To my not-so-happy surprise, the temperature outside here in rural, northeastern Pennsylvania, has fallen to 6°F on its way down to a forecast of THREE. But I'm headed for trouble with my new solar system batteries . . .
As of 8:45 PM EST, the batteries system show their temperature at 30.2° F. When they get to 28, it becomes an issue. When it gets to 24, they go into COLD TEMPERATURE PROTECT and won't run.
I still have grid power. If that goes down, I still have a generator, and fuel for it. So I'm not desperate by any measure, but this was an unexpected eventuality. I'm going to have to make some changes to the new cement block shed where the solar gear and its battery rack are installed, to insulate it from the intense cold.
Learn something new everyday . . . .
UPDATE 10:42 PM EST--
The temperature outside has now dropped to three degrees (3°F)
Earlier, I went outside and cut two chunks of R-30 insulation and stuck them in the block-sized vent holes in the front and rear wall that I left there for vent fans - figuring they might be needed in summer. I have now tightly closed those holes in the front and rear walls. Maybe that will slow the cold?
Tomorrow, I will go to a local Home Depot-type store to get board insulation (Styrofaom???) for the interior walls. Maybe only an R-2 value, but better than nothing.
UPDATE 11:51 AM MONDAY --
It got down to Minus 3 degrees here in Pennsylvania last night. When I woke up, my solar batteries were in Cold Temperature Alert mode showing an internal battery temperature of 26.4 degrees.
I went out and put fiberglass insulation into the holes that we intentionally left along the front and back roof line for ventilation. The cement roof was intentionally poured onto corrugated metal sheets. Those corrugations provided a natural hole beneath each few inches for air flow. Great for summer, big mistake for winter. It just got too cold last night.
Once the insulation was placed in the corrugated venting, I had a friend with a kerosene super blower heater bring it over and fire it up. Within a very short time, the air temp in the shed reached 70. GREAT! . . . . . . .UH OH . . . . . maybe not so great.
The ceiling started to get condensation on it. Hot air meets cold metal surface . . . condensation. Then, drip. Drip. UH OH . . . . the ceiling is starting to almost rain. Drip Drip Drip - all over the place. NOT GOOD for my Inverters and chargers!
Had to turn down the heater to 50 so that it would heat the room, but not too much, so when the now warm temp hit the metal roof, the moisture would not drip, but would rather evaporate.
As I type this update at 11:57 AM EST, the battery rack internal battery temperature is up to 35.7 degrees. Back to fully functional.
I'm going to have to insulate that building, but all the gear is mounted to the cement block because fire code will not allow it to be mounted on any flammable surface. So maybe I wrap the entire outside of the shed in rigid foam board? The roof, too. That's only R-2 thermal value, but I think that would have made all the difference yesterday and overnight.
I also unboxed one of the new Kerosene heaters I bought down in New Jersey last year, but never opened. Poured the kerosene in and waiting for the wick to get saturated before lighting.
I suspect that will do the trick. It uses about two gallons over eight hours or so - at least that's what I recall. So I figure that may take care of the immediate needs without having to try to wrap the building in this cold weather.
Arrrggghhhhhhhh. This whole solar power thing is not endearing itself to me. Not at all.
