230 and 235 watt SHARP panels - ONLY $1.26 per watt !!
Total price each - $289.80 and $296.10 (plus tax and shipping, if applicable)
Minimum Order - 6 panels
GLOBAL SOLAR
IS AN AUTHORIZED DEALER
FOR
SHARP SOLAR PANELS
(manufactured in Ontario Canada)
CALL 705-286-3039 or email to order - WHILE QUANTITIES LAST
1. All of the brand new equipment supplied by GLOBAL SOLAR is arguably the very best quality equipment on the market – Surrette batteries, Outback and Midnite charge controllers, Magnum inverters, etc. among them.
2. And GLOBAL SOLAR prices are at or among the very lowest you will find anywhere.
3. The system designed below for a customer is only a portion of how much effort is made for every customer to ensure solutions are found for each need. A lot of information specific to the customer has been deleted for publishing, but what remains below should be useful for anyone who is considering having a solar powered system.
4. We have been designing a wide variety of systems for people with various needs now – every situation is a little different. But let's think through a small typical off-grid system in order of production from DC input to AC output. This example will demonstrate some of the products and how we try to help our customers by explaining how everything works.
MAJOR COMPONENTS:
a. Solar panels (PV modules)
b. DC cabling between solar panels and combiner box
c. Combiner box
d. Charge Controller
e. Batteries
f. Battery cables
g. Inverter/Battery Cables
h. Main Disconnect Breaker Switch
i. Inverter
MISCELLANEOUS:
a. Circuit Breakers: 15 amp DC for each string; 75 amp DC input to Charge Controller; 100 amp DC output from Charge Controller; 175 amp DC – 125 VDC Disconnect Breaker/Switch between battery bank and inverter
b. Lightning Arrestors (three recommended on household system. Two recommended usually – one on DC side of inverter and one on AC side of inverter).
c. Automatic Generator Start Switch
d. lots of other devices that won’t be detailed, such as BMK (battery monitoring kit, inverter remote control, etc.
e. Shipping and taxes
5. MAJOR COMPONENTS - SYSTEM DESIGN - BACKGROUND:
a. The larger the battery bank is, the better. And the larger the solar panel array is, the faster you can re-charge your batteries. The number of possibilities is infinite. So, let’s create a sample system
b. The first thing you need to do is to determine how much power you plan to consume per day. Let’s assume, for an example, that you would need 15 amps per hour steady for 10 hours per day. That’s 150 amp hours (Ah) per day, at most.
c. Let’s assume that you might have three full days of bad weather – little to no sunlight. Therefore, you would need a reserve of 150 amp hours (Ah) for the second and third days, without recharging your batteries.
d. Deep Cycle solar batteries can operate down to 50% capacity before needing to be recharged. This is worst case. Therefore, you need 3 x 150 Ah = 450 Ah to use over the three-day period and 450 Ah remaining in the batteries – a total of 900 Ah in your battery bank. Surrette/Rolls Deep Cycle Solar Batteries are industry standard batteries. Let’s look at Surrette S-600 batteries for this example (450 Ah batteries at the 20 hr discharge rate). Two strings of them in parallel would satisfy the 2 x 450 Ah = 900 Ah system design requirement.
e. Higher voltage systems are more efficient. Therefore, I would recommend a 48 volt system rather than a 24V or 12V system. The S-600 batteries are 6V batteries, so you would need 8 of them in series to build a 48 volt battery bank, and a second string of 8 of them to provide the 450 Ah + 450 Ah = 900 Ah bank. 16 batteries in total.
f. These batteries weigh 131 lbs, each – powerful, and yet manageable by one man. Therefore, the bank would weigh 2096 lbs total.
