• Have you tried out dark mode?! Scroll to the bottom of any page to find a sun or moon icon to turn dark mode on or off!

diy solar

diy solar

Most reacted posts

  • Post in thread: Is iCharger best value for money for over 20A per channel?

    What is your intended use of the iCharger? Do you want to simply charge the battery, or are you looking for something to cycle the battery through a charge and discharge for capacity testing?
  • Post in thread: Ive had solar for a year and now the utility company charges a demand fee... not cool.

    I like the concept of the utility incentivizing customer feed in when its needed. These incentives would let customers benefit from using small battery systems to help out the grid. This is much better than the 'pointy haired boss' option.
  • Post in thread: Our NEW GO-TO LiFePO4 vendor...09.20.21

    I've got the 4s 200A JBD BMS and can change all of the settings over Bluetooth using version 3.1.1026 of the xiaoxiang app. It is on Overkill's website here: https://overkillsolar.com/support-downloads/
  • Post in thread: Potential top balance issue

    I believe you ordered the 272 ah cells and have 16 of them in parallel. They should be shipped with no more than 50% charge, and preferably no more than 30% charge. The pack total amp hours in parallel is 16 x 272 = 4352 ah. If you have to add 50% of that, you must add 2176 ah. At 10 amps...
  • Post in thread: Chargery BMS News / UPDATE (Nov.25.2020) Ver 4.02 firmware

    @diysolarman I was wondering what device is on the other side of your "charge" relay, such as an mppt controller or something. I ask because as I was looking at BMS options using relays, it occurred to me that I had to be careful with separate port configurations because a closed relay is not...
  • Post in thread: combiner box questions

    I just wanted to say I am WRONG in the post above. I thought the multiplier for fuse size was 1.25, but I have learned it is 1.56 for solar applications. So 8.85 x 1.56 = 13.81, so a 15 amp fuse would be required. Sorry.
  • Post in thread: Hurricane Ian in Cape Coral Florida

    @Kevcando glad you had the foresight to protect your system during the storm. Not sure where you or @Atomicpunk are in relation to the storm path, but I'm curious what you are seeing in regard to the fate of solar panels that were left out in the storm. Do you see systems that survived, or...
  • Post in thread: Hurricane Ian in Cape Coral Florida

    Thanks for the reply @Kevcando . Systems without batteries and off-grid capability are really worthless in a true emergency. And it doesn't take a large battery. 5 to 10 kwh covers a lot of essential needs when there is no other source of power. I was mainly curious if the panels themselves...
  • Post in thread: Potential top balance issue

    Without knowing the precise starting charge, it is impossible to know when it will finish. Reading posts like this one reinforces the importance of patience and also just how quickly the voltage will rise at the end.
  • Post in thread: The Newest Specification Sheets of EVE Cells

    I noticed that the specification sheets at the top of this thread have not been added to the Battery Datasheets section of the Resources tab in the forum. I thought about adding them, but I don't want to appear to take credit for another members contribution, and since the posting member is...
  • Post in thread: combiner box questions

    The maximum fuse size that is listed on the panel is for the purpose of protecting the panels on the roof from creating a fire hazard in the event that one of them develops a fault. In your case the panels will only output 8.85 amps through the fuse to the MPP when things are working...
  • Post in thread: BATTERY SELLERS - THE GOOD, BAD, UGLY -- or Jenny (DOCAN) so far so good ...

