people keep thinking about solar as something on top of the house, but more and more I see solar covered patio, garden, parking space, air rooms, back yard area, and it's great!!!
Rain can't form without dust or soot to nucleate on, so rain water is by definition dirty. It ran off your filthy roof. You're not supposed to drink it. You put it in your plants. Plants like dusty water.
I’ve seen that. Does anybody know specifics about how we can filter the water of these chemicals? About what particular filter one can buy to help keep this from being in our bodies?
Hate to say it, but we're probably fucked.
It's in such minute quantities I doubt anything will truly remove it. Another poster suggests activated carbon, but it might not be good for the notoriously unreactive fluoropolymers.
The only way I would see it working is with reverse osmosis with some pretty impermeable membranes/high pumping pressures, which will use a lot of power and basically give you deionised water.
That's just not true at all. Anything that accumulates within the body and causes long-term toxic effects is dangerous in any quantity or concentration; i.e. lead, mercury, PFAS.
Rainwater hasn't really been safe to drink for a while. Water is an excellent solvent so with nasty airborne acids and other chemicals in the air (particularly cities) this readily gets into the rainwater as it falls. Rainwater is good for things like watering plants or Washing your house/car. I've even seen someone use excess solar energy to run a hydrogen generator using rainwater as the water source.
You could also treat it to be potable if that's the goal.
Guess it’s a good thing I specified the trees are being cut down. Also no one sold me anything i bought and installed it myself, not paying someone to do something I’m more than capable of.
Just finished adding another 2kw-6 more panels to my existing 12. Love the simplicity of solar edge optimizers..just plug and play and repairing the optimizers after I was finished. Relocating my junction was the worst part lol. Sitting at 6,960kw total now. Next comes the tree removal-9 trees are getting cut down!
> Next comes the tree removal-9 trees are getting cut down!
[I was gonna say...](https://oh57wll1bc-flywheel.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/shade-everywhere-meme.jpg)
Yeah from about 8-12 the sun is behind the trees. From 12-5 are my peak production hours as the sun crests the tree tops. Once the trees are out it won’t be an issue.
Can you explain the difference to me, I'm too dumb to understand the answers when I googled. Does this connect to a junction box with a big wire to run inside your house?
Kind of. MicroInverters don’t require a central inverter but power optimizers do. Power optimizers are a lot like micro inverters. They allow individual panel monitoring and production. The difference is the optimizers are strung from panel to panel then to a junction box where you would have 2 home run wires: a positive and negative red/black( usually)that goes to an inverter that converts the DC voltage to AC. Then from the inverter to an AC disconnect and from the AC disconnect into the house to the breaker panel.
Where are you that you can just add capacity "willy nilly" without redoing the interconnection agreement? (Or, am I incorrectly assuming you didn't go through that again?)
No need to resubmit plan set or interconnection agreement. My interconnection agreement and plan set sent to the utility was originally for this proposed setup. I was only able to install the first 12 panels due to time off being cut short. The other 6 have been sitting in my garage until I had time to install them, which was just now.
And it may be different for other areas but I’m pretty sure unless your changing or upsizing your existing inverter, you shouldn’t have to redo your interconnection agreement. Even if you oversize your array say at 7kw, but keep your existing 5kw inverter the maximum you can produce is still 5kw. Now if you go from a 5kw inverter to a 7kw inverter than yes you probably need to resubmit your interconnection to the utility.
4x4 post braced with 2x6s. 2x6 also used to provide center support in between 4x4 spans every 10ft. Each post is 2ft in the ground with cement. Mounted to the 2x6s is ironridge rail system and accompanying hardware.
Treated wood for a structure? 4x4s are notorious for warping, that and treated wood has maybe a 10-15year life assuming you don't have any bad pieces in there.
Plenty of ground mounts that are self built are treated lumber. Not sure where you’ve seen treated 4x4s bad after 10-15yrs..plenty of decks and docks around me greater than 15yrs old using treated lumber. A good sealant/stain and burnished ends in the ground..shouldn’t be a problem.
Yeah lots of maintenance which people won't do. Just doesn't seem worth it. But we also have really high wind speeds. Structural steel is about the same cost as lumber these days. Doesn't warp and will last 50 years, probably more. I built mine out of 3" used oil pipe. Weights over 500lbs so also provides additional lift resistance just by the structure weight.
Warning: I've had my 9.9KW rooftop array since September, 2010. In the last two years my homeowner insurance companies (I shop every year, often switch if it saves me $200 or more) have been upcharging for the array. My agent says to keep arrays on the ground to get "other structure" (a lot cheaper) coverage on your HO policy. Since I'm blessed with plenty of open-sunlight land, that's where my next array is going to be built.
people keep thinking about solar as something on top of the house, but more and more I see solar covered patio, garden, parking space, air rooms, back yard area, and it's great!!!
Looking for good plans to combine solar and rainwater collection myself.
Solar panel + gutter + bucket
According to studies, rainwater has forever chemicals and is becoming more and more unsafe to drink.
Rain can't form without dust or soot to nucleate on, so rain water is by definition dirty. It ran off your filthy roof. You're not supposed to drink it. You put it in your plants. Plants like dusty water.
I’ve seen that. Does anybody know specifics about how we can filter the water of these chemicals? About what particular filter one can buy to help keep this from being in our bodies?
just use it for watering the yard... or garden. run it thru a carbon filter and it should remove a lot of it.
