diy solar

diy solar

Recent content by ecwashere

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    Anyone invest in commercial solar?

    I'm advising someone who owns a multi-unit residential building in Glendale, Ca with about 8000 sq ft of available roof space. They are interested in the Glendale's feed-in tariff program, which pays $260 and $104 per MWh for peak and off-peak deliveries, respectively. Just doing some rough...
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    This is not a complaint! It’s a suggestion

    In case anyone is still reading, I'd prefer to have fewer subforums. I'd rather see a consolidation of several subforums that only have a few posts a month because it makes browsing all the subforums easier. I rarely read the "marine" subforum, but there could be info that's relevant to...
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    What's the DC connector on Jackery 500?

    Thanks for finding these. Have you tested them and found that they maintain their connection as well as the original plug supplied by Jackery? There were some issues with the center pins of some other plugs not being long enough keep their continuity when jiggled. The description says the plug...
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    What's the DC connector on Jackery 500?

    I wish Jackery used 2.1 x 5.5mm plugs for their 12V DC output. Unfortunately they used an unconventional 6.5 x 4.3mm plug. I haven't looked for the 8 mm plug but they seem a lot more commonly used on foldable solar panels and AC-DC power bricks.
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    Charged my car battery with my Jackery 160

    Because of quarantine, our cars don't get driven very much. The 2016 Honda CRV seems to have a lot higher parasitic draw when sitting in the driveway than my 2008 truck. I think these newer cars with their constant scanning for key FOBs (vs the ones where you have to depress a button on your...
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    Any chance a 400W continuous (800W peak) inverter will run any small chest freezer?

    I appreciate the great advice. I'll get the chest freezer soon because my freezer is getting full. I can test it with a 12V car battery and this inverter to see if it'll even start up. However, based on what you're saying, even if it does run, I shouldn't run it for long periods without a PSW...
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    Any chance a 400W continuous (800W peak) inverter will run any small chest freezer?

    I'd like to be able to power a small 3.5 cuft chest freezer or similar from a Cobra CPI 475 12V 400W inverter connected to a yet-to-be-built ~13V battery bank. The freezer will be connected to AC most of the time and only connected to the inverter during a prolonged power outage. Small chest...
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    Does Pass-through charging add a cycle to the battery (Jackery)?

    Thanks for enlightening me. In a nutshell, if I'm charging at 30W from solar and simultaneous discharging at 30W, then I'm not putting any "stress" on the battery cycles since all the input is going directly to the output? No current is flowing through the batteries?
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    Does Pass-through charging add a cycle to the battery (Jackery)?

    I've been charging my chromebook via USB-C from my Jackery (15W draw @5V) while simultaneously charging with a 60W solar panel. Most of the time the input (10-40W) exceeds the output and averages about 30W over 6-7 hrs. Does this cycle the battery, albeit slowly, and decrease the battery...
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    I want to monitor my DC load not my battery discharge

    Can you verify there is current flowing using a multimeter (in series) or a clamp?
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    What's the DC connector on Jackery 500?

    Anyone had any luck finding the barrels for cheap? I'm looking for something that uses the Anderson powerpole connectors like this: (Sorry about the size of the image) These are 5.5mm x 2.1mm and run about $9.
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    Future battery upgrades/replacements

    The more teardown videos I watched, the more I realized how difficult and potentially dangerous it was to mess with the batteries. Besides, the next battery technology may not be compatible with existing SCC or BMS. I think I'll go with your suggestion. Thanks!!
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    Future battery upgrades/replacements

    I've watched some tear-down videos of popular brands but I've yet to see anyone discuss how upgrade-able or replaceable the battery technology is in the portable micro systems. I'm guessing some of the bigger brands are using proprietary-sized batteries. For these, I imagine it will be...
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