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The fundamentals of solar....more in summer, less in winter....go against any economic benefits to purchase special equipment for the winter excess. You will find that your panels won't be able to keep up with normal demands during cold periods.

I crimp & solder then pray one is good enough!

Googling "Winnebago Travato on a Promaster 3500 chassis'' brings up images of propane tanks and grey water tanks in the same position. As an Australian who has had a few floor pans punctured by various objects it doesn't seem very safe. However, looking at the images of these things and knowing...

Cost of electricity? c/kWhr......$/kWhr......$/MWhr.... It is c/kWhr because I like it that way! Don't bring that topic up again. Electrons don't worry where their excitement comes from!

You serious? AC maybe a slight problem!!

In poor sunlight that may be correct. However it is 4 times a very small amount. In full sunlight with matched loads the difference is nill. 15% over the full season is a figure quoted in mppt favor which is negated by throwing up an extra panel! " My wife doesn't want to hear any excuises...

A problem specific to the OP is the location, Scotland, where the average winter sun output is only 10% of the summer. Even 10% would be useful for lights and other small loads but not for heating. This puts what I'm trying to say much better! Load diversion is great....but not in your case...

I don;t know of any but this does not say it is not a problem. DIYers would not know, or even understand, the myriad of requirements set by standards to keep others safe. As an example I ask this question- The new Australian standard for solar installation(video from another thread) dictates...

It would have to be a big apartment with 2629 Battery Sellers all living there....assuming they live together since all the photos from their AliExpress sites have them sharing the same office and factory. Bath time would be a bit crowded.

No. The official Chinese Media says there is nothing to worry about. The companies manufacturing nearby have just announced a new line of 'glow in the dark' solar products. Mr Green has ordered a lot to send to Will for testing

.... and would you have any info on the recent recall of LG batteries? https://www.lgessbattery.com/au/main/main.lg

Probably only a slight difference to what happens now with any Chinese* importers using drop shippers in their supply chain. * I know it started in the USA!

Aluminium tee strips over and between the joints may be of interest- thickly applied sikaflex as the expansion joint https://www.bunnings.com.au/metal-mate-20-x-20-x-1-5mm-3m-aluminium-tee-strip_p1079632

mrzed001 confirmed they are LiPo. possibly made by LG who were in the Australian news because of their recall of batteries used in larger systems "LG Energy Solution has determined that there may also have been issues in the early production processes. As a result, some batteries containing...

Clean your filter!

Skip the amp test. Use the amp rating on the label. Your panels are going to be ok. If the panels look ok and Voc approaches label Voc then seldom is there a amp problem other than bad wiring or crimps and often these are intermittent so your amp test may miss it anyway.

I offered $10/panel. They are considering it. I have some space left for a few. Unfortunately Wattmatters is right. It is cheaper just to throw the old out since panels have become just a minor cost of the total system. but seeing perfectly good panels discarded is so wrong and justifies my...

It doesn't matter at your level of variation. A purist may say otherwise but obviously they have missed "I have some old Suntech panels (190W Suntech 36.6mvp/45.2Voc)" Same. However the purist would point out that since the voltage is the same across each series, 166v, and there is a very...

I've found these to be very tolerant of voltage variation, 10v - 16v. The wifi cuts out below 10v and the other parts somewhere below that but will need a manual restart upon restoration of power. The Sagem and TPLinks keep any changed settings however NetGear ones revert back to the the ISP's...

Yes, A spanner!

My next holiday will be local and not blasting into space on one of those environmental crusader's rockets.

The problem is that when the sun shines on your roof enough to backfeed it is also shining on the megawatt solar farm down the road and the market price of power goes negative. Determining a fair price then becomes problematic!

Brisbane is the perfect Australian location for a LiFePO4 battery warehouse!!

At least I saw the humor.... Must read this Before this one

I;m not sure about the safety aspects of buying grid tied / micro inverters off Amazon. I'm all for diy when it comes to myself but dyi grid tie puts others at risk.

The only true battery restoration video. Other than removing the cover on SLA's to allow topping up

"bus bars must be exactly the same for negative and positive'' I don't see the necessity for that statement!

As long as that use is practical and economical viable. There is also a difference between daily excess cycles and OP's seasonal cycle that is opposite to solar production.. Obviously there would be periods where the two cycles coincide, predominately the mid-seasons, but solar fundamentals are...

An exercise bike with a generator just in front of the little windows so you can make electricity, get fit and be able to watch the Russian tanks roll in all at the same time.

In Australia "I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains" we are wondering what to do with thousands of perfectly good, but now redundant, old panels. One '' ''ecogreen'' '' State has even built a recycling plant to crush them without even thinking it is their ecogreen subsidies that...

