BarkingSpider
Carbon Lifeform
I've been living off-grid for a long time, and up until now, I've always made my own batteries and systems.
10Kw of used solar panels
32 EVE Lifepo4 280ah batteries in Seplos battery boxes, giving 30KW of battery capacity.
Growatt 6KW all in one split phase charger/inverter for when I'm there.
Victron 880W inverter for running the house when I'm not there is the winter
Epever 48v solar charge controller as a backup
Westinghouse dual fuel 240v generator with remote start/stop
Small 120V 2400W dual fuel generator - manual start
Recently I bought an EcoFlow Delta 2 for my sister’s campervan and she loves it. You can get a factory refurbished one on eBay for under $600 now. It uses LFP batteries with over 3000 cycles, designed and supported in San Francisco and has a 5 year warranty. Taking a closer look, I saw it has tons of potential and ended up getting my own system to run my off-grid house.
us.ecoflow.com
The main motivation to using the EcoFlow was the low idle consumption which is <20W, vs my existing Growatt 6k All-in-one system at over 120W idle consumption, eating up 3KW of battery power per day doing nothing! Also the EcoFlow has plenty of power, charges fast, is easy to control remotely using its app, and you can get full real-time health info via the backend API. Plus, at anytime, you can unplug it and take it with you for camping or emergencies.
When I'm not at the house during the winter, I shut down all my main systems; fridge, TV's, electronics etc, and just leave my security cameras and internet running, so I can monitor and control everything remotely. With a little work, I got my whole house running between 40-50 watts continuous.
Due to its high idle consumption, the Growatt system was a problem when I'm not there during the winter as my internet and security system would go offline when the battery went flat after a week of clouds or snow.
I tried using a Victron Pheonix 800W inverter that has a low idle consumption, less that 10W, but it meant swapping out the Growatt inverter when I wanted higher power for running fridges, pumps etc, which was a pain. I wanted a single solution that provided plenty of power, but didnt kill my batteries. Enter the EcoFlow Delta.
The problems with the EcoFlow are the battery size, expandability and the cost of extra EcoFlow batteries. After some research, I have worked out a solution that uses the little EcoFlow Delta 2 together with my existing 30KW 52V battery setup with its own solar charging system. My Ecoflow now has over 30x the battery capacity and takes full advantage of my existing solar infrastructure.
My big Growatt All-in-one is now in Eco mode (inverter off) and just charges the batteries using its built-in charge controller. It also communicates with the battery BMS to check the batteries are healthy. The small Epever charge controller also assists in charging the batteries.
The batteries are then connected to the EcoFlow Delta 2 DC in port with a solar XT60i cable, this keeps the built-in 1KW battery in the EcoFlow charged to 90%. The EcoFlow AC out is connected to my house electrical panel, putting 110v into both circuits (so no 240v).
It's still a work in progress, so excuse the mess (see photo), but it’s working and I have full control (wherever I am in the world) from my cellphone.
Obviously one thing I'm missing is 240v split phase output, which I need for the clothes dryer and car charger when I’m there but I'm able to turn on the big Growatt system for the few times I need it.
All systems are monitored using a raspberry Pi Zero (the little blue USB stick on the wall). This uploads data into the cloud and gives me detailed info on everything that's going on. (see image below). This is in addition to the EcoFlow app, Growatt app, the Epever info, and my Wyze security cameras. What I like is, in addtion to histircal graphs, you can see how many battery cycles you have used, and the cell voltages, you cannot get this info from the EcoFlow app.
When I'm away, if there is bad weather for over a week or heavy snow, I can open the garage door using my MyQ app and start the big generator using a smart relay. This hooks into the start/stop button. When the batteries are charged, I can stop the genny and close the door, all from my phone. I used this relay.
The EcoFlow DC input is directly connected to my big 52v battery bank which it thinks is solar power. It can draw up to 12Kw of power a day, If you need more that this, use the EcoFlow Delta 2 Max, it can draw twice as much (24Kw) as it has 2 DC in ports at 500W each. Additionally, you can also charge up to a 1200W/hr rate using the EcoFlow AC charge input and a pure sine wave inverter that is connected to your battery bank. You can adjust all the charging rates from within the EcoFlow app, even remotely.
I use this $10 xt60i cable from Amazon for the DC charging from my big 52v battery bank. It does not come with the EcoFlow. Cut off the MC4 adaptors or use extra MC4 connectors so you attach it to your existing batteries. You need this special solar XT60i cable with the extra pin to allow the EcoFlow to charge up to the full speed of 500 watts. Do not use the car cigarette charging cable, it is limited to 100 watts max.
One small issue. As you can see from the graph, when you charge the Ecoflow from a DC source, the battery charges up to your set limit (i used 90%, set in the EcoFlow app), stops the DC charging, then discharges around two and a half percent, then starts charging from DC again (see image below). It's very inefficient and will wear out the batteries prematurely. I contacted EcoFlow and they confirmed it does not currently support DC pass-thru, only AC. I may use the Victron Phoenix inverter to AC charge the Ecoflow from my big battery back using a simple smart timer. It may work better than DC charging the Ecoflow, I will find out soon.
Another solution is to closely match your DC input with your output so it reduces the cycling. I am going to try a step down regulator to do this.
It's a work in progress, but working well so far. If you have any questions, please ask.
