Evan, great job on installation of solar panels. I have a lot more gray hair after watching you on the roof! Merry Christmas to you and Rebekah and Happy New Year! 🎄❤
Great job Evan, got er done and ready for "MO" batteries. Hope you can get a really good deal worked out so you won't have any problems during the winter gloomy weather. Stay safe and you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Fred.
I see you put the security forklift stand together. Now you can stream the trees around the hay fields safely. Your wonderful wife can drive the tractor.
Boy having a large working space looks so much easier that trying to put the rail system on a smaller roof that's not big enough for both you and the panels at the same time! I'm a details guy, so I really appreciate you taking the time to share all the different aspects of your install. Great job! 14:24 did you miss a few UFO bolts on the bottom row of panels between panels 1/2 and 3/4? I see 2 silver UFO bolts on the other panels but not between those ones.
@@CountryViewSolar-DIYProjects no worries. I think you mentioned it before but I know it's true for me...as much as you plan you always seem to be a couple pieces short...😁. Looks great!
Happy Holidays! Great second channel. Planning on doing solar next year, you have put together a resource for people. Looking forward to that firewood shed build. Haha.
Love your solar videos. I've learned a lot. I've been wanting to start a solar project for a while now. Watching your videos has helped me understand the system more thanks. I hope you and Rebecca have a very merry Christmas
Congratulations on the new array! It's great when everything is fully charged by lunchtime. When my batteries are fully charged I had nothing to do with the excess power so I bought some 500w heaters from Amazon for $10 each and let them run and help heat up the house. Not efficient, but it's power that would be wasted otherwise. Today is the 22nd, so solar wise, it only gets better from here. Merry Christmas to you and Rebecca and all your family. Happy New Year and here's hoping 2025 is even better than 2024.
Great video Evan👏 Inspiring to see you adding more solar.. i will too 👍 To bad one of your tractors isnt battery powered- that would have been brilliant👍 Merry xmas to you both
A self retracting lanyard would be ideal for use on your roof. I think a fixed length that lets you get to the end panels is going to be too long in the center. No point in being tied off if its going to let you fall off anyway. You definitely don't want to be hanging off the side of the workshop.
You may want an extra hookup by the new array for extra safety. also it is better to be hanging off side of the workshop tnen hit the ground. the fire department will take you off but safely.
Hi Evan, I may have missed it but have you tried the series wiring method where the pos and neg end up on the same end of the array? It's all I use now
I noticed that the IMO disconnect wasn't grounded. I wired mine the same way after asking Signature Solar about grounding and they said it wasn't required. Is that because the box is plastic? Nice video.
Here are a few plans 12000XP install. Concrete ballasted ground mount. Solar on farm side of property ( may move EP Cube over there, and redo my setup with the 12Kpv) And lots of testing and playing around with different configurations.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my query. Of all the YT channels I watch, yours is by far the best. Both you and Rebekah have the knack of being yourselves throughout the filming and making your subject "come alive" as you're explaining not only what you are doing but why. I love it. Hope you and your families have a great Christmas and I wish you well for 2025. With every blessing,
Do you get a good seal on that bare wire with the box connector gland nut? Is there any reason to run bare vs normal wire other than ease of use in the ground clamps?
The bare wire is what I had lying around. It is stranded, so doesn't have a great seal. But it is protected by the solar panel, so it shouldn't get hit directly with rain. Not ideal, but should be ok.
Love the vids. One thing I noticed is that the Canadian Solar panels and Tigos have MC4 connectors from different manufacturers which technically is not allowed. I'm planning on replacing all the panel connectors on mine but wondering if you had any thoughts, issues, or warranty concerns.
My understanding that the TC4 connectors on Canadian solar panels are compatible with MC4 connectors. Canadian solar has issued notices in the past that is is fine to connect them together. I am not aware of it being "not allowed". Please link manufacturers page that details this.
Voltage drop is effected by voltage, amperage,wire size and wire length. The voltage is 320VDC, (higher voltage less drop), the max amperage is about 14 amps (less amps less drop), the wire size is 10 gauge (rated for 30 amps, bigger size than required, less drop), the wire length is around 250 feet (longer length more drop). After running it through a voltage drop calculator, it is 2.61% voltage drop. Which is perfectly acceptable.
@@CountryViewSolar-DIYProjects So a 2.61% voltage drop is approx 8.35 volts, at 14 amps that is about 115 watts. It was probably considered okay in the old days when it represented a single (incandescent) light bulb, but in these days of LED lighting and other solid state equipment it's quite a lot.
