Recent content by bladetoyshop

Well, I guess it's time for a status update. I fired up the system on February 2nd of 2022. Other than a minor issue with the BMS I ended up getting, the system has been working very well. I will be upgrading it to 10-15 kW of solar power for my house and garage.

Yes, I'm aware that the official plugins are cloud based. I also know that there are at least two different servers; one for Asia and one for the US, and there may well also be one for the EU. I'm looking more at ease of integration than having local control, at least for the time being. I have...

I think the combiner box is probably where the two strings will become one; at least that how I would do it. However, I will be putting in a separate disconnect switch inside the building next to where the solar power connects to the charge controller/inverter.

Yes, I know there are unofficial add-ons for Home Assistant that support the MPP Solar all in one units, but there is an Official Integration for the Growatt brand units I decided to go with.

Two main reasons; lower cost and native support in Home Assistant.

Revised my installation plans; I've decided to go with the Growatt SPF 5000 ES and a SolarEdge Midpoint Transformer instead of the MPP Solar LV6048. I'm also going with 24 250 Watt Solar Panels instead of the 270 Watt ones I originally considered. Should have the basics of the system online by...

I'd go with the Growatt Inverters, since you can parallel them out of the box. Also, the standby consumption those inverters is about the same as the Axpert VM III. Yes, it will cost more, but the safety factor is worth it.

Honestly, for switches, you're probably not going to beat using the Sonoff Basic or Sonoff Mini, or possibly the Shelly One. I'm not sure what model of outlets to suggest, since I haven't looked into those yet.

Maybe, but then you're actually paying even more for the car than what the sticker price is. That and most people that own any kind of car tend to fall for the marketing and buy a "new" car every three to four years anyway.

If you have a data sheet on those batteries, follow whatever settings it recommends for best results.

I think the LV6048 has a power saving mode, but I'm not sure how well it works. I've heard that some inverters that have that kind of feature poll to check for loads and and that they don't always have it set to check both 120 volt legs, so it seems to not work if you turn something on and it's...

No argument that people (not just scientists) should be allowed to question results, but from what I have seen, most folks that toss out the "climate denier" mantra seem to be willing to take the data we are questioning at face value and seem to be from one particular political party. That's why...

I think you're onto something here. They most likely don't want a consensus, but to force their bad science on us. I suspect a good part of the whole thing is politically motivated, at least in the US.

I'd get another panel and go with 3S2P, personally. That would double the current into your charge controller without negatively affecting your maximum input voltage rating.

I don't know if this has been mentioned anywhere else, but if you're interested in adding wind to your solar system, I think this site is a good resource for finding out if the idea is worth considering. Now, I don't know how accurate the overall information is, so keep that in mind...