Shine a light through from the front in the dark. Or just the sun from within a doorway and observe from the back. You can see the grid and if there are any actual breaks. In that area a break would not cause a problem. Even a break to the main tape going up to the main 'bus bar' can be fixed...

100% discharge may mean down to their BMS cuttoff @20% ?? Probably because they are based in the USA they need to be more honest with their stated battery capacities verses cycles and have their batteries perform to what they are rated.... 100ahr battery needs to supply 100ahr, So they use 120ah...

The MPPT's pv+ and bat+ look like they are connected?? These would be at different voltages so there is a problem.

Most others in the world are allowed to self-identify....but Wyoming?...probably still DC because it being static!

SGS UL Absolutely lost but what do companies have to do to say it is up to UL standards? Do they consider the whole unit or go down to the component level? From the 2 links- UL can test UL467 Electrical Grounding and Bonding Equipment. This is not listed for SGS. Somewhere in there must be...

Cutting the ends of ready made ext cords is cheaper than buying similar cable off the roll within the same shop. I use a lot of 3 core 10amp (typical Australian Ext)....doubled it is 30amps because the earth gets used. Some led lights in the garden have the blue and brown as - and the green as...

Just to add to a already convulated thread my fridge has started shutting down my hf inverter around 10am. Appears to be causing the high voltage protection in the inverter to cut out. Runs all night and day other than this time when V is highest?? Disconnect everything!

I am waiting for a 12v 600w element to get here just to pre-heat like yourself. Plan to install it in a 300mm length of 40mm galv pipe with threaded fittings to take the 1inch bsp element. In series to the water inlet and sloping down allowing for heat transfer through convention. No other...

Read through this post from yesterday- https://diysolarforum.com/threads/is-it-possible-to-limit-number-of-watts-from-solar-panel-array-to-inverter.37839/ and it may give you some idea. In the manual- "The solar inverter accepts a maximum of 500VDC input and requires a 48V battery input to...

I doubt KISAE exists beyond a marketing unit and a design section more involved in the making of a logo rather than the latest technological break through. This is irrelevant to most of us who buy the hype until something goes wrong and we discover that the 'reputable' organisation is just a...

That is why there should not be anything around it to catch fire! https://diysolarforum.com/attachments/dc-wiring-290rl-lynx-t400-jpg.73222/ Sorry, but that area looks like a pyromaniacs dream.....even worse than mine!

There is always a concern when directly connecting batteries together is the large current surge if the batteries vary greatly in voltage. The cable https://www.bluettipower.com/products/12v-24v-lead-acid-battery-charging-cable does suggest the current is limited within the Bluetti itself so...

20 amps @5v will keep ahead of phone charging requirements for a year or two! I've seen that video before but the PSUs I have are too dissimilar for me to follow. When using a PSU as backup don't have V set at the higher levels of charge for any battery type. The lower V of 12v of a standard...

Not to someone who cleans their PC key boards with a garden hose!

It will burn out. They rely on you doing the calculations to ensure the voltage and current does not exceed the limit. Over voltage would be a quick end. Over current would be slower. Maybe in the fine print they say.....'' this is a 8kw rated product but we suggest only running at 80% of this...

Just shows how brilliant Musk is! Being able to sell so much and people unable to identify the spiel.

Stay with 12v. The extra cost of thicker wire is recuperated with your first 12v item purchase. Even many larger diesel trucks have reverted to 12v rather than 24v.

Imagine how the Sun feels.....giving it out for free and you selling it for 0.07! Similar all around the world with the size of the margin being determined by the political leaning of those setting the price. It has little relevancy to actual market forces and energy is usually only a small %...

If they are 2nd hand and free, as they are here in Australia if you know where to look, just start standing them up against the wall or hang them from a fence and progress from there. There are plenty of examples of frames on this site.

Maybe owners of these batteries should reconsider the container they use to build or store in since there is reported v leakage to the case. some cases are the negative terminal, A plastic tub as in op's photo, even with drainage holes, may provide a current path across batteries in series at...

Pass it on. I would love to be wrong and there is an actual company with a independent design and manufacturing facility that we can support.

Solar panels - on last /off first ... it is in the manual! If your CC is a 12v/24v model you will have to reset everything in that order anyway. Your CC may survive but what about everything else connected in the interim?

There is really is no technical cut-off point. Mass produced (cheap) inverters 12v/mains go to about 3000w before the price starts spiraling up. This 3000w would cover most appliances. For kwhr you can parallel 12v to whatever but the newer 48v batteries with the All-in-Ones soon become a...