6. Solar Panels (PV Modules):
a. SHARP has been the second largest manufacturer of solar panels in the world (- the Japanese company that makes flat screen tvs and many other electronic devices). Although they are closing U.S. factories, they continue to manufacture in Canada and in some other countries. They have decades of quality solar panel production – industry standard. So, the quality for the price right now is probably the best it has ever been. Let’s work with their 235-watt panels manufactured here in Ontario – the SH-235-ON Solar Modules
b. Each panel produces 37.2 Voc (open circuit voltage) and 8.59 amps (Isc - short circuit current). In a 48 volt system, you would need a string of three panels in series – so the string voltage would be 3 x 37.2 volts = 111.6 volts (Voc) and the string current would remain at 8.59 amps Isc, and 7.81 amps (maximum power current)
c. If you select an Outback FM80 MPPT charge controller, then you could build a solar array as large as 80 amps x 48 volts = 3840 watts (15 panels divided into strings of three per string = 3525 watts
d. As mentioned, the panels produce 37.2 volts each (Voc). So the 3 x 37.2 volts = 111.6 volts per string - which is well under the 150 volt limit of the charge controller. The charge controller is an MPPT controller, which means that it is capable of stepping down that voltage to properly charge your 48 volt battery bank system. And this configuration (having 3 panels in series rather than 2 – which you might otherwise intuitively expect to use instead) actually allows headroom for system losses and for lower array production during shading conditions. (So, the array produces for a longer period of time and isn't as likely to drop below the 48 volt threshold.
e. SHARP SH-235-ON Solar Modules for the solar panel array.
7. DC Cabling and Mounting Systems:
a. These panels are: 39.1” wide x 64.6” long x 1.8” thick. There are many racking suppliers – roof mount, yard rack, pole mount - but mounting systems are very expensive – and almost all of them are just angle aluminum or channel aluminum or tube aluminum. So, if you are good with using a chop saw and drill, you might want to build your own racks. If you decide to buy commercially, one of the best racking systems that I have seen (which provides full support along both sides of each solar panel) is manufactured by Flexrack. You would find their two minute video of a roof mount installation well worth the time to view: http://www.solarflexrack.com/products-roof-mount.htm
b. I also have pole mount tracking systems, if that type of system is preferable to you. They are typically very expensive, but I have a great supplier in the U.S.A. and can get them at a reasonable price for you. Let’s move on with the cabling, for now
c. Each panel comes manufactured with a positive (+ ve) and negative (- ve) cable protruding 43.3” out of a weather sealed junction box. These cables have the newest MC4 (multi-contact solar connectors) on the ends – a male (+ ve) and a female (- ve). Each string of panels would be electrically joined into a string circuit (with a 15 amp DC circuit breaker). Prefabricated MC4 (multi contact) solar cabling comes in 30 foot, 50 foot and 100 foot lengths – with a male connector on one end and a female on the other. You can consider these to be like extension cables for the cables that come on the panels.
1) So, the MC4 cables on each panel are 43.3” long. You would connect them in series with each other in each string of three panels, leaving a female (- ve) MC4 connector available on the end of each string, and a male (+ ve) MC4 connector on the other end of each string
2) Each string would then be connected in parallel to the MNPV6 (Midnite combiner box). With five strings of panels, you would be using 5 of the 6 combiner box circuits. For this, you would be receiving a combination of 50’ multi-contact (MC4) solar module cables and 30’ cables (or other length combinations depending on how you want to run your wires from the array to your panel) – each with a male connector on one end and a female on the other. If you cut each cable in half then you would have 25’ and 15’ cables to connect the ends of each string to your combiner box (finished MC4 connector ends attached to the two available panel cables on each string, and bare/cut ends connect in the combiner box that is itself mounted on your electrical panel backboard/plywood). Depending on where you place your strings in relation to the combiner box, you may want to cut the cables at 60/40 lengths rather than at 50/50 lengths male/female (or whatever length combinations you determine – because even the ends of each string won’t likely be the same distance to the combiner box on the electrical panel board). No extra cabling is supplied, so you may want to run a rope from the farthest end of each string to your combiner box to ensure you have enough cable length for each string, before cutting the cables.
8. Combiner Box:
a. The combiner box is the junction for all of the DC cabling from the array – and it houses the 15 amp DC circuit breakers for each string. (Photo shows a 3 string MNPV3. You would have an MNPV6 for the 5 strings.)
