I finally tilted the newest array from 0 degrees to the winter angle of 55 degrees. The first array is still at 40 degrees for now. On overcast days like today the 0 degree array would outperform the 40 degree one by about 10% but this new angle will be much better when there's direct sunlight.
My measly 4.5kW and 1.65kW arrays are a bit undersized for my sol-ark 15k so I'm adding two more arrays of 18 panels each (400-450W bifacials, still need to buy). The rack will be constructed with some c channel pallet rack beams I got for cheap from Facebook marketplace and ironridge XR100...
I posted my testing in one of the sol-ark 15k threads. TLDR: In off-grid mode, it had no trouble starting my 3Hp well pump (60+ starting amps) with my car already charging at 32A (240V), a 1500W space heater running on one leg, and 3 large chest freezers running.
Finally finished the conduit run from the first array to the closest point on the house. Used slightly over 200ft of PVC (junction box to junction box). I'm hoping to do the wire pull tomorrow, weather permitting.
You can't pull 50A continuous through a NEMA 14-50. That's why chargers that are made to plug into them top out at 40A. 48A chargers need to be hard wired to a 60A circuit.
Also you only actually need 8 AWG copper THHN for a NEMA 14-50 plug (although I'd typically use 6 AWG anyways). Anything 8...
The amount of time I've waited to fill up in the last 4 years that I had my EV is a tiny fraction of how long I would have waited if I still had an ICE. And I've never worried about using heat or AC lol
I made a little progress. I added 3 more 280Ah seplos kits so I have a full stack now. I have communication working with the sol-ark so I don't have to deal with the crappy SoC estimation anymore. I also got the first post in for the final array but the ground is too wet again so it may be...
No one besides manufacturers recommend charging that high. They only do it so people don't complain about the capacity testing 1-2% low at more reasonable charge voltages.
I'm sitting at 20.5kW PV and 82kWh in my main system currently, exactly 4:1. I'll probably add another 30kW of batteries and 10-12 kW PV in the next 1-2 years. Plus a 100-200kWh EV truck.
Because their energy density was bad. It's still not as good now but it has improved by quite a bit. Also cycle life isn't as important for most vehicles. 1000 cycles to 80% in a car with a 350 mile range is still over 300k miles.
3 of the c channel sticks are 5"x6.7 lbs/ft c channel about 9' 4" long. The rest are 6"x8.2 lbs/ft about 10.5' long. The guy I bought them from didn't have enough of the 6" so I have to make due with the 5" for 3 of the vertical posts. Panels are 40.866"x83.441".
Over the weekend we had a minor wind storm that led to two different outages. Thankfully I have enough batteries to get through these small outages easily. The problem wasn't the outages though, it was what happened for 1-2 hours after each of them. After the first one, the grid voltage was...
400A is the becoming the norm now even for residential houses. I have one 400A service and one 200A service for my farm which is very much on the low end these days. The guy I picked up hay from earlier this week had multiple ~1000/gallon per minute irrigation pumps running. Those things use...
The ground finally started to dry up so I began trenching. 50ft down, 150-175ft to go.
I also attached a couple small pieces of unistrut to the post closest to the house for mounting the metal junction box. I'll put that up tomorrow if the knockout punch I ordered arrives before dark.
I think the "12kW of battery inverting power" spec is more of a minimum (when battery voltage is low). I've seen my 15k do 13kW+. Here is my 15k pulling 13.83kW from batteries, contributing ~13.04kW continuous to the AC loads.
Definitely not required, although a good fuse might be able to interrupt a higher current than the breakers (I haven't checked the specs on the built in ones).
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That's what I'd expect too but I haven't actually tested it off grid much.
15.1/15.94 = 94.7%
Seems reasonable to me. Also I've found that the displayed power measurements displayed by the sol-ark aren't always super accurate.
I checked the settings section of the app last week for the first time in months and noticed that it now allows you to set the "Max Solar Power" field to as high as 22500W. I figured it was a bug but I changed mine up to the max to see what happened. Previously my unit was hard capped right...
Similar engineered designs from Sinclair and power peak don't have anything to prevent twisting either besides the strength of the vertical c channel. We're supposed to have high winds over the next few days so I'll keep my eye on them.
Earlier you said that ever other company names their inverters by the minimum continuous inverter output. I'm just providing evidence that you are incorrect. They are typically named based on their IDEAL scenario continous inverter output. If anything the sol-ark 15k can stay at its maximum...
If you have two bonds in the house then the ground wire between the two will essentially just be like a parallel neutral wire (so current will be flowing on it).
Five 48V packs of the 624Ah cells would fit on here (barely within the weight limit):
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-7679/Industrial-Steel-Shelving/Closed-Industrial-Steel-Shelving-48-x-18-x-75
Pretty small footprint for 159kWh
My sol-ark does that too when it disconnects from the grid (shows higher L1 than L2, but the total voltage is correct). It shows the correct values as soon as the relay closes again. Also you need to use both sets of battery terminals if you're gonna be charging or discharging with more than 160A.