diy solar

diy solar

hybrid inverter,solar panels and battery

ddaky

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Joined
Nov 12, 2022
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54
hello...total beginner here...im learning and looking to start buyng equipment for my solar project
for start i will go with probably this inverte
and today i was looking in to batterys that is cells 21700 i can get them for 2,70$ new 4000mah samsung and was thinking to build 14s5-7p is this good idea?
are thay any good for battery packs and will they work good with this inverter...this is all for start later i can take more of theese batterys
thanks
 

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Well, some notes and personal opinions:
1. That inverter has a fairly high input voltage for the solar panels. If you want to start small, I'm not sure that's the right choice.
You will need around 8 to 10 fairly large panels (200-300w and up, each) in series to reach that PV voltage.

2. Same goes for the battery voltage. 48v is great, but you will need some higher end components to make it safe (class T fuse, DC breakers that can handle 48v, etc...). 48v is also pretty dangerous, at least for beginners.
Also, you would need alot of cells.

3. As for the battery, I personally would NOT go with Lithium-Ion (NCM, NCA etc chemistry). Lifepo4 is alot safer. With Lithium ion, one mistake and you can find yourself burning your house down.
Also, I don't like using these cells because they need to be spot-welded, unless you have a pre-made fixture for them (like JAG35 makes).

You didn't mention your power requirements or needs, but if this just for learning solar power, I would start small:

Inverter: Either 12v or 24v inverter, with max PV voltage of 145v (Check out Growatt or MPP Solar 2424).

Battery: 12v or 24v Lifepo4, according to the inverter you got. It could be pre-made or DIY.
If you go DIY, I would get some small prismatic cells, depending on your needs.
Don't forget you will need a BMS too.

Other components: You will need a non-polarized DC breaker for the connection between battery and inverter. Another option is an appropriate fuse and DC disconnect switch instead of a DC breaker.
For the PV input you should get a proper DC breaker, rated to the PV voltage of your array.

See some of Will's beginners videos, that should help you out start correctly. He has some videos reviewing 24v all-in-one inverters.
 
yes im planing to buy 5 pcs of solar panels for start because that inverter use the power from solars directly as i understand in combination with ac input and battery when i add them...inverter im planing bigger because i will add more panels in time and batterys also
im not new with spot welding and smaller battery pack thats why i want to make my own 14s atleast 1kw
for consuption of power its for two person house but im planning to end up on at least 5kw battery storage and if this 21700 cells can compete with lifepo4 im ready to do the hard work...and also all of the equipment will be outside in shed
 
today i was looking in to batterys that is cells 21700 i can get them for 2,70$ new 4000mah samsung and was thinking to build 14s5-7p is this good idea?
are thay any good for battery packs and will they work good with this inverter...this is all for start later i can take more of theese batterys
Welcome to the party, I am sure there will be many questions, and everyone on the forum will do their best to help answer these.
I first got into e-bikes, and years later came here and joined the off-grid world. My experiance with the small cells is these are better suited to high-current things like ebikes, and less so for stationary systems like off-grid power. I have made a dozen or so small cell batteries for e-bikes, lawn mowers, kids-ride-on-toys, portable power station, etc. but for stationary power, in the capacity that makes sense for off-grid, prismatic LiFePO4 cells are my recommendation. These can be purchased as cells alone, and you assemble them into what you need. Typically 8S for "24" volt, and 16S for "48" volt. Do your own research and compare costs of cells per 100Ahr of capacity and # of cycles you will get from each, and you will see why the prismatic cells work. Cells are available in many sizes (capacity) such as 50Ahr, 100Ahr, 160Ahr, and (my favourite) 280Ahr capacity. Since you are comfortable with the idea of DIY battery, the cells will be no problem to build yourself.
I don't see a location shown, however from the 240V inverter you posted, you are perhaps in UK or EU somewhere using 240V primary power. If you can indicate approximately location, it can assit us with recommendations. Planning to keep the equipment in a shed suggests a warm-ish climate, at least we hope so, since the equipment and batteries require certain temperatures to function properly.
Generally, it would be recommended you begin with a list of loads you wish to power, what these require running, what they will consume in 24 hours, and any high in-rush currents (motors) so you can then design the system to suit.
A starting budget may be a good point, to assist with suggestions.
I am a big supporter of a modular system, that will allow you a low cost entry point into solar/PV be easily expandable, and allow you to do all the work yourself so you save expense, and learn as you go.
 
