diy solar

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  • Post in thread: What is your favorite off grid device-appliance-gadget?

    Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. My Mini 3 Qt version uses 670 watts at 120v for 3-10 minutes for room temperature water to seal for high pressure cooking. Then it is mostly 0 watts while cooking under pressure. Occasionally, it might draw a few watts to keep the pressure up for long...
  • Post in thread: Solar has been hijacked/co opted. A wakeup?

    Solar thread has been hijacked/co opted by car talk. ..... A wakeup?
  • Post in thread: Which JK 24v BMS?

    I use the JK_B2A24S20P in my 24V 8S DIY battery and it has been working very well for the 30 days of use. The app works well is simple and the Bluetooth connection is good at 25-30 feet distance, walls and 2 floors.
  • Post in thread: Is there any Privacy Respecting/Ethical hardware out there?

    My JK BMS and Victron MPPT can both be used without an internet connection. On your access device, turn off WiFI / your router connection and your mobile Data and the 2 apps still work and connect to your device. They require Bluetooth and Location but both of those are not connected to the...
  • Post in thread: 2nd Buy from Amy Wan/Luyuan

    The instructions that I read on the Luyuan Alibaba website EXPLICITLY ask that you ignore the Alibaba shipping estimate AND that you CONTACT HER DIRECTLY by messaging for a more accurate shipping estimate. For my location, the Alibaba shipping estimate was nearly 4x higher than the fee...
  • Post in thread: Portable Induction Cooktop

    Using a "Kilowatt" / Poniie watt meter, I measured my 12 year old 2011 Eurodib 1600 Watt Induction Hot Plate at 0.85 Watts in standby or 424 mA at 120 Volts. It has settings 1-10 and the lowest 2 use On/Off Cycling from 0 to 1600 Watts. My induction hot plate doesn't use the fan on standby, so I...
  • Post in thread: Understanding busbar usage

    Yes. Think of it like the grid AC electricity for a house. All that energy is in the grid, or potentially in your house and wiring, but it doesn't do anything until an appliance / load calls for it. Others on the forum have said and I'll try to remember it here, that electricity only flows from...
  • Post in thread: New EG4’s with old Outback system?

    The EG4's should work just fine BUT only in a Manual Settings mode in the EG4 and in the Outback components, meaning, you cannot connect the EG4's by communication cable, to communicate any settings or data with the Outback Inverter nor the Outback FlexMax charge controller, nor is communication...
  • Post in thread: Setting up a mini system

    No, not even deep cycle lead acid batteries made for off grid use should be discharged more than 50%. I had some specialized lead acids for 15 years. Also, STOP thinking that LiFePO4 batteries can be cycled to Zero!!!! Doing so more than a few times will at least start damage to 1 or more...
  • Post in thread: wanting to purchase a small wind turbine

    There is physically very little power in small scale wind. Learn about wind energy generation and turbines FIRST, then maaayyyybbbbeeee you will find that you are one of the of the very few to be in a proper location to benefit from wind power. Search these forums first for lots of threads to...
  • Post in thread: Paying for install labor

    Lots of variables, so advice on a location, or method, without site specifics, is pretty difficult to cost estimate. Both roof and ground have pros and cons. Will you need permits and UL listing and an insurable system too? Do you need system automation or to be grid tied too? Those add expenses...
  • Post in thread: Battleborn vs Epoch Batteries (thread migration)

    Absolutely no offence intended but in my reading your posts, you are perhaps rushing in to purchase things before you truly understand how it all works and the pros and cons. There is math in the generation and use of the power which you don't seem to have quite grasped, as well as you could...
  • Post in thread: Victron experts CC input needed

    The one for $568.98 is sold by "Ecosolaris" and ships from Amazon. The expensive, likely a scammer one, is sold by and ships from "CANADA DIST and WHOLESALE" and they have a poor approval rating. You can see these when you look at the right hand side of the web page, below the "Add to Wishlist"...
  • Post in thread: My DIY Build Thread

    Wow? Was that all DIY or contractors? Would be helpful if your pictures were not so huge, averaging 6 MB each, or about 150? MB to view them all. Do we need to see snapshots of boxes at 8.4 MBs? Not easy for those of us poor people without high speed or unlimited data. Resize to 1024 px on the...
  • Post in thread: Need help with a solar power system

    Can you take a readable picture of the motor label specs and post it? Also list the specs of your inverter. Not all inverters are created equal nor can they run all loads equally just because they are called inverters. This may be a classic case of lower quality or high frequency inverter not...
  • Post in thread: off grid system

    So, if you have 4-5 estimates already, then you should have 4-5 energy audits already done which you could then easily share. Or were the estimates just based on the same vague info that you are providing here, as in, no energy audit but based on just guesses as to what you think you want or...
  • Post in thread: So out of my element... help an IT guy figure it out?

