Solar panels on roofSummer is over, and we’ve wrapped up a bunch of small projects. Between having to set up a backup toilet solution last year and the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the country, we ended up spending a lot of time at the cabin this summer. Among the most important things we took care of:

  • New pipe and certified installation of the incinerating toilet
  • purchased and moved 400 kg of batteries up to the loft
  • installed a solar panel array on the thatched roof
  • Fixed the satellite TV (it was a short circuit)
  • We now have 220V power indoors, which allows us to run the TV and vacuum cleaner without a generator
  • purchased a powerful generator (Honda EU30is) that can be started remotely from indoors

The Solar Panel Project

I thought I’d write a little about the solar panel project, because it’s interesting to others for the simple reason that it supposedly isn’t possible to install panels on a thatched roof—since panels usually have to be secured to the roof with screws. On a thatched roof, you should absolutely avoid screwing anything in, because that would penetrate the layer intended to keep water out.

What I've done is create a version that avoids this by drawing on a principle used in snow guards. Ifirst floated the idea on the Bygge Hytte construction forum, and for the most part, the installation followed the general outline I had drawn up. The differences lie in some details regarding bracing, how the wires were pulled, and the fact that the panels lie flat.

Tilting the panels yielded so little energy over the course of a month—while also increasing the risk that the wind would destroy everything—that the idea was quickly scrapped. I’ve put together a few photos from the project here:

We have now increased the peak power (approx. 1 kW) during charging tenfold, and on the battery side, we now effectively have (at least) six times last year’s capacity thanks to more batteries, better temperatures in the winter, and, not least, more efficient charging from a regulator that doesn’t measure a 0.3 V voltage error :)