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General rule of thumb, Al needs roughly 1 step up size-wise over Cu for the same amperage, but consult an amperage chart (I think that 1ga should be OK for 60A but check a chart and be sure you can live with the voltage drop it will produce). I assume you will have a combiner box with breakers...

All automotive fuels are "blended" for the locale and season. For diesel, it is basically mixing in enough #1 Diesel (aka kerosene, more or less) and other additives with the #2 diesel to reach the low temps you are aiming for (and some other parameters too). And it is not the same in different...

Been looking at possible replacement inverters, and the EG4 18Kpv seems like a pretty good match for my needs. One "feature" which I had hoped to implement in my system was adding a dump load (hot water heater element) to make use of extra power when the batts are close to fully charged. From...

It really all depends upon what is important to you and what you can forego. We have 9 refrigerators and freezers running at the moment. That is a new max for us, and the number will go down as we eat our way through the foods that's in them, and when the root cellar gets cold enough for some...

I'll jump in with some thoughts: 1. There are several issues with "just adding on" to the various components, namely: a. With batts, adding a few new ones to an old bank brings the new ones down to the level of the old. Maybe not a concern if yours are only 2yo, but still a consideration. But...

Thanks to all. A lot more answers and ideas than I expected. A charge controller probably is the right way to go, to prevent overcharging the batt. However I was trying to avoid having to put another water tight box out there, and space is somewhat limited inside the door mechanism. Plenty of...

I have been kicking around ideas for a tiny (maybe even a nit) solar project, and was looking for ideas/suggestions. We have a chicken coop on the property, and I put in an automatic door opener, which has been working fine. It runs off of a 6v lantern style battery which typically lasts just...

I have a solar well pump (DC) setup, been using it for 6+ years now. It has its own pump controller with a built in charge controller (PWM). It generally works well, but my 2 PV panels can't quite keep up with water needs in the summer. Temporarily I augmented the PVs with a 24v battery charger...

Would need to know some more about how your system is wired to say if the 4ga is big enough. Basically you want to keep the voltage drop to a minimum (say 2% but ideally less), and that will depend on how much current you are putting thru the wires, which depends on the wattage of your panels...

I have been "kicking around" some ideas on upgrading/expanding my system for a while now. I have a few possible solutions/directions I've thought of, but wanted to run it by folks here to get feedback and/or new ideas. First here is my current system: 2600W of PV panels on two ground mounts...

A few thoughts on your project: 1. You should think carefully about where you want to store your solar heated hot water. I found on my system that a separate HW tank that the solar heated, piped into the "conventional" HW heater cold input line was pretty inefficient. Typical small household...

Fair enough. My misunderstanding of AC grounding code. Thanks...

OK, just looked up the Flexmax60/80 and they are MPPT controllers, which is good. Question is what input voltage are they running at, probably at least 2 panels in series, maybe 3 or even 4. So you may have some room to up their voltage configuration while still using your current CC, and be...

Another variable is the angle of your panels. Here, off-grid folks will commonly angle their panels to maximize winter power collection, foregoing some summer production. Again, a lot depends upon your climate. If you are somewhere that winters are cloudy and overcast much of the time, the...

The real problem with using wood "gas" to run an ICE, is that the engine does not last that long. Carbon tends to build up in the cylinders and you end up needing an engine rebuild fairly quickly (like <10k mile). `

I tend to agree with your direction, george65. No matter how carefully you plan, things can go wrong or differently than what you've prepared for. The most likely events at my location are wild fires and big snows (although there have been floods recently too). The worst case is a mandatory...

Not sure if they are in your area, but I would look into the companies who will "rent" you the PV system at no upfront cost to you. Basically a grid tied system, the company puts it on your property, sells you power for less than your local power co charges, and gets to keep the excess power...

I think to really "know" what is going on, you need to put some measurement devices on your system. They could be fancy, but even just a means to measure net current in/out of the batt and PV would tell quite a bit, and load measurements couldn't hurt too. Even a cheap setup would do, although...

Interesting. Their spec sheet does not mention any UL certs. Wonder if they are going to get any of those....

You should investigate the siting requirements for wind turbines before jumping into this. Typically to get good wind production the turbine needs to be 30' higher than the nearest obstacles within 100' (for a small one). That includes trees, buildings, people, etc. You also need to figure out...

@Shinzul - the reason to do this is just to make use of that extra energy which otherwise would go to waste. @Samsonite801 - I am aware of the "Smart Load" feature, and that would do pretty much what I want. Except it takes over the generator input. I am looking to implement that smart load...

I am a bit surprised about the requirement for the two meters, if you are doing a net metering agreement. You have a different PoCo than here (Xcel), but as I understand Xcel's requirements here, if you are under 10KW of generation (eg panels) then you can just have a single net meter. Over 10K...

Angle and orientation are a lot more involved than just picking one angle (although often that is all we have to play with). It is fairly easy to lookup the elevation of the noon time sun for the various months at your location. But that only optimizes for noon on a sunny day. If your weather...

Just curious, why if the B-W heater has 1.6x the power draw as the old AO you think it will take only 1/4 the time to heat up? This should be pretty linear, 2x the power in heats the water in 1/2 the time, etc. Should take about 1/1.6 = 63% of the time, but use roughly the same total energy...

I have an RPS system in my well which pumps to a cistern. I added storage batteries, primarily so that I can water my garden and orchard during the day and have it refill over night. It works very well for what I need. However I do not use the RPS pump to pressurize the house or irrigation...

Sounds like this will be quite a move up in power for you, congrats. You don't mention your current charge controller or inverter, so I am guessing they don't exist and you are running everything now at 12VDC; is that right? Are you looking to continue doing that, or were you thinking of moving...

I should say, best protection if lightning does get to the mount, regardless of other protection... (on edit) probably more accurate to say it is inverter, CC, etc protection in that if the PV or mount get a direct lightning strike this isn't likely to save them...

In theory, except for two rods a ways apart when a thunderstorm cloud passes overhead. The charge on the bottom of the could will induce a corresponding charge and V potential on the ground underneath. There can be significant voltage differences between ground rods when this happens, with...

I am looking for a water and weather proof DC connector to allow me to plug in a battery charger to an outdoor DC-Solar well pump system. Something which can handle 10A or so. And would be nice to have the + and - connections all in one polarized connector. This connector would hang off the pump...

One other possible solution for the inverter you might consider is the Midnite DIY series. Have not heard a lot about them on this forum, but both companies (Midnite and SRNE) have a good rep on their other products. The DIY are (as I understand) made by SRNE specifically for them, an AIO box...