Most reacted posts

How did you do that?

Hello, I am about done with the install, have a few more small things to finish up before scheduling final inspection, I am sure I will fail it but hopefully I won't have much to redo. :)

I am putting up 3 adjustable angle ground mount arrays, each with 10 400 watt bifacial panels, I am in Michigan. I am putting the 3 all side by side to each other. I am wondering if it is beneficial to put one aiming more SE, center one straight south and the other one facing more SW? I will...

I am building 3 tilting ground arrays, each array has 4 6 x 6 posts set in 24" wide x 36" deep concrete in the ground. How long do I have to wait before I can build the frame off of them (made of pressure treated 2 x 6's)? Each array will hold 10 panels but mainly I want to get started on...

.47 cents a watt vs .32 cents, so 50 percent higher cost.

I ran out of black PV wire, can I use red PV wire as the negative if I put black tape at the ends to signify that it is negative?

I am searching online about it and all I can find is it is required for solar install of 50 MW or larger.. still searching though to try to figure this out.

I am looking to hire someone that can consult with for a fairly large residential solar install. I already have the panels (72 panels), 3 inverters and diy batteries and plan to do the majority of the install myself but some of it I want to hire out. I would like to hire someone to help with...

What would you replace them with though, I'm not sure there is anything better out there. JK at least does release updated firmware regularly and overall mine are working well, just having troubles getting them to go 100%, most of them hit 99% (like .05 volts off of 100% voltage), I am sure...

https://signaturesolar.com/pallet-hyperion-400w-bf-black-108-cell/ https://signaturesolar.com/460w-half-split-cell-silver-bifacial-solar-panel-by-bluesun-l-full-pallet-35/ I understand price isn't everything but what is the difference between these two besides wattage?

By tie into the grid I mean I would like to sell back if possible if that is the what it is called. So during the night when I am not producing power I can use the credits I gained during the day and not have interrupted power. I am planning on building a ground mount and I am located in...

How do I determine the spacing between ground mount arrays to avoid shading? I am located in Michigan, 85.07, 42.98. I have looked at calculators but I am not sure how to read/interpret them. Any help would be appreciated!

Actually I just got off the phone with signature solar and asked them if that was okay to do and they recommended against it, one inverter may be calling to charge the battery and the other could be pulling power from the batteries and I guess that could cause issues.

I was leaning towards the EG4 18K inverter.

To start off I would like to be "tied in" to the electric company, so I can earn credit or however it works, so during the night when I am not producing power I can use those credits I earned during the day and have uninterrupted power and ultimately eliminate the monthly power bill. Eventually...

Yeah I assumed the parts were not made in the US. I was leaning towards the EG4 18K inverter.

Wouldn't it be better to just let the bms in each individual battery maintain itself?

The newest one, 200a 16 cell 2a active balancer ones.

I am having a contractor install 20 panels on the roof of my pole barn, they are Talesun TP7G54M 400 watt (up to 500 watt) bifacial panels purchased from signaturesolar. I will have 2 rows of 10 panels each, each row wired in series, so two strings of 10 panels in each. The data sheet says the...

I have 4 15 kwh batteries with 16 306AH cells in each of them connected atm. I just switched it all back to closed loop with the inverter communicating with the bms and that is working it appears but I have ac grid charging turned off but it is still using it a little bit. The batteries are...

I am open to other suggestions, any recommendations? Does the sol-ark 15k do basically the same thing as the eg4 18k?

So how do you fix it? lol Besides replacing inverter style mini splits? :) I can't easily use one of those, all my mini splits are directly from the breaker to a disconnect, no plugs.. all 240v.

Can I run the ground from the arrays in the same conduit as the pv wire that goes to the inverters?

What are some of the chargeverters out there, just the eg4 one?

I am not sure what the electric company pays, it is consumers energy. They have Net Metering Program they call it you have to sign up for. I will check out sinclair for the ground mount but I had planned on making one myself that can be manually adjusted. I am trying to do as much of this on...

