diy solar

diy solar

The "Meg" Build

Lt.Dan said:
I'm trying to hold off as much as I can ?? this won't be my permanent residence so I'm trying not to do TOO much work for something I'm not going to use long term. I know super contradictive to what I've already done ???

I do plan on keeping it long term, but just using it for vacations/trips. Maybe 20 times a year.
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just 16 more cells and you will be perfect lol
 
Better get 64 just incase I have 1 week of no sun in the driest, hottest, sunniest part in the damn world ?

It rains all of 2 weeks out of the year, maybe a few inches at a time, and winters RARELY below 30-35*. Mid summer the sun is up at 4:30 and down at 8:30. Makes for a productive day, but damn is it exhausting.
 
Lt.Dan said:
Battery is fully charged by 1:30pm today, from totally dead at 6am. I guess I need more battery... lol
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Multiple orientations of panels?
Sounds like your PV panels are producing watt hours in the afternoon that are just spilling over. Then, as PV production drops late afternoon you start discharging battery even though the sun is still up.
Don't know if you have the flexibility, have to be completely mobile or not. But even rooftop panels, if some aimed at morning sun and some at afternoon, should make a lower peak but wider, leaving fewer hours for the batteries to carry.
 
Hedges said:
Multiple orientations of panels?
Sounds like your PV panels are producing watt hours in the afternoon that are just spilling over. Then, as PV production drops late afternoon you start discharging battery even though the sun is still up.
Don't know if you have the flexibility, have to be completely mobile or not. But even rooftop panels, if some aimed at morning sun and some at afternoon, should make a lower peak but wider, leaving fewer hours for the batteries to carry.
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That is actually a great idea. I can point 1 string slightly east and one string slightly west to get my solar to kick in sooner and last longer in the day, my peak is usually 6-6200w coming in, and the load is rarely over 4500w. Even if the peak lowered to 5kw, but it came in an hour sooner and lasted an hour longer, it should make a big difference.

Check out today:

Screenshot_20210707-214529_Samsung Internet.jpg
Like previously mentioned. Fully charged by 1:30pm, but the majority of my KW usage is after i get home, when the PV is already on the rapid downhill.
 
Lt.Dan said:
Better get 64 just incase I have 1 week of no sun in the driest, hottest, sunniest part in the damn world ?

It rains all of 2 weeks out of the year, maybe a few inches at a time, and winters RARELY below 30-35*. Mid summer the sun is up at 4:30 and down at 8:30. Makes for a productive day, but damn is it exhausting.
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Some of us are joyous when we get 30 hours of sun a week :)
 
Man, I need to move to Cali. How handy would that be to have a buddy nearby that can do all this metal work?!
 
Using the Daygreen 48v to 12v converter more, and every time i use the leveling system i get a "Low Voltage" error through my one control app. I end up having to level it manually because the auto level kicks off almost immediately. Even running the water pump makes all my LED lights flicker.

I emailed Daygreen asking them whats going on, and they are blaming my wiring, saying that my 3ft of 6ga output (which is rated for 115a) is too small, and they recommend 3ga. My input is 10ga (rated for 55a), and I'm guessing they are going to say thats too small as well.

Any ideas? Do I really need to step up my wiring? Wishing I went with a 13.8v model, but dont like the price tag...
 
How many amps do you draw?
Could try to measure voltage drop across the wire.

I would think an AGM or gel cell would be good for occasional 12V loads. Needs to be fed with an appropriate charger of course; 48V to 12V converter probably isn't correct voltage for float use but might be. With a heavy diode, it could help pick up current when battery voltage drops feeding levelers.
 
Don't most of these converters have a max output of 20 Amps? I know my slide/leveling motors use more than that. I like Hedges idea of having a dedicated 12v system for just that, might solve those issues?
 
Lt.Dan said:
Using the Daygreen 48v to 12v converter more, and every time i use the leveling system i get a "Low Voltage" error through my one control app. I end up having to level it manually because the auto level kicks off almost immediately. Even running the water pump makes all my LED lights flicker.

