diy solar

diy solar

Humor that will probably only resonate with me, based on a pattern of questions and outcomes

Dzl

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Questioner 1: I am looking for cells that will do well in an offroad vehicle, what should I buy?
Answerer: The nylon cased cells, and frey/fortune cells are well suited for this application, the build quality is more robust and substantial. Additionally, it is recommended in the marinre world, and buy at least one battery manufacturer to use cells less than or equal to 200Ah and ideally around 100Ah if you are designing for high vibration and/or mechanical shocks.
Questioner: Thanks, I ended up buying 280Ah commodity cells.

Questioner 2: I am looking for high C rate lifepo4 cells, what should I buy?
Answerer: Here are some brands/models that are worth looking into if you need high C discharge rates, Frey/Fortune, CALB, GBS, Winston..
Questioner: Thanks, I bought 280Ah commodity cells.

Questioner 3: I am looking for well matched grade A cells, I want quality, I don't care if it costs a little more, what/where should I buy?
Answerer: If grade A well matched cells are your priority, you should buy through official channels from a manufacturer that either sells retail directly (like Frey or EVE) or sells through authorized/legitimate distributors/retailers like CALB, Winston, Frey, GBS. This is the only way I am aware of to be confident in the quality and grade of the cells you receive. Be prepared to pay a little more grade A cells and matched cells cost more than the cheap grey market cells popular here. Be aware that the grey market sellers on Alibaba selling discount cells at grade B prices, call virtually all cells matched and grade A, so its not worth much to get those assurances, in reality many of these cells even those sold by popular sellers are not grade A and certainly not matched cells.
Questioner: Thanks, I ended up buying 280Ah commodity cells from Shenzhen Grey-Market-Seller Energy Co. Ltd., have you heard of them? are they trustworthy? They assured me that they are matched Grade A cells so I guess I got a good deal.
 
Answerer: The nylon cased cells, and frey/fortune cells are well suited for this application, the build quality is more robust and substantial. Additionally, it is recommended in the marinre world, and buy at least one battery manufacturer to use cells less than or equal to 200Ah and ideally around 100Ah if you are designing for high vibration and/or mechanical shocks.
Say what? Did you get zapped by aliens? :)
 
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Q: my bookcase is tilted, which cell would you recommend to get my bookcase to correct level?
A: what the? Use wood, I mea--
Q: Nevermind, I got a premium cell and I'm super happy. My bookcase uses almost zero watts per year and my books no longer flip over! Thanks!

I absolutely derailed the previous joke.

PS: I wish I could afford lithium.

PS2: No, my bookcase is fine. Why do you ask?
 
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LMAO DZL. Hit the nail on the head. There are a few I could add BUT I would not be capable of restraining my responses to be P.C. and suitable for a public forum.

The one that ALWAYS GET'S ME.
I went out and bought this SCC, Inverter, These panels so how do I put it together and will it power my house ?
90% of the time it's Renogy junk & 100W panels - Oivey ... ignore & more on, beyond hope.

Then the famous, I bought 6 12V/100W panels to charge my 12V/400AH battery and I have this 10A PWM Controller thingy, that's work right...

The Impatient Impulse Buyers are THE WORST...

Inevitably, there is always that bunch who buy / build monster battery systems NOT realizing that the bigger the battery system the more charge capacity you need to charge them... HTF can you charge a 400AH Battery bank with 2-100W panels ? NOT but some think it can.
 
Q: my bookcase is tilted, which cell would you recommend to get my bookcase to correct level?
A: what the? Use wood, I mea--
Q: Nevermind, I got a premium cell and I'm super happy. My bookcase uses almost zero watts per year and my books no longer flip over! Thanks!

I absolutely derailed the previous joke.

PS: I wish I could afford lithium.

PS2: No, my bookcase is fine. Why do you ask?
Alright, I see your ridiculousness ;) and I'll raise it some more:

Q: I need to replace the battery on my apple watch, can you advise where I can find an OEM Apple 150 mAh LiPo replacement battery
A: Hear is one opti..
Q: Nevermind, I found a great deal on 16 x 280Ah cells and a Daly BMS from Shenzhen-Unknown-Technology-Co, they told me if I use a BMS it should work with the Apple watch and give me much more battery life. They said it might require some slight modifications to the watch, but I'm not worried they offer a 50 year warranty if I pay shipping both ways.

Q: I'm looking to upgrade the west facing artillery battery on my 19th century Civil War Era fortress. Currently the fort is outfitted with 19th century Howitzers can anyone suggest replacements that would be historically accurate?
A: Well coincidentally I'm a civil war military historian, I suggest you...
Q: Nevermind, I got a great deal on a 280Ah battery, I bought it from some company in China that specializes in this sorta thing. The website mentioned golf carts, energy storage, EV, and lithium but the seller assured me he also specializes in all types of civil war batteries. There may have been some slight translation issues, but the seller told me that these are Grade A whatever that means and assured me that these are civil war compatible. I asked him what side used this particular model, because I wanted to make sure they were historically accurate for the union army, the seller told me "cans have 6 sides" so I guess that's good right?
 
LMAO DZL. Hit the nail on the head. There are a few I could add BUT I would not be capable of restraining my responses to be P.C. and suitable for a public forum.

The one that ALWAYS GET'S ME.
I went out and bought this SCC, Inverter, These panels so how do I put it together and will it power my house ?
90% of the time it's Renogy junk & 100W panels - Oivey ... ignore & more on, beyond hope.
"Renogy vs Grape vs Newpowa 400W solar package, which will let me quick charge my Tesla?"
Then the famous, I bought 6 12V/100W panels to charge my 12V/400AH battery and I have this 10A PWM Controller thingy, that's work right...

