 2:13 PM, 007 RED said:

 

My 4 panel system has now been running on our car port roof for just over a month and has managed to produce 157kWh during November, despite rain and clouds most days during the month.   Nice to see the disc going clockwise occasionally, so I'm happy with this and looking forward to seeing a reduction in our bill on or about the 16th.

 

G'day Red  -  very interesting indeed.  Appreciate details of:

*  what is the output/wattage of each panel?

*  what was the total cost for your system - and the individual costs for (a) each of the solar panels; (b) each inverter (how many and what size each); (c) sundries?

*  was it a DIY job or did you have it installed?  If the latter, what was the cost?

*  did you buy the major items locally, or via the likes of Lazada?

*  where are you located

 

Thanks!

[007 RED]

16 hours ago, dinga said:

G'day Red  -  very interesting indeed.  Appreciate details of:

*  what is the output/wattage of each panel?

*  what was the total cost for your system - and the individual costs for (a) each of the solar panels; (b) each inverter (how many and what size each); (c) sundries?

*  was it a DIY job or did you have it installed?  If the latter, what was the cost?

*  did you buy the major items locally, or via the likes of Lazada?

*  where are you located

 

Thanks!

No problem....  My small scale solar system was a DIY job from beginning to end, with a lot of support from various forum members.

 

Location:  Approximately 25K west of Bangkok.

 

Panels = 4 off x Sunpal 415W mono half-cut panels.  Cost at time of purchase was 4K THB each (inc delivery), but better half managed to negotiate a discount which brought price down to 3.8K THB each.  Purchased from local shop.  FYI... according to recent reports on this forum the cost of solar panels has gone up quite considerably for some unknown reason.

 

Inverter = 1 off x Sofar 2200TL-G3 (Note: this is a GTI).  Cost 10K THB (inc delivery).  Purchased online directly with shop who included a CT (FOC) as it's not supplied with the inverter.

 

Mounting brackets:  20 off, 1.2mm thick stainless steel made by local 'tinsmith' from off cuts @ 50 THB each.

 

Ancillaries:  Isolator boxes (appropriate circuit breaker + surge arrestor), cable, MC4 plugs all ordered online via Shoppe.

 

Total cost = approximately 28K THB.

 

Based upon the past 3 months, the system is producing approximately 7 units per day and is achieving my original 'goal' of reducing my electricity bill by 75%.  All being well at this rate it should 'pay back' in about 3 years.

 

Hope this helps.

[dinga]

5 hours ago, 007 RED said:

No problem....  My small scale solar system was a DIY job from beginning to end, with a lot of support from various forum members.

 

Location:  Approximately 25K west of Bangkok.

 

Panels = 4 off x Sunpal 415W mono half-cut panels.  Cost at time of purchase was 4K THB each (inc delivery), but better half managed to negotiate a discount which brought price down to 3.8K THB each.  Purchased from local shop.  FYI... according to recent reports on this forum the cost of solar panels has gone up quite considerably for some unknown reason.

 

Inverter = 1 off x Sofar 2200TL-G3 (Note: this is a GTI).  Cost 10K THB (inc delivery).  Purchased online directly with shop who included a CT (FOC) as it's not supplied with the inverter.

 

Mounting brackets:  20 off, 1.2mm thick stainless steel made by local 'tinsmith' from off cuts @ 50 THB each.

 

Ancillaries:  Isolator boxes (appropriate circuit breaker + surge arrestor), cable, MC4 plugs all ordered online via Shoppe.

 

Total cost = approximately 28K THB.

 

Based upon the past 3 months, the system is producing approximately 7 units per day and is achieving my original 'goal' of reducing my electricity bill by 75%.  All being well at this rate it should 'pay back' in about 3 years.

 

Hope this helps.

Great - thanks RED - certainly does help.  My aims are likewise modest - a similar setup will be the go for me.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

[007 RED]

A couple of members have in the past asked how did I mount the panels onto the car port roof or how did I get them up there.  So here's my design and how I got the panels onto the roof.

 

 

Panel Mounting

 

There is a wide range of solar panel mounting hardware available.  Most of these are made of anodised aluminium which helps to reduce weight and also prevents oxidisation between the panel’s frame and the mounts.  However, these can be very expensive and may not necessarily suit your particular roof structure.