fr

Welcome to the party, I am sure there will be many questions, and everyone on the forum will do their best to help answer these.
I first got into e-bikes, and years later came here and joined the off-grid world. My experiance with the small cells is these are better suited to high-current things like ebikes, and less so for stationary systems like off-grid power. I have made a dozen or so small cell batteries for e-bikes, lawn mowers, kids-ride-on-toys, portable power station, etc. but for stationary power, in the capacity that makes sense for off-grid, prismatic LiFePO4 cells are my recommendation. These can be purchased as cells alone, and you assemble them into what you need. Typically 8S for "24" volt, and 16S for "48" volt. Do your own research and compare costs of cells per 100Ahr of capacity and # of cycles you will get from each, and you will see why the prismatic cells work. Cells are available in many sizes (capacity) such as 50Ahr, 100Ahr, 160Ahr, and (my favourite) 280Ahr capacity. Since you are comfortable with the idea of DIY battery, the cells will be no problem to build yourself.
I don't see a location shown, however from the 240V inverter you posted, you are perhaps in UK or EU somewhere using 240V primary power. If you can indicate approximately location, it can assit us with recommendations. Planning to keep the equipment in a shed suggests a warm-ish climate, at least we hope so, since the equipment and batteries require certain temperatures to function properly.
Generally, it would be recommended you begin with a list of loads you wish to power, what these require running, what they will consume in 24 hours, and any high in-rush currents (motors) so you can then design the system to suit.
A starting budget may be a good point, to assist with suggestions.
I am a big supporter of a modular system, that will allow you a low cost entry point into solar/PV be easily expandable, and allow you to do all the work yourself so you save expense, and learn as you go.
yea my location is eu...Croatia :)
i want to bild it step by step so i dont have to give too much money all at once thats why i want start with couple panels and than later i just add more and more depending on what i need and how much do i need
my power consuption is this
fridge-annual 169kw
tv-80w working around 5h dayli
water heater 1500w
cooking plate-total power 6kw
oven-cca 1500w
laptop and chargers
and led lights in house
i think thats it
 
i want to bild it step by step so i dont have to give too much money all at once thats why i want start with couple panels and than later i just add more and more depending on what i need
Wow, Great to see people from all over the world on this forum, I am from Canada, and there are lots of members from UK, Austrailia South America, Scandinavia as well as the majority from USA.
I am not sure what the supply of equipment is like in Croatia, I guess from your posting that you can get anything that Alibaba distributes.
Starting small, and modular was my own approach too, like you I wanted to keep initial cost down, learn as I built the system, and expand it as I was comfortable to do that. Like you, I used 48 volt right away, to avoid needing to change to 48Volt later as the system expanded. I am not familiar with the Inverter you posted, and like so many of these listings, they don't provide much detail. I found a good place to start was the Inverter manual. So you can compare features based on manuals (that are free) before you commit to a purchase of equipment.
I am not sure if this inverter for example supports parallel operation - where you can pair two of them later on to expand your output capacity, they also usually don't tell you up front the unit standby power consumption, or if it has a standby mode (low power mode.) Lf you contact the seller, indicate you are interested in the product and want a copy of the user manual, this should show you more detail. I have found in the past, if a Alibaba seller will not share the manual, then it is best to look at other equipment.
 
my power consuption is this
fridge-annual 169kw
tv-80w working around 5h dayli
water heater 1500w
cooking plate-total power 6kw
oven-cca 1500w
laptop and chargers
and led lights in house
For loads that cycle on and off - you can use a Kilowatt device, I see there is a 230/240 VAC version called a wattmeter, these record the actual power consumed and the time, so you can calculate the actual power consumed per day.
A fridge that consumes 160kW in a year is only 0.5kWhr per day. (you may want to check this, most fridges are over a kWhr per day)
I assume your water heater is 1500W only while it is on, but cycles on and off during the day to maintain the water temperature. This is where the Wattmeter can be used over a few days to get an average of your power actually used by the water heater. (you may need to set it up on a plug for the meter tempararily)
It is a good idea to make a spreadsheet of the loads, their staring power (in-rush current) their running current, and the average power (kWHr) they consume per 24 hours. From this you can easily see how many kWhr you need to power your home per day, and what the peak load could be if your water heater and fridge both started at the same time for example.
 
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