    Another way to view it is that when you get a price quoted with DDP shipping included, that is the price of the item shipped to your door. It is then the merchants job to pay whatever fees are required to get that process accomplished. When you accept the quote and agree to the deal, it is...
  • Post in thread: Poor Docan Experience (Resolved)

    Hi @conquistador. I was considering just using a length of copper wire for the load if I am testing one cell at a time. The resistance required is only 0.021Ω to get 150A at 3.2V. I hadn't considered the mosfet idea. I'll have to look into what would be required. and Happy Conquistador's...
  • Post in thread: Running dehumidifier/heater through solar panels

    Hi May A, I am curious what dehumidifier you have. Mine consumes substantially more than 156 watts, and the most efficient one I could find was still in the neighborhood of 300 watts. Thanks.
  • Post in thread: EASY way to read EVE date codes

    The app I am using is called LiFePoQR Battery QR Scanner. It was in the Google Play app store, but I don't see it there anymore. The apk can still be found on the internet. The publisher name is Touliloup.
  • Post in thread: Charge carriers in an electric circuit

    There is a fun calculator about half way down on this page: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/miccur.html#c1 In the box called 'Drift Velocity of Charge Carriers', you can enter the diameter of a copper wire in millimeters and the current flow in amps, and it will spit out the...
  • Post in thread: Battery Overdischarge

    The discharge voltage curve is so flat with lithium iron phosphate batteries that the voltage drop in the leads to the inverter become significant. The only way to really know what the battery voltage is under load is to measure it directly at the battery posts with a volt meter. This may...
  • Post in thread: Eve 280ah cells, fell off ship

    I know I've got to be balance with the humor while some of the forum members are still mourning the loss of their battery cells at sea. But did this whole incident remind anyone else of this video? It is a sketch from 1991 based on an oil tanker shipping disaster off the coast of Australia.
  • Post in thread: Charge carriers in an electric circuit

    Yeah, it just goes to show how much easier it is to slide copper along a desktop than it is to move electrons through copper.:) I guess it also shows how much the world would change if they ever find a superconductor material that functions at normal temperatures and pressures. Amazing things...
  • Post in thread: DIY 280Amp LifePo4 With BMS voltage problem.

    Is this what you mean when you say your alternator may have a Balmer? https://balmar.net/?product=regulator-mc-614-h It looks very configurable. I wasn't aware that such a system existed to control alternator output directly. It appears that the ones intended for LiFePo4 are able to have the...
  • Post in thread: Intro to BesTech BMS Systems

    Hi Steve, When you mentioned these, I went searching for a manual. The BesTech Power webpages for these BMS boards have lines on them that say "download the communications manual here.", but no links to download the manuals. Did they provide you any documentation or have you found the links...
  • Post in thread: Something wrong ?

    I would say there seems to be a problem somewhere because even your open circuit voltage is too low. The Voc is 37.85 volts, and assuming its warm (45°C) on your roof, the temperature coefficient of -0.35%/°C means your panel Voc should still be about 35.2 volts. So at that temperature rise, a...
  • Post in thread: How green is solar energy?

    Yes, this needs to be fixed.
  • Post in thread: Potential top balance issue

    There are other people here that have more experience with balancing cells that might have better advice than I do. However, the one thing that I see is that you should invert your negative buss bar assembly. If you trace out the length of the current path for the cells on the top of the...
  • Post in thread: Charge carriers in an electric circuit

    That looks like a fascinating paper. I had to look back at what the original poster's question was. It is probably really irritating to some people when they ask a simple question about breaker placement and current flow, and then see their thread evolve into a conversation about sub atomic...
  • Post in thread: Poor Docan Experience (Resolved)

    I appreciate you sharing your experience because I purchased from Docan last year and had a good experience. However, I've been watching more people have experiences such as yours and have tempered my recommendations some. Vendors can change and the quality of their stock can change. On the...
  • Post in thread: This guy claims lead acid is superior to Lithium Iron Phosphate in solar applications

    HaHa! Is this something like mission creep? First you get a solar yard light and think its pretty neat. Then you get a plugin car and think, "man it would be cool to run this thing on solar". Next, you realize that you could run the whole house on solar. But its cold in winter, so pretty...
  • Post in thread: Research on cell compression / bracing

    I don't think this is true in respect to prismatic cells, and not all cells have the same recommendation. Even within the same EVE 280ah product line, the spec sheet recommendations have changed, either due to experience gained as cells were in service, or due to changes in cell manufacture. I...
  • Post in thread: I have fried 2 charge controllers! Please help!!

