This morning, going through the email editions of American Solar Energy Society’s Solar@Work and  PV Magazine, I came across an article on things found wrong during inspections of photovoltaic power systems, both at home and commercial installations. You might want to take a look at the article and then take a look at your own system! https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2019/09/19/solar-power-installation-techniques-dont-do-this-w-pictures/ –Neal

Don’t Worry, We Can Fix This After Hurricane Katrina, solar power took off in New Orleans. Long nights without power left folks wanting a little more control of their situation and rooftop solar took off. How much of that was actually usable when the grid is down and how much was grid tie? I’m betting there was a lot of grid tie. Nothing wrong with that, especially if you get real net metering. Figure up […]

John called the other day for some solar chit chat. He asked if I was still using my solar air conditioning and I replied that I was. It was holding up well in the blistering heat. He said, “You should write a blog about it.” Well, gee John, don’t you read this stuff? There are 3 articles here in the tech blog, I think, about air conditioning with solar power, but maybe that isn’t obvious. […]

Don’t Try This at Home Did you hear about the solar panel fires on the roofs at various WalMarts?  Don’t let it happen to you! Little bits and pieces of this story have been coming out in the solar trade press for a few weeks, now.  What I have gathered from this is that the rooftop solar power systems at 7 WalMarts have caught fire.  The roofs were steel and the stores were not extensively […]

Survival Stories 460 years ago, a Spaniard named Tristan de Luna y Arellano sailed into Penscola bay to establish the first European settlement. A few weeks later, before they even had all the ships unloaded, Luna and his 1500 colonists discovered the hurricane. I can only imagine the shock and terror as these folks held on for dear life as their makeshift houses blew away. It got worse after the storm was over, because one […]

Condo Solar As promised, I am passing along John’s description of the emergency backup system he put in his condo, years ago. Battery backup, with solar and a generator. The power does not usually stay off very long in big cities, but it doesn’t have to go off at all! When I started Sun Electronics 35 years ago, I used my home office, it had been my Kyocera America East Coast and Latin America office. […]

If you are in the storm zone, we wish you all the best. If you have a backup power system that survived or can cobble something up, let us know what worked. If your system failed, let us know about that, too, so we can learn from it. I spoke with John Sunday night. The blogs have been getting an overhaul and he is having trouble making posts, so I thought I’d let you know […]

I was working on a new series of posts on the basics, but something has come up…a hurricane.  The projected trajectory has it going over Puerto Rico, where they’ve still got a lot of PTSD from the last one, then pass by John’s balcony in Miami and maybe come ashore somewhere between West Palm and Jacksonville.  I have a friend in St. Augustine who has had chest deep water in his living room twice in recent […]

So you’ve been thinking about solar power or battery backup and wondering, “Can I do it myself?”  Well, let’s stop for a moment if you really meant, “May I do it myself?”  Those are two different things and I’ll talk about both, separately, but I wanted to point out both considerations.  Without any more information, I’d say, “Maybe” to both.  Can you?  Let’s talk about the physical requirements.  I’m 65 years old, am 30 pounds […]

John and I have been talking about using solar power to survive in relative comfort after a storm.  In my efforts to mostly eliminate my old 24v solar power system I realized I was putting together what would make a good example for survival power.  Why did I not eliminate the 24v system completely?  My solar electric launch, Sun King, is in the Solar Shed and needs to be kept charged up in the dark […]

Archæologists have discovered that it is not just modern mankind that buries its dead with their feet to the east, it has been going on for a long time and in a lot of cultures.  They have also noticed that all of the bones in a particular ancient burial ground are buried in more of a loose version of east or sort of east, rather than on a true line.  The reason, they conclude, is […]

The purpose of this post is mostly to stimulate thought and open up some possibilities for you.  Many folks would find these ideas impractical or even impossible if you live in an apartment or have a strict homeowners association.  Wild stuff, but maybe there’s a mad scientist among you who could make it work.  If you know John Kimball, Sun Electronics’ fearless leader, he has been on a crusade for decades to bring affordable solar […]

