W@P's Solar System

I have a ton of these ugly mofos making nests and a mess in my gutters and on the roofs. They multiply like rabbits.
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So I send my garden engineer up the roof every month to clean all the gutters and remove any nests and eggs. Today I tuned him to take his window washing squeegee and wash all the panels as well. His feedback is that they were filthy with the dust and bird poop.

They are now sparkling clean again. He will make this part of his roof cleaning routine from now on.
@RonSwanson @AchmatK

Just be careful what soap you use on the panels (if you used any). I seem to remember that you cannot just use anything.
 
@RonSwanson @AchmatK

Just be careful what soap you use on the panels (if you used any). I seem to remember that you cannot just use anything.
I have used a normal hose with a pressure nozzle. No detergents, no squeegee, no mops. If a panel has a thick layer of soil / dust on it, one can brush it off gently and then use water.
That doesn't mean that one cannot use a weak detergent, I personally don't see the point, and the risk of damaging the surface goes up.

@AchmatK did some tests on output, and the results were great, but largely attributable to the cooling effect of the water on the panels.
 
Would be very interested to hear how much difference cleaning the panels made to production.
Yes, it would be interesting. Absolutely have no idea how one can calculate that. :unsure:
 
Yes, it would be interesting. Absolutely have no idea how one can calculate that. :unsure:
Maybe look at a week before the cleaning average kWh production per day and compare to after?
Or look at the peak power produced on a day before cleaning when it was clear vs a clear day after?
 
Maybe look at a week before the cleaning average kWh production per day and compare to after?
Or look at the peak power produced on a day before cleaning when it was clear vs a clear day after?
WIll see if i can pick anything up.
 
So anyone know what is the situation regarding panels and mounting hardware stock atm?
Planning the second phase of my Fathers install.
 
So anyone know what is the situation regarding panels and mounting hardware stock atm?
Planning the second phase of my Fathers install.
Panels seem to be in stock. I am struggling to find stainless mounting brackets now but the galvanised ones seem to be in stock.
 
Panels seem to be in stock. I am struggling to find stainless mounting brackets now but the galvanised ones seem to be in stock.
Which brackets you looking for? I have a box full that was sent to me in error.
 
They quoted on the renusol hooks for a tiled roof, but they have to be in stainless.
I have about 40 of these Renusol e-mini s5 clamps for chromadeck klip lok roof with the slim seams
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My roof used clamps similar to these.
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Now for panels. How many panels would you suggest we get. How many can the 8kw Sunsynk take per string or Mppt? Looking at 545w Jinko panels at R4000 incl.
 
Now for panels. How many panels would you suggest we get. How many can the 8kw Sunsynk take per string or Mppt? Looking at 545w Jinko panels at R4000 incl.
About 8 per MPPT. That's what my calcs said , it's in my thread
 
Did you get your Hubble via PFS. Still waiting for mines.
 
Now for panels. How many panels would you suggest we get. How many can the 8kw Sunsynk take per string or Mppt? Looking at 545w Jinko panels at R4000 incl.
Most important is voltage. Sunsynk is max 500V, you want to be at 450V or below. Cold increases voltage of the panels and if you go over 500V the inverter can get damaged. So that will limit you to about 8 panels per string (using the Voc of 49V).

Next is current, the 8kW can take 22A per MPPT. So ideally you want panels with 11A output. However your panels are at almost 14A Isc. Thus you can have 1 string per MPPT. If you really want you can put 2 strings per MPPT but you will lose everything above 22A.

So 16 panels will probably be a good start, giving you 8.72kWp. The 8kW Sunsynk can take 10,4kWp so you have some space to expand there.
 
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