How to Install Harbor Freight Solar Panels Part 1

[4everhdt]

any issues with the pressure treated wood and corrosion?

[econewpower]

@4everhdt No corrosion, no problems with the wood either. This summer and every summer I'll brush some Thompson's water sealer on it and it should last 20 years.

[bind1967]

they are selling 45 watt solar panel kits right now for $149.00 with the coupon code '56854919' at harbor freight

[econewpower]

@bind1967 Thanks for sharing

[bind1967]

@econewpower anytime ... i bought 4 of them to experiement ... trying to learn all I can about the technology before they arrive =)

[pennvloger]

how are you tying them together in the junction box? in parallel or series?

[iLOVENATURE2011]

this is actually a nice brand! =)

[jhs5150]

@econewpower Hey Al, go to my channel and watch my how-to series. I gave you a shout out on Pt.1. Thx. jhs5150

[econewpower]

@jhs5150 Thanks buddy!

[natecanthink]

Its good your using solar power but not so that you have two huge trucks =/

[econewpower]

@natecanthink If you lived in the country you couldn't do without a huge truck either, kind of hard to load sacks of feed and rolls of hay and two a trailer without a big truck. Besides, I don't do the wind and solar power because it is the green thing to do (although that is nice), I do it for preparedness. Kind of like buy a life insurance or home insurance, you do it to be cautious but you may not get your money back.

[dieselplow]

I started with Harbor Freight Solar Also - But regular panels are a better value and work better. I just bought some more - I found the best prices from a company called Solar Penny SolarPenny on the website check them out before you waste money on the HF panels. Give them a call and they will sell you products that will make you want to throw away your harbor panels away.

[bananajoe4u]

hey bubba,,i just bought 2,6 volt golf cart batteries and im going to hook them up in series so i can get 12 volts,,my question is how do u charge them ..what will i need,,charger for 6 volt or 12 volt

[econewpower]

@bananajoe4u If you hook up two 6 volt batteries in series you get 12 volts, naturally use a 12volt battery charger.

[bananajoe4u]

great video,,gracias señor

[econewpower]

@bananajoe4u De nada

[chalkhill714]

THANKS FOR THE GREAT VIDEO.. YOU TAKE THE TIME .. VERY HELPFUL YOUR DESIGN WILL BE ON MY ROOF THIS WEEKEND

[econewpower]

@chalkhill714 Great to hear it helped!

[trancealot]

Thanks for the great video, I've been looking for ideas on how to frame the panels. This is great!

[econewpower]

@trancealot I'm glad it was useful to you

[SeabrightTrading]

Hey, really really really great video. I learned alot!

Thank you for taking your time to produce this!!

[econewpower]

@SeabrightTrading You're welcome, thanks for posting!

[brendavid2009]

i look in to Solar Panels videos and you help big 50% ti

[econewpower]

@brendavid2009 Glad to hear it helped you

[doctroprint]

your videos are fantastic and inspiring, youve done alot. I built my frame as you did. My starter set totals 6 panels, they are all wired to a box in the frame where they come together on connecter bars. Can you please let me know what type of wire I should run from the connecter bars out of the frame and into my controll setup? ( mine are not wired in series).

[econewpower]

@eyewarnedyou Update to previous, the roof panels are 48 inches wide, not 36"...my bad but same question applies...

[econewpower]

@eyewarnedyou The joists are 16 inches apart, the metal roof panels are 36 inch wide with overlapped edges screwed together so....sarcasm begins here....which line of screws would you as an obvious genius choose?...end sarcarsm. ;-)

[kingjameswww]

Thanks for posting, Im going to buy solar panels from Harbor feight

[Htbk27]

Need help don't know how I should wire my panels. I have 2 and when wired in series neg of one to pos of other I get depending on sun 33v 6 a Wich would equal 198 w. Parallel I get 15v 3 a 45 w. What way is better?