I am building some 16 cel battery packs and need a bms for them, are these a good option? I will be using Schneider inverters. https://batteryhookup.com/products/7s-21s-24v-75v-300a-lithium-ion-bms?variant=43085312884898

Okay, I just turned off one of hte 3 inverters and the flickering was happening right away, so turned that one back on, turned off the other slave inverter and so far, no flickering, only been a few minutes though.

Psbowes07 said: As of now I have 6 panels connected in parallel this

I am building a ground mount for my solar panels in Michigan, does anyone know if the mount itself needs to pass inspection? I have the permits for the ground mount and the roof mount panels (separate permits) but I am unsure if they are going to be checking just the electrical for each or if...

I am still in the learning phase but so far I think this is the route I am taking. I want to set it up so I am on solar when there is sun, batteries when there is no sun and grid power when there is no sun and batteries are dead. I also have a whole house generator already I would like to...

I am using 10 gauge pv wire for the arrays, which type and gauge should I be using for the grounding?

It will be about 70' total length from farthest panel to the inverter, around 375 volts, panels are ~4000 watts per string.

My diy install is almost done pending final inspection. I am running 3 6000xp's in parallel and currently have 4 lifep04 diy batteries with jk bms. What charge voltage should I set in the inverter? Also will the 6000XP communicate with the JK BMS? I have all the bms's in parallel and...

Hmm, what is sub "solar + utility" mode? I have utility hooked into my 3 6000xps and it auto switches to grid/utility when there is no solar or low batteries.

When wiring the bms balance/cell leads is cell 1 where the main positive is for the battery or the main negative that goes to the bms?

But does it matter since it is just a ground/earth though? I am running PV wires from a solar array, using direct burial wire for the array, I wanted to use the thhn that is grounded to the array back to the solar shed where all the grounds run to and gets hooked to a grounding bar that the...

So it gets grounded to ac side ground? Was not sure if the DC and AC side were completely separated. Thanks for the info.

So will one panel plug into the other in series with what is already on the panel or do I need jumper cables with the proper ends to make each connection from one panel to the other?

Is there something you can run the circuits through (The breaker in the pole barn for the lights), like a UPS for a PC to "smooth" it out?

I ordered 32 Eve MB30 cells from Gobel and 2 of their diy battery boxes with JK BMS, everything arrived as described (this was 6 months ago). I did receive the email after paying asking for an additional payment for "remoteness" shipping fee, if I remember right it was like 60 dollars more or...

Yeah I had that but it would not kick on unless I turned on EPS, I did that and it is charging with grid now.

Yeah it is a gambrel roof.

I am in rural area, in Ionia County.

The guy I hired to put the panels up installed the mounts and now is not responding to texts on doing the panels. :(

I just purchased 4 modules as well, these are the first things I have purchased for my solar setup and I have nearly everything to learn yet. :) I will be following along as well. :)

Okay, can I use my direct burial PV 10 gauge wire as ground then? It has red insulation, can I just mark it with green tape on each end?

What was causing it in your instance, which inverters?

Could someone take a look at my settings and let me know what should/needs to be changed, for some reason they never get 100%, they stop charging just short of 100% soc voltage. Here is a screen shot of the master battery and one of the slave ones. They are closed loop with my eg4 6000xp...

They are about 300 pounds a pack, I have pallet jacks and a few people who can help put them into a rack once they are built. I bought 4 modules of 20 cells so that will be enough to make 5 16c packs. I considered the eg4 18k inverter but have not decided on that yet. I would like it to...

I am having 20 panels installed on the roof of my pole barn (I have the panels already, hiring someone to do the work), what are some recommended roof mount kits I should look into getting for this, it is a shingle roof. There will be 2 strings of 10 that will be go to one of my inverters (EG4...

my plans call for 10 gauge ground to each array.

What do you mean exactly by tighten up bonding screw in main panel? You referring to where your earth and neutral are bonded at?

For roof mount panels, I know none of the wires can touch the roof (shingles), so is the proper way to do it would be to put an electrical box on the roof, run all the wires into that box and then through conduit to the disconnect, is this the way to do it so it passes inspection?

