Solar Installation Notes
Weathermatic SOLAR Installation Notes:
- Use a 2-inch diameter galvanized metal pole for mounting the solar panels. The mounting pole must be 12 feet (minimum) in length.
- Mounting pole depth below grade through the concrete pad must be a minimum of 24 inches.
- Pour the concrete pad for the mounting pole with a sweeping conduit elbow for solar panel wires. 1¼” or larger conduit through the pad is required. Align the conduit to come up from the bottom of the solar panel mounting pole so that the panel wires can be fed through the inside of the mounting pole.
- Reinforce the concrete pad for the mounting pole with ½ in. diameter rebar wired together in a grid. See installation instructions.
- WARNING: Use only Weathermatic approved GEL Cell type batteries. Use of wet cell or Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries is not authorized and will cause damage to the batteries, charge controller and irrigation controller.
- Mount solar panels (per the manufacturer’s instructions) to the mounting pole with the lower solar panel at least 8′ above ground with hardware included.
- Solar panels MUST be oriented at 30 degrees using a compass and facing due south (for customers in the Northern Hemisphere).
- Cap the top of the mounting pole with a galvanized cap to prevent water from collecting inside the pole.
- Once installation is complete, verify the current diagnostics on the remote meter display to check for correct input and solar charging. Under sunny skies the reading should be 17VDC or greater.