I don't think that's what fromport is trying to convey. The LT should be able to generate a mini-grid solely with batteries, at least my MPP-hybrid does and capable of turning on Enphase M215/250 micros. My interpretation for having one set of PV driving the LT is to have production right at...
it's just one of my pet peeves. I think we can generally design up front to keep idle consumption down if it's a priority. Just seems silly to worry about fantom loads here and there. Xneider, and may be Outback, inverters have pretty low idle draw. But yeah, adding one PV panel would take...
I really like our GeoSpring HeatPump water heater, set to use heatpump exclusively, pulling only 600-watt, totally reduced our propane usage (last filled in 2013). Most of the "green" steps are motivated by my cheapskate ways, but getting free stuff is just cool (like hanging out my laundry)...
I was concerned about the different impedance. PVs are basically a current source, and current limited by default depending on insolation, but a battery can provide a lot of instant current
if not grid-tie feed in, then obviously battery because there's a lot of production left after 3pm. In the mean time, you can pre-heat/cool the house as a thermal battery
another guess is that the EG4 is dropping output voltage when switching/merging solar & battery, thus kick off the EVSE. A scope on the 240vac or a min/max volt meter can verify
bench tested one of these with a Bolt, only pulled ~400w so far, hoping to test pulling 3kw soon. It's not as controllable as using the MPPT on a hybrid inverter.
below are some new V2L and some are being used already. I think CCS version is being developed. Pretty clever to fool the EVs...
No matter when and how, there is going to be pain and unfortunately always more later. Just think of people trying to get out from an addiction. The big problem is the "we", due to alternative motives and interests. The collective "we" failed to act responsible after the 70s oil embargo, we...
if your water heater needs replacement, consider a heatpump water heater. I installed the early one in 2013, GE GeoSpring, and always ran in heatpump mode. In fact, I've disconnected the two resistive heater elements. It draws only ~350w, obviously more at startup. I hacked the temperature...
back in the days before EV and plug-in hybrid, with only the Prius available; there was an Engineer system with a 4kwh, 48vdc pack with a DC-DC converter (48=>~260vdc); injecting directly to the NiMh 1.3kwh Prius pack. The trick was to inject prior to the CT coil to appease the BMS, the Prius...
it's really hard to wait, but it's my rule-of-thumb over the years, so painful though. For example; waited years for the Prius Gen 2, then Tesla 2nd gen, though jumped the gun on the 2017 Bolt first year, internally rationalized that GM experience with their Volt/SparkEV. Now more waiting for...
it's going to be painful no matter what, but so much less now & sooner, rather so much more pain later.
Every baby step helps. My family always give me the look when I flip off the power strip to the entertainment console (darn cable box draws a constant 25-watt), I ask them how much would I...
so the Emporia EVSE works fine on grid, and on EG4+battery; the problem is only when the EG4 operates in solar+battery, sounds like an EG4 transitioning issue merging solar/battery
I saw a video by Ben Nelson at 300mpg.org, he's using an iMiev Chademo to power his AIO as well as AC-couping his M215s. I can't locate right now but will link upon finding, where he mentioned that his micros simply shut-down; probably with Vac rising about upper limit.
I can bench test it...
The debate and discussion can continue, but it's best to err on the safe side and act while there's possibility. If current science is wrong, the good life continues. But what if the denial is wrong, and by the time it's obvious; the window to prevent catastrophy is in the rear.
My system is also for black out situtation, the challenge is operating multiple cloudy/stormy winter days, as our main heat source is mini-splits. My current temporary solution is to tap the big EV's pack. But my meager 8kwh home pack is kept between 35-75% SOC, just don't want to stress the...
where's the MACH-E tap ? heater as well ? I also used MC4, with a 20A inline as well. PowMr support says pre-charging the MPTT input is not necessarily, so my power up sequence was Bolt first, then circuit breaker on to MPTT. As mentioned, the PowMr display isn't so accurate
actually thought about this, as we're on a slight hill, having a tank top & bottom. But upon looking into the effective effeciency (pump loss/regen...), back of envelope estimate is ~60% at best.
been eyeing wrecked Chevy Bolt, ~$5k for 60kwh with built-in BMS/TMS, and really easy HV tapping. Am already using it for outages from our Bolts.
except wife would be very unhappy with a wrecked vehicle on site.
how thick is the straw bale wall ? with such amazing insulation, passive solar and mini-split would work so well. Does it getting windy there ? seems likely from the photo.
same here, installed in 2013 and still going strong, fingers crossed. In fact, it's installed in our basement and it de-humidifies the air nicely. We also hang our larger laundry items in the basement, when it rains for days on end, and the HPWH just extracts the latent heat from the vapor...
