# Solar maintenance



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I have read where one of the downfalls of solar is all the maintenance so,,,,,,,,,,,,

I would like to talk about solar maintenance. To start with what Maintenance? I finished my system of 
1750 watts years ago and it just sits there charging the batteries. I have never had to clean a connection
or fix anything. The panels are just about self cleaning keeping snow off in the winter and I have never 
scrubbed them the summer. My maintenance consist of checking and sometimes adding some distilled
water to the batteries that are lead acid type once a month. (about half of my batteries are jell type)
And just it works,, It lights every room in the house pumps all the water and runs 
some small stuff like tv and computer. and in the summer months when there is lots of sun it runs
the refrigerator. That's about all I would ask of a set up this small. 
I run 3 charge controllers one of them is a ebay cheapo and have never had a problem. 
Note: it also runs my outside security lights. 

So how is maintenance so time consuming?


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## soyer38301 (Jul 27, 2017)

It's not if it setup correctly to begin with. It sounds like yours is 

My wind system initial setup was not, but ended up ok in the end.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

The only maintenance I do is checking the battery water levels once a month and doing an equalizing charge every 4 weeks or so.


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## SGT E (Feb 25, 2015)

4 years of solar panels and never touched them...batteries trickle charge for an hour every morning then charge controller's shut off. Water in batteries get checked every 3 months and only needs a little water every 6. Distilled water only!


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## Gunn (Jan 1, 2016)

Alright guys point me in the right direction. I have one year to figure this solar stuff out. We bought the property, it has great sun exposure but I know exactly squat. The bride wants off grid when I retire. Where do I start?


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## Michael_Js (Dec 4, 2013)

If you're not using an inverter off the battery, and running a device (water pump) straight off the battery, how do you ensure that your battery is not going below the recommended level of charge? Say, it's not charging because it's night time, but the pump is running?

Thank you,
Michael J.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Gunn said:


> Alright guys point me in the right direction. I have one year to figure this solar stuff out. We bought the property, it has great sun exposure but I know exactly squat. The bride wants off grid when I retire. Where do I start?


Gunn

Start here;

https://www.backwoodssolar.com/

I've done some research and have a semi-plan in place but so far I have not ventured into the Solar Power world other than a couple of portable charging panels.

Good luck.


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

Outback Power makes some serious good inverters. Expensive too. You can buy software to configure them to do a lot of different things. They can be programmed to stop discharging your batteries when they get to a certain point (that you program in) and then start a generator, switch to grid, etc. Check out their web site and read up on their stuff and it will show you just what can be done.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

Michael_Js said:


> If you're not using an inverter off the battery, and running a device (water pump) straight off the battery, how do you ensure that your battery is not going below the recommended level of charge? Say, it's not charging because it's night time, but the pump is running?
> 
> Thank you,
> Michael J.


 I'm running 12 volt rv on demand pumps with a accumulator they come on about every 10 gallons 
I'm running them straight off the battery. I have a light in the kitchen that
comes on to let me know when the pump is running. I shut the pumps off when I leave the house
You can hear them running at night if it's quiet


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## edprof (Aug 13, 2016)

For panels that are not affected by pine pollen during the springtime, it sounds like your maintenance is right on. I do the same kinds of things with our 6000 watt system.


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## Elvis (Jun 22, 2018)

I have 3 solar systems, one powers my home. One runs a circuit in my shop and another a solar circuit in my barn. In addition I use some small 15 watt panels to charge my battery packs occasionally just to test my preps. Everything from a 7000 watt whole home system to a few small 15 watt panels hooked to AA battery chargers occasionally.

Through trial, error, and research over the last 8 years I've learned the difference between just topping the water off occasionally and carefully maintaining with specific gravity readings the lead acid batteries for maximum lifespan. AGM and Gel batteries cost more and have different charging parameters than traditional lead acid batteries but tend to have shorter lifespans.
Yep, If you just add water monthly you'll get several years from a set of expensive batteries. But instead of those batteries lasting 8 years you'll be replacing those expensive batteries after 3-5 years.

This is a prepper site and we want our preps to last many years. Putting together a crap battery set with mixed batteries that we don't carefully maintain will not only add cost to our preps but shorten their life.

As the days get longer and shorter through the year I've learned to adjust the charging parameters based on specific gravity meter readings. I've lost some batteries in less than 4 years because I didn't charge them properly; sometimes overcharging, sometimes undercharging them. If you're spending $1500+ on a battery bank isn't it worth spending a few hours learning how to properly wire and care for them?


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