@@colint I'm sure you know that those 115 watts can't be totally eliminated. He could have bumped up to 8 gauge and cut the calculated loss to 70 watts, but that is based on running at peak output. Based on my research those calculated losses are much less in the real world. At the price of panels these days, it might be more cost effective to add another panel or two, versus getting into some of those thick gauge wires where not only is the cost of wire more (60% in this case), but other associated costs would also go up like larger conduit. But chasing losses might be a moot point anyway if he is able to fully charge his batteries before mid-day in the winter.
I have a video on the rapid shutdown transmitter installation. The shutdown button has 2 sets on contacts. So I contact shuts down the EP cube solar panels. And the other contact shuts down the 6000xp solar panels. So 2 systems with one shutdown button.
@ ok so this disconnect is in-line before it goes over to the 6000XP. Breaking the PV circuit with this essentially cuts off the PLC keep alive signal so the modules shut themselves down.
Been watching for quite a while now, but I have lost track of the total watts of solar you have now with the array that you installed during this video. Total solar wattage?
Once again a first class VIDEO. Hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas.
Thanks for the update. Great job. Now all the RUclips ads for solar. 🤣
Evan, great job on installation of solar panels. I have a lot more gray hair after watching you on the roof! Merry Christmas to you and Rebekah and Happy New Year! 🎄❤
Evan, another great video. You show all the information needed without being repetitive. Merry Christmas.
Great job Evan, got er done and ready for "MO" batteries. Hope you can get a really good deal worked out so you won't have any problems during the winter gloomy weather. Stay safe and you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Fred.
Great video Evan! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I see you put the security forklift stand together. Now you can stream the trees around the hay fields safely. Your wonderful wife can drive the tractor.
That saftey harness hook got a lot of use lol
Boy having a large working space looks so much easier that trying to put the rail system on a smaller roof that's not big enough for both you and the panels at the same time!
I'm a details guy, so I really appreciate you taking the time to share all the different aspects of your install. Great job!
14:24 did you miss a few UFO bolts on the bottom row of panels between panels 1/2 and 3/4? I see 2 silver UFO bolts on the other panels but not between those ones.
Yes I didnt have enough ufo bolts. More arrived the mail yesterday.
@@CountryViewSolar-DIYProjects no worries. I think you mentioned it before but I know it's true for me...as much as you plan you always seem to be a couple pieces short...😁.
Looks great!
Happy Holidays! Great second channel. Planning on doing solar next year, you have put together a resource for people. Looking forward to that firewood shed build. Haha.
Love your solar videos. I've learned a lot. I've been wanting to start a solar project for a while now. Watching your videos has helped me understand the system more thanks. I hope you and Rebecca have a very merry Christmas
Congratulations on the new array! It's great when everything is fully charged by lunchtime. When my batteries are fully charged I had nothing to do with the excess power so I bought some 500w heaters from Amazon for $10 each and let them run and help heat up the house. Not efficient, but it's power that would be wasted otherwise. Today is the 22nd, so solar wise, it only gets better from here. Merry Christmas to you and Rebecca and all your family. Happy New Year and here's hoping 2025 is even better than 2024.
Thank you for your amazing work. Keep it up.
Great video Evan👏
Inspiring to see you adding more solar.. i will too 👍
To bad one of your tractors isnt battery powered- that would have been brilliant👍
Merry xmas to you both
I wish I purchased a home instead of a townhome. I would really have liked to do a solar setup and geek out on it.
A self retracting lanyard would be ideal for use on your roof. I think a fixed length that lets you get to the end panels is going to be too long in the center. No point in being tied off if its going to let you fall off anyway. You definitely don't want to be hanging off the side of the workshop.
You may want an extra hookup by the new array for extra safety. also it is better to be hanging off side of the workshop tnen hit the ground. the fire department will take you off but safely.
@@hmsyushmsyus1194 RUclips, or his channel filter keeps eating my replies. Very annoying.
@@hmsyushmsyus1194 I can't seem to get a reply to stick to this comment no matter how much I tone down the wording.
Thx
Thanks for sharing!
Great job.
Is there a switching system that you could use to have the panels "boost" the other systems once an arrays primary battery bank is charged?
Will you ever install wind turbines for those cloudy days for charging.
Klein makes a nice, relatively inexpensive MC4 Crimper, should you ever need to add more panels to your property.
looks good to me. 👍🏻
Hi Evan, I may have missed it but have you tried the series wiring method where the pos and neg end up on the same end of the array? It's all I use now
I noticed that the IMO disconnect wasn't grounded. I wired mine the same way after asking Signature Solar about grounding and they said it wasn't required. Is that because the box is plastic?
