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Finally we have had a dry week so concrete was laid today for the two support pipes.
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After returning from holiday I've managed to fit in two full days.
Day 1 was spending 8hrs erecting the metal shed that is supposed to take 2hrs.
Day 2, today, was mounting the tracker poles and running cables from the battery shed to each tracker. Both trackers have a 2 core DC cable for the solar feed and an AC power cable to power the controller and arms. The tracker closest to the shed also has a data cable ready for a TIGO TAP optimizer setup.
Still loads to do.
Run a armour cable from the battery shed to the house.
Place all my assembled stud framing into the battery shed for the inverter, switch gear, PV combiner and consumer unit.
Final fix wiring in the battery shed
Buy in the Fox ESS inverter and battery cube
Assemble and fit the solar panel frames to the top of the tracker poles.
The last one is going to be exciting with 200kg of panels plus frame swinging 10ft off the ground so I'd better do that on a windless day. That's a way off yet.
Last edited by baz0000; 06-12-2024, 08:23 AM.Comment
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Cracking on with the project.
All stud work and first fir electrics installed into the battery shed with combiner box, consumer units and switch gear all wired. An appointed qualified electrician will complete the final fix of the inverter wiring and the incoming (from generator) and outgoing (to house) AC cabling.
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Now onto laying down the house feed with 10mm cable.
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Another week in and things are starting to take shape with the project. The house mains cable laid, secured along the house run with 80mm masonry screws onto CC8 cleats, the path cutaway reinstated with fresh concrete and ground run filled.
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The latter part of the week was assembling tracker 1 solar frame for lifting onto the tracker pole and this was completed today and the two motor arms also added. Next part will be to fit the controller and run the cabling up to the frame level. Once that is complete the frame for tracker 2 will be assembled and installed. Both trackers will then be ready to have the solar panels fitted.
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Finished the second tracker frame today ready to lift onto the tracker pole and also completed the to frame wiring on tracker 1 including fixing the controller. Tracker 1 is ready to power up from a generator or home extension to move the frame around during the solar panel install.
To set the frame width I have made two batons that mirror the panel mounting hole span. The lower span is set and frame secured (tightened) then the subsequent pairs will be set as they are fitted.
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The completed wiring, to frame level, on tracker one including controller install.
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Another day and second frame lifted and first four panels added to tracker 1. The wind started to get quite strong so the day ended early.
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A fine weather day today so I had a couple of friends over for the final 12 panel install. Not quite health and safety optimal but working off a 1mX1.2m variable height pallet platform worked perfectly.
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Only leaves wiring the panels up, looping an earth cable around all the clamps and back onto the earth block on the tracker pole. Plus fitting a TIGO TAP to the end of the data cable on Tracker 1.
I still have to buy in the 20kW battery cube and arrange for the electrician to come on site for a day to do the final fix inverter hook up and setup. The end is in sight.
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That looks really good, thanks for posting these.Comment
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All the TIGO TS4's have been installed today. The earth wires were run yesterday. It only took around 3hrs. Leaving just the TIGO Tap to wire up then I'm all done. The Tigo installation guide says the order of the wires has no relevance, only that the A B C D order must be the same on both parts; the Tap and CCA. I'll just do them alphabetically to ensure they pair up on each device; blue, brown, green and orange (from memory). The RS485 cable is already prepped ready to terminal fix both ends so that'll be a final 10 minute job.
Once the Tigo Tap and CCA are wired up I'm all done. The 20kw battery Cube is on order and the rest is down to the electrician that I am hiring in for a day.
Project cost:
Two 2 axis Trackers - £3,300
16 500W panels - £1,200
Metal battery shed - £970
Foundation pipes - £950
Concrete (foundation) - £750
Concrete (shed base) - £125
Wood (studwork) - £175
Fixing (bolt, screws, rivets, clamps etc) - £160
AC + DC Switches - £80
DC combiner box - £120
AC consumer unit - £80
Cables DC and AC - £405
Fox ESS 8kw hybrid (single phase) Inverter & TIGO TAP, CCA, TS4's - £2,010
Fox Ec4300 20kw batteries - £6,320
Project tools and trench bucket - £670
Labour:
Electrician - £250
Total Project cost - £17,565
I allowed for £20k but was hoping to bring it in at £17k so there is only a slight overrun.
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The final entry on what has felt like a pretty big project. One that hasn't been a one man job, so help has often had to be called upon. For anyone thinking DIY, do assess beforehand how easy and readily available extra hands are. I was hoping my family would be the main stay but they seemed to be always too busy so the project hinged on coercing my wife in certain tasks but more calling upon friends.
The electrician completed the final fix electrics which included the inverter and battery cube installation. There was a bit of troubleshooting required on on tracker PV output that was only delivering 70V, the other was 360V. The issue was tracked down to one of my connector joints not quite seated correctly at the PV combiner box. Once remedied, both trackers were comfortably over 350V DC.
The 20kw battery cube installed had an initial charge of 52% so the PV output since install has been channelled to charging the battery bank. Presently, it's a heavily overcast day with drizzle so the total output is only hovering at 1kw, meaning that at the time of typing the battery is still charging. Once, the batteries are charged which should be around midday today then the feed to house will be switched on.
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The battery shed has magnetic PIR LED light strips that are USB rechargeable which work well. The inverter found the home Wi-Fi network easily from the external antenna roughly 60 yards away so the inverter information and battery status are accessed via the Fox Ess cloud app. There is also the TIGO optimizer that is also home networked and gives real time information on each panel output via the Tigo app. The grid/generator infeed has been left disconnected as the initial plan is to run off the solar until the batteries require recharging, then the house will be switched back to mains to allow the PV output to go solely to battery charging.
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This is the Tracker 1 unit at it's 10am tilt. The controller on this tracker is the master GPS unit with a claimed 6 day without power geo location memory. The tracker runs on two axis and goes flat at the end of the day whilst heading off to the sun facing position just after dawn breaks. Tracker 1 also has the wind speed sensor fitted that will put the tracker into it's safe horizontal position for periods of 10 minutes once a certain wind speed has been met.
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This is the Tracker 2 unit which has a slave controller which follows the position of tracker 1. They do appear to move in perfect harmony.
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Both trackers in their mid-morning the sun should be somewhere over there orientation.
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The rain has stopped and output has risen to 2.3Kw so I have switched the feed to include the house load. The switchover is fast with PC's and digital clocks on appliances remaining on. The fault notification on the app is because there is no grid/generator backup input voltage detected (unplugged)
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