New marketing materials

New One-Line Drawing

This will be silkscreened to the horizontal ’shelf’ above the circuit breakers.  

It is a simplified wiring diagram showing only positive conductors  and pre-wired breakers.   Any comments or suggestions?

thanks!

New Image

Check out this new conceptual system diagram that Paul and I came up with yesterday.    The icons will also be used as decals or silkscreened “buttons’ on the SolarNexus panel to illustrate what the circuit breakers are for.     The central logo image is still subject to change, see the poll on this blog to make your choice!     Also, I’d love to hear any comments or questions that anybody has about this conceptual diagram.  Do the arrows make sense?  Thanks!

Introducing the SolarNexus powercenter

A new off-grid electric system integration product from Island Energy Systems LLC.

The SolarNexus powercenter is an AC/DC circuit breaker enclosure and wiring interconnection point for the integration of PV charge controllers, DC to AC power inverters, AC to DC battery chargers, circuit protection, metering and communications hardware in low power battery based renewable energy (RE) electrical systems. The first version of the SolarNexus (v1.0) is designed for off-grid residential, commercial and institutional markets in rural areas worldwide. With the addition of a properly sized photovoltaic (PV) array and deep-cycle battery, the SolarNexus is the central wiring ‘hub’ of a complete off-grid solar electric system.

The SolarNexus combines panel mounted AC and DC rated circuit breakers and surface mounted electronics such as PV charge controllers, DC load controllers and DC-AC power inverters on a hinged door with all exposed wiring terminations safely concealed inside the metallic enclosure. The SolarNexus arrives fully pre-wired with clearly labeled wiring connection points for easy field installation of PV or wind charging, deep-cycle batteries and AC and/or DC load circuits. Round and rectangular knockouts on top and bottom allow for easy connection of conduit and strain relief fittings for attractive, high-quality permanent installations.

The AC output of the SolarNexus v1.0 is 300 Watts continuously at 120V, 60Hz or 230V 50Hz. The first production run of the SolarNexus powercenter will be designed around the Morningstar SureSine300 inverters, but other small inverters could be used. The SureSine300 is the highest quality small sine-wave inverter currently produced. It is ruggedly built and designed for international rural electrification markets. Future versions of the SolarNexus may integrate larger inverters and inverter/chargers for higher power output, but quality higher power powercenters are available from Midnite Solar, Outback Power and other manufacturers so the SolarNexus will likely remain in the low-power niche.

SolarNexus v1.0 can be pre-wired with a variety of PV charge/load controllers up to around 60 Amps of PV power with two 30 Amp or smaller controllers in parallel on their own circuit breakers or a single 60 Amp controller on its own circuit breaker. For DC only and higher power PV arrays the SolarNexus is available with a second 60 Amp PV controller instead of the SureSine300 power inverter.

New panel design prototype

The SolarNexus power center

Check out the newest and best version yet of the SolarNexus.   I’m calling it SolarNexus 1.0, because it is the first version that we’re going to take into production.

The CNC controlled laser cutter over at K&K Industries does a really nice job, all the mounting holes and knockouts are perfect.   This panel will be a hinged door (with sides) that swings out from the back mounting panel with attached top and bottom.  Input and output wiring will go through conduit knockouts and strain relief bushings on the top, bottom and back panels.   Notice the 3 extra breaker knockouts that can be removed from the front panel for the addition of a second PV charge controller.     This version has mounting holes for Morningstar SunSaver, SunLight, ProStar, and TriStar PV charge controllers alongside the SureSine 300 sine-wave inverter.  Behind the inverter there are also mounting holes and 1″ conduit knockouts for wiring pass-thru bushings to mount two Tristar controllers side by side in place of the inverter.

Introducing the SolarNexus

The SolarNexus is a new off-grid electrical system product from Island Energy Systems.  The SolarNexus is an AC/DC  power center and wiring interconnection point for the various elements of a low-power off-grid electrical system. The SolarNexus is designed to facilitate easy installation of high quality, low power, standalone renewable energy systems for independent electrical solutions worldwide, including indoor and outdoor lighting, wireless communications, computers, entertainment, battery charging and many other applications.

