$300 DIY Grid Tie Solar Panel Setup Update
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2020
- It has been a year since I fist made a video on my grid tie DIY solar system that costs only $300. Since then, I've used the system and monitored the amount of energy it products. I am now upgrading it slightly by using the remaining capacity in the grid-tie inverter going from 200W to 400W of panels.
SunGoldPower Solar Panels: xtxamzn.to/3m6FfBU
Previous video here: • DIY $300 Grid Tie Sola...
Another video here: • My Grid Tie Batteryles...
Other products I used:
Grid Tie Inverter: amzn.to/41mDFAI
Short Pig tail connectors: amzn.to/2MP6DGd
Y connector: amzn.to/35mvDx5
Kill-a-watt energy measuring device: amzn.to/2F8RfA0
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I have pretty much the same setup and I added relays, a charge controller and battery. I have a 12 volt wallwart keeping the relay n/o terminals closed. If the power goes out the relays direct the current to the charge controller. This way if the power is out it automatically starts to charge a battery and disconnects the grid tie inverter. It adds a few bucks but allows you to use solar during grid down events. I enjoy your videos man.
Love your comprehensive analysis and clarity! Also, you're pretty good on camera ;)
I had no idea this was so easy to set up. I've been on the fence about putting in a solar system for ages. Think I will pull the trigger this year.
Well... a temporary system for testing only though. You'd have to mount it properly so the wind doesn't blow them away.
Very well spoken and I really enjoy how you broke it down for us viewers. I'm just a few months into my own journey with solar and learning quite a bit too that seems to mirror your own path. My fear currently is feeding back to the grid if I create more energy than I am using from the grid and back-feeding to the utility company. Just ordered an inexpensive grid-tie inverter with limiter during Cyber Monday to try and keep that from happening. It's a 1K watt system with sensors for $232 after tax and free shipping. Anyways thank you for the video!
I noticed when I started looking into solar panel technology I started to realize every watt of use matters! A 60 watt incandescent bulb would consume a high percentage of power (and generate heat that has to be dealt with). LED bulbs would allow me to use 4 to 6 LED bulbs throughout the house versus just 1 incandescent bulb, and the cost of LED bulbs has continued to drop to very reasonable levels. Then one starts to consider devices with inverter technology (air conditions, refrigerators) that avoid surges during startup and sip power instead of guzzle it. Cool stuff!
That's why I hear people say to go with energy efficient stuff first before you get into solar.
Yep! That makes sense. After all net gain (profit) is a result of what one gain vs what one spend. Reduce your spending and you're already on the right direction! :-)
This is really cool. Definitely appreciate the schematics layout
=D
Great setup win win situation no moving parts energy for free doesn't matter how small the setup it all adds up in the end.
Who else thinks that BTB's videos are so relaxing i have no idea why, I love watching his videos it feels like hes a longtime friend 😂
perhaps its because he has a relaxed mindset, and it spreads to his viewers :D
Because he doesn’t shout, or use crazy graphics or have lots of cuts. He also speaks sort of slowly. Think of guy Ross painting show. He has a simple background and wears simple dark or creme colored clothes
@@heinuchung8680 The ironic thing about Bob Ross, the uber-relaxed painter, was that he retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years of stressful service. It was during his time in the military that Bob got into painting to relieve stress.
@@cplcwgoh :
One of the best videos (if not the best video) on solar panels I have ever seen
Interesting Thank you for the video It gave me some food for thought.
=D
Thanks for the super interesting video!
Awesome!!! :D
Thank you very much for the update, smart brother ^_^
No problem 👍
Thanks for the presentation. I think your safety and health are more important however. Take care.
=D thanks!
Hey man, thx for the tutorial.
I am looking at a similar low cost entry into solar with maybe expanding down the track after gaining first hand knowledge, I think same as your outlook :)
I'm an expat over in Thailand so all the components are a bit cheaper and the hours of sunlight are quite a bit more..........but it's hot, so equipment fails quicker.......so I'm looking at maybe using only half or less of the available wattage plus maybe adding some (solar powered) cooling fans.
It's exciting to even think about doing it so will be even more so actually starting :)
I thank people like you for helping me get going :)
Can you talk more about what you've learned since the initial setup? For example, you added a safety mechanism between the inverter and the grid. Also, do you need to apply for a permit for this setup?
