diy solar

diy solar

Search results

  1. S

    Greentech Renewables no longer DIY friendly

    Is there a good way to ask for their inventory panel price list?
  2. S

    Greentech Renewables no longer DIY friendly

    I noticed Greentech is selling EG4 and SolArk now; does anybody have experience with price deltas compared to (say) Signature Solar?
  3. S

    Panel Cleaning!!

    But you aren't pushing thousands of watts through just a couple of cells; you are pushing a fixed current through. While string voltage can cause other issues, the difference between 80V and 400-600V on a panel rated for 1,000V isn't going to see that much impact. That said, yes you should...
  4. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    Yeah, Ubiquiti's switching solution is only appropriate for a fairly static system with limited complexity. I have ~15 VLANs for home, but I use the Edgerouter line for my actual router. I do actually like their video solution better than Synology's NVR, mainly because the viewer app options...
  5. S

    My new construction home DIY solar build thread (EG4 18Kpv) Texas 🇺🇲

    Disconnect is required for most utilities/jurisdictions.
  6. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    Originally I had looked at the EG4-3000W AIO; the problem I get stuck with is that I should technically get a permit for the work. If the AC wiring is all cord-and-plug I don't have that problem. Permits in my area are backed up ~8 months... and I keep changing my mind as to what I want...
  7. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    The transformer has gone from 50% charred to 90% in the past two years. They only recently added smart meters, so historically I doubt they concerned themselves with peak transformer loading, just circuit loading.
  8. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    Part of my issue today is the utility transformer is grossly overloaded in export-- 25kVA for 25 homes... and I have 8.3kW of solar. Half of my neighbors have at least 4kW as well. The utility is a run-to-fail operation and when it does fail it creates a significant fire hazard. Reducing my...
  9. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    Maybe not $ significant, but energy significant. Trying to improve efficiency where I can. The UPS power conversion isn't the only loss though, you have battery float losses and equipment power supply losses as well. Really the right solution is to go ahead and add solar, but permitting and...
  10. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    I am down to one Synology, one solid-state QNAP, two NUCs, and a Universal Devices Polisy for "servers," but I have a lot of POE cameras and an NVR that represent the bulk of my load. My NVR and main switch are Ubiquiti with the RPS ports, so I might be able to run them off 52+12VDC; my router...
  11. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    It is an interesting option; do you know if it supports load shifting? Spending the money on something like this really makes that a necessity to me. I need to try harder on the DC power for the equipment, but it is tricky to deal with the time needed for the modifications.
  12. S

    LFP "UPS" and Load Shifting

    I am back revisiting this issue now; I'll need two identical units to cover my office and my network cabinet. Typical load 220W max, 5kWh/day. I am currently hoping to charge 5 hours a day, so 70-100A at 12V or 20-25A at 48V. I have 5 UPSs that have all had their batteries die so I need to do...
  13. S

    Split Bus Panelboard for a hybrid inverter with NEC compliance?

    QO should be available split-bus, NQ for sure. Equivalents with other manufacturers as well. Homeline is pared back AFAIK.
  14. S

    Split Bus Panelboard for a hybrid inverter with NEC compliance?

    Plenty of options outside of Homeline style though.
  15. S

    Emporia energy monitor is lame, can't get the data I want, ESPHome?

    One second data is not enough for that either. You need about 100ms intervals to be able to approximate for most motors. If you really want transient data then you need <0.1ms data. Fundamentally this is the difference between an energy monitor and a power monitor. The energy consumed for the...
  16. S

    EG4 18kPV - Information

    Yeah, those were the uninformed arguments from ~2004. Reality is much different. All of the limitations can be designed around and in the end provide a better product. I have seen low frequency inverters blow themselves up with inductive loads (the old Liebert Series 600 UPSs were famous for...
  17. S

    Emporia energy monitor is lame, can't get the data I want, ESPHome?

    If you do go down this route, I would recommend pulling the data into InfluxDB. One second resolution is a lot; 5 seconds is plenty for most applications. For my system (IoTaWatt), I generate hourly energy integrals which greatly simplify long-term use of data. In retrospect 15-minute intervals...
  18. S

    My new construction home DIY solar build thread (EG4 18Kpv) Texas 🇺🇲

    It depends on the jurisdiction. Mine won't allow PVC on the roof anymore... EMT minimum required. The PVC gets brittle with enough UV exposure here.
  19. S

    Wondering why're many people still building 12/24v system ?