9. Charge Controller:
a. The charge controller ‘controls the charge’ from your solar array to your battery bank – protecting your batteries from overcharging and protecting your array from reverse current flow
b. A company called Xantrex has produced top quality solar equipment for many years (and still does under the name of Schneider). Some of their technicians quit and opened their own companies - Outback and Magnum (now leading solar manufacturing companies). MPPT technology is cutting edge in the solar industry, automatically stepping down the solar array voltage to the proper battery bank voltage, as mentioned
c. I would recommend the Outback FM 80 MPPT charge controller for you (an 80 amp charge controller)
d. As mentioned, on a 48 volt system, the FM80 can support a solar array up to 80 amps x 48 volts = 3840 watts. Your array would be 3525 watts, as designed in this proposed example.
10. Batteries:
a. Batteries are the heart of your system, and – as mentioned – a larger bank is preferable. Like a bank account, the state of your battery bank determines how much energy you can ‘spend’. (And the size of your solar array is your ‘income’ - determining how quickly you replenish the account.
b. A generator is still required as a backup for the system – to charge the battery bank when needed during really heavy system use and/or during a series of bad weather days – but it is not the main source of energy
c. As described above, in the ‘system design – background’ section, this example system for you would have a bank of sixteen x six volt batteries (in two parallel strings of 8) that supply 2 x 450 Ah at the 20 hr discharge rate. The Surrette S-600 is probably ideal
d. Other Surrette battery options can be selected here: http://rollsbattery.com/public/battery_selector/
11. Battery Cables:
a. To connect the sixteen batteries together in two parallel strings of eight batteries that are connect in series, you would need 14 x 16” battery cables (These would be 2/0 cables with finished lugs, for a 48 volt system, or 4/0 cables for a 24 volt system).
12. Inverter/Battery Cables:
a. You would need a pair of 10’ finished inverter/battery cables (2/0) to connect the (+ve) ends of each parallel battery bank string and the (–ve) end of each battery bank to the Main Disconnect/Breaker Switch box (between the battery bank and the inverter)
b. You would need a pair of 2’ finished inverter/battery cables (2/0) to connect the Main Disconnect/Breaker Switch to the inverter - $75 retail for the pair.
13. Main Disconnect/Breaker Switch
a. Fully pre-wired and pre-assembled E-Panels would form the ultimate system control center and includes main breaker functions, but for this small system I recommend the 175 amp DC Midnite Disconnect Breaker switch - MNDC175 Disconnect.
14. Inverter
a. Magnum – Magna Sine MS4448 PA
b. The PAE version of this (as recommended) is cutting edge technology and can supply 110 or 220 V AC whereas other models are only 110 VAC capable
c. The MS4448 PAE is a “Magna Sine” model produced by Magnum. These are the best inverters. They produce TRUE/PURE sine wave electricity as clean as grid hydro supplies - whereas ‘modified sine wave’ inverters do not produce such clean power
d. The MS4448 PAE is a “44” meaning 4400 watts and “48” meaning a 48 volt system model.
15. MISCELLANEOUS COMPONENTS:
a. Circuit Breakers: 15 amp DC for each string; 75 amp DC input to Charge Controller; 100 amp DC output from Charge Controller; 175 amp DC – 125 VDC Disconnect Breaker/Switch between battery bank and inverter (included above)
b. Lightning Arrestors (three recommended on household system. Two recommended usually, at least – one on DC side of inverter and one on AC side of inverter). Good, simple installation video by Midnite tech is here: http://www.midnitesolar.com/video/spd-install/spe-install.php
c. Automatic Generator Start Switch (If purchased, you need a remote control panel for the inverter to set it up.) Auto Gen Start w/ temperature & voltage starting. http://www.magnumenergy.com/products/AGS-N.htm
d. Inverter Remote Control Panel (must have, if using auto generator start) Advanced Digital LCD Display Remote Panel with 50' Cable. http://www.magnumenergy.com/products/productsRemotes.htm
f. There are other devices that could be added, but are not essential, including a BMK (battery monitoring kit), etc.
Mike.
GLOBAL SOLAR
www.globalsolar.ca
705-286-3039 (EXT 3)