Yes.These are ex-electric train capacitators, The full story is here https://www.fpv-power.com.au/super_capacitor There may be similar sources in your region. New Maxwells were unobtainable and most likely exceed the cost of new LiFePO4 $Farad for $Farad I brought one of these- choice was...

Why have a switch there anyway?....probably just another area where solar disconnects may do more harm than good!

I doubt if a large panel would have the structural integrity of the smaller panels combined. You may end up drilling more holes and doing more work to overcome this. Panels to go on RVs should be designed for that purpose!

Play safe & follow the manual. No 12 months warranty from here! Even earth the panels momentarily before connecting like pc repairers do (me when I remember) the common terminals first, and if you can, do the final connection at night.

$25,000 for grid connection may be the best in the long term. You could possibly subcontract out the 1800' trench and cable and the utility company only doing the end connections?? Any short term savings may be offset when those vast PV arrays out in the desert get into oversupply and grid...

This is where most of the misunderstanding comes from- 'our energy bills have only a 20% energy component' Once this sinks in we then ask ourselves - ' If solar is so cheap, 20% that is the energy cost is gradually dropping to zero, then why do electricity bills go inversely in the opposite...

Really neat setup & Testing is something we all should do. However this is a discussion forum- 1- Use of a non-fire rated backing board. 2- Two fuses between CC & battery. Personally I have direct connections between my PWMs and system and go directly to to the battery busbar. but acknowledge...

That would be battery voltage + 2volts. If the battery is 10v the tracer will still charge down to panel voltage of 12v. If you had your mains pc power supply hooked up to the battery the battery would have only fell to 12v and no further unless your load exceeded that of the power...

There are too many inconsistencies- The voltage should be up towards 40v if connected in series and nothing going to battery 8 amps is more than double what you should get through these panels in series ....are the panels in parallel ? Makes the 21 v more plausible although the 8 amps does...

Yes. That is why, for that V, the number of life cycles is shorter. For lead acid to extend its life, you prevent them dropping to this level by cutting the total daily draw or adding more battery capacity or even lowering the boost charge...anything to flatten the voltage range. Everything you...

May still not equate to being in the open for 25 years. Probably the first to go will be in the connection box, although while modifying panels I;ve seen the later ones are a lot better sealed and even fully encased with gunk that would limit water ingress into the weak spot where the ribbons...

It may not be as stupid as it first appears. We will eventually get 2 electrical bills. One for infrastructure that each residence and business will pay, irrespective if connected or not, and the 2nd for actual usage. The only caveat to this is the 2nd bill may actually be dropped altogether...

I know you are after dc-dc , however teslas 5.15 (110V) 6.15 (240v) mobile connector coupled with a suitable sized dc/ac inverter would get you charging today from off-grid. https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/gen_2_mobile_connector_owners_manual_32_amp_en_US.pdf The 15%...

Why not just charge off the 12v deep cycle leaving everything else connected?

Read a statement last month " For the majority of readers of this site, the next new car they will buy will be a EV'' . That prediction is probably going to be true. There is going to be grid changes but nothing insurmountable. In fact after the initial changes the grid will be better with all...

Good idea. Starting to look like facebook with all these non-solar specific posts!

You may be able to simplify the setup by connecting the LiPO4 in parallel to the SLAs and leave the SCC connected to both. Wait till the V is the same for both batteries before connecting. Are the SLAs connected to the RV starting system? If so the large current that the LiPO4 can put out may be...

An option is to leave the hws intact and place the dc element at the inlet, sloping up to use thermo siphoning for heat transfer. https://diysolarforum.com/attachments/polyhousing-jpg.22764/ This is #1 #2 the poly has been replaced with galvanised fittings, another T added for another 12v/600w...

Often I see this quote " a PWM controller. That style drops the panel voltage to nearly battery voltage when charging" I am calling this statement out as being incorrect as it doesn't agree with my observations. A pwm cc doesn't do anything apart from letting enough current through which is...

I agree with the others that think this is a bad idea. Include the negative with twin cable and a twin connector that disconnects both at the same time. Not sure of your towing hitch but even steel towing balls are not a reliable return connection and you don't want the return path suddenly...

Keep it low voltage in parallel and continue the fun and learning.

That would only send a signal to consumers to go out and buy batteries which then puts them in a worse position a few years time as those trying to justify their expensive home solar purchase and the reason for this thread.\ The widespread use of EVs equipped with V2G may change the above.

Over voltage can destroy a CCs electronics instantaneously. If you are lucky the components will cease to work until the the V drops back to a safer V. Over current may take a little longer depending on the amount. Feel the back of the CC to get some understanding of how the heat sinks are...