What is a microinverter and why in the world would you want one?  The first answer is easy.  Whereas a regular grid-tie inverter takes the power from a bunch of panels and injects it into the powerline,  a single microinverter bolts onto the back of each panel.  The solar panel’s MC4 connectors plug into one side of the microinverter and a connection to the 240 ac power line plugs into the other side.  This makes […]

In my last post I talked about some seemingly off the wall, but doable, energy storage contrivances.  As for the compressed air storage, apparently some pretty clever people have already thought about this.  Follow this link to a pretty thorough  discussion of the subject. https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2018/05/ditch-the-batteries-off-the-grid-compressed-air-energy-storage.html. There are some pretty neat pages at Low Tech Magazine and No Tech Magazine. Speaking of energy storage and No Tech, how about storing energy with NO equipment?  This is […]

I wanted to show you a couple of examples of some really nice solar work I have seen lately. I’ve known Courtney for 60 years.  Back then Courtney was a guy name and, in his case, it still is.  Courtney has gone nuts for solar in the last few years and he is at it again.  In addition to our joint solar a/c schemes, he decided that his curved solar pergola grid-tie is not putting […]

I never thought I’d be happy about a tropical depression starting to spin up in the Gulf, but it has been really, miserably and mind-numbingly hot around here and the rains have helped in that department.  We’ve topped 100 degrees for days, usually hitting 103-105 after lunch.  It has been so hot that I have been wearing welding gloves to handle modules I am remounting.  Of course, inside the Solar Shed, it is even hotter […]

RTFM!!! That stands for Read The Fine Manual. There are variants on that acronym, depending on your vocabulary. That’s what we used to say when a customer wanted to know how to work something he bought from us, but was unwilling to read the instructions. This happens a lot with solar stuff, too. You may have products that can do more work for you, saving you from having to buy other gear. Wouldn’t you like […]

We surely do get spoiled by some of our modern comforts, don’t we? When I was a kid, we didn’t have air conditioning at the first 3 houses in which I lived, nor at school. Our first car with a/c was a ’65 Pontiac. Although I don’t crank the thermostat down low, I still like to have it to knock down the humidity and cool down on those muggy Florida afternoons. One of the goals […]

Bring a big truck when you visit and work safe when you get home.I write this stuff for fun and to be helpful. I’m not an employee of Sun Electronics, I’m a customer. In my role as customer, I set out the other afternoon for my third visit to Sun’s Miami headquarters and my first visit to the Miami Lakes facility. This place is a lot nicer than the Miami Gardens warehouse, though it lacks […]

In my last post I mentioned that I had gotten carried away at Sun Electronics’ Miami warehouse and had filled my trailer and truck to the point that I decided to leave some batteries behind. I shredded one tire at one A.M. and only had one spare, so maybe that was good that I didn’t try to overdo it. Will I have enough battery power to get by until my next trip to Miami? Probably, […]

How hard is solar power? Some folks are a little intimidated because they don’t know anything about it. John has asked me to put together a booklet for do-it-yourselfers and I think that is a good idea. It just requires a little more focus than writing down whatever pops into my head. Today, though, I am going to write down whatever pops into my head AND give you an idea of how simple solar can […]

The state has a pretty dismal record on solar promotion and subsidies. I didn’t even know there was a program until I read about it in a California magazine! The first couple of years, it appeared that most of the program’s budget was spent on office furniture and administration, leaving only a few slots for participants. Then the rules were a bit too burdensome to make it worth the bother, in my opinion. Maybe this […]

Once you get your first taste of solar power, you want more. You can always find ways to use it. Want 30% more? Back in the 70s and 80s, when solar modules cost a lot more in dollars and dollars were worth a lot more, equipment choices were far more limited and people were always trying to get more power from their solar panels. Makes sense. Naturally, if you point your solar panel dead-on at […]

Just a letter to John that somehow got posted here! I’m glad to hear you are back in the water. Sounds great. Somehow I didn’t get to the water all year. Now it is too cold to stay out on the boat overnight.I like pelicans, too, from a distance. It is funny how they almost always travel in squadrons. 8 or 10 of them will sit on a floating log or do a fly-by. Sometimes […]