    In the U.S. NEC code from 2014, the requirement was that all ungrounded conductors from solar panel strings must be fused. So if you have a system where the negative from the solar panels is not bonded to the grounding system, which is fairly common, you needed a fuse for the positive conductor...
  • Post in thread: I have fried 2 charge controllers! Please help!!

    Oh, and to give appropriate credit, I found this set of slides helpful in explaining the 2017 code for Solar PV. https://www.sdge.com/sites/default/files/201202_18434_Presentation1.pdf
  • Post in thread: Induction loops. A big error easy to make in solar strings, why haven't I heard about this before?!

    The suggestion by Luk88 makes sense to me. I've had a close lightning strike once in my life while a teenager at my parent's house. The neighbor's tree was struck. I was standing by an open window in the kitchen. The window lit up with the lightning flash and at the same time I heard two...
  • Post in thread: Research on cell compression / bracing

    Even though the battery being tested in this study is a different lithium ion chemistry than the lithium iron phosphate most of us are using, there are still some good concepts to take away from the paper. First, the internal structure of the battery is put under mechanical stress as the...
  • Post in thread: This guy claims lead acid is superior to Lithium Iron Phosphate in solar applications

    Valid question. My interpretation was based on the two things being stated separately in the manual. (it should be noted that the 50% loss of capacity wasn't until -40° C. At -20° C the loss was only 25%.) The state of charge was to be determined by voltage. Maybe I'm interpreting this...
  • Post in thread: Energus Tiny BMS - User Experiences?

    I'm trying to find anyone who can relate their experience in using any of the "Tiny BMS" products from Energus Power Solutions. I've searched through the forums without much success. Searching 'Tiny' and 'BMS' gets a bunch of posts on unrelated subjects. I did find forum members such as...
  • Post in thread: China customs bans shipping of lithium batteries?

    My take on this 'crackdown' is that it will be very temporary in nature. The rule may be permanent, but the enforcement will be temporary. I saw a video a year or two ago about the banning of motorbikes entering one of the major metropolitan cities in China (Shenzhen i think, but I'm not...
  • Post in thread: DIY 280Amp LifePo4 With BMS voltage problem.

    Yes, I would connect the positive battery cable to the load/charging device directly. Also, once you are no longer using the black balance wire, I would be very cautious about removing the connection to B-. The installation instructions say to connect B- before connecting the balance leads...
  • Post in thread: Amazon took all U.S. solar rooftops offline last year after flurry of fires, electrical explosions

    I heard that the latest NEC requires that MC4 connectors must be listed as compatible before they can be used with each other. This sounds great, if anyone bothers to do the testing. However, I wondered how this works in practice for someone buying equipment for a small system. I bought UL...
  • Post in thread: Rapid system shutdown for 600 watt system

    It really depends on how your code inspector interprets the code and which code version you are under. The easiest way to simplify things is to make a ground mount. Not being on the roof of a dwelling relaxes the requirements.
  • Post in thread: has anyone tried to reset a chins bms or do i need to ship it back to them ?

    Hi roaming ram, Sorry to hear about the battery issue. However, I was wondering if you could share the details of the isolator switch and how it failed. Perhaps save some of us who also have the tendency from having to learn the hard way too. Thanks
  • Post in thread: Solar math makes my head hurt

    Let's define a few terms and when to use them, and maybe that will help: Voc (Voltage open circuit) - this is the voltage that will be present on the output wires from the panel when they are not connected to anything. This is the highest voltage the panel will produce. It is important that...
  • Post in thread: Xuba Electronics: DEAL - 280AH LiFePo4 cells. Purchase & Review

    1 Nm ≈ 8.85 in. lbs One newton-meter is equal to 8.8507457676 inch pounds.
  • Post in thread: Newbie here, questions on proper grounding of DIY home system

