Recent content by aaron_c

@efficientPV thank you, that is very helpful! Actually, I think the most useful bit may be the chart I found in the paper where your center image came from: So if I understand this correctly, with the panels hooked up directly (without charge controller/battery/inverter) to a resistance...

Part II: Here's where I may go off the rails even more. If I hooked a solar panel up directly to heating elements--no charge controller, no battery, no nothing--then the resistance I chose would impact the current. And the current would, in turn, impact the voltage and, thought the IV curve...

Thanks @Quattrohead and @Bobert OK, so if I'm understanding yall correctly--and I hope this isn't gibberish--the issue is that increasing the resistance of the solar panel's circuit, which is necessary to use that power, changes the...current?...put out by the panel. And the change in current...

Huh. I thought that the maximum power point of the panels was kind of in-built. In other words....I thought the panels put out what they put out. They're set to put out a certain voltage but that voltage is, in practice, modified by the temperature of the panel. And the maximum power point...

I'm wondering about hooking up a PV panel directly to a water heating element. I'm 99.9% sure that this is a dumb idea and I've been told that it will often be inefficient, however I'd like to understand why that is. PV and Direct Heating Of Hot Water I've seen some folks talk about using...

Maybe I'm using the wrong word. So let me back up and ask: What is the advantage of getting the DCC add-on? Because my existing plan doesn't have a "relay delay time board" that I know of. Unless it's built into some other piece of hardware? Is this something that I need? Here's my...

One final thing: @Steve_S I'm looking at the chargery store and I see the options for the DCC um, add-on I guess. I found your thread on the topic but some of it is still greek to me. But I gather that it's good to have because it protects from surge currents? Does that mean I don't need a...

OK, thanks yall. So I guess I'll go without an active balancer for now and then see if I need something further down the line. This is my first build, and I think the simpler the better. And I'll watch the cells as time goes on. Good way to learn!

OK, so I'm sure this conversation has been had before but...I just watched the Prowse Video where he says "don't use an active balancer" unless and then he lists a few situations where it might matter, including if the cells are mismatched (because you didn't buy the highest grade of cells) and...

Thanks Steve, I guess I'll ask Jason about the Balance Charger. Hopefully he'll get back more quickly than he did last time (it took a month)!

@Steve_S I know it's been a bit--been dealing with getting booted out of the campground I was going to spend winter in because of a lockdown--but now I'm back to the project, and I've got a follow up question: Any reason not to use the Chargery 5008B Balance Charger instead of the QNBBM active...

For now. She may add solar later.

Interesting. Any idea why it did that? And other than "being quick about it" is there a way to avoid this? Like, I don't know, using a disconnect switch?

I've got a friend whose van/trailer build I'm helping with. She wants to hook her battery bank up to a Sterling Power DC-to-DC charger thing (so it's powered off the van's alternator). However the catch is that in the winter, the trailer will be heated but not the van (unless she's driving it...

I have actually never done this one and kind of want to now.