    I am begrudgingly going to build a 12V system for a few 12V loads that need backup power. The reasons: EG4 Lifepower4 12V/400Ah is 20% less than 48V, a single 400W panel is all that is needed for charging, and it simplifies running the damn thing. (The load is only 30W, but I would like at...
  20. S

    Solar assistant: do you use it?

    How seriously do you take network security-- do you have VLANs and firewalls between IoT stuff and things like your inverter? I can firewall off a few things that are miserable security risks, but struggle to find a good approach for firewalling MQTT between the really dumb and the really...
  21. S

    How do DIY folks deal with NEC 690.4 (C) - Qualified Persons Only

    As a PE, I would go so far as to say that it makes you a disqualified person. That being said, many licensed residential electricians really deserve the same title.
  22. S

    Single 400W Panel + 5kWh battery

    I have about 20W of load that I want to support from a DC:DC converter tied to a 5kWh/48V battery and charge with a single 400W panel installed on the roof of the house. Struggling to figure out what to do for a charge controller and RSD; I know it would be easier at 12V, maybe with 200W...
  23. S

    Sol-Ark new optimizer

    Is the cloud subscription required? I thought there was a way around that.
  24. S

    Circuit breaker between inverter and battery question.

    Single pole is code compliant for 48V in the US. It is best to follow what the inverter manufacturer recommends though; some designs need both poles isolated for safety, some add safety with two poles (GFI), but some may not like both poles being isolated while the unit is running.
  25. S

    2024 YouTube Video Ideas

    Mike Holt specifically might not be the right person for that; I don't think he is especially supportive of DIY electrical work. For me, the code issues that are most deserving of a video center around fire code more than electrical code: the rationale of NFPA and UL treating LFP the same as...
  26. S

    How do DIY folks deal with NEC 690.4 (C) - Qualified Persons Only

    I just recently heard about this being an option in some places. For minor residential electrical work it makes a lot of sense, although I would prefer a little more rigor than just NFPA-70E personally. This is intended to allow residential projects the option of being designed by a solar...
  27. S

    Minisplits have a mind of their own?

    Looks to me like the coils went into freeze protection, just based on the power curve. Do you know outside dry- and wet-bulb temperatures around the time?
  28. S

    EG4 18KPV Design/Configuration Help for 16,000kWh PV, 400A service, new build, Net Zero Home in Vancouver, BC

    Nix the generator combiner; just run it to a single EG4. Doing it as drawn will parallel two paths that shouldn't be paralleled. For what you are doing, you would likely be better off with a single 400A external transfer switch and keep the EG4 input/output feeds at 80 or 100A. 400A panels...
  29. S

    Installing eg4 power pro and 18kpv bracket height

    Look at figures 15 and 16 in the battery manual. You use the X-brace to ensure the correct spacing.
  30. S

    Connecting AIO with NEMA 14-50 pros and cons

    As long as it is portable it should be ok from a code perspective. If I were to do that I would use a pin-and-sleeve connector, but they are stupid expensive. An L14 is a reasonable compromise for most, but I would avoid straight plugs for anything but testing.
  31. S

    EG4 18KPV Design/Configuration Help for 16,000kWh PV, 400A service, new build, Net Zero Home in Vancouver, BC

    Generally centralizing is going to have better resource utilization; the caveat is if you have drastically different expectations for each sub-panel. Personally I hate the smart breakers. I would prefer higher level load shed, like a smart washer/dryer where you schedule loads rather than shed...
  32. S

    "When solar power leaves you feeling burned"

    Very few economic/investment things are.
  33. S

    Utilites requiring multiple meters.

    There is always the mixed grid-tie (say microinverters) and off-grid (charge-only) approach where your battery is on the off-grid system only. Works well if you don't have many power outages and use net metering.
  34. S

    Putting an end on a big wire.

    Does anybody use long barrel lugs in the PV world? For telecom almost everything was long barrel, 2-hole compression lugs with inspection holes to 535 or 750MCM DLO cable. The exception was a few things on a ground loop that were cadweld together.
  35. S

    Confused by array grounding

    The grounding system for the building/campus changes by the fact that you have multiple separately derived sources (step-down transformer) requiring grounding electrode connections. How much it changes depends on the type of construction.
Back
Top