New member introductions (READ THIS FIRST)

[LeighC]

Hi - My name is Leigh Caldwell, I'm from Victoria in Australia & work in the maintenance side of the mining industry
I have a grid connect 2kW / SB2500 Sunnyboy system on my house & a 750W / MX60 /12v system on a motorhome.
I am very interested in the Classic & other products for future projects.
I enjoy the wealth of knowledge that you guys provide.

Cheers
Leigh   

[mvrck]

My name is Maverick and I live in a Solar Homestead™ in central Texas.

I enjoy building lots of different types of systems and specialize in Off-Grid and unusual designs.

Thanks

Maverick

[DavidN]

Sorry I didn't read this first...

I work at a newer RE company based in CT - PurePoint Energy.  We've done off-grid (my first system was on a mountain top in Haiti) but mostly net metering.  I've been in the electrical/electronics world for 25 years or so and am exploring this field.  We're having a lot of fun with this and have many very happy clients.  Our systems are getting better all the time and our approach is always to do what's right for the long term stability and maintainability of these systems.  Unfortunately I see installs from "trunk slammers" all the time that are not so good.  One of my goals is to help the industry move from hobby equipment to safe and professional equipment.

We live in a very competitive marketplace and we're never the "cheapest".

Safety does matter.

[gpgridtie]

Hi All,

I'm Bob1, old fart and solar Bozo for 24+ years.  Lived off grid for 10 years or so and the off grid place is now our weekend cabin. I live on and maintain a three acre organic orchard in southern Oregon with about 100 mature fruit and nut trees.  Great to be on Midnite's forum!

Bob1

[SOLENTRICS]

Hi everyone
My name is Richard and located in Timmins, Ontario Canada where winter is -40F and summer is +95F

[yellowgate]

I am Greg, living in Statesville, TN.  Haven't been grid-connected for a few years, just squeaking by on a couple of old telecom batteries, couple of panels and an inverter from Tractor Supply.  I bought a nice system a few years back, but life has gotten in the way of installing it until now. I wish I had kept better notes from back then....

My components are: MidNite combiner box (MNPV6 ?) and an E-Panel (of course!) along with a MS4024, ME-RC, ME-GS and a Tri-Metric. Oh, also a battery salvaged from a 24V forklift (I forget the AH rate but it weighs a bit over 1100#)  and 16 62 watt panels.  I am beginning assembly of all this and have a few questions I'll post in the appropriate sections.

Good morning,
Greg

[niel]

greg,
fyi, if you had gotten that battery at the same time as the other items and failed to keep the charge up on it, i'm afraid it may not be any good now.

[Top_Down]

Hi, I'm Bob.

I am going to install an off-grid system on some property I have in northeast New Mexico.  During the Spring, Summer, and Fall we park our travel trailer there and enjoy the cool, quiet mountain environment.  The solar installation will be permanent on the property rather than mounted on the trailer.  The AC from the system will feed a power pedestal much like an RV campground.  I will also have a DC connection for the 12 volt side of things in the trailer.

[data_engine]

Hello all! I'm Mark and I have an off-grid cabin in WV. I have a 7kw diesel generator but want to branch out into wind and solar.

[offgridnut]

My name is Robert.  I have lived off grid in North Idaho for ten years.  I am an Electrical Contractor and work in WA, ID, MT.  I specialize in off grid installations but have recently done 4 grid tie with batt. back up.
I have been fortunate enough to have worked with wind, solar and hydro installations.  We have 6 "phantom loads" ages 15 to 1 1/2.  I have encountered a lot of homeowner installations that were 90% correct but that remaining 10% really made it miserable to live with.  I focus on education thus empowering the customer with the rudimentary knowledge to assess the problem and I can often help them over the phone.  I have worked with almost every make and model of equipment out there.  We have 8 Mitsub. 130's and 6 REC 210's and a Bergey XL1 on a 105' climbable tower.
I am passionate about this work and love to help people gain independence.

[liu fang]

hello everybody, im liu fang from Neware co. ltd (battery test systems manufacturer) in china.. Want to learn more here : )

[ron45]

Hi Ron here been off grid in New Mexico for 28 years in a passive active adobe. There is a radiant floor system and a 2 kw pv system outlined in the sig. area. Want to say right off I absolutely love the deco influence to be seen everywhere around the home page. The software metering app is something I wasn't even aware of. Got a Classic 200 volt controller bought initially because of the Darth /Deco look. I also needed a higher voltage controller but that's beside the point.

Also I loved how Robin USED to answer the phone when I called. Seems those days might be gone tho I don't call that often these days since the Classics shipped. If he still does that sometimes...... it's a rare thing in the biddniss world. How do I get the software for the meters? Got a mac version? PV people already think different. The mac platform and Midnight seem like a no brainer to me. Hope to get to know some of you over time.

Ron

[Halfcrazy]

Ron
Glad to meet you. Rest assured you can still talk to Robin if needed. He is 1 of about 5 of us that answer the phones and is available for the important stuff.

[Bear]

Hi, my name is Kenton

I'm a Brit living in Southern Spain, totally off grid for 8 years now. We live inside a National Park where we grow olives to make olive oil and natural skincare products. Running a mixture of solar and wind with diesel genny backup. System is built around Outback controllers with a Bornay turbine providing the wind. I was introduced to this site by Nigel at Prism Solar in Tarragona, Northern Spain. I am very interested in the possiblitiy of using a Midnite controller to manage my turbine. Bornay make good turbines but astonishingly bad controllers (I have had about 12 controller failures in 7 years, the latest being yesterday). Bornay are the world's worst company for customer service and I have jus about had it with them. So any advice would be very welcome.

cheers

[Westbranch]

Hi Kenton, I trust you have read the very detailed post in the "CLIPPER" section.  More there than one can absorb in one go.  I think you may find an answer there to your issue...

cheers
Eric