Bought a freakin’ solar kit
Thought it’d really be a hit
Catch the sun rays from the sky
Found out different tell you why
First you have to wire it right
Clamp them hard and do it tight
If you don’t they break in two
When you strike them with your shoe
Get it all set up and goin’
Plug it in and nothin’s showin’
Check it all with a volt meter
Skip a wire and you’re a cheater
And when you still don’t get power
Throw a wrench go take a shower
Next day when you’re at it still
Find out your controller’s ill
Then redo it put together
Hope that rain’s not in the weather
Find out that your cable’s wrong
Wow this’ now taking too long
All I want is my TV
Tools all over skinned my knee
Cables came redid them all
Will my power come on at all
No of course not that’s too easy
Batteries fried and I’m uneasy
Check the RV for the problem
Breakers sockets test all of ’em
Turns out that we’ll be just fine
Only use it at night time
What to do now what is next
Send the comp’ny email text
Hit the troubleshooting checklist
At the bottom and now I’m pissed
What the fuck did I do wrong
That I can’t turn my lights on
Feel so mad like I’ve been jerked
Bought a gas gen cause it works!
Stories From Off The Grid. 
Carpenters will tell you, “measure twice, cut once”, something similar can be said about solar.
Something similar… but I don’t know what it could be.
Be strong! Its learning time.
You can do this.
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Thank you Kenneth. Not giving up but this journey has led to the discovery by ourselves of some real bullshit things going on with inverters, batteries, charge controllers, etc. in the industry. These issues are the HUGE pink elephant in the room and I can’t fathom that these problems haven’t been addressed widespread.
Let’s talk about batteries in general. Not solar specific but they should be built with a reserve that CANNOT be accessed that will prevent damage. No one can tell me this can’t be done. I think it’s about money, myself. Why sell a gallon of milk that if you drink more than half, the last half automatically spoils and you have to go buy another?
As for the controllers, I read an article yesterday that states charge controllers only control the DC load low voltage cutoff because the inverter takes care of the AC overload. Bullshit. Inverters (unless you shell out a mint for a programmable one) are preset to cut off the batteries at 10.5 volts which is already dead! The reason they are set so low, from my understanding, is so they don’t trip and turn off when too heavy a spike in consumptions is applied initially. No one has come up with a built in fix for that? Come on. Next thing, your 600.00 battery bank is ruined by repeated over discharge. That’s what happened to ours but the batteries are only ruined enough to not be able to be exchanged because they still test good when they aren’t.
And why do the charge controllers misleadingly refer to “load” in only one aspect; the DC load which is SECONDARY to the whole system? It’s for if you want to run your DC porch light or something off the system; It should be referred to as the “DC load” on the charge controller so you don’t mistakingly think that you’re managing your REAL load; the AC system which is PRIMARY. The AC system should be fully manageable from the charge controller also and should be referred to as “the AC load” to prevent confusion. It’s purely stupid not to do this!
I signed up for a solar forum last night and am awaiting approval. When I am I’m going to start of with a major rant about this in the threads so I can get a feel for how the public feels about this.
If I had a solar product manufacturing company, my setup would be as described above and I would make mint.
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I’ve actually done some thinking about the amount of energy getting to the batteries. It’s the “slow” time of year. The sun came out for the first time in a while yesterday and completely charged the batteries. It made a huge difference and that’s why I’m thinking this is probably what an average system would expectedly put out at this time of year.
We’ve used the system all night and into the morning and the sun is out again and it’s charging well. In the summer, we can expect a LOT more power and we’ll see the system work like we want it to. Very optimistic now.
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Yes, that’s true.
It’s one reason why panel placement is critical. My understanding is the angle might need to change to allow more sunlight to hit the panel in the winter as opposed to summer. Also some panels (with older technology) won’t function as well – if at all, if any part of the panel is shaded or covered in dust or snow. So keeping the panels functioning the best is improved by keeping them clean. Good air flow between them is important as an overheating panel is bad. There is a tolerable heat range for solar panels (should be listed in the specifications) – – but I don’t see a real issue there during the winter months.
Having a “back-up” generator will help on snow/rainy days as well.
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