The Impatient Impulse Buyers are THE WORST...
"frictionless" consumer culture, we've gotten very used to just browsing amazon and buying shit without having to think too hard about it, if it doesn't work return it, if you change your mind return it, if its a piece of crap product return it. Buy first ask questions later. Math and design is boring anyways, right? ;)

The manufacturers / sellers share some blame in this, they often show systems that are very unrealistically sized (solar generator marketing being one of the worst/biggest offenders).

I'm on a few vehicle dwelling forums as well including a skoolie group, that's where you see some of the most ridiculously disproportionate builds. So many of these folks are often great DIYers and craftsmen and think very creatively but the electrical systems.. oh boy. In many cases these are basically 40 foot full on metal homes, all household appliances, creature comforts, dual A/C, heatpumps, etc. Then they throw a 10,000 watt powerjack inverter, a few lead acid batteries, and a 400W renogy solar kit at it and hope for the best, and at least every few months there is someone that 'doesn't want to waste money' on a separate house bank since the bus already has two big lead acid starting batteries.. ?

Inevitably, there is always that bunch who buy / build monster battery systems NOT realizing that the bigger the battery system the more charge capacity you need to charge them
Yeah this is a common one,

"I bought 64 280Ah cells, for my truck camper, I think I squeeze 200W of solar on top, I've got a 20W USB solar panel I can hookup for extra power when I need it, I know its not a lot of solar, but my needs are pretty modest, apart from running my A/C 24/7, I only need to power my induction cooktop, electric water heater, welder, dehumidifier, and gaming PC, I've replaced all my lightbulbs with low wattage LEDs"?


To any newbies reading this, know that we are only joking/venting about the inside out thought process / order of things (and the frequency of this type of question/comment/purchase), not at anyone in particular, many of us have been guilty of similar thinking early on (or in other fields). And when you are new you dont know what you don't know, asking questions, making mistakes, etc are how you learn. I bought a powerbank with a built in solar panel once (like the handheld type a little smaller than a post card, and actually expected it could recharge itself.. spoiler alert.. it did not ;))
 
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@Dzl I also belong to a few different forums (EV, Offgridding and others) and geez Louise there is a lot of dumb out there.
Even worse though, past 10 years or so, is the "Instant Rice Mentality" that is pervading in various places.
* Zero Patience, have to get everything right away and have it in hand "instantly".
* Doing "Due Diligence" research is for everyone else but THEM.
* When they screw up and Impulse Buy whatever, it is always everyone else's fault, the vendor, maker or wherever they read / saw info on said product. IE: Never responsible for doing something stupid that they should know better than to do. If possible blame it on Cultural differences too. (Signs of a terribly weak mind IMO)
* No critical Thinking applied to the problem prior to proceeding. Ever see an idiot in the Northern Hemisphere face his panels on the NORTH Side ? I have and the ding-a-ling though it would be stupid on the south side because it would make his roof look bad and Sun is Sun so it should not matter.

Lastly, which I know you'll immediately run with, Those that start doing research and get so caught up in Minutia that they make themselves and everyone else angry... IE the cell compression threads as one example where the Mulberry Bush has been so chased around the Moat worn into the bedrock is so deep, you can't see the sky anymore... This is where no one realizes that everything is a set of or subset of compromises to accomplish the desired overall end result. The idea that everything must be 100% perfect....

Funny, even full-on Integrated Systems which are specifically designed to be fully integrated have compromises within. These include Full Tesla Power systems with Solar Shingles & powerwalls etc to any other fully comprehensive systems, even they are not 100% Absolutely perfect.
 
Solar components are small potatoes....

Q: I just bought a new 2021 F-250 crew cab, short bed with the diesel engine (because MORE POWER!) for $75,000. What's the biggest fifth wheel trailer I can tow?
A: None of them, most likely. You'll run out of cargo capacity long before you come close to trailering capacity...
Q: Anyhow, I just brought my new fifth wheel home and the rear of the truck is sagging really bad, what can I do?
 
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Solar components are small potatoes....

Q: I just bought a new 2021 F-250 crew cab, short bed with the diesel engine (because MORE POWER!) for $75,000. What's the biggest fifth wheel trailer I can tow?
A: None of them, most likely. You'll run out of cargo capacity long before you come close to trailering capacity...
Q: Anyhow, I just brought my new fifth wheel home and the rear of the truck is sagging really bad, what can I do?
Q: My friend sold me some 3 inch lift blocks, he says it will fix the problem, I'm wondering if a body lift would increase my capacity more?
 
Q: My friend sold me some 3 inch lift blocks, he says it will fix the problem, I'm wondering if a body lift would increase my capacity more?

No, you just need new shocks.
skidmarks.gif


Lots of misunderstanding on the truck forums. I've learned a lot about towing and capacities since my first real truck in '07.

Oddly enough, the suggestion to get taller blocks came up today on the Ford truck forum. A guy said his new 2021 squats more than the 2017, which is plausible. Ford made the 17-19 trucks unusually tall. Enough so that there were a lot of complaints from fifth wheel owners that they couldn't get the trailer level. The height was reduce on the recent models.
 
Who says you need a beefy 1 ton for a 5th wheel, how about a late 70's / early 80's half ton, 85hp, 4 cylinder, mini truck ?
1981-Toyota-Hilux-Dually-camper-01-640x392.jpg
 
Then the famous, I bought 6 12V/100W panels to charge my 12V/400AH battery and I have this 10A PWM Controller thingy, that's work right...

I have 25 kWh of AGM batteries, 66 kW of battery inverters, 97.5 kW of GT PV inverters, and 51.5 kW (STC) of PV panels.
Is this a well-balanced system?

(True confession.)
 
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