The story of how the SolarNexus came to be really begins during my time as manager and lead installer for Rainshadow Solar, Inc. between 2002 and 2008. In addition to being the solar electric installation contractor for San Juan County, Rainshadow is a wholesale distributor of DC rated circuit breakers to the solar electric industry. That is a part of the business that the owner, John Mottl, started in the mid-90´s when Trace Engineering in Arlington, WA was making the first high power inverters for off-grid home power systems and there was a need for specialty DC breakers in the newly emerging solar electric industry. John went to the manufacturer and set up Rainshadow as the wholesale distributor of Heinemann (later Airpax, now Sensata) circuit breakers to the solar industry.

While I was at Rainshadow I spent a lot of time with these breakers. We would recieve purchase orders and ship breakers all over the country. The problem is, however, there are limited options for breaker boxes or enclosures in which to install these breakers. Trace (now Xantrex) had the DC 250 disconnect box, then Outback came along and started selling their PSDC and PS2DC boxes, which were a marked improvement over the old Trace box. Then a few years ago Robin Gudgell, the guy who had designed all of the above mentioned enclosures, started Midnite Solar and is now selling a variety of circuit breaker enclosures for different battery based electric system needs.

In about 2003 I started to use the breakers off the shelf at Rainshadow to build custom small integrated power centers for my low power off-grid customers. It was a fun design challenge as much as anything and I would drill, cut and nibble holes in steel or plastic boxes to mount PV array combiner breakers, array disconnects, controller, load and small inverter breakers. A few of those boxes got inspected by state inspectors, they never liked the fact that my boxes were not UL listed but they also never made me replace them once they understood the situation and that the individual breakers and boxes were all UL listed. It is up to the individual inspector how they want to interpret the National Electric Code, and UL listing is optional.

So in the fall of 2007 ,when I realized that I was going to need to start my own company I decided to pursue my ideas for pre-wired powercenters. In addition to the DC breakers I see the need for a product that includes fully pre-wired electronics such as PV charge controllers and inverters in a low-power ‘plug and play’ power center.

I started building prototypes:

This is the first pre-wired AC/DC powercenter that I built. I called it the ‘Desert Island’ box because it would be a good thing to use if you were to be stranded on deserted island and happened to have a CD player and a few disks to listen to. It also has no means of AC charger input, because on a desert island you would not have gas for the generator. This one is in service at an off-grid home on Shaw Island.

Here is a bent aluminum panel with a panel mount BZ Products MPPT 250 charge controller and a Magnum MM600 inverter/charger. I called this one the ‘Outer Island’ powercenter, because its still off-grid, but you’ll need gas for the generator. This one is still in my shop.

This is a Desert Island box I built for my friend Mason Huffine who took it to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

In December I came up with a new name for my pre-wired power centers. I wanted to use something different than ‘power center’ to describe my boxes because that term is too generic and does not really explain the role of these boxes as the central interconnection point of a complete system. Thus the “SolarNexus” was born. The word NEXUS means “a connection point, or center, of a system”. I think this a great name for my products because it describes them well. They are not ’systems’ on their own, but they are a central connection point, or nexus, of a system that includes charging sources (PV, wind, microhydro, AC generators or grid), battery storage and loads.

I have also started referring to Midnite Solar E-Panels and Outback Flexware pre-wired AC/DC panels as “nexus” (nexuses?) also. Who knows, maybe we can coin a new term to describe that element of an off-grid system.

Here is the latest version of the SolarNexus. I had this one fabricated by a shop in Bellingham that has CNC laser cutting equipment and nice sheet metal tools so it is the most clean and professional looking prototype yet. Still on the list for future improvements before production will be a pictoral diagram label to explain what all the breakers are doing and molded plastic covers to provide weatherproofing and protection from the elements, and eventually hopefully UL or ETL listing.

I’m going to start out trying to sell these to emerging markets in the developing world. Thats where there are still millions of people without access to electricity, and UL listing is not a requirement for entry into the market. My prototype pictured above is now installed at the office of Solar Aid Tanzania.    You can read my blog posting about off-grid PV in Africa here.