Installation
Updated: 06/09/2008
There's been a lot of talk over the past few years about the
Harbor Freight solar panel kits. Are they for real? Do they work? Is this a
joke? Yes, yes (with a caveat) and no. The panel kits are bulky as far as panels
go. I have ours strapped together and have replaced the wires, updated the
charge controller and have tested them at the shack. Replacing the cheap ass
wiring on them with 12 gauge or better does the trick. Also, the brass connector
screws in the junction boxes come loose. That aside (and don't use the
"Charge controller" that comes with it. It's a distribution box. Get a
real charge controller.). You can see how to do the wiring and the
testing of the panels in this episode of This
Old Shack.
Having HF solar panel kit 12 volt
distribution box problems? See photos below.
Email me with questions.
The
installation of the panels has is done! I
installed them along the side of the cabin so they
get around 4 hours of sun a day. The panels at 90
watts will charge the battery bank from around 65
- 70% charge to over 90% over the course of the
solar day. Herre's the neat part. In the
afternoon, there's another 2 hours of sun. But the
panels face south. So, I have two reflectors that
reflect the sunlight for this time of day only
that boosts the output by 20% to within 30% of
direct sun output. For final topping off, We use our 2.4 kw generator. Our new
charging regimen will bring the bank from 70% charge to full in less than 3
hours.
System Highlights
Panels
installed facing south along one side of the
cabin. Run
from the panels is accomplished by running the
panel connectors to a Lowe's low voltage box and
then via 10 gauge wire to the charge controller. The
charge controller (a Xantrex C12) not only charges
the bank, it also has a 12 volt distribution box
on it. This feeds one of the Harbor Freight 12
volt distribution boxes that came with the panels. From
there, I can plug in 12 volt lights, fans and
appliances up to 25 amps. The
Inverter is wired to the bank, not through the
charge controller.
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System highlights:
Cooling and lighting:
For air circulation, I use 2 12
inch 12 volt fans. One fan at the east end of the
cabin is connected to a 12 volt AGM (20 ah)
battery through one of the Harbor Freight
distribution boxes that came with the solar
panels. Also connected is a 12 volt table lamp. At
the west end of the cabin, another 12 inch 12 volt
fan that runs off the battery bank is used with
yet another of the HF distribution boxes. Also
connected to this are 2 12 volt lights. Also used
are several compact fluorescent lights (60 watt
equiv.) when more lighting is needed.
Heating
For heating, we use a convection
heater by Kerosun. This produces 30,000 btu of
heat. The heater is surrounded by class A fire
retardant on two sides and runs in the utility
room that acts as a heat collector. The west fan
takes that heat and distributes it. On a 40 degree
day, 78 degrees is achieved inside. On a 30 degree
day, 68 degrees. For supplemental heat, a small
indoor rated propane heater is used (14,000 btu).
Household current
This
portion of the installation is not yet complete.
While most appliances are able
to be run off of 12 volts, some are not - it's
about 50-50. The output from the inverter runs to
a Square D QO breaker panel. One circuit feeds the
bedroom, one circuit feeds the living area and one
for the outside lights.
Communications
Now this part kicks butt. Of
course if I'm not going to pay the electric
company, I'm surely not going to pay the phone
company, so cell phones it is.
For years the only way to use
the cell phone was to stand on the pickup truck,
hang 2 strips of foil from your nose, and spin as
fast as you could. The connection would last for 2
seconds.
I've now installed a Wilson Cell
antenna, which gives full signal. So we now have
phone service.
We use a 52 element Channel
Master antenna and a Radio Shack 10 Db amplifier
for the Television, which is a small 12 inch unit.
This unit uses 10-20 watts when running.
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Photo of the panels just sitting in the yard. |
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The final installation spot for the panels. |
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My 12 volt ground. This is bonded to the Xantrex
C12 and the solar panels. |
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The Xantrex C12. Note the 2 1/2 inch conduit
connectors. |
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Assembly detail of the solar panel installation. |
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Guts of the "controller" that came with
the solar panels. I use this as a power
distribution box. Now, look at the connections
on the left. These are typically loose. You need
to tighten them. In the center of the box, there's
a small board. Check all those connections.
Typically, the output connectors (the headphone
jack things) are okay. |
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Circuit board in the controller. When the voltage
from the panels goes under 12 volts, the
"peeper" squeals 24/7. Use a small
caliber gun and shoot it. Many of these
connections are loose. Go through all the solder
connections and check them. I hit each one with a
soldering iron as soon as I get them. |
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This is the is the stupidest connection system
I've ever seen. These are the connectors you
need to check and tighten from the inside of the
box. |
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Details of the front of the controller. |
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