Kris Harbour’s timber-frame 8.4kWp PV ground mount

[Oldgreybeard]

@Oldgreybeard

I understand that, have installed a couple of Sunny Boy systems in the past, but they are very definitely not cheap, or even affordable in the context of this chaps installation, I suspect. This is very much a budget installation, made up from a hodge podge of second hand panels, charge controllers, etc, none of it was new AFAICS, and it's sort of grown organically as he's been able to find cheap/free stuff

Is that so ? The panels he bought new , and the charge controllers are top of the range models and i would not think one can get them second hand easy , so i assume they are new too .

AC coupling is not automatically more expensive as the Grid tie inverters are easy to source second hand and does not need to be from SMA , same for Off- grid inverters that can deal with that idea too

AC coupling for a guy like him and his workshop , has several benefits, as the AC power from the panels during the day ads on to the offgrid Inverter power rating , so if one has a say 4 kw Off grid inverter and the sun delivers 4 kw through the GTI on has then about 8 kw of AC power available

@ All some decent Studer of grid inverters that can do AC-coupling and Grid tie inverters Panels and other stuff one can find here .

https://www.secondsol.com/en/handelspla ... 02a6db.htm

His system started as a real hodge podge of second hand stuff, nothing was new or well matched. Not sure why there is so much critical comment of someone working very hard to build a life for themselves with a pretty low impact on our planet, TBH, I thought that this was something we all had in common here, as was the case for our last online home. Seems I was mistaken, and only "Rolls Royce" solutions are now acceptable. Shame that millions of us do not have the budget for very expensive stuff like Sunny Boy kit, good as it is. This is his PV upgrade video that shows what he started with, and was using to run everything before he earned enough, from sheer hard work, to do the upgrade in the video at the start of this thread:

[openspaceman]

He's interesting and has achieved lots but most of all he has gained a niche as a youtube celebrity and much of his recent acquisitions will be funded by the few thousand pounds he earns from that a month, good for him as far as I am concerned. Youtube content like this entertains me far more than telly.

[Oldgreybeard]

He's interesting and has achieved lots but most of all he has gained a niche as a youtube celebrity and much of his recent acquisitions will be funded by the few thousand pounds he earns from that a month, good for him as far as I am concerned. Youtube content like this entertains me far more than telly.

Exactly my view. I first watched his videos around 5 or 6 years ago when he was still living in a tent and building the roundhouse to live in. He wasn't making anything much from YouTube then and was doing everything on a shoe string. It's only in the last year that he's started making money from his YouTube channel, I think it all started with one video he made (that I linked to earlier in this thread) that instead of just getting a few thousand views somehow managed to get well over 9 million views.

Since then all his videos have seen a big upsurge in views, probably because some who saw the video that went viral went back and watched a lot of the earlier videos going back to 2015. It seems to me that, unlike a lot of YouTube channels he didn't set out to make loads of money, it just so happens that he's naturally good at presenting and documenting the work he's doing, plus he's clearly someone that is doing most of the work on his own, with no hidden production team of army of people doing work behind the scenes.

The thing that appeals to me is that he's prepared to get stuck in and tackle anything that he needs to do. Part of that comes from him not having any money or resources for years, so he either did stuff himself or it didn't get done, part of it seems to be his view that anyone can learn to do something well if they are prepared to try it and work hard. The world would be a better place if more people were as self-reliant as him and didn't just hold their hands out with demands or blame everyone else for their own circumstances.

[Mr Gus]

He's interesting and has achieved lots but most of all he has gained a niche as a youtube celebrity and much of his recent acquisitions will be funded by the few thousand pounds he earns from that a month, good for him as far as I am concerned. Youtube content like this entertains me far more than telly.

+1 now i've found him, more views = more kit I guess, hard one to knock, & far more practical than flamethrowers & star wars land speeders elswhere on youtube.

How many times on terrestial have you had the promise of a green project that is nothin more than a hard hat wearing nodding dog bbc presenter doing a fashionable "history walk" explanation of the project with bugger all actual content for your time? ..we get a bit more than that here, if he is finding cheap-er kit (presumably lowest price, not scratching for the mega deal on a bid system) then there are still savings to be had (potentially) ..he sin't spending 3 years getting best rock bottom price for something he will film & earn on, that's impossible judging by ebay auction experience madness.

[Joeboy]

Had a moment to spare this morning and watched the first half of the video. Up to and including the hydroturbine. Really enjoy the lads style. Will watch the rest tomorrow AM.

[billi]

@Oldgreybeard

I understand that, have installed a couple of Sunny Boy systems in the past, but they are very definitely not cheap, or even affordable in the context of this chaps installation, I suspect. This is very much a budget installation, made up from a hodge podge of second hand panels, charge controllers, etc, none of it was new AFAICS, and it's sort of grown organically as he's been able to find cheap/free stuff

Is that so ? The panels he bought new , and the charge controllers are top of the range models and i would not think one can get them second hand easy , so i assume they are new too .

