Solar Upgrades...., and a blown up generator! Options

[Caveman]

Signed a contract to upgrade our solar last Saturday, and our old Generac Guardian 16kw gave up and ate its rotor and stator, so it was replaced by another Guardian 14kw
genset on Tuesday. Guardian Gensets are designed as back-up generators for homes when the power grid fails. For non-grid homes (like mine), they back up the solar
power during the night (and low sun days) - that is, when the batteries are drawn down to a certain voltage, the system turns on the generator to bring them back up full.
This should not happen very often, but as my current system is now under-sized, it runs every day. A few years ago, something went wrong with the old genset (a rat made
a nest in the generation unit), and I had it repaired then. It blew a board, and the contacts on the rotor were greased up with rat fat, which caused arcing. This probably led
to the current failure. The new genset is critter-proofed by fine (1/8") screening from the factory. The old one was protected by 1/4" screening (obviously not fine enough).

On to the Solar Upgrade:
The upgrades - 3900kw of SunPower E-20 solar panels on a Wattsun Tracker, upgrading Outback inverters to 48v from 24, adding 12 more Trojan L16RE-2v batteries (old
ones are less than 4 months old), 1000w Bergey wind turbine on a 60' supported tower.

Ideally, an off-grid home should be equipped with 150w of solar per battery. We don't come any where close to that currently. Plus our current panels are old, and not at
peak efficiency (we are getting around 700w out of 1025w, on a very good day). Things you learn as you go along.... Neither my wife nor I are minimalists either, and we
have 3 parrots that need to be kept warm. Plus, our horse waterer has a bowl and pipe heater to keep it from freezing. Add a refrigerator, well pump, pressure pump,
microwave, TV, phones, satellite dvr receiver, dvd player, etc., and you will see that our requirements far exceed what we have now. We have things on timers to reduce
load, but it doesn't reduce it enough. Hence the upgrades to the system. Plus we have added an outbuilding that must be heated (kept at 55F until it is in use), and a
sunroom (where the birds are kept) heated by a pellet stove and kept at 65F during the night. Our upgraded system will better handle the load, plus added insulation to the
sunroom floor framing this spring will help. Until then - no lights on during the day, TV use kept to a minimum, power the well pump only when the generator is on, etc., etc.,
etc. At least I am here full time now, so when something goes wrong, fails, or starts to fail, I usually catch it quickly and can try to remedy it before it causes a big hit to the
bank. However, The genset failed catastrophically, so there was no way to have caught it early - there was no sign other than the occasional blown fuse - when replaced, the
genset acted normally, and all readings were good with no alarms. Even had it looked at twice, and the techs could not find any problems. Then, no start and a VERY strong
burnt windings odor. ARRRRGGGH. Even caused a 120v feedback alarm on the B/U inverter. Fortunately, that was cleared with a complete system reset. It was a very bad
day - but STILL way better than Peyton's! I actually felt sorry for him.

[Caveman]

Oh, man. That would work for us on a part time use camp! You guys are Tough! Have you thought about solar hot water? My grandparents had that for
supplemental heat back in VA and it worked pretty well, but I don't know much about it, or how difficult it is to install, weatherproof, etc. I do know it has to be protected to
keep it from freezing.

I had one of those gensets. 5500w pull start Coleman that was deafening loud, and I had to heat it with the truck exhaust to start it in winter. De-rated to a little more than
4Kw here at altitude, and as it was old, (and abused) probably less than that. VERY fun at -30F! That's why we bought the Generac, and oversized it for our requirements.

We are keeping the old panels to go with the new - gives us a total of 5900w - but we have to find some replacement panels as it appears that we have at least 2 that are
bad. Sorry about that. Have you tried Craig's List, or checked with a Solar distributer/installer for used ones? Craig's List is hit or miss on whether the panels are good, but
a distributer/installer will only sell good ones.

Storage Capacity is key - especially for small systems like yours. Your batteries must be in the same year (that is, installed within a year of the other batteries on the system)
and matched (AGM, Gell cell, true wet cell sealed, unsealed, etc.) and the same ratings, or you will have problems. (Batteries that die quickly, overheat, catch fire, melt, or
explode). Ideally, all batteries must be purchased at the same time (or at least within a year of the original), be the same maker, and be the same size/rating/capacity. This
can be expensive, but, ideally, your batteries should last 8 to 10 years. That is, if you do not fully discharge them. This shortens their life by half - each time it happens!
(Fully Discharged = <60% capacity, and less than rated voltage). Deep cycling is ok - as long as the batteries are built to handle it (ie - deep cycle, and marine starting
batteries), but still, this can be done only so many times (check with manufacturer). Deep cycle = 30% discharged each time. Our old batteries lasted 10 years - a very long
time considering we abused them! Horribly! And they were still holding voltage, but the charge to discharged time was greatly reduced.

Are you on a 12v or 24v system? I am guessing 12v, which means that you guys (based on the sized of your system) are truly operating in the spirit of the pioneers! Way
tougher than this old caveman. I like modern conveniences! I'd be lost without them. Still, I'm envious - I wish I had that sort of "can do" you guys do!