Another new member, building for home in Puerto Rico

[alfaeric]

The intent of the system is to JUST run the refrigerator and an entertainment system, nothing else. Sun loading in Ponce is really good, so I should get enough power for the nominal system I have.

Better than a gas system, since it can be plugged in and forgotten about- as opposed to filling the gas tank up all the time.

Cost so far-
Inverter- $300
Batteries- $220
Box- $12
Trickle charger- $45
Dolly- $25
Stuff- $30.

The panels will be another ~$250
Brackets and wires- $30

So the entire cost is under $1000- twice as much as a reasonable gas engine that needs fed twice a day, 70% of one that can go over 12 hours. And cheaper than the one other relatives were going to buy. And this is totally hands off once plugged in and running.

I'm sure I could have done better on the batteries, but I also would have gone LiFePO4 due to their better fire safety.

A cheap source of 2500Whr of LiFePO4 batteries that ship to Puerto Rico would be nice....

 

[alfaeric]

I shipped from home as I was the source. You could always buy batteries ship to someone on mainland and then have them ship to you. I would be glad to help if you need more.

How did you declare them so that they would be flown or shipped down? Or a better, simple question- who did you use to ship them?

 

[Craig]

I used usps and declared they were lithium batteries used a flat rate box

 

[alfaeric]

I used usps and declared they were lithium batteries used a flat rate box

Thank you!!! That's great to know!!!!

 

[dre]

I shipped from home as I was the source. You could always buy batteries ship to someone on mainland and then have them ship to you. I would be glad to help if you need more.

I am too, if distance is a factor, I'm in South Florida

 

[jasonhc73]

“Final” product
View attachment 5640
it’s just a cheap HD container, you can see the DeWalt trickle charger, which is the primary charger for now.
The inverter is a Giandel 2200/4400 pure sine wave, and it has an integral solar charge controller for 300w of input.
I’d love to hear any input for how good a charge controller that is, so if you have info, please post it.
In the box:
View attachment 5641
it can be charged from a car, if needed, but, ironically, the Focus behind the box had a bum charging system.
Its mounted on a 1000lb furniture dolly that I filled in with 1x4.
We go back in July when I will add 3 HQST mono panels. Which will be placed on a mobile platform that can be wheeled inside when a hurricane is predicted.

I think this is freaking beautiful. I'd either make a couple of vent holes or leave the lid open when charging for off-gassing. Is it enough watts for a refrigerator?

 

[alfaeric]

I think this is freaking beautiful. I'd either make a couple of vent holes or leave the lid open when charging for off-gassing. Is it enough watts for a refrigerator?

Thanks. When I was finishing up, I made sure it worked by powering a drill to put holes in the side of it. High up, since H2 is considerably lighter than air.

I sure hope it's big enough- I had to take a guess on the required power, and most everything I read has fridge's at the most 700W steady state- 2000W start up- and I have 2200W steady, and 4400 start up. When I was first putting this together, I was tempted by some Harbor Freight inverters, but thought the better of it. Then Amazon has such a HUGE selection... but this one jumped out with the solar charge controller.

One other note- many builders of like systems put the inverter inside the box, but since this is going to be in a consistently warm area, I figured the best for it would be to have it in full air.

 

[jasonhc73]

Thought Experiment to think about.
I just got a quote from DHL.

Basically $4000 to ship you about $32,000 worth of LiFePO4 batteries.

That's 400 AH of 48V battery.
You have basically have 50ah of 12V showing in the photo, which is only 1/64th of the battery I can ship you.

Shipping 720 lbs of LiFePO4. (basically one skid/pallet, and declared lithium-ion with $4000 value)

The batteries themselves are $1700.

Double the batteries and DHL says the shipping is 8000. So get 128 times more battery for $3100+$8000=$11100.

Just do the math, how much did your 2 batteries cost? Multiply that times 128. Post your number.

$11100÷128=$86.71

 

[alfaeric]

Thought Experiment to think about.
I just got a quote from DHL.