I said I assumed I need a BMS, my question is more of which kind and if the kind I need matters depending on which inverter I get. Yep I am new at this and I knew I was going to diy the batteries shortly after starting to read up on things as its half or less the cost of prebuilt ones and I am...

I was having this issue and slowly raised my cutoff voltage until that issue stopped happening, I have it set to 49v now and no issues with that. I only have 4 15kwh batteries hooked up atm but have 7 more of the same to build and hook up yet, once I do I probably can lower the cutoff voltage a...

If you are running on battery and a large load starts up it may trigger an error with your inverter (6000xps for me). I was having this issue until I raised my cutoff voltage enough for that to not happen, which was 49v for me. Will lower it a bit more once I build and hookup the rest of my...

I have a disconnect for each array of panels, there is a single disconnect on the pole barn that disconnects both strings (20 panels total), each ground mount has a disconnect and a disconnect for the panels on the shed roof as well.

Can these batteries be stored in garage that will be below freezing (not in use yet)?

I am close to finishing my solar install (will schedule final inspection this week I am hoping). I still have to learn how to setup/configure the 3 eg4 6000xp's etc though once I get my green sticker. But I am wondering about monitoring the system. I know the 6000xp has some monitoring built...

Is there a new android app version out that fixes the display issue besides what is on play store?

You DM'd me the other day asking for my email and I replied with it, still waiting to hear back from my email, thank you though! :)

I left a message with the inspector, will wait to hear back and see what they say.

Yep I had planned on leaving all the cells in the pack, just cutting the battery bar out to leave a 16c pack.

Not in our lifetime it won't be.

Can someone help me understand why this battery won't take any more charge, ths is one and one other, the other 4 batteries which are close in voltage (a bit higher now) are taking ~40-60 amps but this one stopped around this voltage, all have latest firmware and are hooked in parallel.

Thanks for the info, I will not be running into the building, just over the roof and down the side of the pole barn to the disconnect and then into conduit through the ground and ran to my "solar shed". Wonder if plastic conduit is fine for that.

All the PV wire is 10 gauge direct bury wire, 10 gauge direct bury wire for all the grounds from each array, which is grounded to a grounding bar inside the wireway. I have a 4 gauge wire from that ground bar to the ground in the electrical panel next to the wireway. Using 8 gauge romex (with...

Okay so it is definitely happening when on battery, not when the inverter switches to grid power.

Okay, I will look into the SRNE, thanks. Does that do the same things as the eg4? Allows you to connect panels, batteries, grid to it and charge the batteries?

I considered the EG4 18k but there was people talking about issues with them and bad customer service from them. I do not know a lot about the Sol-ark 15k but know it is similar to the EG4. After reading about the Schneider it sounds like its made like a tank and great customer service. I...

He says "Same with meting off panels with battery bank, a few watts beats sweeping and scraping for hours in -5*F weather. I jump the charge controller with a circuit breaker in the jumper and let the panels melt off ice/snow with battery power. Once you get a few charging, they will supply...

What is the best way to setup my system. I have 3 6000XP inverters, 4 ~15 kWh batteries (have 5 more that I need to build yet) all with PB2A16S20P bms's. Should I have all batteries individual (as far as bms is concerned) and set the inverter up as lead acid or should I have the inverters in...

Yeah I like it, the one facing ~15 degrees towards the west was also almost double the output later in the day/evening. I plan to add two more arrays, I think I am going to angle them like those two. I already have 16k facing straight south so I think I am good there.

I am located in Michigan. My power usage may drop a little bit once we move to the new house though, as my current home has a 3 ton central air unit and a 2 ton mini split for my shop area plus equipment I run consumes about 1000 watts around the clock in the shop plus all the other random...

I am using JK BMS's in all my batteries which are running in parallel with each other and communicating closed loop with the inverters. You can also have them open loop with the inverters as well though if you wanted. As long as each battery has a bms and knows when to cut off...

Ohh this is perfect, thank you!

So the total output would be higher if you utilized this feature? What is the max amps per unit it can provide on the generator port?

