Major battery shed update.

Back in August of last year I posted about getting the 20' container set down on the new 6" reinforced concrete pad.  That was a major milestone but we have come a long way since then.  Keep in mind this is just working on things 1 day a week with a locally sourced crew of 2, 3 and at times 4 people.

After getting this where we wanted it, I hung the Sunny Island inverters.  They are capable of producing 12kW of 240VAC power indefinitely and will surge to 16kW for a short period of time if needed.  The furring strips go all the way to the floor and thus they transfer the weight to the floor.  The strips were held in place by 3/8" diameter lag bolts, 5 per furring strip.  Each Sunny Island straddles 2 of the furring strips.  I put these up not only because I wanted them out of my closet in the house but also because I wanted to test out the furring strip idea. It worked well enough that I used it for the batteries as well.

We then got to work on the outside.  First step was to remove 3 of the 4 original door handles and then paint the entire container with ceramic heat reflecting paint.  What a JOY spraying this thick paint right out of the 5 gallon container with my trusty Harbor Freight high pressure spray outfit.  It was just too easy, and it got all of the cracks and crevices nicely as well.  Clean up with water was easy.

I had seen people using this ceramic paint on YouTube and they showed that it made a dramatic difference.  I was convinced that it would make a difference so I bought it before leaving Texas and then imported it with my household goods.  But I really wasn't prepared for just how well it works.  Even in the direct sunlight the container remains at ambient temperature inside after it was painted.  Before it was painted, forget it. It would be 20-30 degrees F hotter inside. 

We then installed exterior furring strips on ever y other "land" of the metal skin so that we could attach Hardie plank in ship lap style.

Before adding the ship lap I installed R6 insulation foam board as shown.  That's because I want the option of air conditioning the interior at some point.

I say "I this" and "I that" but it was me and my local crew -  great bunch of hard working guys that were the real muscle on this job.  Here you can see the ship lap has been started and we were also working on the roof.  This only needed a few degrees of slant for water run off.  I don't want anything up in the wind for when hurricanes threaten.

But then after we were well into the project I decided that I really wanted a full 30 solar panels up there and so I changed the design and extended the roof so that it would be 18' x 40'.

Again, my workers put in long days in order to make progress.  Yes, I know this is all pretty basic construction but that does not mean it is quick or easy.  Also, not one nail was used on this job because here in the hurricane zone I wanted the maximum fastener strength and for this, screws outperform nails.  So every fastener here is a nut and bolt or a #10 deck screw.

Next we put on the truss 2x4 perimeter cap and then the 6" fascia board followed by the 5/8 CDX plywood sheathing.

It's a good feeling to have the roof on...

...but an even better feeling to have the peel and stick underlayment installed.  This will keep the rain from damaging the plywood roof sheathing.

There is still a lot to do and I do not expect first power to come out until probably end of June 2023 because of vacation, work related travel, etc.  But we should have off grid solar working for us into the teeth of the humid Freeport summer.