I emailed Daygreen asking them whats going on, and they are blaming my wiring, saying that my 3ft of 6ga output (which is rated for 115a) is too small, and they recommend 3ga. My input is 10ga (rated for 55a), and I'm guessing they are going to say thats too small as well.

Any ideas? Do I really need to step up my wiring? Wishing I went with a 13.8v model, but dont like the price tag...
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I have had similar problems without solar. The electronics see the load as a bad battery and go into safe mode. A small AH battery on that side will take care of it. It sorta buffers the load.
 
Tball said:
Don't most of these converters have a max output of 20 Amps? I know my slide/leveling motors use more than that. I like Hedges idea of having a dedicated 12v system for just that, might solve those issues?
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You insult Dan as if he doesn't know how to buy his products or spec his system. You should be more tactful. Do you know the product or the specs on this? Or why we spent so much money on this?

Dan I haven't installed mine yet so I can't take a measurement for you. If you have a role of wire, say 10g etc you could double up on the terminals and see if it makes a diff, that's a quick cheap test. I can't recall if you have a current reading VM.

If the Daygreen really can't sustain load then we need to revisit, if the load really exceeds the ratings then we need to mitigate otherwise.
 
Hedges said:
How many amps do you draw?
Could try to measure voltage drop across the wire.

I would think an AGM or gel cell would be good for occasional 12V loads. Needs to be fed with an appropriate charger of course; 48V to 12V converter probably isn't correct voltage for float use but might be. With a heavy diode, it could help pick up current when battery voltage drops feeding levelers.
Click to expand...
On average it is drawing 60-70 amps. But in short bursts of 1 or 2 seconds, so its hard to get an accurate reading in such a short time. Any ideas?

I have 2x 100ah Battleborns sitting in my shop, but I didn't want to have more parts to the system, I wanted it as simple as possible. I even went back and forth with Battleborn on how to keep the battery from being damaged and they basically told me to buy a battery charger and leave it on 24/7. Again, I wanted less equipment/things to go wrong.

Tball said:
Don't most of these converters have a max output of 20 Amps? I know my slide/leveling motors use more than that. I like Hedges idea of having a dedicated 12v system for just that, might solve those issues?
Click to expand...
I bought a 100a model from Daygreen, which is 30% larger than the load i have.

Boondock Saint said:
You insult Dan as if he doesn't know how to buy his products or spec his system. You should be more tactful. Do you know the product or the specs on this? Or why we spent so much money on this?

Dan I haven't installed mine yet so I can't take a measurement for you. If you have a role of wire, say 10g etc you could double up on the terminals and see if it makes a diff, that's a quick cheap test. I can't recall if you have a current reading VM.

If the Daygreen really can't sustain load then we need to revisit, if the load really exceeds the ratings then we need to mitigate otherwise.
Click to expand...
I am going to have to try the heavier gauge wire, the hard part about it is the terminals are small, and most cable lugs are too large to fit! I can try and add a 10ga lead and see if it gets better.

I was hoping the converter would have a regulated output that would maintain 12v irregardless of 1 amp draw or 100 amp draw. But with it dropping down to 10v or less, its not very usable.
 
Boondock Saint said:
You insult Dan as if he doesn't know how to buy his products or spec his system. You should be more tactful. Do you know the product or the specs on this? Or why we spent so much money on this?

Dan I haven't installed mine yet so I can't take a measurement for you. If you have a role of wire, say 10g etc you could double up on the terminals and see if it makes a diff, that's a quick cheap test. I can't recall if you have a current reading VM.

If the Daygreen really can't sustain load then we need to revisit, if the load really exceeds the ratings then we need to mitigate otherwise.
Click to expand...
Yes, I did look at the specs on this but not knowing the particular model and his comment on not wanting to spend the money on the 13.8v the most common model only supplies 20 amps. Thanks for the wokeism comment on being tactful....go ahead and move along....
 
Do you have a way to temporarily move the converter really close to the leveling system input, bypassing everything with short cables, and trying? I'm not sure a 12v input will be enough
 
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