    Go down the spec sheet. It lists the "Idle Power Consumption" as 50 Watts. So the inverter is always using 50 Watts continuously, whether inverting or not, unless in Eco mode or Off. Some inverters warn not to frequently cycle them On/Off. Eco mode may not start all devices or appliances but...
  • Post in thread: Energy-conscious/efficient off-grid tiny home setup help

    The other way to do this without testing the energy draw of appliances, is to use the maximun energy required for each appliance as per the appliance label, in watts (or converted from stated amps) and the length of time per day that each will be used. # of watts per hour totalled gives you watt...
  • Post in thread: Energy-conscious/efficient off-grid tiny home setup help

    Here is a similar thread (there are many that can be searched for in these DIY forums) to this one which adds more info for the Original Poster. Energy Audit and Basic System Thread One person mentions an Energy Audit meter. This is often called by a brand name of "Kill-A-Watt" meter and can...
  • Post in thread: Helping Dad power 4 freezers during outages

    For what it's worth, my 20+ year old low frequency Trace SW4024 on a system with less than half the battery and solar capacity that you listed, easily starts 2 chest freezers, sometimes both at nearly the same time. One is used as my fridge, the other is used as a freezer. My inverter is on...
  • Post in thread: Energy-conscious/efficient off-grid tiny home setup help

    Go to the resources section and find the Energy Audit info and fill it in. Also search for Energy Audit online and maybe YouTube. Basically, no one can recommend anything until you do the math, that means adding up all the watts of your appliances used for the number of hours required also...
  • Post in thread: Energy-conscious/efficient off-grid tiny home setup help

    Mixing panel wattages can be done, but also can make things a bit more complicated if the other panel specs also don't match. Personally, I would avoid that scenario at the learning level that you are presently at. My off grid 24 volt system is pretty simple but seems robust and reliable. It's...
  • Post in thread: Issue with top balancing

    Are you charging with the Grid AC? IME, with a low amp power supply, it could take many many hours or days to get over the flat part of the charge curve, then the voltage change will rise faster. The previous post calculations show why. I was charging off grid via my solar charge controller to...
  • Post in thread: Setting up a mini system

    You could use 1 x 150AH LiFePO4 battery. Going down to zero is possible but not recommended for long life. It also depends on what the BMS / Battery zero voltage actually is, 0 volts is really bad, in the 10.8 volt range is also zero battery capacity and not great, so you need to learn and...
  • Post in thread: Is my basic understanding of the theory correct in this image?

    As far as I know, Yes, that diagram looks better as is your description / understanding. From my readings on these forums: The incoming power is only incoming IF there is a load requiring it. Otherwise it just sits there in the solar panels doing nothing. It's been compared to the AC power in...
  • Post in thread: Switched from lead acid to LiFePO4 and need some help with parameters for my controller

    Is the Li-Ion "setting" for that or LiFePO4 battery types? They are not the same chemistry and are not charged in the same manner. If your charge controller does not have an actual LiFePO4 setting, then I would switch it back to Lead Acid and input the settings of your choice as per the sticky...
  • Post in thread: Freezer to fridge guys, need a recommendation please!

    Not exactly pertinent to this thread but adding this info below for those searching for off grid options in the future, that might come across this thread. Convertible Danby Chest Freezer / Fridge info at the Danby Canada website. I saw a thread today that shows it on sale inside some Costco...
  • Post in thread: Basic question about solar panel output

    You will rarely get the full 1200 watts as there are variables, such as panel angles to the sun, clear air and panels, heat as panels are less effecient the hotter they get and are specced at 20-25°C, other losses and they are not 100% efficient anyway and they lose some efficiency with age and...
  • Post in thread: Installing a Wind Turbine UK

    You'd do well to search these forums for wind turbine threads, as some of your concerns have probably been addressed. Also do a web search for Hugh Piggott, a UK expert on all things wind who has 1+ books on the topic. Have you done a site audit? I kind of doubt that you have as you would have...
  • Post in thread: Installing a Wind Turbine UK

    You can buy a wind gauge and data logger. It seems, unlike me, you are not worried about the money required to generate power. If you don't already have a battery and wiring and tower, etc., then there is no way your energy costs will be lower than the grid. And especially poor power production...
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