Decided to mount the panels on the east side of the house in a little utility area between two fences that has the air conditioning units and the pool pump. The panels will even shade pool pump a bit. Bought two eight foot long pieces of heavy duty aluminum angle iron. Over $100 at the local big box store. More than I wanted to spend but it seemed to be a nice simple solution and an easy material to work with.

Now I need to figure out how to route the wire from the panels into the nearby garage where the controller and battery are. After than I suppose I need a better load. Thinking about a small drink fridge. Also am impressed with the Victron software. Will probably play around with Raspberry Pi support. Not exactly sure what it does but something to play around with.

Its a cloudy day, maybe the first one in months. That’s ok. Made up my own cable with some bulk 10 AWG two conductor wire and connectors. I thought the connectors wouldn’t require crimping, but they do. And you probably need a proper crimping tool to do it right. After botching my first few tries I decided to solder the connectors. My soldering skills aren’t great but these connectors should do.

Put the panels out on the deck, connected the battery and the panels, flipped the switch for the panels and checked the Victron app. A few amps going in to charge the battery. Plugged in the utility light into the inverter as a load and watched the current go negative. It’s a shady day so not getting much out of the panels. But a few tens of watts. Can’t wait to see how they do in bright sun.

i would say if I had it to do over I would buy cables with connectors. Now to figure out how to mount the panels.

My LiFeP04 battery came in a few days ago. I was waiting for some other parts (mostly wire and a crimping tool and some nice copper lugs) to do the first test. I found an old incandescent light in the shed to use for a load. Maybe 50W. 10 AWG wire seems a bit too big for the Victron Controller but I did as best as I could.

Decided to do the first test outside, far from the house, just in case. Test started well but after maybe a minute everything stops. Dang. Got out the volt meter. Battery ok. Nothing feels hot. No smoke or burning smell. Looked at the Victron app. Hmmm. I guess default was 24V. My battery is more like 12V. Not really, but closer than 24V. Also set up for LiFeP04, which is what I am actually using. Flipped the switch and all seems good. Need a bit more wire to connect up the panels. Maybe tomorrow of the next day. Also need mounting hardware. Probably using some aluminum angle iron to attach the two panels to the fence.

Bought a board to mount my solar panel controller. Read that the hardware should be mounted on a fireproof substrate. Wood isn’t fireproof so I bought a 1/16″ aluminum plate to put over the wood. Realized my new inverter isn’t pure sine wave, but I suppose that is ok for my little set up. I also bought the recommended switch which is beefer than I expected. I suppose switching high current solar panels requires such a switch.

Used the wire that came with the inverter to make some connections. Ordered a battery but it’s going to take a week to get here. Will probably use some old incandescent lights for a test load. Still figuring out how and where I’m going to mount the panels. Here’s the hardware:

• Walnut Hollow 1829 Basswood Vintage Plaque, 9 x 13 x 0.75
• Aluminum Sheet Metal 8″ x 12″ x 1/16″(0.06”) Thin Aluminum Plate Flat Stock
• 400W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC
• Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 75V 15 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth)
• DC Miniature Circuit Breaker, 2 Pole 1000V 32 Amp Isolator for Solar PV System, Thermal Magnetic Trip, DIN Rail Mount