Show/Tell and quick reviews

[Riderice]

Just wanted to share pictures and random thoughts from a recent project. I really applaud all you folks on here with super neat and tidy builds! Mine is pretty sloppy by comparison, but gets the job done, haha.

Last summer I built a small 800W array and 400Ah AGM 12v battery, which was fun, and used it to power all sorts of stuff for about a year. Then decided to go whole hog and upgrade to something I could actually power my whole house with, 24/7 all year.

So I started with ~3100W of new panels (345W Canadian Solar, in 3P3S), hooked to a bigger Victron 150/70 controller (love these, excellent product!), to a bigger Quattro 5000/48 120V inverter (seems okay, but no-load draw is 55W, WAY more than 35W listed on spec sheet...), to a 10kWh Lynx lithium battery bank (206Ah, 16S).

I thought "easy, just swap out the old with the new", HA! Nope. The panels are *enormous*, and I built my own roof mounting system, so that was a pain. Then ended up adding lots more fuse+breaker protection due to higher voltages and overall power. Then wasted time having to return an AIMS 6000W inverter (funky voltage split, hot *and* neutral lines powered, wtf??).

Then the battery...steep learning curve coming from AGM! But ultimately very pleased with the Lynx product I bought, good customer support so far, and I measured at least 180Ah capacity (discharged 20A for 9hrs, from 5.3 to 5.0V), looking good there! Took me a bunch of tries to get it fully charged the first time, kept tripping the BMS over-volt. Turns out 3.65 (or 58.whatever) is theoretical, but 3.5 (56V) is just fine for a charge controller 100% target. Still waiting on some better BMSs (Overkill and Chargery on the way!) to have better insight into the cells' health and status.

Thanks for reading!

 

[RichO]

Looks great on that roof!
Sweet setup.

 

[Riderice]

Thanks @RichO!! I guess what I lack in cable management skills I made up for in panel aesthetic...

I wish I got to look at my handiwork on those panels from my house, but they actually face my neighbor's yard. But at least she won't hate me for making her view ugly.

 

[chrisski]

Wondering if this is the battery switch you used? Supposed to be 2” X 2” and looks a lot like what you installed.


I’m thinking of getting this for a small 24 volt build.

 

[MisterSandals]

what I lack in cable management skills

Actually, if you were having problems and were asked to share a pic of your wiring, everybody would be able to trace most of the wires to look for problems. Put them all in a tidy bundle and you have removed a lot of opportunities to double check things. I love what you have.

 

[Riderice]

Wondering if this is the battery switch you used?

@chrisski Yes, exactly. I use them to disconnect the battery and the inverter, when fiddling with stuff. (and those midnite solar DC breakers are to power-off the charge controller and isolate the panels, if needed)

@MisterSandals thanks! I'm hoping this takes a big bite out of my grid energy grid use - I plan to put the fridge, window AC (or space heater), wifi, and home offices on it, maybe occasional sunny day EV L1 charging. Plus I'm learning a lot for some future house mega system I hope to build, and protected myself from any grid problems/blackouts in the meantime.