Hi, this is my 1st post, thanks Will for excellent videos over the past year! We've lived off grid at mountain house for 13 years on 3.6kW Outback inverter (VFX3648 Outback Inverter), 48V lead acid batteries (qty 16 all 6 volt 370Ahin 8 in series to make 48V string x 2 strings parallel 48V) and solar panels (12 panels total in series and parallel). I have a 2017 Prius Prime PHEV which my husband doesn't like me charging (Level 1 only) because of delicate house batteries, so I only charge on sunny days when house batteries are 95% charged, never after 4pm. (We have a small 240V transformer for a 600' well pump but I can't use it for Level 2 PHEV charging, its too small). At 9600' in Woodland Park Colorado, 7 miles as crow flies from Pikes Peak, we get many sunny days in winter, with snow reflection its easy to top off batteries. Three weeks ago our lead acid batteries sagged to 43.5 volts so we stoked 2 woodstoves all night long, sun came up in the morning and woke solar panels up to charge batteries and all was fine. Husband dragged gasoline generator outside to make sure it worked for an hour in snowstorm but never had to connect it this year to top off batteries. We also didn't use gasoline generator at all last year, but year before that used it 2x. Back when we only had 8 batteries instead of 16 batteries, and 6 solar panels instead of 12, we had to use the gas generator 3 times the first year year, but only 1x or 2x or no times all subsequent years, so not bad for over 13 years. Our VFX3648W Outback inverter system is great but nearing 15 years old, doesn't seem like they've had major updates. Now we want Automatic Transfer Switch ATS Generac or Kohler, heard Kohler slightly more reliable but parts can be harder to fine, whereas Generac reliability is still top notch and eBay parts can be found quickly all over the US. Would two EG4 6000XPs be good to replace the one Outback inverter, since we are a mile away from public utility so not doing grid tied? Or does the EG4 18k have a better automatic switch? How about for Level 2 PHEV charging? What if my husband buys a PHEV car, not sure if 2024 Prius Prime PHEV or something like a 2024 Hyundai Tucson PHEV? (In addition to my 2017 Prius Prime PHEV)? What if we add off grid sauna hybrid heat (two 20A breakers (4500W and 3750W both at 240V). or instead of that, what if we add off grid hot tub hybrid heat pump or electric or woodstove fired? Thinking heat with electric during day only IF we are not charging PHEV cars, then top off at night with woodstove when we actually use it at 7pm - 8pm for half hour? Also, is one system easier than other to program the hot tub breaker to shut off if batteries drop below 95% or some threshold? And also to cut off charging 1 or 2 PHEV cars if batteries drop below 95%? Also I just bought Bluetti AC180 for my Ford Transit Connect camper van build because I can easily lift 35 lbs in and out and Bluetti 200W portable solar panels came with it for package $899 great deal and btw it can charge my prius prime for a half hour before shutting down with no error codes and works just fine after (won't do that often but its a fun party trick to show it'll get me charged enough to drive 3 miles haha). I don't think it's appropriate to tie my Bluetti AC180 into charging my prius prime at mountain house, unless somehow as a pass thru but really it's just for camping and stored inside our city house for backup if power goes out in city, we are on city power there. Unless the Bluetti has a use case at mountain house? Also, spoke to Signature Solar today and to grid tie city house then EG4 18k would cost me BALLPARK $9800 everything new batteries. But if I didn't grid tie, two EG4 6000XPs would also cost same BALLPARK price $9800. BEFORE I use Signature Solar's free online load calculator so they can give me better recommendation and quote, ARE THERE ANY OTHER CONSIDERATIONS? Any pros/cons at city house? Schneider didn't make cut. Might be nice to have same system both places to make software easier? My husband knows we are undersized at mountain house and has no problem resizing to larger system but is frugal and wants best value. Which is better for ATS Automatic Transfer Switch generator input 18k or two 6000XPs? Or wait 6 months or one year for a better system that plays better with automatic switch generator? I also thought about Will's hand truck video EG4 3k with one 6000XP split phase and buy 10 used solar panels laying on the ground to charge my prius prime completely separate from the mountain house, so my husband doesn't have to worry about critical systems breaking and pipes freezing, for $2290, on wheels! This would be major PITA wheeling it in and out every time I want to charge, but It'd also be useful for friends with PHEV that are visiting us at mountain house, we wouldn't feel bad about not allowing them to charge on our house batteries, hmmm... Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
Update REVISED: We will replace all batteries soonest with EG4 LL 48V 100ah server rack mounted batteries, quantity 9, now, instead of waiting until summer. Then this summer we'll replace our 3648W Outback inverter with one EG4 6000XP. And add a string of 10-12 solar panels. Husband convinced me to live meagerly last 13 years, but he is probably not willing to size the system for any electric & wood hot tub but instead do all 100% woodstove heat on wood hot tub. And he thinks a 4.5kW sauna seems excessive, he wants 100% wood fired sauna. . We're ok with ground mount 1 foot from ground, if elk, bear and mountain lions won't bother them, but I wonder if they will? We'll add them to our existing 12 solar panels. Our existing solar panels bought new 10 & 14 years ago are half on one tall steel pillar and half on a 2nd similar tall steel pillar. We rotate one steel pillar with sun 3-4 x / year , and also can twirl on post but we leave the twirling stationary, one slightly to east to catch 30 more minutes of morning sun rays, and one slightly west to catch 30 more minutes of setting sun rays for an hour more each day of solar charging activity.
We'll also add wind, such as small $1000 3' diameter Primus wind turbine 48V. And dissipative heat load - will this force us into 2nd EG 6000XP inverter? Any pros/cons? What do folks think of ~$5500 Harmony Turbines not available yet? Can folks recommend solar thermal panels that work on water only, not glycol? On home tour in my town, another off gridder installed 4 huge solar thermal panels (maybe 3'x 7' unsure) on a tiny angle (2-3%) so only water is used, not glycol, and her hot water only costs a $FEW kwh cents a day to pump the water up, because when it gets too cold at the end of the day, gravity feeds all the water back to her mechanical room heat exchanger so no freezing problems, no leaks in over 12 years in cold Colorado. She has 500 gal water inside mech room, looks like concrete or quick rete encased tank. We heat our home with woodstove and propane but are eating it up with 1300' addition last year of glycol in floor heat. Would it be better to add extra heating with solar thermal, or with 10-20 extra solar panels of electric energy added onto our existing 12 solar panels we've had 14 years? Thanks so much.