Im going to do this. But i didnt know you need a fuse breaker. Can you explain that more. And about the contracts
Thank you for making this video. I think your math is a little misleading though due to the smoke in the atmosphere right now. Once that gets cleared you should get much better output and ROI.
Not long ago the utilities put smart meters on all our homes. If you have a smart meter on your home and you backfeed the grid through the smart meter they will actually charge you for every Watt hour you put out onto the grid! This is why that same inverter company has come out with a gridtie inverter with limiter or GTIL. It has a sensor that allows it to only produce the amount that you are using in your own home and not backfeed that smart meter.
You can charge batteries with your setup. You can connect the positive and negative charge controller input wires in parallel between your panels and your grid-tie inverter.
THANKS
COOP
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Question: does the inverter produce heat when working? If so, I wonder if that may increase your AC load requirement and negate the small energy benefit of the system. Can the inverter be placed outdoors?
luv your brutal honesty ! one thing I would share with you is that your 400 watts of solar panels will generate closer to 50% of power so 200 watts so no where near the 500 watt "limit" of that little inverter, so you can safely add two more panels for a total of 600 watts, hewk you can double them to 800 watts and still be fine
With them roughly flat, I get about 62 watts from a 100 Watt panel on a sunny day. There’s also needing to size for corner cases as well as leaving some headroom to maximize reliability. The inverter is pretty cheap so I wouldn’t want to push them to 95% limit. Current I have 4 100W panels and I think that’s the most I’ll do.
@@BeatTheBush cool try using an Emporia smart plug in front of your Killawatt meter and you will get nice wifi software and a graph output over time of how much power they pull, I am doing just that
I am ready to live off the grid too 😀
I've been thinking about it but probably not a grid tie setup. The holdup for me on doing solar is being able to build batteries with as high or higher energy density as/than lithium. Lithium batteries are way too high for me to want to spend the money even in the case of a power outage , usually the outages here don't last long enough to make it worthwhile to do that.
i need to know if you have to turn off the main breaker from the main panel box before you connect from the solar ? Or do i just plug into the wall receptacle and only using the breaker that supplies current to that particular room?
Hello great 1-year old video. I'm building the same setup (for educational purposes only of course). A point I would like to make is that the size of the inverter is what limits the output watts not the number of panels. The number of panels can exceed the max rating of the inverter if you want to make sure the inverter is running at the max. Another example of what I am talking about is that you can connect a 12 volt 100 amp battery (1200 watts) to your 500 watt inverter and you will only get 500 watts out.
Interesting. I guess I would never buy more panels than the inverter since it'll be a bit of a waste. Also, I think it's best to leave lots of headroom for these cheap inverters.
@@BeatTheBush Hi, if you are not getting the wattage you were shooting for maybe because of the season, angle of the sun or some other reason it is acceptable to add panels to make up for inefficiency. I hope you have a great day. I am anxious to watch more of your videos.
That’s awesome thanks
I love this. Everything else I've seen is much more complicated. In my area, electricity is only 8 cents ($0.08) per KWh, so it just doesn't make any sense for me to do any kind of solar. Did the math on this, and it would be 12 year ROI minimum, which might be more than the life of the equipment. Maybe I can do it for wind instead. There's plenty of that here.
That's kinda my scenario as well but I already have panels so I still want to try this.
I just have 2 100 watt panels. I just wanna cover cell phones, wfh and tv watching./internet.
@@AskIveSolar :
When there is a power blackout, can you connect the tie inverter when the off-grid battery inverter is working?
@@ajarivas72 I don't quite understand.
But I know that these things don't serve power when it doesn't sense the grid.
i live in northern germany and electricity costs about $0.36 per kWh but since we have less powerful sun its still not really worth it 😄
If the grid tie inverter ever fails it is normally a relatively easy repair if you are familiar with soldering and a little troubleshooting
Do it only feed in to Plugs on that 1 Ring main or does it pass thru the fuse box to other ring mains...Interesting worried to try feeding in electric.
as he stated, as long as the utility co does not see your meter go backwards, your fine, but when they installed the new meters that dont need somone to read them, they spot your meter goes backward even if only for one pulse, they will call you or knock on your door, ive been installing sysytems for the last 6 years, great video though, i bought a kilowatt meter and am planning to do this
Great video.