10Kw of used solar panels
32 EVE Lifepo4 280ah batteries in Seplos battery boxes, giving 30KW of battery capacity.
Growatt 6KW all in one split phase charger/inverter for when I'm there.
Victron 880W inverter for running the house when I'm not there is the winter
Epever 48v solar charge controller as a backup
Westinghouse dual fuel 240v generator with remote start/stop
Small 120V 2400W dual fuel generator - manual start
Recently I bought an EcoFlow Delta 2 for my sister’s campervan and she loves it. You can get a factory refurbished one on eBay for under $600 now. It uses LFP batteries with over 3000 cycles, designed and supported in San Francisco and has a 5 year warranty. Taking a closer look, I saw it has tons of potential and ended up getting my own system to run my off-grid house.
EcoFlow DELTA 2 Portable Power Station - DELTA 2 - EcoFlow
EcoFlow DELTA 2 equips modern families with backup power for any emergency. Incredibly fast charging: 0%-80% in 50 min. Be prepared, always.
us.ecoflow.com
The main motivation to using the EcoFlow was the low idle consumption which is <20W, vs my existing Growatt 6k All-in-one system at over 120W idle consumption, eating up 3KW of battery power per day doing nothing! Also the EcoFlow has plenty of power, charges fast, is easy to control remotely using its app, and you can get full real-time health info via the backend API. Plus, at anytime, you can unplug it and take it with you for camping or emergencies.
When I'm not at the house during the winter, I shut down all my main systems; fridge, TV's, electronics etc, and just leave my security cameras and internet running, so I can monitor and control everything remotely. With a little work, I got my whole house running between 40-50 watts continuous.
Due to its high idle consumption, the Growatt system was a problem when I'm not there during the winter as my internet and security system would go offline when the battery went flat after a week of clouds or snow.
I tried using a Victron Pheonix 800W inverter that has a low idle consumption, less that 10W, but it meant swapping out the Growatt inverter when I wanted higher power for running fridges, pumps etc, which was a pain. I wanted a single solution that provided plenty of power, but didnt kill my batteries. Enter the EcoFlow Delta.
The problems with the EcoFlow are the battery size, expandability and the cost of extra EcoFlow batteries. After some research, I have worked out a solution that uses the little EcoFlow Delta 2 together with my existing 30KW 52V battery setup with its own solar charging system. My Ecoflow now has over 30x the battery capacity and takes full advantage of my existing solar infrastructure.
My big Growatt All-in-one is now in Eco mode (inverter off) and just charges the batteries using its built-in charge controller. It also communicates with the battery BMS to check the batteries are healthy. The small Epever charge controller also assists in charging the batteries.
The batteries are then connected to the EcoFlow Delta 2 DC in port with a solar XT60i cable, this keeps the built-in 1KW battery in the EcoFlow charged to 90%. The EcoFlow AC out is connected to my house electrical panel, putting 110v into both circuits (so no 240v).
It's still a work in progress, so excuse the mess (see photo), but it’s working and I have full control (wherever I am in the world) from my cellphone.
Obviously one thing I'm missing is 240v split phase output, which I need for the clothes dryer and car charger when I’m there but I'm able to turn on the big Growatt system for the few times I need it.
All systems are monitored using a raspberry Pi Zero (the little blue USB stick on the wall). This uploads data into the cloud and gives me detailed info on everything that's going on. (see image below). This is in addition to the EcoFlow app, Growatt app, the Epever info, and my Wyze security cameras. What I like is, in addtion to histircal graphs, you can see how many battery cycles you have used, and the cell voltages, you cannot get this info from the EcoFlow app.
When I'm away, if there is bad weather for over a week or heavy snow, I can open the garage door using my MyQ app and start the big generator using a smart relay. This hooks into the start/stop button. When the batteries are charged, I can stop the genny and close the door, all from my phone. I used this relay.
The EcoFlow DC input is directly connected to my big 52v battery bank which it thinks is solar power. It can draw up to 12Kw of power a day, If you need more that this, use the EcoFlow Delta 2 Max, it can draw twice as much (24Kw) as it has 2 DC in ports at 500W each. Additionally, you can also charge up to a 1200W/hr rate using the EcoFlow AC charge input and a pure sine wave inverter that is connected to your battery bank. You can adjust all the charging rates from within the EcoFlow app, even remotely.
I use this $10 xt60i cable from Amazon for the DC charging from my big 52v battery bank. It does not come with the EcoFlow. Cut off the MC4 adaptors or use extra MC4 connectors so you attach it to your existing batteries. You need this special solar XT60i cable with the extra pin to allow the EcoFlow to charge up to the full speed of 500 watts. Do not use the car cigarette charging cable, it is limited to 100 watts max.
One small issue. As you can see from the graph, when you charge the Ecoflow from a DC source, the battery charges up to your set limit (i used 90%, set in the EcoFlow app), stops the DC charging, then discharges around two and a half percent, then starts charging from DC again (see image below). It's very inefficient and will wear out the batteries prematurely. I contacted EcoFlow and they confirmed it does not currently support DC pass-thru, only AC. I may use the Victron Phoenix inverter to AC charge the Ecoflow from my big battery back using a simple smart timer. It may work better than DC charging the Ecoflow, I will find out soon.
Another solution is to closely match your DC input with your output so it reduces the cycling. I am going to try a step down regulator to do this.
It's a work in progress, but working well so far. If you have any questions, please ask.
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