Based in Groningen, The Netherlands

[Jordi]

Hello guys, just wanted to introduce myself by saying that I live in Groningen (area) in the north of the Netherlands and that If people in the area are keen on meeting for workshop events (assemble things together and make tests) I would be happy to organize that. Other locations in the Netherlands might also be doable.

I am a solar hobbyist trying to make small steps towards integration of solar energy and batteries in city environments where there is no space for big solar panels and where small set ups could feed a few low consumption devices (TV, led lights, modem, charging gadgets,...).

 

[svetz]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[tappah]

hey im from Groningen city ( stad ) lets meet up? . im designing a tiny house in the stadspark. and i am starting to desgin a energy system

 

[Jordi]

I send you a private message then. Sounds good!

 

[fostar82]

Hi Jordy and Tappah, I'm from Groningen as well and just registered. Did you guys meet up yet?

 

[ArthurEld]

Welcome Jordi, Tappah and foster82. I worked at Fokker for 6 months and I stayed in Bergin Op Zoom.
That's not really close to you but I miss the Netherlands.
Good luck with your solar and battery projects.

 

[fostar82]

Thnx Arthur. Bergen op Zoom, a place near the beach right?
But Palm Harbor, Florida not too shabby

 

[ArthurEld]

I lived in Bergen op Zoom town center. It was a pleasant stay.
My wife and I are enjoying our retirement home in Palm Harbor

 

[fostar82]

I've looked it up on the map. I've been there, in the marina. My uncle has a sailing yacht in the nearby harbor of Yerseke.
What did you like so much about The Netherlands?

 

[ArthurEld]

I've looked it up on the map. I've been there, in the marina. My uncle has a sailing yacht in the nearby harbor of Yerseke.
What did you like so much about The Netherlands?

It reminded me of being in a fairy tale. I don't know if that makes sense to you but it is the way I felt.
The cobble stone village centers with the church. We don't have that here.

 

[fostar82]

Ahh, I think I can relate to that. We have more really old towns, with lots of history. The city of Groningen has a really old city centre aswell, with the oldest university of The Netherlands.

 

[tappah]

Hey, we have planned a meeting next weekend, maybe you can join. if Jordi agrees.

 

[Jordi]

Agreed for sure. Happy that it turns into a group of people!

 

[rin67630]

Hello guys, just wanted to introduce myself by saying that I live in Groningen ... where small set ups could feed a few low consumption devices (TV, led lights, modem, charging gadgets,...).

I live in Essen Germany. We have approx the same climate.
I have a good year of experience on small solar installations in an urban environment.
Do not expect too much from an urban solar panel in our latitudes.
You will probably have to deal with building shades as well.
In fall/winter times, a 100W panel and a 100Ah solar battery will not give you enough power to feed a 6W router without outages.

 

[Jordi]

I live in Essen Germany. We have approx the same climate.
I have a good year of experience on small solar installations in an urban environment.
Do not expect too much from an urban solar panel in our latitudes.
You will probably have to deal with building shades as well.
In fall/winter times, a 100W panel and a 100Ah solar battery will not give you enough power to feed a 6W router without outages.

Thanks rin for the comment! With the first model I have built (20Ah 18650 battery) I can already see what you mention. Fully charging takes ages while discharging at 50W happens in a couple hours. I do it for the fun also, so that part is well fulfilled.

 

[DJSmiley]

I'll follow this Nice to see some more fellow Dutch people joining here, and DIY-ing with energy storage.

For me, it's a only on a small scale ( 12V 280Ah in a campervan) but I'm curious to see bigger setups, seem to be not so common yet in NL / western Europe (And I think a tiny house will be a nice challenge, but with the current pricing and stuff available, it should possible to archive this)
In other countries, there are more rural locations which can run completely offgrid, so I know there is (and also on this forum) a huge knowledge of bigger capacity banks, load sharing and charging options.

(And ultimately combining this with a small energy grid connection to share with multiple houses to slowly charge, and use Lithium / EV to shave peak loads, and assist during periods with less sun)

See eg the ongoing developments with V2G, and for example the upcoming Sono Sion)

 

[fostar82]

Hi DJSmiley, nice to see you here. I follow your build thread on the camperforum. I am about to build a 280Ah 12V battery for our campervan aswell.
What BMS are you using? I searched the forum for a comparison but did not find much. I'm looking into the Daly BMS.

 

[DJSmiley]

I've just finished top-balancing my cells and started building the frame, will do a capacity test this weekend I think.

For the BMS, I'm using the LTT power ( lithiumbatterypcb.com ) from AliExpress: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32858179124.html
I have the 120A version. This BMS is sold under various brand names, here on the forum its mainly known as the OverkillSolar BMS (They also have an extensive manual, much better than any Chinese seller)

Haven't wired it fully up, but I'm going to run my inverter directly from the cells, bypassing the BMS (Don't want to stress a BMS with full load, I'd like to stay <50% of its rated capacity). I'm only using a small relay in series with the inverter switch, so if the BMS shuts down, it still is able to switch off my converter as well (Relay in series with the power switch of the inverter)

At the moment of ordering, the Daly Smart BMS was just released, so not so many experiences. I also liked the options the OverkillSolar BMS had to offer regarding customizing settings, and it was (much) cheaper, so I went for that one.

 

[rin67630]

Thanks rin for the comment! With the first model I have built (20Ah 18650 battery) I can already see what you mention. Fully charging takes ages while discharging at 50W happens in a couple hours. I do it for the fun also, so that part is well fulfilled.

Yes, the first thing that we learned from starting with solar off-grid, is the huge difference it makes compared to traditional grid tied.
With grid tied, you just don't care, feed everything you have into the grid...
Off-grid, you permanently have either too much energy in the summer, the batteries are fully charged at 12 o'clock, the charger begin clipping and you don't know what to do with the excess energy.
During the winter, you run the 200Ah battery dry after 36 hours and have nothing to recharge...

 

[fostar82]

For the BMS, I'm using the LTT power ( lithiumbatterypcb.com ) from AliExpress: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32858179124.html
I have the 120A version.

Haven't wired it fully up, but I'm going to run my inverter directly from the cells, bypassing the BMS (Don't want to stress a BMS with full load, I'd like to stay <50% of its rated capacity). I'm only using a small relay in series with the inverter switch, so if the BMS shuts down, it still is able to switch off my converter as well (Relay in series with the power switch of the inverter)

Interesting, but will that protect the battery against overcurrent? If the inverter is bypassing the BMS, it will not be able to measure the load from the inverter and will not shut off right?