before and after

[Mudsloth]

I've been slowly installing solar panels at home over the last year or so and havn't bothered buying rails as i thought a good angle was a good angle, i even had one panel on a tracking device. Out of a possible 2200 watts peak I was only producing around 1100 watts if i was lucky and the panels were getting very hot. I bought some racking for 450 bucks, installed it and the panels and hey presto the panels are working great! Of course since I installed the racks the sun has been out for about 5 mins but one sunny burst at about 3pm gave me a reading of 1538 watts. Moral of the story: for 450 bucks i got enough rails for 16 200 watt panels, they have reduced the heat considerably and i'm confident the system will make it to 2000 watts when the conditions allow. Why am i telling you all this? Well, i'm sure i'm not the only person out there wondering why their solar panels arn't pumping out the power they should. Especially those of us who buy them off ebay.


before:

http://mudsloths4x4.webs.com/IMAG0023.jpg

after:

http://mudsloths4x4.webs.com/IMAG0024.jpg

[isuzurover]

Hold - on, the first pic you have 8 panels, the 2nd you have 13???

Mounting the panels higher above the roof should give better airflow and better cooling. However you have mounted them closer to the roof and are claiming better cooling???

[bee utey]

I reckon you've swapped the pics over! :D
Cooling is everything, my ebay panels live high above the roof on trackers and generate excellent power with a brisk SE breeze under them. A bloke in the tropics reported excellent results with running a sprinkler on the panels during the day. Good if you have plenty of water.:)

[slug_burner]

If the sun has only been out for 5 min they probably have not had a chance to get hot.

[Mudsloth]

Hold - on, the first pic you have 8 panels, the 2nd you have 13???

Mounting the panels higher above the roof should give better airflow and better cooling. However you have mounted them closer to the roof and are claiming better cooling???

I moved 5 of the panels to the house roof to avoid the shadows cast by the panel on the tracking system. The panels that are on the wooden stilts didn't have them the day before and only had one end lifted. they are now running a hell of a lot cooler. Previous to the rails even on cloudy days I would hose them down and increase the output and the steam that came off them was very obvious. Doing the same thing now makes no difference and no steam comes off them. I think the major part of the increase is that they are now all on exactly the same angle and that angle is not as extreme as what they were previously. Whatever the reason the rails have increased the output dramatically.

[Mudsloth]

If the sun has only been out for 5 min they probably have not had a chance to get hot.

I agree but the output never reached even close to 1500 watts previously.

[zuno555]

Longer rails maybe acting as a heat sink, keeping the panels cooler?

Anyways props for doing it all yourself. Who hooked it all up for you or are you a sparky?

[Mudsloth]

I reckon you've swapped the pics over! :D
Cooling is everything, my ebay panels live high above the roof on trackers and generate excellent power with a brisk SE breeze under them. A bloke in the tropics reported excellent results with running a sprinkler on the panels during the day. Good if you have plenty of water.:)

On a hot summers day if i hose them down the output will increase between to 2 to 3 hundred watts for a few hours. I was going to install a sprinkler system on them and recycling the water via a 1000 litre tank and small pump i have lying around. I may do this in summer but for now i'm happy. Strinking a balance between power gained and power used by the pump may make the gains negligible.

[Mudsloth]

Longer rails maybe acting as a heat sink, keeping the panels cooler?

Anyways props for doing it all yourself. Who hooked it all up for you or are you a sparky?


I ran all the cabling and did all the grunt work and had a sparky do the fuse box, breakers, check it and turn it on in the first instance. I've just kept adding panels. It's all running into a 3kw aero sharp inverter so i still have some room to add panels.

[slug_burner]

Does your power go back into the grid? If so is it via a different meter or does it just run through your standard meter?

[Mudsloth]

Does your power go back into the grid? If so is it via a different meter or does it just run through your standard meter?


Just through the standard meter, i know i'm missing out on the rebate but oh well. And yes the meter does run backwards and yes apparently it is quite happy to do so and won't blow up.

[bee utey]

Just through the standard meter, i know i'm missing out on the rebate but oh well. And yes the meter does run backwards and yes apparently it is quite happy to do so and won't blow up.

I asked my electricity retailer to fit an import-export meter, they did so without a quibble, 2 months before the solar was connected. Cost me $600 for a 3-phase one. The meter reader just entered the extra reading and my credits appeared as soon as it all got connected.

The grid connected tracker (1560W):

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=34342&stc=1&d=1300445525

The 12V tracker:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=34343&stc=1&d=1300445546

After topping off my batteries the 12V system runs a small grid-connect inverter that feeds up to 150W back to the grid as well.

[Mudsloth]

@bee utey awsome.

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