Basically $4000 to ship you about $32,000 worth of LiFePO4 batteries.

That's 400 AH of 48V battery.
You have basically have 50ah of 12V showing in the photo, which is only 1/64th of the battery I can ship you.

Shipping 720 lbs of LiFePO4. (basically one skid/pallet, and declared lithium-ion with $4000 value)

The batteries themselves are $1700.

Double the batteries and DHL says the shipping is 8000. So get 128 times more battery for $3100+$8000=$11100.

Just do the math, how much did your 2 batteries cost? Multiply that times 128. Post your number.

$11100÷128=$86.71

If I were to convert the entire house to solar, I very much not do what I did. I would imagine for a home sized system, I could set up a better deal even locally (as there are a lot of new solar companies following Maria).

Even better, given the size of the home and the electrical loads, I certainly would not need 19.2kWhr of power storage... LOL. But I need to get a copy of the bill from my wife to figure it all out.

Also, your direction of moving well up in the voltage window is something I would very, very much do. 12V is a good compromise for a minimal system- and if not for the ability to charge with a car, I would have done 24V for efficiency.

I tried going down that path a few years ago, but nobody wants to invest in the house- which is fair. Just have to live in the constraints that I have. One of the constraints for the system I made was a VERY short build notice- the quake happened less than a week before our scheduled trip down- while I could get the inverter very quickly, the rest would have taken more time, and we would have missed the window of opportunity.

For what I did, it was a compromise that I could fit in the time frame. Not the best system, and for a long term solar set up, certainly not the most economical.

 

[jasonhc73]

I totally get it sure, build what you need.

Another mind blowing number, a typical lead acid setup is only good for 2 or 3 years. The Lithium of even Nickle Iron are 10, to 30! Ni FE are so robust some have over 70 years of continuous operation still in use today.

The biggest problem to using these other batteries is simply the very high initial cost.

But the total cost of ownership becomes incredibly low when considering the time scale of 10 to 30 years of use.

 

[new off grid]

Hi, all.
I'm sure all of you know about the hurricane that hit two years ago, and maybe some of you have heard about the earthquakes that have been going on for the past month. Well, the two power outages with that has prompted my family to get a generator for my MIL.

While she has someone coming by twice a day (she's 90), I really did't think it was realistic to have a gas generator- too much hands on to make that work more than a day.

Whereas looking and learning about solar over the past few years- that can be very hands off. And the DIY solutions end up on the med-high end of gas generators. So I convinced my family that I can do it.

The first part was finished last weekend while we were down there- two 100ahr lead acid deep cycle marine batteries + 2200/4400W Giandel true sine wave inverter. I made provisions for fast charging via a car that isn't being used and a trickle charger. The solar part will be installed in July when we have more time to fabricate things. The inverter has the capability of 300W solar input, which is pretty cool and convenient.

The goal of the system is to just run a refrigerator and a TV/cable/internet/phone set up. Nothing else. While I didn't have solid data to calculate from, I figured having 300W with the sun at that location, I'll reliably have 1300W-hr of solar, and it will use just about the same amount between the fridge and entertainment system. The additional battery will keep the discharge to ~50% range, keeping life as long as possible.

It would be great to get a better battery, but shipping them to Puerto Rico is kind of a pain- while I can get the inverter and panels shipped there via Amazon, no such luck for batteries, and I have to get what I can locally.

When it's all done, to get it regular exercise, I'll have the washing machine powered off of it.

It's been a fun build so far, and something I think may others on the island would appreciate.

Hello,
I'm in San jose, Ca, just finised my 48v Off Grid system,
Here is my setup :
- 375w REC solar panel x 9 ( Total 3375 w )
- Midnite Classic 150 Charge controller
- Meritsun 48v/200AH Lifepo4 battery Powerwall ( Total 10Kwh )
- 48v/7000w/120v ac Reliable Inverter
It's been running very nice, power a whole home all day and night
For the total price less than $9000 Usd, pretty good deal,