My DIY 60 kW 220 panel setup

[Shimmy]

They always have one thing in common: looks great, functions sub par.

These micro inverters were one of these failed side projects. Bad bad _bad_ quality.

Yeah, Ubiquiti is great for wifi access points and networking equipment, but once you get outside that realm it turns to shit quickly. I bought their "top end" PTZ 4k camera and wow... three failed units, all essentially due to unexpected shutdown of their network switch (UPS exhausted in a power failure). [Ironic because there is actually no way to do an orderly shutdown of their network switch.] I still have an RMA replacement unit that simply isn't worth reinstalling.

 

[RetiredSenior]

Yeah, I think I would have gone sonotubes with brackets if I were to go wood. I don't trust wood in the ground much less in concrete. Gone are the days of great CCA treated. Might be ok out west...not in my neck of the woods (Missouri with lots of clay). Any wood that I do put in the ground gets wrapped in high quality sticky roofing material around the ground level (some below, some above). And lots of crushed rock at the bottom for water to weep into. I'm switching to reject steel for fencing - along with a Hypertherm Powermax30 AIR plasma coupled with a Lincoln SA 300.

The rest of the setup and design was awesome though.

You did a beautiful job and I’m sure the cost was quite phenomenal as well ??

 

[SilverbackMP]

You did a beautiful job and I’m sure the cost was quite phenomenal as well ??

Sinclair Skyracks. 3 separate mounts due to their location and finding adequate appearing grade, plumb, and level.

 

[SilverbackMP]

Yeah, Ubiquiti is great for wifi access points and networking equipment, but once you get outside that realm it turns to shit quickly. I bought their "top end" PTZ 4k camera and wow... three failed units, all essentially due to unexpected shutdown of their network switch (UPS exhausted in a power failure). [Ironic because there is actually no way to do an orderly shutdown of their network switch.] I still have an RMA replacement unit that simply isn't worth reinstalling.

I’m going with a Netgate router with pfsense with all/mostly tp-link Omada switches and access points.

Two separate physical LANs with a Synology on one of them running nothing but Security Station and POE cameras. Since I’m building a shop, I’ll have trenches open anyway. Will be running conduit for fiber between existing buildings and dropping in extra runs and capping them off for any future expansions.

Plenty of VLANs on the other.

And either openvpn or wireguard at the router…I wanna be able to lock those down but still have remote access.

Probably too much for the usual home setup but it be for two houses, various outbuildings, my new shop, and potentially another building for my business (and remove it from my shop).

Picture of shop with my panel mounts in the background.

 

[Shimmy]

...Synology on one of them running nothing but Security Station and POE cameras.

Maybe other people have better luck with Security Station, but I can't stand it. I use it for one cheap camera that is mostly a decoy, and it is barely functional in my mind. I can't imagine how it would perform with more cameras; I'd actually recommend Ubiquiti over Synology for the cameras. Maybe if you are using the RS line it is a little better.

Cost-wise, once you have over about 10 cameras I think Ubiquiti ends up being cheaper. PTZ cameras are the exception.

 

[SilverbackMP]

Maybe other people have better luck with Security Station, but I can't stand it. I use it for one cheap camera that is mostly a decoy, and it is barely functional in my mind. I can't imagine how it would perform with more cameras; I'd actually recommend Ubiquiti over Synology for the cameras. Maybe if you are using the RS line it is a little better.

Cost-wise, once you have over about 10 cameras I think Ubiquiti ends up being cheaper. PTZ cameras are the exception.

I just want as much control over it as possible.

I don’t want the Chicom POE cameras phoning home and opening up my network to exploits. Ubiquiti doesn’t have the security of pfsense.

I wish I could keep it simple with a NVR. But I don’t trust them.

 

[SilverbackMP]

I just want as much control over it as possible.

I don’t want the Chicom POE cameras phoning home and opening up my network to exploits. Ubiquiti doesn’t have the security of pfsense.

I wish I could keep it simple with a NVR. But I don’t trust them.