When my grandfather came to this country over 100 years ago, he worked his way around the US and Canada learning English and looking for just the right spot to establish a farm. About 1920, or so, he found the right spot on the shore of Lake Okeechobee, in Palm Beach County, Florida. It was heaven for a Danish farmer, with a climate that allowed year-round crops. Solar power was already a big deal in […]

Going through my morning email newsletters, I came across a press release from a company called LONGi, announcing a new record of solar module output efficiency of 20.41 percent! The exclamation mark was theirs, because another tenth of a percent doesn’t get me all that excited. Last week some outfit announced their record output of over 40 percent. A close read of that announcement showed that their output was achieved with concentrating lenses. Concentrating lenses […]

I have been rambling about backup power and it is time to touch on the batteries and other topics. My advice on backup batteries is a little different than for solar systems. I advise that you get something that requires little or no maintenance. The reason for that is that you will probably lose interest in a system that just sits there doing nothing when the power company is doing there job, because the lights […]

Continuing on the subject of a backup power supply for your house, I want to discuss the inverters a little more. There are things to look for and things to watch out for! I have owned lots of inverters, ranging from 150 watts to 12,000 watts. Some were high end and some were junk. I have even built my own inverters like the 5548 that is on my 48v system and a 3648 for the […]

Coming out of last weekend, the network news guy told us how many HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of homes were without power in the wake of a big snowstorm, which included a lot of area where people were not accustomed to dealing with such. It looks like a little more of the same this weekend. Here on the coast, we have to deal with hurricanes knocking out power every few years, on average, but we aren’t […]

Remember when you were a kid and you always had to ask Mom or Dad permission before doing anything so you wouldn’t get your bottom smacked? Boy, you couldn’t wait to grow up so you could do anything you wanted to do! Then you grew up and found out you still had to ask permission to do things. Bummer. Building your own solar power system might well require you ask permission in the form of […]

For some months, the wife has been grudgingly patient about the Trace 2524 in the living room. Why was there an inverter in the living room? I’ve been engaged in a multi-year evolution in my power system, so lots of new stuff has been coming in and out of service. In our Southern climate we have humidity to spare and when you add temperature swings you get condensation. Stuff sweats, especially stuff containing heavy transformers. […]

After playing phone tag the other day, John and I were having a conversation about all things solar and my Solar Shed phase 3 performance. He asked how well the modules were performing as these are all recycled salvage panels in the form of roof tiles. I replied that they are doing well, having seen around 8kw with a 10kw nameplate rating. That concerned him and he seemed a little surprised when I made the […]

I looked for that article we were talking about, regarding fracturing cells for greater output. I found lots of articles on how fracturing can reduce output, but not the one for which I am looking. I did find a patent for manufacturing cracked cells to increase output. Patent for fracturing cells. Link Here are my observations on the subject. I test my panels with an ammeter instead of a voltmeter. A tiny section of a […]

I started taking old radios apart as a very young kid, began my career in electronics at 16, was a licensed broadcast engineer at 19. That led to computers and all kinds of electronic gimcrack design. Having been making sparks for so many years it is easy to forget that some of the basic stuff might seem scary or mystical to folks just getting started. Today, let’s look at a couple of very basic and […]

The other day we talked about series and parallel connections of batteries. You know, getting 24 volts using four 6 volt batteries in SERIES and getting lots of amps at 24 volts by using 2 of those 24 volt strings (8 batteries total) in parallel. What about connecting your solar modules? Yes, it applies there, too. These roof tiles John is giving away, put out about 4 volts under load, so you use 3 of […]

Can you get too much solar power? Spend too much time on Pensacola Beach and you’ll think so, and have a red face to remind you. But, no, I am talking about photovoltaic power. In the case of grid tie, it has gotten to the point in some places that they are having to add battery storage systems to balance things out. The lack of battery saw the advent of the “duck curve” in utility […]

I want to talk about the Solar Lifestyle and what that means. Elsewhere, I have given links to the Home Power Magazine Archive. That is a treasure trove of information and each issue is a time capsule of where the state of things was at that time. Early on, solar panels were small and expensive. I have paid up to $11/watt for solar panels and I was not exactly a pioneer. Early adopters would have […]