 

In @Crossy original thread it will be seen that he opted for using rectangular steel tubing of various sizes to mount his panels onto his car port roof.  I considered doing the same, as it appeared a relatively cheap solution.  Unfortunately, I do not possess a large metal disc cutting machine or a pedestal drill and purchasing these for a one off use would make this mounting solution almost as expensive as the commercial aluminium mounts.

 

An alternative would be to find a local metal workshop, provide them with a simple drawing of what was need and get them to price it for me.  I was surprised at what they were going to charge, only marginally cheaper than purchasing the steel tube, metal disc cutter and pedestal drill and doing the job myself.

 

After some deliberation, I came up with the idea of a simple bridge structure, made from stainless steel (won’t rust or need painting).  Having recently had a number of custom-built stainless steel cabinets and work surfaces made by a local tinsmith for my good lady’s bakery room, which were very good quality and very reasonably priced, I decided to approach them for a price.

 

I gave the tinsmith a rough cardboard mock-up and asked him to give me a price for 20 brackets, made from 1.2mm thick stainless steel.  I was amazed when he came back and said 50 THB per bracket.  I asked him why so cheap?  He replied that I was a good customer (I assume referring to the cupboards/work surfaces I’d had made by him) and that he could make them from what were the leftovers from a previous job.  So, the cost was just for his time.

 

 

I decided on 20 brackets which would give me 2 brackets at the top and bottom of each panel, plus 4 brackets that would be mounted mid panel to give extra support.  Note: Only the brackets for the bottom of the panels had the 'stop/fixing' right angle plate, all the other bracket were just 'plain' bridges.

 

 

Once the panels and the GTI have been mounted, it will be necessary to run cabling from the solar panel array on the car port roof down to the DC ‘Isolation Box’ which will be located underneath the car port roof.  So having fixed the solar panel mounting brackets in place, it seemed sensible, at this stage, to provide a suitable means of passing the solar panel cables through the roof.

 

I could have chosen to run the panel feed cables down the slope of the roof, under the rain gutter and along one of the roof structure frames to the inverter mounting location.  However, in order to keep the length of cabling to a minimum, I decided that the most direct route was to drill 2 holes through the car port roof under where the first solar panel will be, and directly above where the DC ‘Isolation Box’ will be mounted.  The holes were just large enough to insert cable mounts, which were then held in place with araldite.

 

 

Mounting the Solar Panels

 

This task turned out to be my biggest headache of the project.  The solar panels weigh 22kg each and they needed to be lifted up onto the roof, the lowest point being some 3 meters above the ground.  This was definitely not going to be a one man job.

 

I spoke to one of my neighbours who was happy to gather a ‘muscle team’ together to assist me.  Unfortunately, every time we arranged for the ‘big lift’ it was either pouring down with rain, or had been just earlier, thus making the roof very wet and slippery.  As a result, I had to call the ‘lift’ off several times as I didn’t want anyone ‘surfing down’ the roof onto the floor below (‘Eddy the Eagle Edwards’ came to mind), and then ending up having to pick up an expensive hospital bill.

 

As luck would have it, early one morning (6am to be precise) a very large crane arrived outside our house.  Our neighbour opposite was having a new house built and the crane had been hired by the contractor to lift large precast floor slabs up to the second floor.  Normally the contractor’s workers don’t arrive on site until 8am.

 

Being the cheeky old <deleted> that I am, I approached the driver and asked if he could possibly lift my solar panels onto the car port roof (for a small consideration, of course).  No problem, within a few minutes he had the crane legs out, the boom extended and had placed webbing straps out on our driveway.  We then placed a panel (glass face uppermost) onto the straps, which were then attached to the crane hook.  His assistant and I went up onto the carport roof (thankfully it was dry) and the driver expertly lift the panel over the PEA cables and placed the panel onto the mounting bracket with absolute precision.  The lifting process was repeated for the other panels and within about 20 minutes all the panels were located onto their mounting brackets.  Well worth the 500THB that it cost me.

 

 

 

Having positioned the solar panels onto the mounting brackets the next task (before breakfast I might add) was to securely fix the panels to the mounting brackets.  For this I used self-tapping screws and small right angle stainless steel brackets for the top and sides of the panels.