Not only lack of air travel. Going the last few miles seems to be a problem too. #order 19 March : 40days + left China 12 April: Arrived Brisbane 17 April (slow plane?) Accepted by Last Mile Carrier 2020-04-17 18:45:00 [GMT+8] still waiting. (slow van?) One shouldn't be too concerned under...

Yes. Glass has better properties. With mine I found the glass first, a sliding door panel of about 2m X 1m and a 50m roll of 20mm pex in a oval shape fixed by zip ties. There is gaps between the turns to use the available space. Your tight turns may limit the surface area under direct sun...

There are so many LiFePO4 seller scams through AliExpress showing up on this site! OP - Get your friend to deliver a letter of complaint to the- Chinese Embassy in Bahamas Ambassador: Dai Qingli Address: Shirley Street East, P.O. Box SS-6389, Nassau, The Bahamas Post Box: P.O.Box SS-6389...

Australia may be too far away for your trucks.... here anything around 200watts would be free, it saves tip costs. Maybe $10 if tested. The price gets higher on ebay or gumtree. Try ringing around pv installers that may be about to re-panel a roof or a house demolition company. Your truck would...

Too many variables to give a definite answer. Best to follow the manual. Newer CC models would need to handle the BMS so they would have to be able to handle random disconnects. Another overlooked problem would be possible damage to sensitive loads running at the time. I just have multiple PWMs...

My bad,,,, However from a review, positive one at that, "Now the bad news. This is NOT a three stage charger. You set the charge voltage and that is what it will charge at, given enough sunlight. It will NOT automatically go into Boost mode or De-sulfate mode. You can set the charge voltage to...

Close. However the real reason is to give firemen a safe area to poke around with their hooks @ 35.38 mark where they are discussing the draft standard Draft AS/NZS 5033 Discussion From https://diysolarforum.com/threads/diy-off-grid-regulation-in-australia.29719/page-2

Solar panels will do that themselves. I think the misunderstanding between 'voltage' and 'power' and the operation of solar panels compared to other power generators may be the cause of why we see the above wrong statement a lot! In actual operation solar panels only cause the voltage...

Allowed or embedded?

Probably the real reason is that were originally based on standard inverter designs where the inverter lays on a flat surface rather than vertically with the air coming in from the front and out the back where all the wires are and out the window. Maybe it would not be a good idea to reverse the...

Maybe just a reality check as to the % difference expected between 2nd hand 435w and 2nd hand 265w panels. 80-85% seems ok to me, It would be interesting to know what your 265w panels are getting under the same test.

What voltage are your batteries? Your previous post says 24v so need to reduce the max output. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/my-observations-combining-lead-acid-lithium.33818/ Growatt, MPPsolar, PowerMR use the same factory for many products. Maybe Victron does also. So probably you are...

It is watts in/ watts out. So it is half the amps in and the same amps out, give or take a little. Find out what the actual problem is first before changing the array because the new setup 4P2S may trigger overload earlier as it will be more efficient. May still need to drop down to 3P2S unless...

There is so much specific proprietary circuits between the EV's main battery and the 12v ancillary that I doubt anyone can give a definitive answer. 2 way charging will eventually be the norm and the preferred method using solar will be known. At the moment the low current one way connections...

It is possible the fan cover is insulated from the main body by plastic inserts the screws go through and a seal around the edge and what you are getting is static from the spinning plastic fan blades rather than a electrical fault.

We use rms for voltage measurement. 230v (rms). Switch companies do too. It is why heating elements AC or DC of the same rating have almost the same heating capacity.

A 100ah LiFePO4 12v Battery $250 + 1500w pure sine inverter $250 = $500 Charge the Bluetti with your existing charger though the inverter and the new battery through solar panels. Bluetti for convenience and you have a stand alone solar system that is relatively modular for future expansion.

I do similar with my 12v all // Panels with a NC Relay needed on variable sunny days that works on the PV side of some panels. The significance of what you are trying to achieve may be lost on others. Come back with your final solution as it could become common practice as the easy fix for...

....and if the bms didn't disconnect?...and worse still if the battery were another Li chemistry?? The causal link between PWMs and battery fires cannot be overstated!

This is probably why we have different views. It is 8 am, I've been 100% solar for the last hour, What would I do with that extra power?

This will be the difficult part. I don't believe it would be possible without another source of power to fall back on or unlimited PV.

Throw a blanket over the ''good'' panel and see what happens!

Initially I put blocking diodes on my 12v setup because that was the recommended thing to do when parallel panels have different orientations. As with your results I found they were not needed and have been removed. Probably because when disconnected even a shaded unloaded panel's V would exceed...