the solar companies, the engineers, the permits. the whole industry looks pretty scammy on a professional level. they have passed so many rules it is impossible to do anything yourself anymore, thus putting solar into a unaffordable expense.
So when you say worry about wattage and physical size, is it possible to have too many watts on the roof? Or do you mean just make sure that you get panels that fit the roof, so to clarify even with an MPPT controller, I could put 48 V panels on my roof?
i just put 2 300AH Epoch batteries (victron enabled, heated, etc) in my fifth wheel. sadly it sits in the sun on the side of my house in las vegas a lot of the time. the bats are in my front compartment out of the sun. they are hooked up to a victron quattro 12/3000/120x2 which...
i watched the video where i thought will said these batteries were almost identical (maybe it was ampere time), yet sok says 8000 cycles,, but chin says "only" 2000 cycles.
what am i missing here, for my primitive purposes, the chin is way less expensive by like 170$ less
i know it’s a tough one to answer. I would eventually have battery back up. The panel is configured like this. The solar ready portion is that skinny compartment to the left of the meter socket
i've tried different chargers and can't seem to get this thing above 13.49 volts. anyone know what voltage is fully charged? i am kind of re-visiting this problem from many months ago.
my application is i run a smaller whynter fridge when i go for 2-4 day overnight trips, i move it and...
anyone else do this,, when done with a litte trip, i just take out my battery and hook it up to a charger in my garage, but need a good one for this sok, recommendations?
it's a 12v 100ah smart version with heater
of course I will want a cerbo,,, fur sure! just need to figure out what a cerbo is,,, more google research. i do have a soft start on my bedroom 13btu ac, but the brand new tosot rv ac i bought i think has a built in soft start. i still have the old microair soft start unit though...
i had posted something similiar earlier but now that i have the exact battery,,, my usage is i put the 12v battery behind the drivers seat and hook my 12v cooler directly up to it. usually lasts me a few days. can i hook up a charging cord straight from the alternator ( toyota prius 2012)...
if i buy a quality charge controller,, why do i need a bms,( assuming i build a battery, which i am not going to do) just wondering what the bms does when also using a charge controller,,
also, on a rv set up, which i think i will start with,, what is the advantage of a 48v battery set up...
May I ask why you did not go for the Victron inverter? Was it cost or something else? I wish they made like a 3500 W inverter.
I actually have the same set up, a 15 btu main cabin AC and then a 13.5 K in the bedroom. The 15 btu is brand new , It’s a Tosot and the specs on it show 1270w input (I...
well,, i don't think so, because the awning on the side already sticks out 7" or more on one side, and one the other side the ladder sticks out, i usually drive with it on
i have 6 375 watt panels i am putting on my rv roof (these panels are not as efficient as the newer ones) and i have 2-300ah 12volt epoch batteries. i have 3-Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 50 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth)
using 1 each for every 2 panels. (my...
found some panels that are on the tier 1 list, (which i know doesn't mean a lot probably) they sort of have a 20 year warranty originally,, but not sure if it goes with them. possibly buying from someone who bought numerous semi truck loads on the cheap, the price seems like the best i have...
I don’t think I have a TC 2, I think I may be have the original version, it’s yellow, doesn’t look as high-tech, I’m actually not home right now but I will be in a couple days and I will look more closely at it. But thanks I appreciate it
can i ask why? yes, i am confused,, is it against any building codes to put panels on your roof and then have a hybrid inverter? how do emergency servicing cut off your power in the event of a fire?
well dang. i am not that far along yet to know my wiring config. i just know some solar is going to be put in sooner or later. 400 amp panels are super scarce, i was lucky to get that one. not much choice out there. what is anti-islanding?
I have a large south facing barn Typical metal roof, it’s 25 feet wide and 50 feet long it’s about a four or five pitch roof, I haven’t measured it. The barn has got number six wire running to it from the house where the main panel is. It’s on a 50 amp breaker. it is a very long run of...
i’m 57. Retired fire captain, not hurting for funds But my dad raised me to almost always do everything myself. I built houses and rebuilt engines. I’ve wired quite a few new construction homes. I am positive I have the tools and competence to do my own solar set up but i’m a bit too impatient...
would anyone know if these batteries would not stand up to the rough road/ mobile environment if installed so the terminal are facing to the side as opposed to up? obviously, the cells are arranged inside the plastic case in a certain way.
also,,, are any certain lifepo4 batteries able...
i have a welder, chop saw, torch, tractor. is it worth it to build it yourself? or just buy ready made? any good designs out there using some red iron and angle iron?
to house the bms and the bat packs. will this stand up to the abuse of the rv life,,, dirt roads and bumpy trails?
will these diy packs,, in my case, using 4 of them to make a 280ah 12v ideally i would like to do a 4s3p pack in one box to make a 840ah bat for my rv, is this...
I was curious, I see a lot of roofs where the panels are just side-by-side like four on one side by six long and it makes me wonder how often do people clean them? And how do you clean them if they’re such a large field, where I live in the southwest you get this rain that leaves a lot of dusty...
i hope i got this right but amps are amps, right? if i have a 10 amp regular battery charger, i can just charge up my super expensive sok as long as i don't over charge it, right?
i was using a battery tender 4 amp unit that can be set on lithium but for some reason it won't switch over from...
obviously the low light production of the bifacials or high end panels is much better,, but they are way bigger and heavier for a diy project. meanwhile, a few extra cheaper panels are a 1/3 the cost. hmmmmm
local solar guy was warning me about bifacial panels, said he didn't approve, he's been in the biz long time. thoughts? maybe they can't handle hot climates?
