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One valuable part of the DIY Solar forum is the Resource Section. This has many valuable links to Papers, Manuals and websites having to do with Solar and Batteries. https://diysolarforum.com/resources/ A sub-section of the resources is dedicated to resources for beginners that has a series...

A new phase in my solar journey Anyone who has followed me on the forum knows I have a passion for moving DIY solar forward and for helping people learn. I have had my frustrated rants (for which I apologize) but my intent has always been to be helpful and move the DIY solar space forward in a...

[RANT MODE ON] I can understand when people don't understand the terminology. I can understand when people don't understand the technology. I can understand when people ask questions that show they are clueless about solar & batteries. I would even say I enjoy helping these people...

There has been a lot of discussion about ‘Zero Export’ on the 18Kpv and I would like to summarize what is going on. General Points: The term ‘Zero Export’ is used throughout the industry to talk about preventing power from being exported to the grid. The reality is that Zero Export is a bit...

This is an offgrid design I recently helped someone do:

That seems pretty straightforward. Just tell them it is hooked to an EG4 24K Solar Air Conditioner and there is absolutely no connection to their grid. Then give them a link to the product. Part of me would want to be a bit more private and just tell them it independently powers an...

After Will's review of the Trophy server rack batteries, I looked up US pricing on several different 48V server rack batteries. Edit: Corrected it to Wh (Not KWh) EG4 LiFePower4 48V 100Ah – 5.12KWH (Feb 13 '22: $1499 + shipping - $0.29/Wh) Jackiper 48V 100Ah – 5.12KWH (Feb 13 '22: $1699 +...

Folks, When setting up an inverter, one of the more important safety things to get correct is the grounding and the neutral-Ground bond. All of the inverters have a grounding lug All of the inverters have a ground connection on the AC out. Some inverters have an AC in and when they do they...

I did not like the thin buss bars that came with a set of cells I purchased, so I decided to make my own. I purchased .25" x .75" copper bar from a local metal supplier, cut and drilled them and then electroplated them with tin (They are destined for a boat). I had never done...

Depending on the needs of the system, the EG4 18Kpv can be a reasonably straightforward install The above diagram assumes you are doing a whole-house backup and works for up to a 200A utility feed. The inverter goes between the utility meter and the existing breaker box. The inverter will...

That is a fair question. If I thought my role was going to be ceremonial, I never would have agreed to it. I am a technical consultant and will be helping them on a wide range of topics based on my technical knowledge and experience in the DIY space. This could be about product...

Be sure to make the popcorn before they turn your power off!!! ;)

Here is an interesting chart on Cycle Life: Look at the charge and discharge rate. 1C for both and they still lasted over 4000 cycles before they hit 80%. In a typical solar installation, the charge and discharge rate won't be anywhere near that high. I can easily imagine a cycle...

Screenshot from wills video: All the neutrals go to one busbar - Clearly common-neutral. I have said for a long time that common-neutral is the best way to go for stationary systems.

This will be my last post on this thread. Please stay civil with each other. Disagreement is a good starting point for helping people learn, but if I believe someone is wrong, attacking them personally does not convince them to rethink their position. Instead, it pretty much eliminates the...

I love excuses to buy tools but that is a stretch.... I don't think I could sneak a Neutron Imaging system past my wife!! ?

The OP is not saying there is no reason for building your own battery. There are many reasons to do a DIY battery, the price being an important one. He is just pointing out that the trend line in the pre-built batteries is rapidly changing the price part of the build-vs-buy equation. The...

That was my first reaction as well. However, when I look closer at the data sheet, things seem more reasonable. The spec sheet says The 50A rating is at 830Vac. It is not specified, but at 240V it will be able to break higher currents and still meet the 30,000 electrical operations...

BTW: Here is a slightly updated diagram. 1) Added the current transformers. (These come with the 18Kpv) 2) Added the CANbus cable to the batteries (This also comes with the 18Kpv).

Sorry... I did not take video as I went, but here is a little bit about what I did: I am not an expert on any of this!! I learned as I went. This link has the Tinning instructions: http://transistor-man.com/electroplating_busbar.html Warnings: Do this at your own risk. Muriatic acid is...

Warning: I go full propeller head on this post!!! ? @Will Prowse just released a couple of videos about hooking parallel batteries together. One commenter claimed 4 batteries in parallel but hooked up 'Diaganaly' would stay balanced. 2 batteries in parallel with diagonal connections is...

A set of cells can only be top ballanced or bottom balanced. Not both. - If you top Ballance and then bottom balance, they will be bottom-balanced and they will NOT be top-balanced - If you bottom balance and then top balance, they will be top-balanced and NOT be bottom-balanced. For home...

What is the difference between inlaws and outlaws?

