So the time had come it was the new year and time to get the free sun power hooked up.
Oh not to have to make the decision, food or drinks.... you know, one or the other when you only have a small camp fridge and the weather is in the high 30's. Eat something out of the fridge so we can put in some water. Oh how we miss cold drinks.......
Well it all seems to good to be true, unpacked all the solar gear, go through the stuff, look on line and go through all the stuff again and well you guessed it half the order was missing, who are these people who pack orders for shipping, it's ridiculous. Now Andrew's calling the company and trying to work out what's missing as there is no sheet listing what items were sent there isn't even a guide as to how it all goes together. Well there is quite a lot missing and you guessed it too big of a package to go to the PO Box so another trip to Sydney when the missing items are sent.
Back home again and we think we are all set but no, still missing some of the battery connectors and still no instructions.
We feel like this is a bad joke.....
With enough to connect up 4 of the batteries we arranged for our very good friend and neighbour Geert who is a wiz at pretty much every thing, to come and give Andrew a hand to put the solar into working gear.
Geert remind's me of my Dad, Dad could do anything he put his mind to and if it was something new to him he would work it out. His favourite thing to say was "its easy" and it was for him and he would share and help out any one who asked and even when they didn't ask he was there to lend a hand.
A couple of days before Andrew built the frame and added the solar panels, everything was ready to go.
There was no way this baby was going on the roof it weighed a tone, it took four of us to move it a few feet into place.
Friday morning rolled around and it was Hot real Hot, Geert was here bright and early and they got started.
We had already put the board up on the wall in the cabin and it was ready to go.
First up the earth wire was staked into the ground and wires were run.
The trench was dug from the battery house to the solar panels, the wires were put into piping and buried.
Everything was going great, the batteries were joined and the panels were hooked together.
Turned it on and the sun did its job and there was power going to the batteries it was Awesome.
Two weeks later Geert was here again and they hooked up the other 4 batteries.
The small camp fridge is now our freezer until we have a kitchen house and somewhere for the big freezer to go.
Now it feels like our home in the country is taking shape.
It is so good being able to store more fresh foods and that means heaps less trips to town.
Oh the Country Life........
Our system is
8x 48V 220 AH Flooded Deep Cycle Batteries
4x Risen 250W Polycrystaline Panels
$6,256.00
Later on we may add 4 more panels but for now it does what we need.
Happy Adventures
Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl
Linked here
A lot of drama, I'm sure you could have done without. Thank goodness for helping hands though.
ReplyDeleteMy one concern about being so close to the ground, would be frost damaging the panels. We have neighbours down the street who didn't put the panels on their shed house, but on the ground instead. Though they had it on a small stand to raise it off the ground. Just wondering, if there's a strategy behind it?
Nice work to get the electricity connected though. I'm sure if you had to pay someone to do it all for you, it would have cost closer to the $10k mark.
had not thought about frost, will have to look into it as we get a lot of it over winter.
ReplyDeletethey didnt go on the roof as they were way to heavy.
Quite an impressive job. Sad to hear about all of the problems getting your supplies. But the finish project looks very professional. Congrats on your new electricity.
ReplyDeleteWill the termites eventually get to that timber frame? A steel frame may have been more permanent? Just thinking about the weight of those panels. Where was my invite to el Jannah?
ReplyDelete