Very new to solar but started purchasing items, not sure of the final specs of the whole system.

[kromc5]

Bank 2, the older one, looks great after running them up to 3.6 with the 15 amp balancers.

 

[kromc5]

Bank One is the oldest and unbalanced since I bought it online two years ago.
It's not too large a delta between the cells.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Did you start making bigger banks as you progressed?

I started with 1 pack of 230AH, then added a 2nd 230ah, then a 305ah, most recently a 280ah. Really whatever the best price and feedback I could find was what I bought.

I was planning to use four shunts but decided to combine the banks. Victron makes an awesome shunt with multiple mounting points, making connecting the 4 - 2/0 connections easier.

Victron SmartShunt 2000A/50mV

Signature Solar provides solar panels, off-grid solar systems, grid-tie, and hybrid systems. Quality solar inverters, bifacial solar panels, complete solar kits, solar batteries. Featuring brands such as EG4 Electronics with their solar battery, LifePower4 and EG4 LLifePower4 and EG4 LL

signaturesolar.com

Wow that's nice, would have eliminated the need for my big copper bus bar I recently added.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Bank One is the oldest and unbalanced since I bought it online two years ago.
It's not too large a delta between the cells.

1 and 3 are my oldest and were top balanced, 2 is the 2nd newest and wasn't top balanced. I don't have 4 connected to SA yet, I have major regrets not top balancing it... I spent hours yesterday with some 12V bulbs and a charger trying to bring it inline, last night I ordered a 5A active balancer....

 

[kromc5]

1 and 3 are my oldest and were top balanced, 2 is the 2nd newest and wasn't top balanced. I don't have 4 connected to SA yet, I have major regrets not top balancing it... I spent hours yesterday with some 12V bulbs and a charger trying to bring it inline, last night I ordered a 5A active balancer....

They are looking pretty good, with less spread than my bank 1. I hope the 5 amp works well for you. I tried the Heltec 5 amp a long time ago with the first bank, but it did not work well. I decided not to top-balance the batteries as it would take too long on the new banks. But the 15 amp is so fast I was not expecting it to work that well.

 

[42OhmsPA]

They are looking pretty good, with less spread than my bank 1. I hope the 5 amp works well for you. I tried the Heltec 5 amp a long time ago with the first bank, but it did not work well. I decided not to top-balance the batteries as it would take too long on the new banks. But the 15 amp is so fast I was not expecting it to work that well.

I hope it works, I'm sure I'll regret not waiting longer for a 15 amp but I wanted something quickly so I can get this pack added to the bank and the parallel inverters running the house.

 

[kromc5]

This is interesting because he caught lighting hitting his panels, and the damage was discussed.

DIY Solar | Lightning just struck here | Facebook

Lightning just struck here. Hit my east solar array. Took out the Growatt SC4880, the Sungold 6kW inverter (which has wiring that goes out to the generator) went up in smoke. The Sungold 18kW...

www.facebook.com

 

[kromc5]

My Ford Lighting, when pulling a 2k load on a 10ft trailer with 239+ charge on a 110-mile round trip, would get home with 17-20% percent. This required minimal AC use as well. If anyone else is in the market, I found many trailer deals across many states in the last few weeks. With the Dodge Lighting, I average 11.6 miles per kW with no trailer, etc. I bought a 12k 20ft to tow the tractor and other equipment; total weight for the tow was roughly 7400 lbs. The trip was mainly on a highway with many hills, many times in 3rd at 4800 to 5000rpm to maintain speed on the hills but averaged 10.4 kW per mile. I'm very interested in the hybrid Dodge and hope to test-drive one.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

My Ford Lighting, when pulling a 2k load on a 10ft trailer with 239+ charge on a 110-mile round trip, would get home with 17-20% percent. This required minimal AC use as well. If anyone else is in the market, I found many trailer deals across many states in the last few weeks. With the Dodge Lighting, I average 11.6 miles per kW with no trailer, etc. I bought a 12k 20ft to tow the tractor and other equipment; total weight for the tow was roughly 7400 lbs. The trip was mainly on a highway with many hills, many times in 3rd at 4800 to 5000rpm to maintain speed on the hills but averaged 10.4 kW per mile. I'm very interested in the hybrid Dodge and hope to test-drive one.

Have the Rams even made it to dealerships yet?

 

[Brucey]

This is interesting because he caught lighting hitting his panels, and the damage was discussed.

DIY Solar | Lightning just struck here | Facebook

Lightning just struck here. Hit my east solar array. Took out the Growatt SC4880, the Sungold 6kW inverter (which has wiring that goes out to the generator) went up in smoke. The Sungold 18kW...

www.facebook.com

Yeah pretty crazy stuff

 

[kromc5]

Have the Rams even made it to dealerships yet?

I have not seen any news yet, but I need to call the dealer, and I will report back what he says.

 

[kromc5]

Yeah pretty crazy stuff

I need to ask how the panels were grounded and if he had any surge protection at the panels. This would be great to knowing how everything would fair in the event of a simliar hit.

 

[Brucey]

I think from the comments it was a. temp setup of 6 of 12 panels and ungrounded ..

 

[kromc5]

I think from the comments it was a. temp setup of 6 of 12 panels and ungrounded ..

I have always wondered if a midnite spd would be needed on the inverter/mppt side. I have them on the AC side and at every array, but what if an indirect strike could get through the underground pvc conduit and go straight to the charge controllers?

 

[Brucey]

I have always wondered if a midnite spd would be needed on the inverter/mppt side. I have them on the AC side and at every array, but what if an indirect strike could get through the underground pvc conduit and go straight to the charge controllers?

Heres how the Midnite Barcelona epanel is laid out, one 600V SPD per tracker and then a 115V on the battery bus connection:


It also uses shunt trip breakers for the pv inputs that can be triggered by the Barcelona in case of a battery high voltage situation.

 

[kromc5]

Heres how the Midnite Barcelona epanel is laid out, one 600V SPD per tracker and then a 115V on the battery bus connection:


It also uses shunt trip breakers for the pv inputs that can be triggered by the Barcelona in case of a battery high voltage situation.

I went and looked at the manual. It is very nice, but figuring out where to mount them all would be quite an undertaking.

 

[kromc5]

I finished torquing all the screws down and installing the BMS on the two new banks and now working on removing the batriums from the older 4 banks.