Maybe other people have better luck with Security Station, but I can't stand it. I use it for one cheap camera that is mostly a decoy, and it is barely functional in my mind. I can't imagine how it would perform with more cameras; I'd actually recommend Ubiquiti over Synology for the cameras. Maybe if you are using the RS line it is a little better.

Cost-wise, once you have over about 10 cameras I think Ubiquiti ends up being cheaper. PTZ cameras are the exception.

Also my synology will be a newer AMD based unit with 32 GB Ram and two 500 gb sticks SSD cache.

If it doesn’t do want I want it to do, I’ll repurpose it for backups and build a blueiris machine with an I3.

 

[RetiredSenior]

I’m going with a Netgate router with pfsense with all/mostly tp-link Omada switches and access points.

Two separate physical LANs with a Synology on one of them running nothing but Security Station and POE cameras. Since I’m building a shop, I’ll have trenches open anyway. Will be running conduit for fiber between existing buildings and dropping in extra runs and capping them off for any future expansions.

Plenty of VLANs on the other.

And either openvpn or wireguard at the router…I wanna be able to lock those down but still have remote access.

Probably too much for the usual home setup but it be for two houses, various outbuildings, my new shop, and potentially another building for my business (and remove it from my shop).

Picture of shop with my panel mounts in the background.

beautiful shop and setting

 

[crazydane]

@Kruncher Yes I would say the roic was worth it. Coming up on 7 years since I started and its all paid for. Of course part of that was from mining and selling crypto to pay for the solar expansion as I grew.

Yeah, the reason I went with the Ubiquiti inverters is that I have a "few" of their network is surveillance equipment units:



It has been rock solid for the most part. Probably been over 10 years since I got my first Unifi gear and have been upgrading and adding since then, selling the older stuff, which tends to hold its value pretty well.

Looks like the POCO didn't clear out my kWh bank when rolling into 2023, so I'm happy about that.



I did end up consuming more than I produced in December/January, but I suppose that's not too bad for the darkest bill period of the year. Plus it was extremely cold so the HP was working overtime and going into AUX heat a lot.

I'm not even sure what their kWh rate is these days since I have 0 billable, so it doesn't even show up on the bill. My neighbors are bitching about bills almost doubling. I just stay quiet when it comes up, lol.

 

[1201]

hi, i noticed on the shop (with the green r-panel roof) you went with direct attach vs rail. was this a cost reason? is it cheaper than doing rails? thanks

 

[707kevin]

Also my synology will be a newer AMD based unit with 32 GB Ram and two 500 gb sticks SSD cache.

If it doesn’t do want I want it to do, I’ll repurpose it for backups and build a blueiris machine with an I3.

Definitely don't count out a DIY NVR. So many options for software.
Also look into the Coral TPU devices and Frigate NVR software for some seriously cool free open source object detection.

 

[SilverbackMP]

Definitely don't count out a DIY NVR. So many options for software.
Also look into the Coral TPU devices and Frigate NVR software for some seriously cool free open source object detection.

I hear you, but there are some things you just want (hopefully) plug n play. I’ve got a list 200 or 300 lines long of projects.

 

[Leemaisel]

I just joined the forum a few days ago, but have been doing solar since fall of 2016. I figured I'd share the journey with you guys.

I started out with 80 panels with micro inverters (Ubiquiti SunMax inverters and panels). 56 of them went on my shop roof and the other 24 on a ground mount array.

Lots of boxes from Ubiquiti:

View attachment 110442

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I made a rig for my tractor to bring each panel up onto the roof:

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Next up was doing the 24 panel ground array next to the shop building:

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80 panels is good, but why not add 48 more?

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This time I went with 280 watt Axitec panels, but still used SunMax 250W micro inverters. 2 more 24 panel ground mount arrays:

View attachment 110449

But before bringing them online, I had the POCO come out and upgrade my transformer from a 25 VKA to a 50 KVA:

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So at this point I had a total of 128 panels, all using Micro Inverters. Each AC string had between 12 and 14 panels and went to a 20A breaker in a dedicated 200A soler sub-panel:

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Next I decided to do a 32 panel ground mount array using a SMA SB 7.7. Don't have any construction pics, but here's the completed array:

View attachment 110454

Next I build a pole barn with the roof consisting of 45 panels.