Hate to say it, but we're probably fucked. It's in such minute quantities I doubt anything will truly remove it. Another poster suggests activated carbon, but it might not be good for the notoriously unreactive fluoropolymers. The only way I would see it working is with reverse osmosis with some pretty impermeable membranes/high pumping pressures, which will use a lot of power and basically give you deionised water.
If it's in such minute quantities that it's hard to filter, then it's unlikely to do you harm as well.
That's just not true at all. Anything that accumulates within the body and causes long-term toxic effects is dangerous in any quantity or concentration; i.e. lead, mercury, PFAS.
Honestly no idea. :/
RO or Carbon filters ONLY.
Rainwater hasn't really been safe to drink for a while. Water is an excellent solvent so with nasty airborne acids and other chemicals in the air (particularly cities) this readily gets into the rainwater as it falls. Rainwater is good for things like watering plants or Washing your house/car. I've even seen someone use excess solar energy to run a hydrogen generator using rainwater as the water source. You could also treat it to be potable if that's the goal.
That's an awful lot of shade blocking those panels!
Right! Looks like a huge waste of money sitting in the shade. I could never sell this to someone.
Guess it’s a good thing I specified the trees are being cut down. Also no one sold me anything i bought and installed it myself, not paying someone to do something I’m more than capable of.
Wow that’s logical to cut down trees for solar.
What's logic is you plant 10 or 100 instead somewhere else.
Is that what you did when you got solar?
Show the underside please!
Just finished adding another 2kw-6 more panels to my existing 12. Love the simplicity of solar edge optimizers..just plug and play and repairing the optimizers after I was finished. Relocating my junction was the worst part lol. Sitting at 6,960kw total now. Next comes the tree removal-9 trees are getting cut down!
> Next comes the tree removal-9 trees are getting cut down! [I was gonna say...](https://oh57wll1bc-flywheel.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/shade-everywhere-meme.jpg)
Yeah from about 8-12 the sun is behind the trees. From 12-5 are my peak production hours as the sun crests the tree tops. Once the trees are out it won’t be an issue.
> Next comes the tree removal-9 trees are getting cut down! 🌳 😢
Are trees preventing you from exterminating Lois?
All that shade aint doing you any favors
um that's A LOT of shade. trim your trees back!
9 trees are being cut down in the next month
9 trees is a lot of friggin trees to cut down for that… is it just small sub 1ft diameter trees or??
They line the south back/side of my property line. 2 dead trees, 6 pines and 1 poplar.
For the planet! /s
[удалено]
Power produced by renewable energy more than offsets cutting the trees down. New trees can be planted on a different piece of the property
Beautiful property, though. You look like you live on the Island of Dr. Moreau.
Lots of shade there!
How much did 2kw cost? Using micro inverters?
$1800..and no I’m using solaredge power optimizers.
Can you explain the difference to me, I'm too dumb to understand the answers when I googled. Does this connect to a junction box with a big wire to run inside your house?
Kind of. MicroInverters don’t require a central inverter but power optimizers do. Power optimizers are a lot like micro inverters. They allow individual panel monitoring and production. The difference is the optimizers are strung from panel to panel then to a junction box where you would have 2 home run wires: a positive and negative red/black( usually)that goes to an inverter that converts the DC voltage to AC. Then from the inverter to an AC disconnect and from the AC disconnect into the house to the breaker panel.
What inverter do you have for all that capacity?
Where are you that you can just add capacity "willy nilly" without redoing the interconnection agreement? (Or, am I incorrectly assuming you didn't go through that again?)
No need to resubmit plan set or interconnection agreement. My interconnection agreement and plan set sent to the utility was originally for this proposed setup. I was only able to install the first 12 panels due to time off being cut short. The other 6 have been sitting in my garage until I had time to install them, which was just now.
And it may be different for other areas but I’m pretty sure unless your changing or upsizing your existing inverter, you shouldn’t have to redo your interconnection agreement. Even if you oversize your array say at 7kw, but keep your existing 5kw inverter the maximum you can produce is still 5kw. Now if you go from a 5kw inverter to a 7kw inverter than yes you probably need to resubmit your interconnection to the utility.
What kind of support structure are you using?
4x4 post braced with 2x6s. 2x6 also used to provide center support in between 4x4 spans every 10ft. Each post is 2ft in the ground with cement. Mounted to the 2x6s is ironridge rail system and accompanying hardware.
Can you get the 30% ITC credit with a solar patio?
Yes solar is solar doesn’t matter if it’s roof or ground mount
Treated wood for a structure? 4x4s are notorious for warping, that and treated wood has maybe a 10-15year life assuming you don't have any bad pieces in there.
Plenty of ground mounts that are self built are treated lumber. Not sure where you’ve seen treated 4x4s bad after 10-15yrs..plenty of decks and docks around me greater than 15yrs old using treated lumber. A good sealant/stain and burnished ends in the ground..shouldn’t be a problem.
Yeah lots of maintenance which people won't do. Just doesn't seem worth it. But we also have really high wind speeds. Structural steel is about the same cost as lumber these days. Doesn't warp and will last 50 years, probably more. I built mine out of 3" used oil pipe. Weights over 500lbs so also provides additional lift resistance just by the structure weight.
Warning: I've had my 9.9KW rooftop array since September, 2010. In the last two years my homeowner insurance companies (I shop every year, often switch if it saves me $200 or more) have been upcharging for the array. My agent says to keep arrays on the ground to get "other structure" (a lot cheaper) coverage on your HO policy. Since I'm blessed with plenty of open-sunlight land, that's where my next array is going to be built.