Best learning sources for system design and NEC ?

Solarbaby

Hi everyone, I was looking for a good book, handbook, web site or secret klingon telepatic transmission device to get solid knowledge about wiring, breakers, and best installation practices in general. So far my efforts brought nothing extraordinary in my net.

I think my electrical ignorance is not too abysmal, I know just enough to realize that there is a lot more to learn.

Thank you in advance for any cue in the direction of my technical and scientific enlightment.

Jordan from Québec, a really cold french speaking province in Canada.

6x265 watts Canadian solar poly panels, Morningstar 60 amp mppt, 4 6V Rolls batteries S-605, cheap 12V 3000 watts inverter (wish to change soon), 187 feet deep well, water at 34 feet (no pump yet). Freezer modified into a refrigerator. Wood and propane stove, solar cloth dryer (cloth line). We've been living with this solar system installed in our school bus for 2 summers and will be ready to move in the house this year, so I wish to make a better permanent installation.

List of the other dilemmas I have to solve :

- Wich type of water pump ?

- System voltage ?

- Off grid or hybrid inverter (cheaper $/watts)  ?

- Small inverter plus big one in sleep mode for bigger loads ?

Estragon

When setting up my system, I found this site to be a pretty good resource. As well as current contributors, going back through older threads offers some quite useful practical advise from folks who have been there and done that in real world applications. No Klingons AFAIK, but there may be a Vulcan or two.

If you're in a hilly part of Quebec, you may want to consider an uphill cistern for water. This would allow for slow pumping of water when solar is available, which avoids relatively inefficient use of battery storage. Water pumping sounds like it will be a big part of your overall loads, so I'd suggest getting that sorted before making any other design decisions on inverter etc. Will septic be gravity fed?

If you end up with a large-ish well pump, system voltage of 24 or 48v will make sense to support large surge current.

I do a small(12v) + large(stacked 48v) inverter combination, which works well for me, but is more complicated. It's arguably better and certainly easier to just add a bit of extra pv to cover tare losses on a single larger inverter.

As a general proposition, I'd limit inverter choices to the major brands (Outback, Schneider, etc.) sold by our hosts. Some people have had good luck with cheaper stuff, but I personally wouldn't risk it. In any case, knowing what water pumping needs are will be important in the choice.

mcgivor

Solarbaby said:

Hi everyone, I was looking for a good book, handbook, web site or secret klingon telepatic transmission device to get solid knowledge about wiring, breakers, and best installation practices in general. So far my efforts brought nothing extraordinary in my net.

I think my electrical ignorance is not too abysmal, I know just enough to realize that there is a lot more to learn.

Thank you in advance for any cue in the direction of my technical and scientific enlightment.

Jordan from Québec, a really cold french speaking province in Canada.

6x265 watts Canadian solar poly panels, Morningstar 60 amp mppt, 4 6V Rolls batteries S-605, cheap 12V 3000 watts inverter (wish to change soon), 187 feet deep well, water at 34 feet (no pump yet). Freezer modified into a refrigerator. Wood and propane stove, solar cloth dryer (cloth line). We've been living with this solar system installed in our school bus for 2 summers and will be ready to move in the house this year, so I wish to make a better permanent installation.

List of the other dilemmas I have to solve :

- Wich type of water pump ?

- System voltage ?

- Off grid or hybrid inverter (cheaper $/watts)  ?

- Small inverter plus big one in sleep mode for bigger loads ?

Go to the top of this page, click on store, click on learning center, there you will find a wealth of information, the code applicable to Canada is not the NEC, by the way, CSA publishes the code book for Canada, if you can get your hands on a CSA code handbook which explains rules, rationale and intent, this would be extremely helpful, more in layman's terms, rather than the legal, notwithstanding clauses rules, found in the regular code book.

Dave Angelini

The electrical and frankly all of the Home Depot books on plumbing,  hvac, ... are all very decent for a beginner. They also show modern components on the shelves in the biggest of big box stores. 

BB.

In the forum Working FAQ, some reading suggestions:

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/comment/99323#Comment_99323

-Bill

mike95490

Klingons are not telepathic, so that option is out.  Vulkans use the Mind Meld, but humans seldom survive that.

littleharbor2

Solar Electricity International is a good online source for people serious about getting into the industry. They have hands on training too, which is great if you are in Colorado. Courses offered start with Solar 101 and run the gambit of off grid and grid direct design as well as other aspects of renewable energy systems concluding with NABCEP testing preparation should you chose to go that far.