Some big milestones were achieved the last two weeks.
1. Completed wiring the solar system
2. Passed final inspection from the county

We have had the cabin wired for about a year now and in order to have light we carried a deep cycle battery back and forth from home to the cabin and used a little inverter with a double ended extension cord and plugged it into the cabin electric system. This was lots better than no lights but I ruined several pairs of jeans with battery acid and the amount of power was limited.



Last March I designed and ordered the solar system and in June we installed the four solar panels on the garage roof. Also in June we installed a normal electrical panel in the garage and ran underground cable to the cabin and a sub-panel in the cabin.



I didn't get back to working on solar until several weeks ago. Got it wired up and it's working great. When the county inspected it they said it was the first solar system in the county.

The four solar panels produce a maximum of 520 watts and go through a charging system to 12 AGM deep cycle batteries of 100 amp hours each. The batteries feed a 3600 watt inverter which creates the normal 120v AC household current which is fed to the breaker box.

The system is designed for light usage and with more emphasis on batteries than solar panels since usage will not be everyday. Hence, provide battery for two or three day usage periods and then expect the panels to have a number of no usage days to charge the batteries back up.









Last edited by Lyle Krehbiel; 10/22/09 08:29 PM.