I am seeing posts of people wanting to build 48V systems with 5 or 6KW inverters and server rack batteries. This is a nice, clean way to build a system, but be aware of the current limits on a lot of the server rack batteries. I just saw this for the Pylontec batteries: A 5000W inverter...

Warning: The following explanation is very simplified, perhaps overly so. However, it is a reasonable first approximation way of thinking of it. The SCC, Battery and Load are all in parallel. If the voltage of the SCC is greater than the battery, it will drive current into the battery...

Thank you for alerting us to this @Will Prowse There are several fundamental problems around grounding on DIY projects. 1) Many of the inverter manufacturers do not provide adequate documentation on how the inverters deal with grounding. Growatt and MPP are among the worst at this (I have...

I would not think that would work well. The Wiring Unlimited resource you linked to had this pic: (This is page 19.... but the discussion before page 19 is also important to read. The key is to try to make the round trip resistance from the inverter to each battery and back the same for all...

NOTE: After learning more about the PowerPro battery and its capabilities, I have updated this and the follow-on posts for clarity and correctness. There has been a bit of discussion on paralleling the EG4 PowerPro battery. This and the following posts show many of the most common...

My take is that Will cares deeply about being an honest, transparent reviewer and that drives his actions accordingly. It is hard not to take the undeserved criticism seriously when it strikes at something he cares deeply about. Conversely, if he was the type that didn't care about what...

Yes.... There are 3 distinctly different places the energy can go: Grid, Battery or load. If none of those are available, the mppt cuts the PV current and shuts down production. This is pretty much the same on all systems... If there is no place for the energy to go the MPPT will shut...

Even with crappy leads, if you set the Power Supply to 3.65V (or whatever your target voltage is)....it will eventually get top balanced. Crappy leads will just make it slower. It is easy to say to go buy a better power supply, but for many people they don't see a need for it beyond the...

There are people on the forum that disagree with me but I consider that chart garbage. The only thing you can tell with voltage is that the battery is nearly empty or nearly full. Trying to use voltage for anything in-between is a mistake

I sent EG4 support an email with details showing why shipping without the bonding screws makes things worse unless they support common-neutral. Their response indicated that they felt shipping without the bonding screws made the system NEC-compliant in most cases. Their answer did not mention...

@Will Prowse is doing what he has always done..... giving us his honest opinion based on his experience with the product and knowledge of the field. He does not shy away from saying he does not like something.... and that is why I value his videos. I know I am getting what he believes...

One thing I don't like about the NEC is that they don't explain the "why" behind a lot of the requirements. This frustrates curious people like me that want to know why I am required to do something.

To everyone who might read this thread: Patience is the most important thing to have when you are top-balancing. Set your power supply to the target top balance voltage and leave it there. Keep in mind that with a 10A power supply you are using around 35W to charge cells that might have over...

I read through the instructible and here are my thoughts: It is not really practical for the typical home DIY, I would add more solar panels rather than add the complexity and complications of this design to get that ~5% to ~10% extra power. However, it is a very clever design. I like the...

As usual, the manual is nearly criminally negligent in any discussion of the grounding and bonding on the EG4 6000EX. :cautious: Based on the weight, I am guessing this is a low-frequency unit. Is this the correct model for it: Does the unit do dynamic N-G bonding? If so, can the...

I do not know if there is a standard for XT, but the rule of thumb for all plug types is that when something is unplugged you do not want the 'hot' prongs exposed. This will typically mean the female with the protected contacts is on the hot side(Power supply) and the male with the exposed...

There are many different reasons to DIY a battery so some people will be DIYing LiFePO4 batteries for the forseeable future. However, the prices and quality for pre-built batteries are now low enough that a lot of people no longer build their own. I am no longer building my own. The...

EDIT: The Audit & Sizing spreadsheet can now be found in the "Resource" section of the fourm: https://diysolarforum.com/resources/system-energy-audit-and-sizing-spread-sheet.12/ In order to avoid any confusion, I will change the links in this thread to point to the resource rather than the...

I agree that it seems simple to derive everything from the basic formulas. In fact, I have never used the trick I posted. I just remember V=IR and P=IV and work everything out from that. However, like others have said, some people are not technically minded and need pneumonics or other...

I am going to answer a bunch of questions you did not ask. Let's start with some math: The three 12KW inverters can draw as much as (12000x3)/48 = 750A if fully loaded and the batteries are low. (Surge currents could be a lot higher). Consequently, the 3 batteries at 200A each are...

Please, folks, let's keep the discussion about the technical aspects. I am disappointed by the recent trend on the forum to make things personal. To me, it sucks all the fun out of participating in the forum.

I would think that most modern equipment with switching power supplies would never even notice 20ms...

Even multiple NG bond would not blow out boards

If I am following the description correctly, this is the solar configuration. That configuration would work very poorly. The 400W panels would probably create so much more voltage than the 200W panel that current would back-feed through the 200W panels. If the 200W panels were...