Climate Action: Operation Solar System – Daily Kos

For many years Mr. Claw and I had been mulling over putting in some kind of photovoltaic system.  Last year we finally got serious and in the late Fall purchased 12 320 W solar panels, and Mr. Claw started researching mounting, storage, inverters, and the rest of what we would need.

For this project we decided on an off-grid system that would live side by side with grid power, but be isolated from it.  The main tasks are charging our Chevy Bolt Gypsy Danger, and running a mini-split air conditioning unit for the workshop.

First order of business was mounting the solar panels.  Nine panels fit nicely on the south-facing carport roof.  As creaky old folks, Mr. Claw and I very much appreciated the help of a nephew to get to panels up on the roof and fastened.  The remaining three panels are mounted like an awning along the south side of the shop. 

Wired in series, all 12 panels together produce approximately 3480 Watts at 480 V.  This output works nicely with the next part of the system, a Bluetti EP 800 with 3 B500 battery packs.  This gives us 15kwh of storage. This is not the cheapest option, but is far from the most costly.  Mr. Claw got turned off by DIY pages and forums that instead of being helpful, tended to scoff at people for asking questions.  But that’s the internet!

To make use of the power Mr. Claw installed a cutoff switch leading to a service panel.  The car charging circuit and  the air conditioning circuit, both 115V/20A, are up and running.  There’s plenty of room for expansion with multiple circuits.

So right now we are making and using our own solar power! 

The idea behind all this is, first; to have a refuge not dependent on the hinky Texas grid to keep cool during the coming challenging times, and of course to be able to drive using the sun.

All the designing and most of the work has been done by Mr. Claw.  I’ve only helped with gluing conduit, some lifting and fastening of parts, and making sure we could pay the huge credit card bill.  This project was not done for financial reasons, so “payback time” is irrelevant.  Mr. Claw took on this project because it seemed interesting, and for both of us reducing our carbon output and pressure on the fragile Texas grid felt like the right thing to do.

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