    I'm just trying to figure out my own installation, which probably makes me poorly qualified to give recommendations. I would pay attention to what @SolarQueen recommends ( I guess we are all assuming you are in the U.S.) And if you are in an area that enforces local codes, you should inquire...
  • Post in thread: LiFePO4 prismatic cell short circuit current and main circuit protection

    I agree. I had also considered that testing one cell in isolation at 3.2 volts, the resistance of any poor connections will have a larger impact on the short circuit current than if you had cells in series for 12, 24, or 48 volts. I was trying to find actual experiments or studies, so that we...
  • Post in thread: This guy claims lead acid is superior to Lithium Iron Phosphate in solar applications

    I also ran across this guy's videos on trying to recover damaged lead acid batteries. Its kind of instructive on what can be done with a bad lead acid battery but also shows how much time and energy it can take.
  • Post in thread: How to tell the difference between Grade A and Grade B cells.

    Has anyone gotten cells marked with the 'B' mark on the QR code yet? The example in the picture above was manufactured in July 2022. My guess is that we will see a lot more QR codes scratched off or covered and then fake ones etched on.
  • Post in thread: New NEC code makes it impossible for DIY systems to be compliant

    @ArthurEld, can I ask which batteries you decided to purchase?
  • Post in thread: Eve 280ah cells, fell off ship

    @Hedges, this conversation has certainly taken a dark turn. I wasn't aware of the disaster in your post. It does make sense that the re-purposing of old ships would cause problems. I watched an interview of Boris Prokoshev, who was the captain of the cargo ship that brought the ill fated...
  • Post in thread: Panel comparison

    I think DThames probably answered the question you were asking, but I wanted to add some other ways to look at panel efficiency. People are usually trying to get either the most watts per dollar spent or the most watts per square foot (if they have limited space). Also, the output of the panels...
  • Post in thread: Hurricane Ian in Cape Coral Florida

    What I was remembering was this picture from an article on Vox after hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017. Hurricane Maria was a true category 5 and this solar farm was on the east side of Puerto Rico and took the full force of the hurricane as it came ashore. However, this result...
  • Post in thread: Why doesn't engine oil ignite?

    It does burn. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-week-build-your-own-waste-oil-burning-garage-heater.678222/ It doesn't burn in your engine because the surfaces that are in contact with the oil are kept below its vaporization temperature by the cooling system for the engine. The...
  • Post in thread: Xuba Electronics: DEAL - 280AH LiFePo4 cells. Purchase & Review

    Maybe I should get clarification on this too. The EVE 280ah spec sheet says: anti-torsion means 'to resist twisting' This doesn't appear to be a bolt tightening spec to me. It appears to be a maximum twist load that the terminals can withstand without twisting in the battery case. In other...
  • Post in thread: I have fried 2 charge controllers! Please help!!

    I always suggest fusing both the positive and negative wire going to the panels, which would require 10 fuses. Negative is not necessarily ground, and some charge controllers do not allow you to bond the negative from the panels to chassis ground anyway. Fusing both conductors from the...
  • Post in thread: Solar math makes my head hurt

    I'm in total agreement here. Solar panels are not the expensive part of a PV system anymore. When deciding on panels, don't forget to include the complications and expense of mounting them. A lot of low output panels may not be a better deal than a few high efficiency panels once you include...
  • Post in thread: Another beginners question

    If I understand correctly, you have a battery that is only 48 amp hours. You didn't say the chemistry, but I doubt it is lithium titanate, which is the only chemistry I know of that can sustain really high C rates during discharge. So If your battery is lithium iron phosphate, and can handle a...
  • Post in thread: Solar math makes my head hurt

    From the data sheet: The PT-100 is a Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) charge controller ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS Maximum PV input voltage (any condition) 200 VDC + battery voltage or 240 VDC - whichever is lower Maximum PV operating voltage 187 VDC Maximum PV array short circuit current 100...

diy solar

diy solar
Back
Top