 

 

FYI.... The mounting brackets are bolted down into the metal structure of the car port roof.  I coated the underside of each bracket with silicon in order to prevent any water passing through the holes and dripping down onto the Isolator boxes, GTI, or our car below.

 

Hope this helps give others some ideas of what can be done.

[Crossy]

@dinga you also need to determine what type of meter you have (can it go backwards) because that will determine if you need local storage for excess power (=$$$).

 

EDIT I'm assuming here that you don't want to go with the feed-in system.

[Muhendis]

28 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

provide a suitable means of passing the solar panel cables through the roof.

Those cable glands look like the plastic variety to me.

I recently spent half a day replacing all mine (24 ☹️) with plated brass ones because the plastic disintegrates over the course a few years, even in the shade.

[Crossy]

39 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Those cable glands look like the plastic variety to me.

I recently spent half a day replacing all mine (24 ☹️) with plated brass ones because the plastic disintegrates over the course a few years, even in the shade.

 

Painting them with acrylic paint can stretch their life somewhat but brass ones are indeed the way to go.

[007 RED]

42 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Those cable glands look like the plastic variety to me.

I recently spent half a day replacing all mine (24 ☹️) with plated brass ones because the plastic disintegrates over the course a few years, even in the shade.

Yep, they're the plastic variety.  They're mounted on the slope of the roof tile and 'buried' under the panel, so they should not get any water on them or any direct sunlight which will obviously cause them to degrade.

 

Thanks for the head's up, I'll put them on my 2-do-list and keep a regular eye on them. 

[MJCM]

3 hours ago, Muhendis said:

Those cable glands look like the plastic variety to me.

I recently spent half a day replacing all mine (24 ☹️) with plated brass ones because the plastic disintegrates over the course a few years, even in the shade.

Pictures please??

[Muhendis]

13 hours ago, MJCM said:

Pictures please??

I'm guessing you would like to see a picture of the knackered plastic glands. Unfortunately they were all discarded about three months ago after the job was done.

[Crossy]

5 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

I'm guessing you would like to see a picture of the knackered plastic glands. Unfortunately they were all discarded about three months ago after the job was done.

 

U got piccies of the nice brass ones?? Source?

 

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

 

U got piccies of the nice brass ones?? Source?

 

Here you are. Hope it's enjoyable. The size I used is PG9 good for cables 4 - 8mm dia.

Got them from our local electronics shop in Buriram. The lady owner got them on special order for me and sold them for marginally more than the internet price less postage so it actually worked out cheaper.

You should be able to find them on Shopee et al.

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, Muhendis said:

Here you are. Hope it's enjoyable.

 

Very sexy they are too  

 

I'm afraid I cheated by running the cables round the edge of our car-port roof.

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

I cheated by running the cables round the edge of our car-port roof

Since when has that been cheating. TiT

 

Bearing in mind a bit of vibrational chafing from wind and earthquakes it should be ok.

 

Mine are feeding the cables through the side of the IP68 (I think) steel boxes of the combiners.

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Very sexy they are too  

Does your wife know about this fetish?

[Muhendis]

3 hours ago, Muhendis said:

The size I used is PG9 good for cables 4 - 8mm dia.

Otherwise known as M16.

3 hours ago, Muhendis said:

You should be able to find them on Shopee et al.

Aliexpress; https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20220118215137&SearchText=M16+cable+glands

[Crossy]

20 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Does your wife know about this fetish?

 

She watches a slot on the TV entitled "Rubber World" most mornings

 

Of course it is on the Farm Channel and deals with growing rubber ???? 

[MJCM]

4 hours ago, Muhendis said:

I'm guessing you would like to see a picture of the knackered plastic glands. Unfortunately they were all discarded about three months ago after the job was done.

555555 No the Brass ones. But I already see you posted them ????

[Crossy]

Meawhile we just got our first sub-1,000 Baht (963.33 Baht) PEA bill ever  

 

Thanks to Mr Blue Sky we generated 934kWh from solar and used 238kWh from PEA during the December/January billing period.

 

 

[Crossy]

January numbers - 973.94 kWh from the solar.

 

We didn't quite make it to 1MWh ???? But that's still 4,090 Baht I didn't pay to PEA ????