Utility power began with a fight between AC and DC systems. Thomas Edison promoted DC distribution. His ex-employee Nikola Tesla, the real Tesla, came up with the AC system for George Westinghouse. Both sides advertised how dangerous the other way was! What a way to promote a new industry! Power stations were not the huge plants of today. They’d be tucked into a building on a corner and lines would run out a few blocks […]

Stan-the-Hermit called Friday, needing some bits and pieces to finally get his 24v solar power system running. He’s had his panels for well over a year, having accompanied me on my final run to John’s old Miami Gardens warehouse. They’ve been mounted for months. He left my place happy with an armload of switches, breakers, fuses and solar wire. If I had more friends like Stan I could open a solar hardware store. I expected […]

I like wristwatches, especially ones with classic art deco styling. I quit wearing them when I had my hands in commercial radio transmitters a lot. Other people got away from wristwatches for a while, having their phone has an accurate timekeeper, but watches are making a comeback. They are becoming quite the investment, too. If you have a Patek Phillipe Grand Complications Celestial model, you probably have your people work on your solar system. I […]

I figure anybody who has built a solar power system has good reason to take pride in their work. I know I am proud of mine, but now I am a little dismayed. My system is just a solar-roofed shed. It is practical and it works, which is fine, but now I have seen that others with a little more room and a bigger budget are also having fun with their systems. I am jealous.For […]

Is that a smile or did I just put my elbow down on a hot PV module? I’m catching some rays through the sliding module hatch of my solar expedition launch, Sun King. This is at New Orleans, home of the weirdest lock and drawbridge combination I have ever seen. 1620 watts of “B” panels on the boat. Are you afraid of “B” panels? I’m not. I put six of them on my solar-powered expedition […]

If you spend much time around boats you know that you can’t just flush overboard. The holding tank has to be pumped out on occasion. Now there is a solar-powered roving pump station. http://www.solardaily.com/reports/The_worlds_first_solar_electric_sewage_pump_out_boat_is_powered_by_Torqeedo__999.html In my opinion, they got this wrong. There is way too much motor on this thing, probably because it was set up by the motor maker. Or maybe they can actually get that rig up on a plane, for speedy service. […]

Over the weekend we really went to extremes to show just how tough solar panels can be. Today we’ll tell you the results. We started with a Suntech STP280 that had been hit by a tractor. The frame was bent, wires were ripped loose, glass was shattered and many of the internal cells were broken. Short circuit current of a shiny new panel should be around 8 amps. Open circuit voltage should be 44V. In […]

You know those little solar sidewalk lights? You can put them outside during the day and bring them in at night. I wouldn’t read by one, but you can find your way around the house with it and it is safer than a candle. Most of these have a AA or AAA battery in them, either NiMH or NiCd. You can put regular alkaline AA or AAA batteries in them if you want them to […]

Elsewhere in the blog page is a post about battery safety. I have a couple of battery photos to illustrate what I was talking about the other day, easily making battery polarity easier to see.  The old 24v battery strings have decent cables, grease to seal out corrosion, but they are a bit dirty and it is hard to see the polarity, should I need to reconnect anything.  You can see where I marked the 2 […]

John’s right, the quest for attractive and practical rooftop solar with these tiles was a flop.  Some of it was design flaw and some of it was improper installation.  I hope Mr. Elon Musk, who is marketing solar roofs, has investigated this matter lest his quest should fail as well.  Stan-the-Hermit poses with 10 conventional panels for his cabin power upgrade and 300 roof tiles at the old Miami Gardens store.  I know about the […]

It’s a beautiful, cool sunny day here in NW Florida and you’re right, John, you can knock a hole in a solar panel and it’ll still work.  Just don’t try it with a hammer, because there is a tough plastic layer under that glass and another on the backside.  You need to be forceful to get a hole. I started with a Suntech STP280 that got hit with a tractor.  Yup, that’s a busted one!  The […]

Hi John, John, you live in a glass tower, but out in the neighborhoods you can hear the generators buzzing after a hurricane has taken out the lights.  200 watts for the fridge and 50 watts for a ceiling fan and they’ve got those darn 3500 watt generators blasting away at 3600rpm.  Dumb.  Well, maybe not dumb, they just don’t know any better.  At my house, the ceiling fans have a slight buzz from the inverter […]