[Htbk27]

Need help don't know how I should wire my panels. I have 2 and when wired in series neg of one to pos of other I get depending on sun 33v 6 a Wich would equal 198 w. According to ohms law. Parallel I get 15v 3 a 45 w. What way is better? What are the advantages or disadvantages?

[econewpower]

@Htbk27 It doesn't matter, both give you exactly the same amount of power in watts which is how you need to measure it. Either way you get the same amount of power. Series = 15v per panel X 3 panels =45v X 1 amp per panel =45watts. Parallel = One amp per panel X three panels = 3 amps X 15v for all three panels =45watts. Same thing.

[hunttonasket]

1 panel was 59 buck on sale

[teachingedcetera]

In your video series about hooking up first set of HF panels you said you wire them so they are in series for 24 volt output. What is the purpose of having 24 volts go into the charge controller if you are only using it to charge the batteries? Are you having 24 volts coming out because the batteries are hooked into 12 volt pairs? I guess I am confused about that part.

[econewpower]

@teachingedcetera The battery bank is connected to provide 24 volts so the panels have to go in pairs so that their voltage is above 24 volts in order to charge the batteries. I you ever mesaure the voltage on your car battery with the engine running you will see that it reads between 14-17 volts, that is because the alternator has to make a voltage higher than your battery in order to charge it - same principle applies here.

[sajomuya051312]

hello did you measure the weight of every frame you made?thnx

[econewpower]

@sajomuya051312 I didn't, I just picked them up, threw them on the back on the truck, backed up the truck to the house, jumped on the truck bend, picked up the frame and lifted it so it would rest of the lip of the roof, then I slid it up to the roof. Easy

[aprox23]

Nice video bro

[geminirat60]

if you want unreliable stuff buy harbor freight

[Iseekoutthetruth]

where did you buy the solar panels seperately at and for how much?

[econewpower]

@Iseekoutthetruth the ones in this video are from Harbor Freight, the rest are from Sun Electronics, prices vary

[snowbird29803]

One suggestion is to cut the feed wires shorter to save voltage drop. Irrespective of the series/parallel connection, there's no reason to leave big coils of wire between adjacent panels that are in a permanent configuration. At 12 or 24 volts, the ohmic resistance is worth consideration. The same can be said for choosing as large a gauge of wire as practical from the panel junction box to the controller and batteries, and between batteries. The loss adds up.

[econewpower]

@snowbird29803 My panels are connected four in series so I have 80 volts on the wire, that's why a little excess was not an issue. Thanks

[ABOSOLUTEKNOWLEDGE]

gret video

[econewpower]

@ABOSOLUTEKNOWLEDGE thanks!

[econewpower]

Good idea Serge, I'm glad your project came out well. I like to screw my panels down to the roof because we do get hurricanes where I live. Thanks and God bless you and yours.

[webchez69]

hi there, i took your idea and made a set of 7 panels on my garage roof, however i did not screw into the roof. i used 12 inch square 1.5 inch high pavers to weigh it down and made a counter balance frame on the other side of the roof crest. came out good. and no screwing into the roof. i can send you some pictures if you want.

serge

[Lanny615]

Nice video, thanks , and greetings from sunny Jamaica.

[traphic11y]

great video!! is it ok to parallel connect the 3rd panel from the kit to the first two panels that are stringed???

[Jthetinman]

Does this system ya came up with, does it power your house completely?

[strizification]

Enjoyed your efforts, attention to detail.I have a remote off grid cabin, and want to use these panels to simply recharge two 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries that I use for a 24 volt trolling motor. I have 6 panels, with claimed 90 watt combined output, or about 8 to 9 amps charging power. A few questions:

Should I connect them in series, as you have? Do I need a new charge regulator, or can I run them all through the regulators provided by HF? Would one of the HF regulators suffice?

[econewpower]

@strizification Thanks for the comment! If you're going to keep things simple do this:

Connect one kit through its charge controller to one battery and connect the other kit through its charge controller to the other battery. There is no need to disconnect the batteries from their series connection nor is there a need to connect your panels in series. Good luck with your project!

