What's the best solar-related item you bought in 2023?

[Onehand]

I bought me a frigerator.

Check out the current sippage.

SunStar Solar Refrigerator 16Cubic ST-16RF AC/DC (Stainless Steel) | Sunstar

Designed specifically for off-grid use, the SunStar 16CU Solar/DC refrigerator is an industry leader in this model category, the largest of its kind, and 100% Made in the USA. Featuring a dual independent compressor + dual thermostat cooling system (one for the freezer, one for the refrigerator...

www.sunstarappliance.com

 

[SeaGal]

I bought me a frigerator.

Check out the current sippage.

SunStar Solar Refrigerator 16Cubic ST-16RF AC/DC (Stainless Steel) | Sunstar

Designed specifically for off-grid use, the SunStar 16CU Solar/DC refrigerator is an industry leader in this model category, the largest of its kind, and 100% Made in the USA. Featuring a dual independent compressor + dual thermostat cooling system (one for the freezer, one for the refrigerator...

www.sunstarappliance.com

Looks great, and not Made in China

 

[Madcodger]

Best solar gadget I bought in 2023: Victron SmartShunt. Super accurate, and dramatically better than the "guesstimate at best" the inverter-charger was attempting before that. Well worth the money.

 

[CaliSunHarvester]

I did several upgrades this year but I think my favorite thing was a stack of pressure treated 2x4s. I used those to build new panel racks so I could relocate them from the front of the cabin to the roof of a nearby shed. That cleaned up the look of the property by a lot and the panels perform well in their new spot.

I read somewhere (here??) that the chemical in PT lumber damages aluminum frames (of solar panels). Not true?

I use untreated wood and coat it with oil based paint.

 

[Kenny_]

I read somewhere (here??) that the chemical in PT lumber damages aluminum frames (of solar panels). Not true?

I use untreated wood and coat it with oil based paint.

Would definitely be interested in know if this is true or not as I may be going the 'wood' direction for my ground mount...

 

[Zwy]

Would definitely be interested in know if this is true or not as I may be going the 'wood' direction for my ground mount...

When the switch started, I was informed to move to stainless fasteners. CCA might not be as bad but ACQ and CA are definitely troublesome.

You can install plastic or rubber insulating material at points of contact.

 

[rhino]

Sinclair mount.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

I read somewhere (here??) that the chemical in PT lumber damages aluminum frames (of solar panels). Not true?

It does damage the aluminium frame. One of the components of the pressure treatment is copper. Copper and aluminium together cause galvanic corrosion when electrically in contact and in the presence of an electrolyte (moisture). It's in principle the same issue as using copper bus bars on aluminium battery cell terminals.

 

[Brett V]

I have a collection of Fluke meters, been using them for years and just take for granted they'll alway work.
Probably the best thing I added this year is Solar Assistant. That and another 32 EVE 230ah cells ?

 

[chilly2]

When you get 20kWh, you'll want 40kWh, and then...

I started with 10, now I have 30. But I want 60. After that I'll have to move the cars out of the garage and fill it up with all batteries.

I have a 42U server rack cabinet from an old job sat right next to the solar equipment. It's filled with 20 years worth of old computer hardware (never know when you'll need that IDE cable! ) but it would look great filled to the top with batteries.

 

[chilly2]

Yup started with 5kWh server rack, then two.
expanded loads and PV,
10kWh went to 25kWh..then 40, now 68...and cells for 31kWh more coming...expanded the space in the ESS to go to 114kWh...gotta dream...and save nickels. (no pennies in Canada now).

That sounds great! Biggest problem I have is that my property is badly shaded by a neighbor's 100ft high tree, making it really hard to fully charge even the 5kWh battery at this time of year. Currently getting about 4kWh total for a day. I guess an AC charger would be good with lots of batteries for those outages.

Maybe Santa will bring an EG4 Chargeverter.

 

[ricardocello]

I have a 42U server rack cabinet from an old job sat right next to the solar equipment. It's filled with 20 years worth of old computer hardware (never know when you'll need that IDE cable! ) but it would look great filled to the top with batteries.

what ever you do, put wheel casters on FIRST!

 

[CaliSunHarvester]

what ever you do, put wheel casters on FIRST!

Don't forget to check the casters' weight rating.
I had to put 6 wheels under mine. 90 lbs each.

 

[Brett V]

Biggest problem I have is that my property is badly shaded by a neighbor's 100ft high tree,

Unfortunate chainsaw accidents happen every day.

 

[Danke]

Unfortunate chainsaw accidents happen every day.

