Hi there from a newbie in the Canary Islands

[PaulC]

Hi everyone,

I've just joined the forum and I'm looking forward to participating. We live in Fuerteventura where there's a lot of sunshine and wind but domestic solar is generally seen as somewhat odd! We were initially forced in 2002 into the solar route due to a lack of local supply to our new house, but quickly became totally sold on "making" our own electricity.
We started with 1 KW of panels which was reduced to zero by some kind gentlemen who decided one night to remove them off our roof. Since then we've increased in 3 stages to 2.5 KW which seems about right at present. We have a 3Kw Outback charger/inverter and a mix of solar controllers feeding a 1900Ah bank of Rolls batteries.

All the best,

Paul

[SunEagle]

Hi everyone,

I've just joined the forum and I'm looking forward to participating. We live in Fuerteventura where there's a lot of sunshine and wind but domestic solar is generally seen as somewhat odd! We were initially forced in 2002 into the solar route due to a lack of local supply to our new house, but quickly became totally sold on "making" our own electricity.
We started with 1 KW of panels which was reduced to zero by some kind gentlemen who decided one night to remove them off our roof. Since then we've increased in 3 stages to 2.5 KW which seems about right at present. We have a 3Kw Outback charger/inverter and a mix of solar controllers feeding a 1900Ah bank of Rolls batteries.

All the best,

Paul

Welcome to Solar Panel Talk.

I hope you also installed a security system with those new panels in case that "kind" gentlemen come back.

I believe there are people here that would be interested in more details of your equipment considering the size of your battery system.

If you have any questions it will be best to start a new Post with the specific information you are looking for.

[J.P.M.]

Hi everyone,

I've just joined the forum and I'm looking forward to participating. We live in Fuerteventura where there's a lot of sunshine and wind but domestic solar is generally seen as somewhat odd! We were initially forced in 2002 into the solar route due to a lack of local supply to our new house, but quickly became totally sold on "making" our own electricity.
We started with 1 KW of panels which was reduced to zero by some kind gentlemen who decided one night to remove them off our roof. Since then we've increased in 3 stages to 2.5 KW which seems about right at present. We have a 3Kw Outback charger/inverter and a mix of solar controllers feeding a 1900Ah bank of Rolls batteries.

All the best,

Paul

Welcome to the neighborhood !

I'd be interested to read how you handle any water heating, space heating/cooling loads such as they exist as well as energy use patterns in general.

[PaulC]

Thanks for the welcome

Hi Sun Eagle and thanks for the welcome!

Sorry I haven't responded earlier, I've been travelling and I'm in Stockholm today and tomorrow so I've got time to catch up.

Yes, we have improved security since the visit. The racks are more firmly secured to the flat roof and there's a wall all the way round which makes access pretty difficult. We also now have a noisy dog. This island used to be a place where you could rest easy knowing that your stuff would left alone but well, things have changed.

I'll get some details together on the equipment and post it. The system just sort of grew rather than followed an engineering design so any feedback would be welcomed. You mention the size of the battery bank, is this unusual? Our advice has come fron retail suppliers - before we knew about a forum.

I'll post my questions on new posts - thanks for the advice.

Cheers,

Paul

Welcome to Solar Panel Talk.

I hope you also installed a security system with those new panels in case that "kind" gentlemen come back.

I believe there are people here that would be interested in more details of your equipment considering the size of your battery system.

If you have any questions it will be best to start a new Post with the specific information you are looking for.

[SunEagle]

Hi Sun Eagle and thanks for the welcome!

Sorry I haven't responded earlier, I've been travelling and I'm in Stockholm today and tomorrow so I've got time to catch up.

Yes, we have improved security since the visit. The racks are more firmly secured to the flat roof and there's a wall all the way round which makes access pretty difficult. We also now have a noisy dog. This island used to be a place where you could rest easy knowing that your stuff would left alone but well, things have changed.

I'll get some details together on the equipment and post it. The system just sort of grew rather than followed an engineering design so any feedback would be welcomed. You mention the size of the battery bank, is this unusual? Our advice has come fron retail suppliers - before we knew about a forum.