[careydude]

Nice job! Thanks for sharing

[glivesay1]

I used your system and put together a 540 system. I used a sunforce 50 amp charge controller. bought through lowes (was cheapest price). My system works great. I plan to increase the size soon. Using a 5000 watt inverter running two refrigerators and my well pump. I suppliment with a marine battery charger at night. No wind in the valley I live in. Getting about 35 amps on sunny day.

[econewpower]

@glivesay1 Nice!!! I'm glad the solar is working well for you. Solar is so much easier and hassle free than wind, I'm glad you went that route. Post a video for us when you get a chance so we can see how your project turned out.

God bless you!

[KasinH]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[econewpower]

@KasinH Your welcome, your welcome, your welcome! I'm glad to know it was useful to someone, I hope your future projects come out great!

[fhbritt]

i have two pond pumps each using 3.5 amp and 415 watts they run 24 per day is the 45 watt system enough my email is

[econewpower]

@fhbritt Sadly, it will take about 46 solar kits to do what you want. You might want to look at larger capacity panels as they are cheaper. Right now wholesalesolar is selling the Kaneka 60 watt panels for $59 dollars each - that is a bargain compared to anything else. You can then go to a small battery bank through an Outback Flexmate 60 charge controller and then out to an inverter for your pumps.

Hope that helps, God bless You

[traphic11y]

@econewpower can you share how you came up with this answer (46 solar kits).

[econewpower]

@traphic11y Two pumps each 415w = 830w per hour times 24 hrs = 19,920 watts every day. Sun only shines average of 8 hours a day to make power (including winter) here in TX. So a HF kit = 45w X 8hrs = 360 watts. We need 19,920 wattas so divide by 360watts = 55 kits - actually more if you consider cloudy days, etc. So for something like that bigger panels are better.

[philipx2]

Great setup. Couldn't you have just kept each setup 12v and then combined them to make 24v? Seems to me would have been less wires to mess with. But it is a great setup...

[econewpower]

@philipx2 The wires run almost 45 feet from the panels to the batteries, that means I have to run a pair of 1/0 wires which are very expensive and almost impossible to pull through conduit if I use 12 volts (because at 12V the amps would 35A). Conversely if I use 24v my amps drop to 17.5A and I can use a pair of #8 wire or two pairs of #10 which are cheap and small and easy to pull through conduit. Power loss in the wire at lower voltages is very punishing and expensive.

[econewpower]

@philipx2 12 volts would need each panel to send two wires to connect to the combiner boxes. With two panels in series I only need to run half of the cables to the combiner boxes so it was easier for me. I'm now doing series strings of 5 panels to raise the voltage to 100 volts. That allows me to go 50 feet without dropping any power. Once there I'm dropping the voltage down to charge the 12v batteries through an Outback Flexmate 60 charge controller.

Thanks for the comments and God bless You!

[briandudeathome]

Nice video. I found it to be very informative. Good job and thanks for making this ;-)

[econewpower]

@briandudeathome Thanks Brian, I'm glad it was helpful.

[mediaman59]

Al, the PrestoWind PMAs are great. I have a total of 4 now and am working on the gear reduction setup. God Bless, David

[econewpower]

@mediaman59 Thanks David, I'd love to see your setup and get some different ideas by looking at what you're doing with your grear reduction. God bless David.

[pgm98387]

Thanks for these videos. I'm working on a similar project. You have it figured out to work efficiently. Very nice, informative. why are you leaving those wires from the panels long? Wouldn't it be better to make the wires from the panels as short as possible?

Appreciate your time to show this! Hope you keep posting on your projects!

[econewpower]

@pgm98387 Thanks for the comment, I had a heck of a time a year ago trying to figure it all out so I wanted to share what I've learned to make it easier for others. I'll keep posting until the projects are completed. You are correct, it is better to make the wires as short as possible, I left the wires long on the first frame I made but cut them short on the second set, I will cut them all short on that first set before installing. Thanks!