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diy solar

What size battery bank do yall got?

What size battery bank yall got?

  • 5 Kwh or less

  • 10 Kwh

  • 15 Kwh

  • 20 Kwh

  • 25 Kwh

  • 30 Kwh

  • 35 Kwh

  • 40+ Kwh or more

  • (MORE) 70 Kwh - 120 Kwh

  • (MORE) 120 Kwh - 170 Kwh


Results are only viewable after voting.
3.8 kWh 24V system. 1.4 kW used panels
Tiny starter system in town. Too many shadows from houses, etc. this time of year.
Cheap off grid inverter powers sub-panel only. In SBU mode.
 
Well, now that the results are coming in, it’s obvious the kWh ranges should have been different.
We obviously needed a 25-50 kWh, 50-100 kWh, and a 100 kWh+ category.
EDIT: And now apparently a 200 kWh+ category. How big is thing going to get?

anyone have different thoughts?

IMG_7163.jpeg
 
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Only two [edit: three] boxes allowed to be checked in survey.

20kWh AGM, 70% usable, my main grid-backup system.
12kWh AGM, 3-phase testing/shop
24kWh AGM, "new" home grid-backup not integrated with PV yet.

9.8kW explody lithium LG RESU-10H powerwall for peak shaving

256kWh LiFePO4, as 4s 228Ah packs to be partitioned into several systems.
Maybe 96kW to replace 20kWh (since the demise of net metering),
24kWh x 2 for family and friends NEM 2.0 grid-backup
Maybe 96kWh HV for peak-shaving "PowerWall"
 
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I have 20kWh in operation and 15kWh of cells on the bench for the next battery assembly.

At 35kWh I'll be satisfied for a while because that's enough for me to check in the evening that we've got 20kWh in the bank and know for sure that we won't run out before 10am the next day even if the grid goes down right after I go to sleep.

So I could wake up in the morning, see the utility's outage notification SMS, and go start a generator in time.
 
74 kWh with 12kW solar, offgrid (nearest power pole is 3.5 miles away) on a a 40 acre national forest inholding. Currently just a camper there till the kids graduate and then we will build our small cottage, sell our house and live there full time.
share link to build/pix - this is the dream
 
Should be a 14kWh option - bet many rounding up to 15kWh; those 280Ah cells popular an cheaper than the 314 or similar sizes getting it over 15kWh. Up to you though. This isn't a scientific poll anyway.

update: Battery is 2.8kWh - but soon 15+kWh w/ 2 battery banks. Will grow to 30kWh, then keep going. Selling a vehicle to fund the addiction.
 
well, have a hybrid inverter (XW Pro) but now use it in off grid mode - grid breaker is off
do use grid to power 2 Chargeverters to charge battery after 3-5 days of low sun or snow and voltage dips to 40v

70 kwh of Tesla Model S batteries, on my way to 100kwh

been totally sun powered this year, since march 2024, longer than last year
 
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64 Kwh off grid - 4 Midnite Solar MNPowerflo16s

First post here, been lurking and learning for several months now.

Purchased a 40 acre off grid property in Western MT (3200 ft) this fall. Utility power is about 1.5 miles away and the cost to pull power up the forest service road was roughly estimated to be around $180k. Property is off power grid but I just had high speed fiber internet installed. It's perfect for me, I am a network security engineer and have worked from home for 8 years now. This is my dream property and I couldn't be more excited.

The solar system I'm currently working on putting in will have 64 Kwh of battery storage via 4 Midnite Solar MNPowerFlo16s (ordered) to start with. They will be fed by 48 400w bifacial Philadelphia Phenex panels mounted on 3 single pole 4x4 MTSolar mounts providing 19200 watts of PV (all also ordered). Might do another 4 of those panels on the new upgraded Ecoworthy tracking mount, just out of curiosity and as a little science experiment for myself. I understand tracking isn't worth it and more panels is the way to go, it's just an experiment for myself to play with.

Based on my slightly over estimated usage calculations, a decent sunny day in December might just come close to meeting my estimated 18Kwh of winter time daily use. In the summer I should also have plenty of power to run a minisplit or 2.

For the cloudy/stormy days, in addition to PV, for now a EG4 chargeverter and a 8000w (6500w constant) Predator generator (generator came with the property) will provide power/battery charging. By next summer a Hazt fixed magnet CAN bus controlled diesel generator will replace the Predator.

This initial install will have to be done to code as a requirement for the initial funding source (low interest loan from the State of MT DEQ). As such I'll be using 2 Victron Quattro 10ks and other UL listed Victron gear. Were it not for the loan, there are absolutely no permitting requirements where I am at. I am doing the install myself which is allowed so long as it passes inspection. Once I get some pretty block diagrams created I'll do a build/code question thread. Now that I have the orders placed I need to get my butt and truck back out to MT and pick up a flatbed trailer and a tractor so I can pick up all this gear, schlep it around the property, and dig the massive holes for the MTSolar mounts.

This is going to be sooooo much fun...
 
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