AC coupling is not automatically more expensive as the Grid tie inverters are easy to source second hand and does not need to be from SMA , same for Off- grid inverters that can deal with that idea too

AC coupling for a guy like him and his workshop , has several benefits, as the AC power from the panels during the day ads on to the offgrid Inverter power rating , so if one has a say 4 kw Off grid inverter and the sun delivers 4 kw through the GTI on has then about 8 kw of AC power available

@ All some decent Studer of grid inverters that can do AC-coupling and Grid tie inverters Panels and other stuff one can find here .

https://www.secondsol.com/en/handelspla ... 02a6db.htm

His system started as a real hodge podge of second hand stuff, nothing was new or well matched. Not sure why there is so much critical comment of someone working very hard to build a life for themselves with a pretty low impact on our planet, TBH, I thought that this was something we all had in common here, as was the case for our last online home. Seems I was mistaken, and only "Rolls Royce" solutions are now acceptable. Shame that millions of us do not have the budget for very expensive stuff like Sunny Boy kit, good as it is. This is his PV upgrade video that shows what he started with, and was using to run everything before he earned enough, from sheer hard work, to do the upgrade in the video at the start of this thread:

No doubt that Kris is a Genius and i watched many clips , especially the hydro one was reminding me of my struggles of 350 meters 4 inch piping and cabeling through brambles and gorse in Ireland , and that nicer part of it to sit in a digger to dig a 100 kWh Battery storrage in form of a Lake


No critics there , but again , i would not built a PV mounting frame in that way and your point is misplaced to point him out as a "hero" for others as an example ! nearly nnoone on that planet could afford his workshop and 5 weeks of time , to install that .

So do excuse , that i do not take that Vid as a "poor genius" example installation , as you portrait it , cause it is not !

[Joeboy]

That's me subscribed, i'll watch the bandsaw build next, i like the look of that and the freedom it must bring. 1,000T quarried stone for the track and 2,500 trees planted.

[Oldgreybeard]

No critics there , but again , i would not built a PV mounting frame in that way and your point is misplaced to point him out as a "hero" for others as an example !

I have no problem with fair criticism of any post's content but I do strongly object to being accused of writing stuff that I have not. You are stating that I have written things about him, like "hero" that are completely false - you made them up and are pretending that they are views I hold when they are not. He's just someone that seems to be working hard to live life in the way he wants to and isn't afraid of hard work to get what he wants, as so many people today seem to be, and I think that's an admirable quality.

As for criticism of the size of timber he's used, my neighbour is grateful that whoever built the roof of his house around 250 years ago had the same approach, as the massive timbers have held up well for generations and withstand all that the weather can throw at it, unlike many newer houses that have timbers that are too small to last more than a few decades. That seems to me to be a good thing and an approach I was taught when working as a boatbuilder many years ago. If you have free timber, then why not make something stronger than needed so you are unlikely to need to repair or replace it for decades?

nearly nnoone on that planet could afford his workshop and 5 weeks of time , to install that .

Just to be clear, he spent three years building that new , big workshop and only completed it earlier this year. The photos below are of the "workshop" he has used to build everything from his microhydro system to his wind turbine and stuff for his house and it does not look very grand to me:

Shed 1.jpg (86.77 KiB) Viewed 1961 times

Shed 2.jpg (60.08 KiB) Viewed 1961 times

He has been able to afford to buy the kit in his new workshop solely because one of his videos went viral last year and earned him an unexpected windfall from YouTube -he explained this not long after it happened as he was as shocked by it as anyone else and it wasn't something he planned. His microhydro design and installation business is now bringing him an income, too, from what he's been saying (and from one video of a customer's installation), as he's apologised a few times for not being able to get time to make so many videos because of that.

I don't think he's a rich man, though. He still drives a 25 year old van that he does all the maintenance and repair work on, for example, it seems that tools are the only things he really spends money on (I can sympathise with that, I have a weak spot when it comes to to justifying the cost of tools!).

So do excuse , that i do not take that Vid as a "poor genius" example installation , as you portrait it , cause it is not !

Once more you are trying to make out that I have written and posted words that I haven't. Criticism is fine, making up things about me is not. I don't consider him to be a "genius", poor or otherwise. He is clearly someone that has the drive and determination to learn new skills and work hard to achieve what he wants out of life. Compare that workshop shed he built back in 2017 with the workshop he completed earlier this year - it's very clear that the skills he now possesses are massively greater than they were when he started out.

[billi]

billi wrote: ↑Wed Jul 13, 2022 5:44 am
nearly nnoone on that planet could afford his workshop and 5 weeks of time , to install that .

I meant 5 weeks for building that PV array , portait in the vid of the first post

[SafetyThird]

I've been watching Chris's videos since he was living in a tent. He's done an amazing job building his homestead through sheer bloody hard work in a difficult environment, I was the solar frame and thought it was rather overbuilt but it needs to be hefty and he built it using material from his land and skills he had learned along the way. Makes sense to me to use what you have and what you know. His home is beautiful and I really enjoy his videos with a mix of admiration and a bit of envy