Has any one successful AC-coupled a Fronius inverter ? I was told in the early days of AC-coupling, albeit years ago and things have changed quite a bit, that Fronius inverters were notoriously difficult to AC-couple. Enphase micros seem quite happy and straight forward with AC-coupling.
there were much to learn in the early days and a lot of unknowns. My first rooftop went on in 2007 and code has evolved quite a bit.
Span has an interesting concept, but potentially unreliable with all those "features". How does it control each circuit breaker ? relays ?
average temperature below frost line is around 55F year round, these geothermal heat-pumps need only to raise about 30F, even when outside air is below freezing
Since it's cool/cold now, your panels may be indeed running at higher voltage. Check your panels' spec for temperature coefficient. Are the over-volt events usually in the early morning hours ?
how often and duration are the outages ? I'm in CA with ever increasing outage frequency, fortunately usually not for very long, yet. I've been making it through with a gerry rigged set up using my EVs as the main pack. So I am going with a cheapy MPP hybrid ($800) with an old repurposing...
yes, yabert has successfully used the EV HVDC tap to a PowMr hybrid inverter, page 5-7 are the juicy pages. His PowMr max at 3kw, so don't think the limiting is via user setting; but that is my plan. I have been concerned for years that the MPPT would pull so much current for an EV pack, since...
thank you for such an engaging and informative thread, I am learning quite a bit and I thought I was informed. Ultimately life and the planet will go on, just not in the current form and with a lot of suffering. My current concern is that "change is coming", how to best live/deal with it ...
I am guessing that the EV6 AC output is 120vac, the IP6048 probably needs a 240vac input.
Also, mppsolar has this warning at their website:
"Using Generator as AC-Input
Generator power is recommended to be 50% larger than the inverter rating to reduce chances of overload...
your rooftop solar can take a nip out of the residential heating with heatpump furnace & mini-split... still feeling tiny
We need a paradigm shift and it may take a generation or two. Cheap energy mentality and mind set will take time to "wake" up. Imagine a $20/gal of petrol, innovation...
this report doesn't seem to include the huge military cost, in the name of defense spending.
Recently reading about green ammonia, very hopeful. With its 3 hydrogen atom and easier storage/transport, it can serve as hydrogen carrier.
I very much appreciate the occasional thread recaps.
let's keep in mind that, at least in the US, the "gov't" is elected by us, and thus WE hold the key. In fact, "we have met the enemy, it is us".
The Draw Down book mentions methane from cattle can be reduced up to 80% with some seaweed/kelp mix in the feed. That's a huge reduction.
It seems that individual homestead/household/individual can become carbon neutral, albeit with some effort, but completely doable, via sufficient residential solarPV installation. The challenge is to scale up. Just drove ~2000 e-mile from CA to Houston in a Tesla, it's just amazing how many...
can the charge rate be dynamically modulated in real-time to vary the charge rate ? am thinking of using my EV as a over generation charge dump, sure beats just heating water
just picked up a relatively inexpensive PowMr 5.5K 48v, $299+$45 shipping, discontinued model I guess. The first thing I insisted was to remove the N-G screw, it took a few back/forth Whatsapp messaging to convince PowMr that it is necessary. Now I can use an autotransformer to get proper...
In somewhat similar vein, what would it take to connect an ElectricVehicle (EV) pack, ~360-400vdc, to the PV-INPUT of a hybrid inverter ? say a 5000-w mpp5648gk, which has 500vdc PV input ? for sure a DC circuit breaker. A simple 10A DC breaker would protect overdrawing the EV pack to 4000-w...
it took a while to narrow down to the Pioneer: an US company, 30% tax rebate qualification, and sufficiently low current demand for battery backed operation. Installed a Pioneer Ultra Diamond last month and the system looks quite decent. Planning to install 3 more in coming months, the main...
GRV0423-you have the -LV version right ? not the -HV ? Ian at watts247 was going to test the -HV but was discouraged by poor responses.