I'll post my questions on new posts - thanks for the advice.

Cheers,

Paul

No problem Paul. I understand about traveling and not getting back to someone.

As for asking about more detail on your system. There are some people that would like to know about a working system and what it is made up of. This can help others understand what it takes to build one and hopefully how to avoid expenditures that can be avoided.

[PaulC]

Thanks J.P.M.

Hi J.P.M and thanks for the interest,

The water heating is in two parts:

1. The pool is heated by some helicol passive solar collectors on our garage flat roof. These are OK but we must fit a pool cover to cut down heat loss through radiation and evaporation.

2. Hot water in the house is currently by bottled gas. The plan is to install solar heaters later this year.

Space heating and cooling are easy - we don't do it! The winters aren't cold and the house is designed to be cool in the summer. The summers are very windy which tends to cool things down a bit.

I'll get something together on energy patterns and post it.

Cheers,

Paul

Welcome to the neighborhood !

I'd be interested to read how you handle any water heating, space heating/cooling loads such as they exist as well as energy use patterns in general.

[J.P.M.]

Hi J.P.M and thanks for the interest,

The water heating is in two parts:

1. The pool is heated by some helicol passive solar collectors on our garage flat roof. These are OK but we must fit a pool cover to cut down heat loss through radiation and evaporation.

2. Hot water in the house is currently by bottled gas. The plan is to install solar heaters later this year.

Space heating and cooling are easy - we don't do it! The winters aren't cold and the house is designed to be cool in the summer. The summers are very windy which tends to cool things down a bit.

I'll get something together on energy patterns and post it.

Cheers,

Paul

Thank you.

Pool covers seem to be very effective in my experience Does the wind take the pool cover often ?

Regards.

[PaulC]

Does the pool cover come off?

Thank you.

Pool covers seem to be very effective in my experience Does the wind take the pool cover often ?

Regards.

Absolutely right; they are great for reducing heat loss and the better ones give a solar gain, as long as they stay on! I used to build pools and always tried to get customers in the windier locations to have walls erected upwind of the pool or, better still put the pool down wind of the house. The better quality (heavier) covers fare better and designing the pool with a slightly increased distance from water level to coping stone seemed to help. Worst of all were the lily-pad type units which had a reputation for making giant frisbees so I never stocked them.

Cheers,

Paul

[J.P.M.]

Absolutely right; they are great for reducing heat loss and the better ones give a solar gain, as long as they stay on! I used to build pools and always tried to get customers in the windier locations to have walls erected upwind of the pool or, better still put the pool down wind of the house. The better quality (heavier) covers fare better and designing the pool with a slightly increased distance from water level to coping stone seemed to help. Worst of all were the lily-pad type units which had a reputation for making giant frisbees so I never stocked them.

Cheers,

Paul

Thank you. Those considering solar pool collectors may want to consider pool covers as an option before the collectors. I've seen/owned motorized cover systems - a bit costly. However, worked great with no wind or appearance problems. Pool was cleaner with less maint. and reduced chemical use. Those were nice bonuses. It also kept H2O above 80-85 deg. F. April through mid Oct. in Albuquerque without any other heat input.

[PaulC]

Pool covers first

Thank you. Those considering solar pool collectors may want to consider pool covers as an option before the collectors. I've seen/owned motorized cover systems - a bit costly. However, worked great with no wind or appearance problems. Pool was cleaner with less maint. and reduced chemical use. Those were nice bonuses. It also kept H2O above 80-85 deg. F. April through mid Oct. in Albuquerque without any other heat input.

Absolutely! Go for the cover first and fit the collectors if you find that you need them. This maybe wasn't the advice I gave to customers when I sold the collectors, but they last a long time, need no maintenance and are totally passive. Very few motorised covers are sold here due to cost; I'd guess that 99.99% are straight bubble wrap style covers of varying quality with most of them having a hand operated roller system.

We had one customer who made his own solar collectors from water tubing, which is used for normal plumbing and garden irrigation here. Not as neat as commercial items and he had a few small leaks but it worked well.

Cheers,

Paul
(Once again in Stockholm)