Monday, October 30, 2017

Beautiful symmetry

Got them modules mounted!  Feast your eyes on 1890 Watts of Sanyo HiT, with three more solar modules still to add as an awning.
Though I've known that it's hip to be square since 1986, the symmetrically square edges are conflicting with those shiny round rims peeking out from below the big skirts.  So, should I cut square wheel wells (actually, it would be rectangles in a perfect symmetrical echo of the sidewall), do I set the french curve to work and add some shiny aluminum fender flares, or do I simply make a top-hinged access door to allow wheel maintenance?  Such a dilemma!  Comments are welcomed.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Solarize that blank slate!

Hitting a milestone of sorts, as this is the 101st entry on the Karmann Eclectric blog.  I'm mounting one solar module at a time as weather windows and free time allow.  Nine salvaged Sanyo 210 HiT panels will provide near complete coverage, with just a 6" margin at each edge, and the last three in this maker's dozen are planned to hang down against the low wall while on the road, but hinge up at the appropriate angle and lock in place when parked.  I haven't figured out the details of that mechanism yet, and those three will wait until after final paint, wiring, road testing, etc..  The initial nine panels will pump up to 1890 Watts into the the old Outback PS-1 on/off-grid inverter with battery backup, providing put to 3000 Watts of pure sine wave power, rain or shine.  As discussed previously, the PS-1 was the TESLA Powerwall of 2006, an overbuilt collection of Outback's best components integrated into a single box that maximizes the solar charging of a 48V battery pack of pretty much any capacity, pumps surplus solar power into the grid when safely connected and the batteries are fully charged (or charges the batteries from the grid when the sun don't shine, if so set), and also automatically disconnects from the grid and provides up to 3000 Watts to backed up loads during a grid outage (or road trip).

Monday, October 09, 2017

That wasn't white- this is white!

Except for a couple of corner details, the standing seam roofing job is complete.  Thanks go out to Haley and Justin at Metal Roof Specialties for converting my primitive plans into a professional and affordable roof kit.  Now the body is really screaming for some color, given that reflective galvanized roof over flat white primer...