Can you determine the idle power draw ? am guessing over 100-watt
elejoy can't do CCS yet. But I'm putting that cheapy Aliexpress DC-AC into a box then to test out with the Bolt's HVDC at higher wattage. I got scared bench testing earlier, hence drew only 400w.
It took a while to proceed because Alix sent the wrong item, 220vac 50Hz output, I ordered...
since the battery HV is connected to the PV input, there is no controllable voltage setting from the inverter perspective. Probably need an external voltage monitor to graceful disconnect/shut-down somehow
because it's a tall order. Every human born deserves a decent life, and thus energy/food/waste/heat/etc... Imagine hypothetically current China population of half a million, net neutral with current solar/wind generation probably approaches reality ? am just guessing. Am struggling to do it...
My only experience with idle draw so far is with an MPP U5649GK, but guessing it would be applicable, though needs verification. The MPP hybrid function is more less similar, with ATS, but no grid-feed. It was rather disappointing to measure ranges between 22-w to 157-w. The lowest 22-w is...
a quick update: it was a success repeating Yabert path, at least as a bench test. I tapped the Bolt's heater plug, driving the PowMr5.5K PV input. My bench test load was only a 350-w 120vac heater through an auto-transformer. The PowMr outputs at 240vac only. It was tested with and without...
sounds like a fun project and a hobby farm, such good resources: fertile soil, water and of course plenty of sunshine. Our poor soil fertility is improving year by year with autumn leaves & composting. But a higher water table would really facilitate geothermal heat storage. Looking forward...
is there any reason other all-in-one inverter can not support the high DC-PV input from an EV's high DC ? it seems the main requirement is the inverter's ability to limit the incoming current via the battery charging max current setting.
Am using an 5000-w auto-transformer to get 120vac from...
these high quality bricks are salvageable, especially upon warranty expiration. The 12~30w bleed is tolerable if it's for the entire 50+kwh pack, just not 10x(12~30w)
I can appreciate the over charge concern. My plan is to operate between 25~75% SOC, 51.4~53.1. Sure I don't get to use the whole capacity but figure it's safer to add more battery than to push the edges. But I haven't thought to confirm these inverters battery measurement precision and...
You may want to rethink having a minimum critical load panel, the smaller watt demand can be much more manageable. It's not like your well pump would run continuously for 8 hrs. Being in Panama, I would imagine a need for AC. Mini-splits can easily operate from a critical load panel. How...
I think NotAero was refering to replacing the 3x Fronius with 1x Sol-Ark 15K, then not AC-coupling at all but just load-demand modulation during outage. Finally took a look at the Sol-Ark line, it sure feels like an all grown-up hybrid in comparison to the toy version from across the big ocean...
the GSL-H-12KLV-US spec lists Battery Input 80-400vdc, so can I use my EV's pack for V2House ?
https://www.gsl-energy.com/gsl-energy-home-solar-energy-storage-system-single-phase-12kw-off-grid-hybrid-solar-power-inverter-for-american-market-f
can't address specifically to the e-transit, but in general the EV BMS can already handle these intermittent demands/regen, such as cabin heat/air-conditioning, foot-of-go-pedal etc...
It seems the problem is between bypass through mode (ACIN) and inverter mode. In bypass, NG is bonded back in the main panel via the EG's ACINput. Thus there would be 2x NG bonds with the NG bond in the critical load box. In inverter mode, ACOUT-N is float and thus needs the NG bond in the...
the CT provides the hard data to the software ultimately. I would put on a clamp meter or something to verify power flow, though your meter may have a direction indication. You are beta testing for all of us
Our local utility company is really pushing back on grid feed, and keeps trying to change the law to discourage it. If thing go south for grid tie as "storage", I plan to over size my PVs, then pre-heat hot water/make-ice during sunny hours; in addition to EV charging
Hello everyone, first time posting. Thank you for amazing details on this thread.
Is the enphase iQ output connected in the sub panel ? If so grid tie power is flowing from sub panel thru the XW to the main panel ?
