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This email is to give a serious warning to all users that are planning to buy SAJ inverters. https://www.saj-electric.com/ I recently acquired a SAJ inverter (SAJ R5 SERIES 5000W 2 MPPT) despite all the bad app reviews. https://www.saj-electric.com/solarenergy-detail/64 While it seems to...

Greetings solarists, After 3 years of experiments with small setups, I finally have the chance to arrange my first resindential solar installation. For greater odds of success, I would like to introduce you to my initial proposal to collect some of your thoughts. Consumptions: 4.650 kWh/year...

Just saw one of the recent releases from Ecoflow called Powerstream. It is like an hybrid microinverter with an elegant data visualization (wattages coming in and out) that allows a certain degree of power management, like how much you inject to your home or the grid (in case of surplus), or...

Over the years I have accumulated equipment that I have repurposed in different systems for the sake of learning and recovering the money spent. Specially short ago that I have moved from a country that was doing "net metering" to another that requires many permissions to get your surplus...

I have assembled a small setup 4S3P with 18650 li-ion batteries. They are connected to a MPPT tracker and a 40W solar panel. They feed small loads at around 50W max. in total. In order to do things properly I should have to add a BMS to each case of 4S batteries to keep them balanced but the...

I have assembled a small Victron off-grid setup with 2x100W of solar, a MPPT 100/20 and a Phoenix 12/500 inverter. Purpose is to feed diverse low consumption home appliances like videogames console, fridge, computers,... but mostly experiment and learn. I use for now some old 18650 battery pack...

Following up on the complains about the poor UPS function I want to add the fact that the EB3A power station also randomly fails to turn on. You take it on a trip and expect to AC charge it at some point. Well, have a 50W solar panel (or AC-DC charger) with you too because when you drain it to...

Dear all, I have been looking for lightweight solar panels (so apparently flexible solar panels) over the 100W and preferably of at least 200W or higher. All suppliers I could find in Europe offered 150W-200W panels for the modest amount of >600 euros. In Spain I could however find better...

Greeting, Does anybody know of flexible solar panels suppliers in Europe offering panels over the 250W? I have been googling that and find many suppliers but most are outside Europe or in Europe but can not deliver to The Netherlands. I aim for a price below 1 euro per watt, the few...

In a few occasions I have seen in the forum comments about materials to be put under or around a battery to prevent fire hazards. My understanding was that people asking these questions were looking for a material where the heat of the cells would not start a fire on its supporting material or...

Could not find such experience in this forum and wanted to share it with you. Yesterday my solar panels produced much less kWh for what a sunny day should be like. Also I realized that during the sunset the PV arrangement voltage was almost zero while at that moment should be at least 20-30% of...

I would like to share with you my balcony solar installation after 1 month of use. It shows that solar is potentially feasible in cities or rented homes If placed on balconies and it is fairly simple. Material: - 2x100W flexible solar panels (16V, 32 cells) - 600W MPPT grid-tied inverter...

Dear all, I have been testing setups with 2 Aliexpress MPPT 500-600W grid tied inverters but for now I have not been successful at sending any electricity to the grid from solar panels. A 12V inverter I use with a 100W panel and a 24V inverter I use with 2 12V 100W panels in series. The...

Dear solar enthusiasts, I have two solar grid-tied inverters; #1 - 600W 24V grid-tied inverter for two 100W solar panels I have at the balcony. #2 - 590W 12V grid-tied inverter with battery mode (adjustable discharge 60-250W without MPPT function) for a 12V lifepo4 battery I have and possibly...

I am charging a 12V LifePo4 battery with a 14,6V LifePo4 charger (2 Amps). The battery has 4 LifePo4 cells (60Ah) hooked to a Daly smart BMS and a solar charge regulator PWM (battery connections). In the same battery connections of the PWM I have connected the charger which therefore can supply...

I have just received a 600W MPPT grid-tied inverter from Aliexpress [22-60VDC, 220V AC] (see link) and I would like to test it without solar panels. In order to do that I have thought of using a 8S 2P 18650 battery in combination with a DC-DC buck [Input: 8-36V ; Output: 1,25-32V] with current...

Just a check here. Since the MPPT controller just varies the circuit resistance to allow the panel delivering at its maximum power point (best combination of Voltage and Current), placing a DC wattmeter (with external battery) between panel and controller should not negatively influence the...

