Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasCamper
Nicely done! I'm impressed with your mounted panels.
Now how many hours went into your project?
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A lot more than it should have. Just think of all the time that it will save the next guy.....
Procurement takes a lot of time. eBay is a big help with that.
Experimenting with different brackets and finding out that the panels had to go a good distance back on the roof took a lot of time. Fiddling with the wiring probably took longer than it should have.
I think that if someone reads this thread and learns from my experiments/mistakes
, it could be a one day project (after procuring all the stuff).
Speaking of which.......using these terminals on the 10G wire will save a lot of time:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
These are the connectors that come on most solar panels. If you use them on your wiring, you can disconnect the panels separately and save yourself a lot of grief. The wire that runs from the controller to the roof needs to end on the roof and a "Y" need to be soldered together to connect the panels after mounting them.
I also wish that I would have used 10/2 flat marine grade wire:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10-2-...ssoriesQ5fGear
You'll need 25'.
The round wire is a little bulky. It's OK, the flat would just be better.
My mounting brackets were cut from a 36" piece of 4" entry door sill plate ($14). It's hardened aluminum, it's easy to cut & drill and very strong. The female brackets on the roof are just 1" wide flat aluminum stock ($4) that I bent in a vise. I attached everything with 3/16" pop rivets and sealed the brackets to the roof with silicone sealer.