Also, during multi sunny outage days, do we need to worry about load dump once...
has any done/heard that Fronius GT been successfully AC-coupled ? when I looked into this ~10-yrs ago, I was told that they couldn't get the Fronius to turn on. I would confirm, though not sure how, that the Sol-Ark will turn the Fronius on before pulling the trigge
One of your other thread...
here's a idea: for winter usage, disconnect all BMS preferrable after installing a switch to easily turn them back on come spring. Then set the Sol-Ark to operate between 52-53vdc, roughly between SOC 40~75%. That gives you 35% x 52kwh ~> ~18kwh capacity. I think it's safe to operate within...
totally doable with PV charging your battery pack
It's coming, but the wait is so slow. The upcoming Ford Lightning truck has a 7-9kw AC plug and the more affordablee Kia/Hyndai iOniq 5 has a 3kw 120vac outlet.
we have done exactly that a few time. The 60kwh pack in the Chevy Bolt can run...
my current set up is mainly for house UPS, so hopefully intermittent. Because the AIO is nominally OFF, it's turned ON by the external ATS, thus about ~20-sec delay to boot up. So not seamless, but good enough
We human have gotten ourselves into a predicament, having built our system based on cheap fossil fuel, leading to surely unintended or at least unforeseen problems: wasteful consumption, climate consequences, supply chain system, and even a transportation system spreading a virus globally...
since the EG6000 Neutral is floating, NG bond is essential in the critical load panel, and any stand alone connection
My system is not yet completely set-up; my plan is to connect CR-N to Main-N and CR-G to Main-G, with NG bonded in Main panel. This configuration was tested good as expected...
I've done similar tests and can confirm the local auto transformer indeed try to balance the main utility panel imbalance. It is a safety concern, because a huge imbalance current exceeding the little auto transformer will fry it, but probably over heat and can cause fire first.
Any auto...
true. What I've learned from this thread is the pro/con of having multiple parallel packs with multiple BMS vs a big pack with just one BMS; very much appreciated
We switched provider to Community Electricity Provider, Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), as the generator as opposed to using PGE in Northern Cal, we have been $ positive since 2017. Mainly because the SVCE pays regular rate for access as opposed to grossly reduced rate by big utility...
It is sounding like your system has 3x NG bonds: inside the EG4, CRpanel, Main-panel. Confirm also that AC volt L1-N and L2-N, are the same. Since the EVSE is connected to the CRpanel, I would do some baby step tests:
1. remove CRpanel NG bond, 2. Check EG4 NG bonding (volt then ohm), 3...
AC coupling would be the way to go for sure, but tends to be pricey. Given your 57 panels and 15kw grid-tie inverters, it's probably in your budget. On the other hand, I am in fact designing a system similar to your idea, of switch the PV output from the grid-tie inverter to a hybrid inverter...
The Sol-Ark 15 specs look quite good. While the rated 15kw PV system is indeed quite high power, the system is 3-yrs old now so probably closer to 12-13kw. It seeems the Sol-Ark should be able to handle it, since it is not AC-coupling but a direct DC>AC conversion; and the MPPT should be able...
Not common, in fact we want PV connected, it was just a test to eliminate the potential current leakage through the PV(-). I had a similar occurence charging my Bolt, it took a while to decipher my PV(-) was partially coupled, ~280K-ohm, to ground. I had left the PV(-) connected to a...
given that the inverter failure should be a rare event, if ever, a simple 2-wire double-pole 200A breaker can bypass the inverter. No need for an auto transfer
the challenge is really how to scale up, beyond an individual level. An individual carbon print reduction appears insignificant. I have been struggling to fly less, sometimes it feels like an asymptotic impact. If I can "help" another individual to make the effort, then another one, and so on...
heatpumps are just amazing. Newer inverter type claims to work down to 5F, such as this one from Amazon:
https://a.co/d/0M5XkOE
am waiting for 2023 to install a few, with tax credit incentive.
Our central whole house heatpump was cranking out ~80F inside while it was 20F outside last winter...
in the process of designing a similar system. Got hold of a bunch of used panels & old Enphase M215s, thinking about building an offgrid carport for EV charging. Given the M215s can't be throttled being "dumb" grid-tie, the thinking is to buffer production with a hi/lo battery detection. The...
Ben at 300mpg.org has also implemented V2H using a solar inverter, using an iMiev (only 16kwh pack). He cleverly access the HVDC via the Chademo DC port. I have an iMiev and trying to source an inexpensive Chademo plug, as well as looking into accessing the HVDC at the AC/Heater plug