Solar Install 2/3 - SMA Sunny Boy and Wiring

SMA Sunny Boy Grid Tie Inverter is now installed :-)

Today, after Roland Garros tournament - no parking available in my nearby and non stop bad weather, my contractor came to finish - almost - the Solar installation started in october 2012

First, we had to make some room in the kitchen cabinets for the inverter and the solar junction box/sub panel 

Here they come, in the morning sunshine, start unloading and bringing up their stuff 

Recently changed utility meter and old - but very sturdy - main AC breaker

Solar junction box / sub panel before install: Some lightning fuses on the floor will be added later in a larger panel which will accomodate them along with my outlet for the ESS 

A lot of stuff on the dining room floor: DC, AC cables, connectors, tools, etc

Access is clear now after unscrewing the groceries racks

A close look at the SMA Sunny Boy 3000 waiting in the corridor, apparently a used unit from the few scratches on the enclosure, but in mint condition inside (again this inverter should be there only for a little while waiting for their "home made" special inverter

Beautiful German quality unit 

Holding bracket screwed in the cabinet
Some 20mm holes for the hot air exhaust on top of the inverter, which is naturally air cooled - no fan - 

4mm2 Solar Cables: Red for Positive, Black for Negative ...

Solar DC cables are pushed from the appartment, up to the attic, to end up on the roof

32kg SunnyBoy is now mounted on its heavy duty thick metal bracket

Junction box / Sub panel is mounted right underneath, accessible at human height

Close up: they added a 220V outlet I provided to plug in my ESS directly: from left to right: Differential AC circuit breaker, outlet, DC circuit breaker - for solar DC cables - 

So it all fits nicely in this rather narrow cabinet, where the consumer panel is, next to the fridge

Damaged MC4 connectors: At my request they replaced all the MC3 connectors on the Uni-Solar PVL panels with MC4, the new standard, this is a lot of crimping on the roof, and my contractor could not finish everything in one long morning
But he promises to come back to finish very soon ... 

:

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DIY ESS - Variable Fan Speed with PWM & Thermistor

This morning, I am experimenting and trying to find a simple solution to make the ESS Fan accelerate when the temperature in the Metal Cabinet is rising and slow down when it is back to an acceptable value

As you already know, the fan is controlled by a PWM kit that I soldered 2 weeks ago and I can adjust its speed using the PWM kit potentiometer; That is already a good step, but I would like to make it better

In the Arduino starter kit I got a year ago, there was a Thermistor and I used it between the negative and the variable output pin of the potentiometer: It looks like it is working, and you can see the pictures and video where I increase or decrease the fan speed using an ice pack and a soldering iron to make the Thermistor resistance change based on the temperature changes

Thermistor temperature

Ice pack temperature

Soldering iron temperature

Cooling the Thermistor after heating it up

Fan speed changes ...

EVTV Friday Show - June 7, 2013

- Speedster Nippon Delivered
- Electric Karmann Ghia first inspection
- Electric Smart Car of 2010 revisited with new drive train
- CALB CA60FI Sale for 2 weeks at 75 USD instead of 89 USD with Nordlock washers, M6 Bolts, and Braided Straps, if you buy 100 of them

News

Elon Musk's emotional speech @ Tesla Shareholders' Meeting

The Speedster Nippon leaves Cape Girardeau for Japan

Karmann Ghia inspection, and gas engine test before removal

Anne Kloppenborg updates us on his massive bottom balancing 

Jack's daughter's Smart car is going to receive an Electric Drive Train from Turn-e.de in Germany - unboxing -

Special Deal for 2 weeks:

CALB CA60FI Sale at 75 USD instead of 89 USD with Nordlock washers, M6 Bolts, and Braided Straps, if you buy 100 of them