I think someone mentioned once that salt is a good fertilizer for neighbors’ trees.

 

[chilly2]

Unfortunate chainsaw accidents happen every day.

Heh, yeah. I'm conflicted. It's a fantastic tree. It's just in the wrong place!

The thing half overhangs my house, and the way the wind blows I generally get all the leaves also! Knowing my luck it'd fall my way too.

 

[Danke]

Sinclair mount.

I may buy some of those in the spring. But dang, it’ll be more expensive than the panels I put on them…

 

[Zwy]

I think someone mentioned once that salt is a good fertilizer for neighbors’ trees.

Copper spike works better. Copper roofing nails with the head cut off so no one notices.

Or so I heard.

Copper sulfate sprinkled around the base might work too, but takes too long.

 

[Rednecktek]

I actually scored a pair of those 280Ah 8s pack from BatteryHookup in the 6 minutes they were available. That's going to triple the battery capacity of my camp for about half the price of the bare cells in my other battery.

 

[Crowz]

I just did a screen shot of another post and realized the picture includes a few toys from this year that I like

The red display is for controller that runs the heating pads keeping my water pipes above freezing.

The green display in the renogy display for its shunt that measures the power in my 12v bank that runs all of my cameras and the battery heaters and the water pipe heaters.

The white box with the blue display is for the wifi thermometer that monitors the workshops temps and emails me if it gets to cold or hot in there.

The black button at the top is for the gowise 1000watt pure sine wave inverter that runs the charger for an old cellphone and charges all the batteries for my power tools. It also powers the ac in the summer and the heater in the winter for the workshop.

 

[ezwryder]

I read somewhere (here??) that the chemical in PT lumber damages aluminum frames (of solar panels). Not true?

I use untreated wood and coat it with oil based paint.

I used rubber pads between the mount brackets and stainless steel screws.

 

[Kiwi2000]

I upgraded all my Epever solar charge controllers to Victron SCCs.

Was well worth it.

 

[disruptit]

My System is pretty Ghetto. I added 8 x DJLBERMPW 12V 100 AH LifePo4 batteries for 1,444.78 after taxes off amazon, which is equivalent to 2 51.2 v 100 amp batteries. I know they are cheap, but they're working fine so far, and staying top balanced to each other. I did initially order two of the AOLithium 51.2 Volt Server rack batteries but they cancelled my order as they oversold their stock. Anyway, I doubled my battery capacity with those, so have 20Kwh's now, which means my array is puny in comparison, I have 1200 more watts of solar panels, that aren't installed yet, which will bring me to 3.6Kwh's of panels, which is still small for 20Kwh of batteries. I plan on getting that system up to probably 5Kwhish of solar panels, So, a max of .25C charging at optimal conditions. So, still pretty gentle on the batteries, as 90%+ of the time it'll be less than .2c rate, and really less than that as I use some of the power as generated as run some loads off it 24x7.

I also upgraded my BMS on my other 10Kwh of batteries to an OverKill solar BMS, which is better than antbms I had before.

I also stopped being completely psycho with my setup and added some more breakers and fuses this year. Flirting with disaster to long. lol.

Next year best thing will likely be cutting down a tree, that is stealing my solar power for a couple hours in the morning!! I'll likely get a couple more Kwh's per day doing that.

 

[EnderWiggin]

OP: Amazing idea for a topic, super kudos on the idea! Ask this again in a year, I’m in the process of planning for a three phase 208/120Y install in the Caribbean with 13kW of panels and over 50kW of battery that got delayed a year due to supply chain. Wife is likely to kill me over it but solar in the Caribbean makes sooooo much sense.

Sorry that I don’t have my own purchase or good story to post (yet), though I guess you could say my investment in three Emporia Vue 2 to monitor usage (in prep for the build, currently monitoring the condo we have on the same island) are my invaluable assets, seeing a tankless water heater hit 8600W on fire up was an eye opener along with tracking how a dishwasher uses power.

Aside from that, and at the risk of sounding far too sappy as I fly home for Christmas, I wanted to say that I’m thankful for this forum. Even when there’s arguments, it’s usually over being as clear and specific as possible, which really just improves us all. I mean come on there were about a dozen posts about how the 18kpv should have been named differently (which I agree, it should have been named the 12k or something, but given that even Victron, one of the most honest and open about their capabilities insists on a 4kW constant load inverter as being a “5000”… meh… ). The members and contributors to this site have been amazingly inspiring.

Thank you all, and Merry Christmas!

 

[mactech]

Victron smart shunt and more batteries and panels.