Nice video.
Thanks for the video. Have a great Christmas and all the best for next year. Any ideas for next year's solar project (s)?
Here are a few plans
12000XP install.
Concrete ballasted ground mount.
Solar on farm side of property ( may move EP Cube over there, and redo my setup with the 12Kpv)
And lots of testing and playing around with different configurations.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my query. Of all the YT channels I watch, yours is by far the best. Both you and Rebekah have the knack of being yourselves throughout the filming and making your subject "come alive" as you're explaining not only what you are doing but why. I love it.
Hope you and your families have a great Christmas and I wish you well for 2025.
With every blessing,
do you have a video of the tigo shutdown module on your 6000xp?
Evan, are you planning to put solar panels on your new woodshed?
nice job merry christmas
Evan have you thought about a solar array UTV shed for the new EV side by side?
Need more cowbell! And by cowbell I mean more battery!!!
Evan is your ground wire real copper or aluminum copper clad? If copper shouldn’t you use a anti seize corrosion inhibitor?
I would change the old panels to the new black ones and use the old pan ales on a different smaller project..
I have considered doing that.
Do you get a good seal on that bare wire with the box connector gland nut? Is there any reason to run bare vs normal wire other than ease of use in the ground clamps?
The bare wire is what I had lying around. It is stranded, so doesn't have a great seal. But it is protected by the solar panel, so it shouldn't get hit directly with rain. Not ideal, but should be ok.
😎😎😎
More panels , More batteries, Oops more panels more batteries That system.
Goes on forever ! Lol
Love the vids. One thing I noticed is that the Canadian Solar panels and Tigos have MC4 connectors from different manufacturers which technically is not allowed. I'm planning on replacing all the panel connectors on mine but wondering if you had any thoughts, issues, or warranty concerns.
My understanding that the TC4 connectors on Canadian solar panels are compatible with MC4 connectors. Canadian solar has issued notices in the past that is is fine to connect them together. I am not aware of it being "not allowed". Please link manufacturers page that details this.
Looking at my solar panel data sheet. It says it is compatible with T6, MC4, MC4-EVO2, & MC4-EVO2A.
So it should be fine.
Technically, there's only 1 MC4 connector manufacture (Staubli), anything else is a knockoff.
The new array has a very long DC run to the house - how much voltage drop are you seeing and how many watts lost does that represent?
Voltage drop is effected by voltage, amperage,wire size and wire length. The voltage is 320VDC, (higher voltage less drop), the max amperage is about 14 amps (less amps less drop), the wire size is 10 gauge (rated for 30 amps, bigger size than required, less drop), the wire length is around 250 feet (longer length more drop).
After running it through a voltage drop calculator, it is 2.61% voltage drop. Which is perfectly acceptable.
@@CountryViewSolar-DIYProjects So a 2.61% voltage drop is approx 8.35 volts, at 14 amps that is about 115 watts. It was probably considered okay in the old days when it represented a single (incandescent) light bulb, but in these days of LED lighting and other solid state equipment it's quite a lot.
@@colint I'm sure you know that those 115 watts can't be totally eliminated. He could have bumped up to 8 gauge and cut the calculated loss to 70 watts, but that is based on running at peak output. Based on my research those calculated losses are much less in the real world. At the price of panels these days, it might be more cost effective to add another panel or two, versus getting into some of those thick gauge wires where not only is the cost of wire more (60% in this case), but other associated costs would also go up like larger conduit. But chasing losses might be a moot point anyway if he is able to fully charge his batteries before mid-day in the winter.
How did you integrate this new array into your rapid shutdown transmitter? Do you have a separate one for these going to your 6000XP?
I have a video on the rapid shutdown transmitter installation. The shutdown button has 2 sets on contacts. So I contact shuts down the EP cube solar panels. And the other contact shuts down the 6000xp solar panels. So 2 systems with one shutdown button.
@ ok so this disconnect is in-line before it goes over to the 6000XP. Breaking the PV circuit with this essentially cuts off the PLC keep alive signal so the modules shut themselves down.
Been watching for quite a while now, but I have lost track of the total watts of solar you have now with the array that you installed during this video. Total solar wattage?
18940 watts
@CountryViewSolar-DIYProjects that's awesome 😎
👍👍👍👍👍🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
I like what you do with the solar. But can you do less talking and more showing what you are doing? Thank you