Recent content by 50ShadesOfDirt

WAG, but ... Get a stable power supply (smps wall wart) and power the RPi (or whomever's PI) through that. With that power in effect, maybe not as much grief from power trying to come in over USB, and RPi not liking that (not booting). Adding more shields and such, and replacing SD with SSD...

Using the bolded sentence in OP, a search reveals that this sentence is in lots of other co-op agreements. That, to me, makes it feel more like a protection for the co-op, as in, we provided service to your property at great expense to ourselves (and you through the setup fees), so don't go...

For the micro-community of TinyHomes, I would ensure each tiny home (TH) has its own off-grid system; fully independent, capable of running just that (TH) household. Their battery-bank is sized to support just their household for design period (3-days or more). As the group of TH's are near...

All my solar gear *is* in a separate utility building, an intentional design from the start, for various colorado reasons. Been on LFP for 3+ years now, and FLA for years before that, and there are no problems. Pre-wired Magnum 4024, 4x 12v300ah battery-bank ... this stuff is rock-solid. Don't...

Any US store-bought solar generator has a number of compliance marks, so it would take digging to figure out which marks each one has; Goal Zero, other big names. It's an appliance ... My comments aren't meant to imply U/L 1741 (inverters hard-wired, AHJ & such), but it does mean that a...

Rule #0 might be to find out what the apartment rules & restrictions are, as you seem to be a tenant. As quietly as you can, find out what the owners/managers think about such things. If your solar gear burns down the apartment, or the entire block of apartments, things could get iffy in a...

Also keep in mind your cycle depth choice ... while every battery vendor says "our battery can go down to .00001 percent of remaining capacity"**, it's perhaps wise to think about your choice, say, 90% depth of discharge, and try to get within 10% of full. That's about 80% per cycle, and a cycle...

I, too, would apply new design principles to your "existing" (built by someone else) situation: 1. reduce, and the good news here is that much reduction has been done for you (propane, wood heat, solar gain, etc ... all good stuff); only thing left to discover is what your family can do...

I bought into LiTime batteries ... had no problems buying vs building, trading money for time & labor. While sealed, batteries are well-packed, clean & simple, and installed in minutes. SOK has batteries that you can open up and repair, but for more money. So, with LiTime, Chins, etc., you'll...

I couldn't imagine using a 30aH battery in a system, even though it's a 48v model ... the smallest I'd go is 48v100aH. Not sure why you'd want a 30ah battery (one at $700?), but it would take lots of calculations to see if it would serve your needs, and, that 30ah battery is probably...

That's diy ... nice!

One approach ... Get a 24v 3000w or larger AIO inverter, or a 48v 6000w or larger inverter, and an appropriate battery-bank for each: - 24v MPP 3000w (off-grid model) inverter, 2x 12v300ah (LiTime) LiFePO4 batteries in series for 24v, or 2x 24vXXXah batteries in parallel - or, 48v 6000w...

Another way to approach this is to install an off-grid friendly "expandable" system, in these phases: 1. reduce your loads where possible, as power saved at this stage makes the rest of the system work better. Turn off internet at night (simple power switch or power strip, in front of all...

Coming at it from a slightly different angle ... everything in your house is always on ... Wall-warts and various other SMPS power supplies, electronic devices that never really sleep, usb charging stations to keep all your phones & usb things topped off ... fridges, freezers, coffee pots and...

I think the answer is "warranties" ... no waiting around needed if you've done the research, and avoided the: - "90-day" to "6-month" garbage - "we love our product, and think you will too (but it still only has a 1-year warranty)" - "10 generations later, we think we've got it right, so we're...