THAT IS AMAZING! GREAT JOB!!

I was working on doing a tiny 14Kw setup for our ranch, and My dad and sister shot it down, because they just don’t get it. My sister really pissed me off with her comment that “my system was a Lamborghini”. I should show her yours!

 

[Zapper77]

:

View attachment 110453

Next I decided to do a 32 panel ground .

Is that an end cap? I'm trying to decide how to cap my 3" shc40. I was planning on 3d printing 4 caps.

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

Looks amazing, very very impressive... Seen you on youtube a while back.. Hows the mining going? Presumably you only mine BTC now? I have a tiny mining rig (2x 5700xt) which i can run on sunny days using my huge 3kw array and 15kw lithium storage! - but the profits are only about £0.50 a day now vs £5-£9 a day when ETH was POW..
What you have done is my ultimate plan! Got a way to go yet though lol. Would love to move to the U.S and have the land, space and views you have, super jealous ??

 

[Zoltan7]

It's just marvelous ! This is the dream setup for many of us !

 

[Matt.B]

Great frame idea, certainly something I will take inspiration from.

Thanks for sharing your project, I'll keep following it.

 

[jarred125]

Amazing series of posts here, I forgot Ubiquiti dabbled in solar for a bit (I guess they still do in a smaller way). 60kW .. I can only dream of that right now.

 

[solarHandyman]

Lol, yeah, I'm pretty addicted you could say. Looking at my usage, I'm almost where I need to be now, but winter is coming... Last 30 days:

View attachment 110487

House consumes an average of about 100 kWh a day, and the shop building around 200 kWh. The reason the shop consumed to much is that I run crypto mining rigs there during the summer. In the winter, I move them up into the house and they provide all the heat I need, so I don't have to run my heat pump at all, no matter how cold it gets outside.

Here's a daily plot from all 8 inverters from 8/28 when it was mostly sunny:

View attachment 110490

I do have shading on one of the arrays in the AM as can be seen from the bottom graph that all of a sudden jump up at around 11:30 when the sun is able to hit the entire panel. The array with the shade is the lower of the two hillside ones. The upper one is casting a share on the lower one. I'm kicking myself now for not realizing that was going to be the case when I placed the poles for the arrays. But live and learn I suppose.

Since I have maxed out the 50 KVA transformer, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to convince the POCO to upgrade me again (it was free the first time since I was mining a lot more and pulling close to 25 kW during the winter and summer was coming, which meant even more power draw once I started running the AC).

My next project will be to take the house semi-off grid. What I mean by that, is to get 4x of the EG4 6500s along with maybe 30 kWh worth of battery storage, and then wire it up as follows:

View attachment 110494

If the grid goes down (and it does at least a couple of times a year and last for several hours or even days), when the house can run on batteries and the generator can kick in when the batteries get low to charge them back up given how I plan to wire in the 6500s per the above diagram.

Since the EG4 inverters are not grid tired, I don't have to worry about pushing the 50 KVA transformer past its limit. Using opensolar.com, I believe I'll be able to fit 53 455 watt panels into the roof of the house:

View attachment 110495

With 4 EG$ 6500s, I'll have 8 MPPT inputs, so that should work out pretty well with the 53 455 watt panels giving me around 24 kW.

I live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and really enjoy the views. Here's a shot from the house looking down at the arrays surrounding the shop:

View attachment 110503

Wife feels the solar arrays ruin the view, but I think they are beautiful, lol.

So how is the crypto mining going? I thought about adding a crypto mining rig as a dump load on sunny days. I decided instead that I'll build a motorized compost tumbler heated with a heat gun on a wifi timer.

 

[rossmoesis]

So how is the crypto mining going? I thought about adding a crypto mining rig as a dump load on sunny days. I decided instead that I'll build a motorized compost tumbler heated with a heat gun on a wifi timer.

We need to see some picture or this compost tumbler! Sounds awesome.