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Wellbuilt: How thick are the blocks at the top of your wall? On our top blocks that have the cast indentation, the concrete is between 12"-13" thick. How deep would you put the posts? Are you talking pipe? I have ready, cheap access to heavy wall stainless pipe, especially in lengths 2'-4'...

I'm not an expert on Sol Ark, but many inverters that list their charge parameters on a spec sheet can be changed in the unit settings. I'd be surprised that Sol Ark would only go to 59. Like you, I also have some LTO, but mainly for a small dedicated system. When I looked at the charge...

Hedges: Reading some old posts...had a question about one part of your comment. How does the 3-phase come into play in an off-grid situation? Do you mean truly off grid? I cannot imagine a cabin or off grid house with 3 phase. If you are somehow adding phases, I'd certainly like to know the...

GXMnow: Hope this is a hijack.... I have a pile of 8s prismatic modules (NMC) where about 16 of them are very closely matched in voltage, but have not yet been fully charged and set up with a BMS to arrive at a fully balanced pack. They had very little prior use (supposedly) There are...

For the OP: I have never worked with a well, but have buried boiler lines, and water feed lines below ground between buildings. I second all of the suggestions about burying it as deep as you can. We are the same latitude as the Southern part of WI, and have had some bitterly cold winters...

I guess you would have to define "indoors". To me that means garage, attached shed, storage container, etc. I wouldn't want them in a basement, but it all depends on how you set it up. A lot of people build a battery box, or buy a battery cabinet and have it vented. Preferably negative...

I like this idea. Set up small inverters, and start splitting loads off to reduce your average bill, and gradually build on that. A person could have several small units to power a house, but would have to do some manual switching.

fafrd: very good point. People always say that batteries are really expensive, and of course, they certainly can be. However, I've purchased, at different times, battery packs online complete with BMS, around 1kw, 24 or 48 volt, for less than $150 delivered. A good example was the Battery...

cdevidal: from the little bit of reading I did on that topic, as long as you keep the pile far enough away from your house, termites should not be a problem. How you would determine that, I have no idea. Perhaps termites are lazy, and would rather munch away contently on a readily available...

Hedges: Thanks for the comments. I like the idea of nearly fail-safe small unit for truly critical loads. I have some LTO for that. LTO is extremely safe, and it is nearly impossible to use up their cycle life. That could be wired at either 24 or 48 volt, although the real range of those...

Snoobler: Did you finish up this battery, and if so, how is it working? I'm very interested in your thoughts on the subject of charging 16s to a lower voltage threshold. About a year or so ago I read a very detailed Samsung white paper on the topic of NMC batteries, but for the life of me I...

Yikes! I agree with Zwy, it is likely you are not moving enough fluid. Are the panels stagnating? I had seriously considered going with closed loop, because I have a lot of experience (professionally) with pumping technology. But decided it just wasn't worth the risk. Also, we have had...

You have to read all the posts, and pay attention to what was stated about NRTLs. Nationally recognized testing laboratories. If the testing isn't done by one of those, it doesn't count. Those certificates don't mean squat here in the USA. Will Prowse made a good point about his audience...

Interesting test you have going. My observation: the idea would seem to have some applications such as for keeping batteries warm. It would be much more cost effective to heat water, and pump it where needed. Pumps are very cost effective, and economical. You are going to heat water in your...

Wellbuilt: can you wait until warm weather? If so, you could spray closed cell foam and foam right over the whole thing in place. More is better. I'm assuming it would be difficult to get a heated rig up there at this time of the year. That may not be the case. Otherwise, rout out a...

Absolutely beautiful....

Check out "Build It Solar" website.

Tony: Of course I believe that the utilities are involved. I just don't want this thread to become a conspiracy theory discussion. I will say this: money talks. When big corporations can give unlimited amounts of money to campaigns for elected officials, they control what happens with...