Dear all, I want to share with you my upcoming design for a flexible solar panel mount. I live in the Netherlands and would like to harvest some solar from my rental apartment. In this apartment I only have the balcony as possible collection point (see photo). Until now I just had a rigid...

Greetings solarpeople, I was designing a small solar system with 2 panels in series to be connected to a MPPT grid tied inverter. I normally look at cheap 18V 100W panels but recently found the 16V types with 32 cells instead of 36 cells. These 16V panels are 10 euros cheaper each and...

Dear all, Here a noobie trying to understand the effects of power factor on a grid-tie inverter. I am about to receive a grid-tie inverter from Aliexpress that I will connect to a 100W solar panel and there are 2 claims in the product specifications: 1) Efficiency = 86% approx. Which I...

Hello folks, CAUTION: Noob in action!!! I would like to verify with you what I believe I just learnt before I bring it into action. Unfortunately haven't found sources they explain it to the level of dumbness I have. Also welcome your advice. I have a 12V 100W solar panel, a 12V 250Wh NiMh...

Dear all, I would like to introduce you to my new project regarding batteries build up so you can give me feedback and save me some errors. In exchange I will keep you updated of purchases and the experience of assembling the whole system. The main goal is: To build a 60Ah 12V (4S) LifePO4...

Is it a feasible idea to, in order to save a significant chunk of money, by-pass a BMS for higher loads than it is meant? So charge a battery via BMS, discharge a battery via BMS and eventually, when using a load over the BMS limit, by-pass it temporary. What do you think?

Greetings solar enthusiasts, I wanted to show something I built half year ago and which I felt shy to show given its rarity and to some extend, lack of sense. Surrender to the AA powerwall!!! A set of 10S 11P NiMh 1,2V cells with a total of almost 27Ah capacity able to supply (as experienced...

Hello people, just would like to ask what I should expect as balancing function when connecting this 4S BMS Balance to 4S8P Li-on 18650 batteries (3,7V). I did it an hour ago with 3S 8P at 4,2V and the fourth 8P module at 3,6V (= 4S8P) expecting that by now the 4,2V would be 4,1V and the 3,6V...

Is there any device at home (eg. old charger) that somehow, like transformers, could be used in reverse direction to produce AC from DC? I already tried with a buck from Aliexpress and celebrated Chinese New Year at home (if you understand). I know inverters can do that, but mine has fan and...

Dear all, I have a small battery made of 18650 (4P8S) that I aim to charge with a 100W panel and a cheap solar charge regulator from Aliexpress (see image below). The regulator is not designed for 18650 batteries and even though it should be able to charge a battery up to 15V, it never goes...

Greeting everyone, Having a basic question. Can I charge a 12V 18650 battery pack with a solar panel directly connected to a 12V BMS? I would like to save the solar charger PWM because I am not expecting to give intensive use to the 20W solar setup. My main concern is what happens when the...

Dear all, I just finished a small powerwall project that I am going to post soon. Before I write a post I would like to fully understand it. At this moment, I still have a question about the solar panel voltage and I hope you can help me. I have a 10W (12V) solar panel placed in front of a...

Hi people, I was looking for DIY projects of a small 18650 cells powerwall. By small I mean 20-50 cells. I have searched already here, other forums and on google but I am thirsty for more reviews and videos about it. If you know of any, could you please write the link down below. I will check...

Greetings Solar adventurers, I was wondering If you could help me understand battery life in relation with the specifications with a type of 18650 batteries I have. In the specifications sheet, this is found: Standard Discharge Current My understanding is that for an optimal battery life...

Perhaps a stupid question but when searching for MPPT I always see them being sized for the solar panel input (Rated charge current at an specific voltage). What about the Discharge current? Is it exactly the same? Asking for a solar panel that charges a battery for 5-6 hours while the...

Hello guys, just wanted to introduce myself by saying that I live in Groningen (area) in the north of the Netherlands and that If people in the area are keen on meeting for workshop events (assemble things together and make tests) I would be happy to organize that. Other locations in the...

Hello people, I have been building a small solar set up as a test for building a bigger one. This has a 12V solar panel from Aliexpress supposed to provide 30W but as indicated in product comments from other buyers, it really just provides 10W, a voltage regulator, a 2,6Ah battery made out of 4...