Excited to tell the group, I'm now on Solar.

[Jim Burrow]

I AM SO DAMN EXCITED THAT I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF.

Finally got my Solar System tied into the house wiring. AND IT IS WORKING!!
After 9 months of scraping money to buy parts and testing for all kinds of conditions. I finally tied my system into the house.

Now I have power from the MTTP Solar 2424Lv controller/inverter going to the isolated left half of my sub-panel breaker box and 100% Utility power (PG&E) going to the isolated right half of my sub-panel.

All the heavy powered appliance is on the Utility side and the rest of the house is on Solar side.

Now, what should happen:

While the sun is up and not too heavily covered by clouds or fog, will power the house (not appliance). When the sun goes down and the solar controller/inverter cannot supply 100% of the house power, the battery will kick in to make up the difference.

When the sun goes down, the power is supplied 100% off battery power.

When the battery drains down to around 50% state of charge (SOC), the Utility power will kick in and provide power to the house. At this time, the Utility company will be supplying power to the whole house has as there is no sun and battery capacity left.

Now if the controller is working and it is nighttime and the batteries are drained, I have the option to switch to my Gas Generator to supply power to the controller or directly to the house.

Or if the controller fails, I can switch 100% Utility power to the house.

So, the moral of the story is that when here in California, when the Utility company or the park or the town I live in lose power to everyone, I will always have power, either from the sun, Gas Generator, or Utility company.

 

[Boondock Saint]

Thanks for sharing such an informative post!

I think it would be beneficial to everyone if you could share your parts list and diagram, what you use to FO automagically etc.

Also, would be interesting to see / compare your monthly use from the power company before and after on a month by month basis, all things being equal for usage.

 

[daviddakers]

That's great Jim... hoping to follow your steps later in the year.

 

[Jim Burrow]

Thanks for sharing such an informative post!

I think it would be beneficial to everyone if you could share your parts list and diagram, what you use to FO automagically etc.

Also, would be interesting to see / compare your monthly use from the power company before and after on a month by month basis, all things being equal for usage.

Yes, I'm in the process of writing up what I did including the design to manage power distributions. It is very important that I have a detailed report for anyone that goes into my sub-breaker box and it posted inside the breaker box (sub-panel) as the wires from the Utility company no longer go directly to the box but through a (what I call) a power transfer box. From the transfer box, power from the utility company (Red, white Green wires) is wired to the right side of the panel while the Black, White, and Green wires, go to the Solar controller/inverter which powers the left side of the sub-panel. - Note the common jumper bar has been removed and verified there is no connection between the left side and right side common bar (white wire or neutral/return).

So what I'm getting at is an electrician needs to know how I lead out the box, just in case I ever sell the place and the new owners what the box back into its original state. I did not cut the main power cord to the transfer box just in case someone wanted to reconnect it into the sub-panel.

With respect to power usage from the utility company, my utility power meter did not move all day as none of the appliances were used today. So zero charge from the utility company. Note I did not tie into the grid to supply energy back to the utility company. That is against the law in my town.

At the end of the first day (today), the solar panels supplied all the power and towards the end of the day, the battery started helping the solar panels. At the end of the day with respect to no sun on my panels and the battery reaching its 50% SOC discharge, The Utility company power kicked in faultlessly. For the evening, the house is being powered by the utility company.

Right now, I'm using two cheap Walmart batteries. But in a couple of weeks, I will be buying one of two LiFePO4 batteries - 24v 100ah. Two will get me through the night and hopefully the utility company will never kick in to help power the house.

 

[curiouscarbon]

dear @Jim Burrow thank you for sharing this momentous milestone! well done!!!

cool that the automatic transfer switch handles the state of charge mode change

thank you for sharing this point, i’m trying to reduce my reliance on grid to below 100% and your thread inspires me to keep on reading and designing etc..

woohoo!!?

 

[RStone13]

dear @Jim Burrow thank you for sharing this momentous milestone! well done!!!

cool that the automatic transfer switch handles the state of charge mode change

thank you for sharing this point, i’m trying to reduce my reliance on grid to below 100% and your thread inspires me to keep on reading and designing etc..

woohoo!!?

Well that's doable below, 100%

 

[time2roll]

Excellent You are on your way! Please keep us updated on any adjustments you make.

 

[Bud Martin]

Have you seen any issue with the 2424 Bulk and Float setting at all? Some people complain about the unit will go into floating mode way early.

 

[Beepers7]

I AM SO DAMN EXCITED THAT I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF.

Finally got my Solar System tied into the house wiring. AND IT IS WORKING!!
After 9 months of scraping money to buy parts and testing for all kinds of conditions. I finally tied my system into the house.

Now I have power from the MTTP Solar 2424Lv controller/inverter going to the isolated left half of my sub-panel breaker box and 100% Utility power (PG&E) going to the isolated right half of my sub-panel.

All the heavy powered appliance is on the Utility side and the rest of the house is on Solar side.

Now, what should happen:

While the sun is up and not too heavily covered by clouds or fog, will power the house (not appliance). When the sun goes down and the solar controller/inverter cannot supply 100% of the house power, the battery will kick in to make up the difference.

When the sun goes down, the power is supplied 100% off battery power.

When the battery drains down to around 50% state of charge (SOC), the Utility power will kick in and provide power to the house. At this time, the Utility company will be supplying power to the whole house has as there is no sun and battery capacity left.

Now if the controller is working and it is nighttime and the batteries are drained, I have the option to switch to my Gas Generator to supply power to the controller or directly to the house.

Or if the controller fails, I can switch 100% Utility power to the house.

So, the moral of the story is that when here in California, when the Utility company or the park or the town I live in lose power to everyone, I will always have power, either from the sun, Gas Generator, or Utility company.

Excellent! I also live in So Cal. Obtaining parts as we speak. My goal is the same as yours.
Can you list your components?
Great Job

 

[pollenface]

It's a good feeling to have it all together and working, but it's a never-ending process of learning and imagining ways to improve.

The only thing my system can't run is a 2.5hp belt driven air compressor.

 

[HRTKD]

Congratulations Jim! It sure feels nice to be "done".

 

[RVLiFe]

I love it and I am impressed with your ambitions and your desire to be self reliant on most of your energy needs. Now get rid of those cheap Walmart batteries and either make your own battery bank or get a top notch LiFePO4 battery from SOK Batteries, or similar, and you will be extremely happy with your setup.