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    Feedback on my DIY bifacial panel unistrut ground mount design?

    The aluminum has a higher resistance but you could go with 4awg aluminum instead 6awg copper and get a little less loss. Copper Volts Amps Power (W) Gauge ohms/1k' – Cu ohms/ft – Cu feet ohms P_Loss (W) Vdrop % Loss 91.00 31.65 2880.15 6 0.491 0.000491 320 0.15712 157.4...
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    Feedback on my DIY bifacial panel unistrut ground mount design?

    Hey @AxelHeyst, the piers look great. I'll ping you the next time I'm ready to expand my array ;-) Just to clarify, if the array is 160' from the charge controller, your total wire length is 320'. You will drop the same amount of voltage on both the positive and negative conductors. Calculating...
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    Feedback on my DIY bifacial panel unistrut ground mount design?

    Good call, and not just for the wind. Originally there wasn't going to be a lower row of modules but then I got greedy ;-) Now, every time it snows I 'get to' not only clear the modules but also shovel below them. There have been a couple of times when I had to shovel the piles on the left...
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    Feedback on my DIY bifacial panel unistrut ground mount design?

    Hey @AxelHeyst, that looks good. The level ground looks especially nice ;-) Depending on wind load, you can probably just use a couple of the 90 degree angle pieces bolted together to make any angle you need. Cast some hot-dipped galvanized anchor bolts in the concrete piers or use deck...
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    Off-grid Solar / Battery monitoring and control freeware

    Thanks, let me know if you want the scripts and Grafana json file and I'll try to figure out a simple way to pass them along. SD cards are not usually made with the highest quality NAND flash memory and lack the error correction circuitry included in SSDs. Like @shadowsteve , I'm booting off an...
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    Off-grid Solar / Battery monitoring and control freeware

    The Pi Zeroes are pretty much unobtanium for a rational price. The OrangePi looks like a possible alternative but the reviews imply there may be some quality control issues. I'll stick with the Pi 400 for a while since I want try to use it to ftp the log files from a Schneider Combox and add...
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    Off-grid Solar / Battery monitoring and control freeware

    Hi @BarkingSpider, Early in this thread you were looking for 3 of the Chargery BMSs. My system uses 4 of them and I'm wondering how you are collecting the data from multiple units. Do you launch 3 separate Python scripts, one per BMS, or did you modify the getChargeryData.py code to read 3...
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    Help with Conext AGS/SW4048/ComBox

    From the MPPT60 Installation & Owner's Guide: The AGS requires Xanbus power as @400bird said. The ComBox has it's own separate supply, but does not power the Xanbus. If your generator has a two-wire interface and handles its own start/retry along with cool down then hooking it up should be...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Oops, good catch. No, I did not check the Chargery DCC voltage specification. I'm sure Chargery has tested the unit to get the 100V rating but they may not have tested it in your configuration. In an ideal world, the two FETs in series should be OK up to 120V. However, if one of the FETs...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Thanks for the info. It seems like there is a good chance that is why they are failing closed. The 60V breakdown voltage is an Absolute Maximum spec in the SFS06R02PF FET datasheet. When you exceed that voltage, the insulating layer in the FET will start to fail creating a current leakage path...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Just curious, what is the maximum open-circuit voltage from your panels? The drain-source breakdown voltage on the FETs in the DCC-300 is only 60V. There are two in series, but I suspect more than 60V could still cause problems depending on internal timing.
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    More and more curious. I have the common port version where charge and discharge are combined but I suspect the separate port unit you have is similar inside. Under a heavy load, mine failed open. I wonder if the MOSFETs failed or if maybe something else shorted. There are some close spaces...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Hi @Joe85, That seems pretty odd. I can't imagine why it would fail from a power cycle with just a small load. Have you checked the voltages with a meter? Check both sides of the DCC to negative and see what happens when you switch it on. Could the problem be something other than the DCC? Any...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Great comments. I looked around at Digikey and Mouser but didn't look beyond about 250A so missed the parts you found at Mouser. Thanks for taking time to add those options. The Infineon part I selected has a higher Rdson so I'll probably order one of those you found to reduce the losses and...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Hi @Joe85, If I recall, that flashing LED scenario is what happened when I blew up a DCC-300 (see page 24 of this thread for details and more photos). What was the golf cart doing when this happened? If you were trying to accelerate under a heavy load (maybe floored it from a stop going up a...
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    LifePO4 Cables to 12KW Inverter

    Ampacity of various wire gauges: https://www.cerrowire.com/products/resources/tables-calculators/ampacity-charts/ Area of various wire gauges, useful in comparing wires to bus bars or if paralleling wires: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/awg-wire-gauge-circular-mils-d_819.html More ampacity...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Hi Capt Bill, Based on Steve_S's design and other info on the forum, I went with separate 16S 280AH battery packs. Each has its own Chargery BMS-16T, DCC-300, Heltec 5A active balancer and 250A class T fuse. I think individual strings might be a little safer than having two cells in parallel...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    Hi @Johannlog, Here's a cautionary tale involving two parallel Chargery DCC-300s and a 240V / 3HP table saw. It was very cold so the belts were stiff and would not allow the saw to start. I immediately switched it back off and rotated the blade by hand to loosen the belts. When I tried to start...
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    Need PCB fab house