Hey all, I have 9 48v battery packs (with the new jk bms on each one) for my 3 eg4 6000xp inverters. How do I hook these up to the inverters (new system and learning, starting the install process now). Do I run them to bus bars, a negative and positive and from there to each inverter? Is this...

Assuming that runs on a raspberry pi? What all hardware do you need.. or does it just connect to all the hardware you have, like bms's, inverters, smart shunts etc? So the victron smart shunt would work, but skip the cerbos gx?

I just received my 2 diy cases and 32 cells today, came in 13 boxes, 11 boxes of batteries and 1 for each case. Everything went well, have not opened the boxes up yet though.

I have the clips to keep the wires neat and off the roof and I am using mini rails from signature solar that have ground clips to tie all the panels together, so will put grounding lugs on the frame of the panels to run the ground wire. So the conduit on the roof has to be above the roof on...

What is the Schneider missing that the eg4 18k has btw, the battery charger?

I am getting the same error again, EPS Over Load, 6 times in a few hours. Discharge set to 400 amp.

They are made in DIY cases that have breakers on each pack, do I still need fuses as well?

I got my solar install all done and inspection passed a few weeks ago. So far everything is working well except having some trouble understanding the battery relationship with the 6000XP inverters. I have 3 inverters in parallel and 4 batteries (total of 60 kWh of storage) in parallel with JK...

First year with solar and just had first snow storm. The snow is sticking to the panels like a glue trap and even brushing them off it does not want to slide/come off easily. For next year I want to wash and put some rain-x or something on them, anyone else have any better suggestions to help...

Question for those how have ordered from Gobel Power. I ordered 32 cells (Eve MB30) and 2 Gobel Power diy cases from Gobel. I chatted with "Ellie" on their website for a few days about what I wanted and to confirm the Gobel Power case came with the new JK BMS or not and so on (which it does...

I think the can port is the 2nd one over from the left, but there is also a RS485 port

yeah, they all have same settings, this is a slave battery, all the batteries in are parallel. The ah are off, that is why I want them to get fully charged so it will reset it to get the SOC to be more accurate (it has been awhile since they have been able to get fully charged.)

If you have 4 of these together will that increase its startup load capacity (large amp draw), meaning running 220v shop equipment, 40 amp 220v welder etc or is that still limited to what just one of these can do?

Thanks for all the info guy, I will have 6 arrays of 10 panels, each in series, 3 arrays on roofs and 3 arrays on the ground, I have a dedicated solar shed that holds all the solar equipment and batteries. What is the most recommended way to ground all of them? Run a ground from each array...

I have 10 extra 400 watt (500 watt with bifacial) panels after installing my solar system a few months ago. I have 3 eg4 6000xp inverters in parallel and ~170 kwh of battery storage with 60 400 watt (500 watt with bifacial) panels but want to keep this system separate. I am thinking of getting...

Ohh awesome, good to hear. I figure I will start off with 8-12k watts of panels and enough batteries to get me through a night. Someone mentioned the EG4 18k inverter, I think that would provide all the power I would ever need. Does that charge and monitor the batteries as well?

Awesome, thank you! I will give it a try if I am lucky and pass inspection tomorrow :)

I was PM'd by another member who said they did the same thing to them, so this may be somewhat common for them to do.

Hey there, I received this warning 3 times in 30 minutes, ideas what this means? The load has been "normal" 3-4k total load on the 3 inverters. W028: EPS Over load

Lol, you are something else, and yes, I passed all inspections first try, considering I knew absolutely nothing about solar a year ago I am quite happy with my progress and results of my install. Ohh, and yes my diy skills are typically quite good, you can label it however you like, you chose...

Thank you for the clarification, I did see the diagram from JK prior but did not have complete confidence it was totally correct.

This is off topic but you seem to be a wealth of knowledge around here. I did most of this largish solar install myself... I installed a 6" x 6" x 6' long wireway for under the 3 6000xp inverters. I ran the AC lines that go into and out of the inverters and the DC lines in there., all the wire...