I have one of those medium size 12 V refrigerators in my forerunner, kind of a overland or type of set up, I’ve been using an old 12 V boat battery that I just charge up before I leave and it might last two nights during cooler temps but it does say 86 amp hours on it, I thought if I got a 200...
i have a seimens solar ready panel. i was going to run 2" or 1 1/2" conduit out of the bottom and over to the side of the hill where i will be putting FUTURE my ground mount solar panels. i am doing this like tomorrow. i AM NOT working with a solar company at this time. I've seen...
i had charged this battery up to 13.6,, tested with my expensive fluke meter. i hooked it up to my 12v cooler and after a single night, and then a few hours during the day, it was down to 12.9v. according to typical voltage charge,, that is down to a 20% soc. the thing is, i used to...
yes, I should’ve been more specific. I figured I would run the inverter wires over to the sub panel obviously at night I would be counting on my typical grid system. i do have a sub panel in the barn, it’s got some Lightcircuits and some plug-in circuits on it I’ve also got a 50 amp...
that actually was my plan to have three rows of 13 panels on the roof, I think I could squeeze another three or four panels on there if I configured them differently, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the hassle
my sok 100ah smart battery arrived at with a SOC of 10.9v. that seems low. so i hooked up my charger but it is now only registering 11.76v,, i would have thought it would be at a higher charge voltage. seem normal?
i've got a choice between 39" wide panels or 41" wide panels, my working area is between 36" and 39",, so the panels may stick over the sides of roof a couple inches.
has anyone done this with fine results,, doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
it seems like mostly sprinter vans on this...
Hi, hey thanks for reviving my thread. It was some seriously bad timing In my life just as I was starting to do the solar stuff, I had three otherwise previously healthy parents get super sick, my 2 moms have died since then, May 15 and Fourth of July, but my dad is still barely hanging in...
i know with lead batteries heavier is better but why would 2 same AH lipo batteries be so different in weight? the ionic is twice as expensive. just wondering
i was looking at 3 different panels for my rv solar set up,,,,, 240w at 37voc- 39"x56" in dimension
and 370w 47.8voc-39x77 in dimension
and
445w 49.88voc-41"x83" in dimension
the max watts i can come up with is 6-445w panels and 2-240w panels= 3150w total on the roof
other configs are...
i was thinking of that,, also in arizona kinda,, down near prescott. but the panels will be the same height above roof whether they overhang or not,, i just can't imagine it being that much more of a windload,,, or significant.. if i hang over , i can get about 3200 watts on the roof...
i was getting ready to putting 4 430 watt panels on my fith wheel roof, they are 67'x41" i believe, i was just going to get some 3x3" aluminum angle stock and cut 4 or 5" pieces. what are all the cool guys using?
Has anybody recently done a bunch of shopping around, is Amazon really the best place? Are there any smaller solar places that might need the business?
where do you store your ground panels when not in use,,,, are you pretty much stay in place for months? or are you constantly traveling and resetting up? where in az,, anywhere near prescott?
my fridge pulls 70 watts but obviously it is not on all the time, it shuts itself off and on. obviously in winter time,, it should last way longer
i was looking at the ip22 but it seems to be only for lith ion batterys? not lifepo...
I’ve got 4 lifeline agm batteries in my Rv Right now. GPL-6ct 300ah. I’ve got them in a 2s2p set up So I supposedly have 600 amp hours at 12 V. I got them about seven years ago and they worked good for a while. I’ve got some pretty dated equipment, it’s a 2007 toy hauler but I have a true...
I think that’s where I was running into a roadblock, finding some charger that would put out 15.5 V, I’ll check out my true charger but I have my doubts that it is up to the task
i was just looking at the 12v 100ah "smart" battery. between shipping and sales tax, amazon is kind of pricy, is there another source that i can't locate?
I’m looking to get at least two separate 12v 200 amp hour batteries,,, I could even do 300 amp hour battery so I’ve got plenty of room. Missed out on a decent deal for some slightly used ones locally dang it. If anyone has shopped around lately where did you wind up buying from.
you think the epoch batteries are a scam? 4 of the 3.2's (300ah) is 48 lbs then,, and they weigh 58. could it be the case construction? epoch has a 11 year warranty which seems impressive
Two or three of my projects are in Arizona, however one is in Las Vegas Nevada
so you’re saying that the net meter rules where they actually pay you for the power you put back are stacked heavily in favor of the utility companies?
What if you put in a solar system that was pretty close to what...
you are right,, the one on amazon was the more standard "low temp cutoff"
i am trying to decide if i should pay the 60$ more for the smart heated battery. my usage is i usually just charge up a battery (was using agm 60ah) and then i would use it to power my 12v cooler for a couple days,, i...
Quattro-II 12/3000/120-50/50 2x120V
gennie hooked up to line in #1, shore power to line in #2, typical spots for my 600 amp lipo's ( 2-epoch 300 ah 12v ) and typical out to 50 amp split panel in my rv.
it seems to be working fine when in inverter mode. but when i switched to...
I had read that The batteries have been designed to be equalized and that they could possibly restore them to most of their former strength, where do you find these chargers that have an equalization mode
Have a fairly large toy hauler 33 foot, it’s an older one andHave a fairly large toy hauler 33 foot, it’s an older one 2007 so everything runs on 12 V. I’ve got room for some of the fairly large residential panels, like the 400 W range ones but would it be simpler just to get the 12 V panels?