    Totally agree, saving $220 is a big deal in my world but Roswell Bob specifically said USA source so... Here's another USA-based option I have used in the past: http://www.circuitswest.com/current-specials Prototype 2-layer Design: Only $31 Each! Tin plating process To order now, click here...
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    Need PCB fab house

    I have not used them, but Sunstone is USA-based and offers several PCB fab options along with free captive tools (PCB123, can pay for Gerber output to use with another vendor). https://www.sunstone.com/ Their online quote tool says $58 for 6 each 3"x5" double sided with solder mask in 1 week...
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    Going off-grid in the North

    Dude! I've been to Oulu in winter so obviously you have a whole 'nother concept of comfort than me ;-) Nothing says comfort like being able to divert the highway into extra lanes across the frozen bay every winter. In all seriousness, Finland is a beautiful place. I'm sad I never got to go...
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    Going off-grid in the North

    The used vegetable oil sounds like a good option. Unless, like my friend in Colorado, you are trying to buy a 55 gallon drum of methanol to winterize it. After his third attempt in a day the police pulled him over to find out what he was planning to do with it. A lot of local farmers grow rape...
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    Going off-grid in the North

    Very nicely done! Thanks for taking the time to write this up and share your experience. It's interesting that our systems seem very similar. We're at about 49N latitude with short overcast winter days. Our PV array is about 8.5kW, 28kWh of LiFePO4 and daily usage around 6-7kWh. We have an...
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    Schneider Electric SW 4024. Incorrect battery current displayed on system control panel

    The Schneider battery monitor is spendy, but it has better accuracy that is used by the rest of my Schneider system. The Schneider Combox does not show any MPPT power less than about 100W, even when it shows some output current. You can see that in the included screen shot. The total current...
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    Inverter refuses the generator

    I agree with @RCinFLA as to the cause (rapidly wandering frequency). My neighbor had a Champion generator which worked great for a year or two. After that, his Schneider XW6048 would not qualify its AC output. We could not hear an audible difference and could not see the frequency change with a...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    You might check the "Over Discharge Current" setting. That seems like an error that might require a reset. Even if set to 300A, your miter saw will draw a very large start-up current and may trip it, especially with a long extension cord (slower to spin up to speed at lower voltage). A 24V...
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    300KgF clamping fixtures and capacity loss?

    I am considering the same approach. What amperage fuse are you using?
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    KiteX Wind Catcher - portable wind turbine

    If you are interested in wind turbines, Paul Gipe's web page is another great resource: Paul Gipe's Wind Articles Here's an example of his commentary of one of many fantasy wind turbines: Mag-Wind Summary and Articles Info on on the number of blades and why it's important: Betz: Everything you...
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    Chargery BMS, DCC (Solid State Contactor) thread.

    At a minimum, the v2.0 has an integral display while the T version has a separate display unit connected to the main unit by a coiled cord. Check out the manuals on the Support page for more details.
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    DOES ANYONE know of another used wholesaler of Solar Panels

    I've purchased from sunelec.com a few times with good results. Panels, batteries and some Schneider gear. They have multiple warehouse locations. Best option is to call and/or get on their email list for current pricing and availability. The last batch of panels I got were new REC with an older...
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    Low panel out put with panels in parallel configuration

    TL:DR MPPT converts power from the panel at a higher voltage to an almost equal amount of power at the battery at a lower voltage. Victron says there must be at least 2V difference for the MPPT to provide the best performance. In the individual panel case, you are very close to this 2V limit so...
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    Low panel out put with panels in parallel configuration

    Assuming you have the RNG-100DB-H 100W flexible panels, it looks like the output voltage of the panels is too low (not enough sun?, shading?, dirty?) to place them in parallel and still get the rated power output. The max rated output of the panels is 100W with 5.29A * 18.9V (peak of green line...
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    Inverter life expectancy.

    Xantrex/Schneider XW6048 and 3x XW-MPPT60 installed in Dec 2011. The system ran 24-7 in a grid-interactive mode until May 2016 when we sold our house. The buyer did not want any of the PV system so we moved it all to our new off grid property and reinstalled it there. It's been our primary power...
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    Schneider system design wasteland......no one knows anything.....

    It seems like you could wire up the generator with a 40A 240V breaker as a failsafe then adjust the XW Pro AC settings and Charger settings to limit how much it pulls from the generator. That would let you charge at up to 6kW with another 3.6kW pass through. You could open a ticket with...
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    Schneider system design wasteland......no one knows anything.....

    Based on my older XW6048 and MPPT60s, when the generator starts, the XW charger current is added to the SCC charger current. Adjusting the charge voltage target controls the interaction. For example, if the generator is running and the XW6048 is in bulk charge at 61.0V, unless the SCC is...
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