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Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

  • 1.  Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 05-14-2024 12:09 PM

    Each Tuesday at noon (Eastern) solarPVtraining.com hosts a Zoom sessions for students (or anyone, really) interested in solar. Generally discussion focuses on technical questions, problems or troubleshooting - or just what is happening in solar that week. 

    This week we focus on a recent build using a Sol-Ark 5 kW inverter and HomeGrid Compact Series 5kWh battery with IronRidge racking system on a concrete pad.

    Join Zoom Meeting each Tuesday at https://zoom.us/j/91067004366?pwd=b1d...

    Meeting ID: 910 6700 4366

    Password: 625623



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    Jay Warmke
    Owner
    Blue Rock Station LLC
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  • 2.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 05-15-2024 08:00 AM
    Edited by Timothy Mcbride 05-15-2024 04:05 PM

    You know " Stand Alone  "  Is kinda becoming a misnomer among this age of Solar Millennials that desire to be connected for gaming, internet, whatever, and also micro-grid advantages.  With Elon's starlink and wifi towers popping up everywhere seems folks are becoming connected in ways former generations could of never imagined.  Think about it,  we throw these phrases about being,  Off Grid, and Stand Alone when in fact these concepts scare the hell out of some folks that love being connected.  In the future, yes we all might not be connected to the traditional power grids, as coal, gas, hydro, and nuclear implies but nevertheless we are becoming more connected solarize than ever before. Maybe terms like Intermediate Solar,  Community Solar, or maybe Empowered Solar just to name a few for thought.  Imagine the Sun is way out there in space millions of miles away but never stands alone, or is off grid, for the sunshine is everywhere for everyone here and now upon your face. What would it mean if every single individual upon the planet was hooked up to so called , " Stand Alone Solar " would anyone actually be standing alone upon a single planet that houses us all? 



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    Timothy Mcbride
    CEOOwner
    Sol-Era R & D
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  • 3.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 05-15-2024 11:04 AM

    Timothy - 

    You bring up a concept that I have been thinking about lately.  The utilities think of themselves as providing power (electricity) to customers.  But as barriers to entry fall away - so does their traditional business model.   I can provide power for myself - often at a cheaper price.  But what they do provide is "connectivity." 

    They should be exploring how to provide connected energy services - not electricity.  That is where their future business model lies.  No idea what that will look like - but nobody envisioned Google or Facebook or streaming video when we started hearing about this thing called the Internet in the early 90's.

    Jay Warmke



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    Jay Warmke
    Owner
    Blue Rock Station LLC
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  • 4.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 05-16-2024 09:48 AM

    "With Elon's starlink and wifi towers popping up everywhere seems folks are becoming connected in ways former generations could of never imagined. "

    Well that's true enough, but those things really do not connect people.

    Technology has not helped the total REAL connection of society. If fact it has isolated them.

    IF all the tech was added on top of the real in-person social connections of people, that would be one thing. But that is not reality. The addition of tech has reduced in-person social contact. And that is a huge negative to humanity. Business loves it because it reduces cost, makes people easier to get rid of, once they are just at the end of a wire, rather than in-person, etc.. People will choose it because it is "less scary" than first time real in-person contact. You know, the classic scene where the teen guy has to muster the bravery to walk up to the girl at the dance, and ask her. OMG, its like jumping on to the beach at Normandy!! But that action develops things in both people, that cannot happen at the ends of the single key stroke telegraph virtual keyboard, on a dumb-phone.

    AS for stand alone, off grid solar, not really good at a time when you want to optimize all the possible production from PV or any other energy source. With stand alone, you cannot gen more than what you use. With grid-tie, it ALL GOES somewhere, ALL the time...



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    william fitch
    Owner
    www.WeAreSolar.com
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  • 5.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 05-16-2024 01:26 PM

    AS a little side note, since you always like to post, "breath of fresh air, beauty in the sun" stuff, this is a sheet I made a very long time ago.

    Sun is beautiful, oil is not.



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    william fitch
    Owner
    www.WeAreSolar.com
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  • 6.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    ASES Life Member
    Posted 05-15-2024 03:03 PM

    Jay, regarding your Sol-Ark commissioning...I'm sure by now someone has emphasized the need for communication connection from the battery BMS to the inverter first and then choosing the settings via Sol-Ark screen....



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    Gail Burrington
    proprietor
    Burrington's Solar Edge
    Windsor Locks CT
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  • 7.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Posted 06-24-2024 03:51 PM

    Hi Jay, thank you very much for the video! Could you tell me when it makes more sense to use an outdoor solar switchboard vs. the indoor one typically located in the facility main electrical room? For example, take a look at the photos I've uploaded. They show an outdoor solar switchboard for several solar carports nearby while the facility and its utility service entrance transformer are shown in the background.



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    Oleg Bulshteyn
    Senior EE
    huittzollars
    Alexandria VA
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  • 8.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 06-25-2024 03:03 AM

    Hey Oleg -

    I don't want to claim to be an expert on switchgear - but the first thing that comes to mind is safety and security. The switchgear you show is pretty vulnerable and accessible.   Snow, flooding, getting hit by cars - all those seem an issue here.   Also some kid coming up and pulling levers, subject to vandalism, etc.

    All those issues could be overcome and still have the switchgear outdoors, however.  So probably depends on what the gear is servicing. If servicing a single building - then to me it makes sense to put it in the building.  But if servicing multiple locations, might be better to centrally locate the unit. 

    Don't know if that helps - just some relatively uninformed thought,  Jay Warmke



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    Jay Warmke
    Owner
    Blue Rock Station LLC
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  • 9.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Posted 06-25-2024 10:48 AM

    Hey Jay,

    Thank you for your response! I was wondering if there are any videos authored by you or someone else describing a commercial PV system installation focusing on the utility interconnection, PV system disconnects, BESS, etc.?



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    Oleg Bulshteyn
    Senior EE
    huittzollars
    Alexandria VA
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  • 10.  RE: Solar Noon Tuesday - Installing a stand alone solar carport/pavilion

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 06-29-2024 03:26 AM

    Oleg - 

    We do have a textbook that goes in depth into small commercial systems - but I think you are looking for something beyond that.  Not familiar with any specific resources on that.

    Sorry - Jay Warmke



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    Jay Warmke
    Owner
    Blue Rock Station LLC
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