diy solar

diy solar

EG4 18kpv + lifepower4 is alive!

Systems Planet

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Joined
Jun 25, 2020
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My EG4 is producing power!
I'm running in an off-grid mode with four 345 watt panels.

What I experienced:

- no battery rack
Still waiting. Signature Solar quoted 6 weeks delay.

The cables from the inverter are too large to attach directly to the batteries.
You'll need to wait for the rack or your can rig something up like I did.
I found a longer 1/4 28 bolt that would accommodate the enormous connector.

- battery cables have the wrong ends
I had to mangle the end with a sledge hammer so it would fit into the inverter.

- the dongle wouldn't let me upload firmware.
Fortunately it did let me set my wifi password.
Leila at Signature Solar pushed the latest firmware.
30 minute hold time.
60 minutes of phone support.
Mostly waiting for firmware to load.

- caps don't fit over the holes on the bottom of the unit
Be ready to grind down the tabs left by the cutout slugs with a file.

- no diagram of how to connect the communication hub
I attached a photo

My panels:

EPS 18kpv + Lifepower4 bundle:


Bottom Line
I am a T4 complete paraplegic and stroke survivor
(that means I only have my arms and half a brain).

I was able to build a solar panel mount from wood,
mount the panels (with a little help),
unbox the inverter and mount on the wall,
get everything configured and running with little support.

If I can do it, you can do it!

Up next:
 

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Your battery cable connections are a little concerning. The mating surfaces of the ring terminals should be flat and making full contact with each other. The small wire should be on top, I see them between the large connections. This will give you problems, possibly overheating and burning the mounting blocks on the batteries. Since this is a temporary thing for testing, don’t pull a lot of current until you have the bus bars.
 
I have this minisplit, and it's been working for about 1 week, so far. sips power. Love it.

I have it fed off my critical loads panel.


I think my next minisplit will be to relace the central A/C, probably something like a 4 or 5 head unit, but running from mains, not critical load panel.
 
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