Glad you enjoyed it
Am I better off running to my battery tied solar mppt controller then to the grid tie inverter or go straight to the cells and save a small panel and charger and just use my other 45 W panel to charge my 110AH of batteries I can get my boat batteries and triple my AH to the batteries.
What are the specs of the breaker? AC 10 amp ? I'm thinking Maybe lower than the line you put into on the building for '"test and learning" Also could put a dc breaker going in to the GT Inverter. What do you think?
I appreciate the great video
Thanks for watching!
HI, will you be able to explain more over the entry of the grid tie inverter, and the Circuit Breaker, im not sure if these are hand in hand .
I really thought u could feed in anywhere in your house /home, any plug socket?
Not following the Circuit Breaker.
Very interesting
Same here, why is this circuit breaker required?
done 10 /300w off grid 2/300w tie grid securely mounted safety wire attached both ends for high winds DIY no injuries
Can we get an update on this? :) How did it affect your actual bills in reality and are you closer to ROI considering the higher cost of electricity now and everything?
*Holy Optical Illusions Batman*
@1:55, if you look at the white diamonds on the pannels, those in your periphery will be black centered.
can do similar with monocrystaline 200wat - 12volt panels? can you please show schematics how to connect? thank you!
So if I wanted to "save" about 50 bucks a month with this method, could it be done with about 10 panels and about a 1500 watt inverter?
I am going to try this with 2x100watt panels and a grid tie inverter, maybe one like yours, or the micro inverter that hooks under a panel with 2 connectors. i am not going to notify the utility because i am going to run it on the circuit that my swamp cooler is on, so i will turn my swamp cooler on, then plug in this system to the same outlet, my swamp cooler pulls 220watts on low, so this should put out less than my swamp cooler and just help lower the usage with no back feeding at all. so the utility should see no reverse voltage or my meter go backwards
Mr Bush. If you enjoy solar power so much do you think you will make your own solar panel system on your new house
what is the ac breaker that you are using? I am concerned about the safety
So this is set up with combination of parallel and serial setup. What are the pro/cons?
I wonder what the pros/cons are of adding another inverter (2 pair) as apposed to one larger one? I'm thinking it would be cheaper to run 2, and also if one breaks it's only half the system down instead of having to replace one large one?
Is BTB using a charge controller?
This is what I plan to do, Paul. Also some inverters can be chained together.
cool video
Need help with the grid tie inverter. I bought a used 205-watt panel, which had two male ends I tried replacing . But with out real ever doing anything with wires before house fans or changing lights. Put ends on m4 cord to fit inverter being Challenging
I think some kind of battery charging system is necessary to balance the output. Even if it's something as simple as mega capacitor.
I can use it to charge Jackery portable battery, and later attach my portable rice cooker for dinner. Of course, charging laptop for late night computing is an option, too. In fact, 0.5 kwH average during the day should be enough for my daily consumption. Substitute cooler for fridge, and that's about it.
Boy would my 300W system love to have another 700W to go to my grid tie inverter. Just sucks I get only morning sun then in the depth of summer I have to.
hello , thanks for the video , I have a question please , about how we can get a zero injection with stop producing the energy when there is no consumption by the load in the house "the system that we have is " plug and play solar system with a micro inverter " and we cant do the Storage of the energy
These things are not that sophisticated to monitor energy use and dump excess energy. So you can’t do that.
If you did this with used panels you would have a faster roi. I have seen 260w refurbished panels for $100 on Offerup, and even if their output is only 200w (worst case) you are doing far better than with new 100w panels.
24 years full time offgrid and I can't even say how many offgrid and grid tie systems I have put together... No sponsors. No freebies. This guy gets free stuff to play with. Ha.
Do you have a youtube channel?
i am trying this to learn more about solar. I got 1000 watt 24Volt grid tie inverter. We have not worked to conserve power yet. i know we will burn all the power and not be sending any to the grid. Also know that at .06 per Kwhr it will never payback to call it an investment. About the same ost at abbout $300. I am just funding my solar education for later in life. I will be able to help my wife and i learn before we retire and move south where solar should be able to get a return.
What is going on at 7pm (air conditioning on as sun goes down)?
Would be interesting update on what you get in December skies versus August.
PS: $0.10 kWh (Energy, distribution, & transmission cost) in Oregon.
Electric stove/microwave/TV maybe
I didn't see a breaker connected to your inverter. Do you use one or just suggest it? The only breaker setup I've seen is where someone cut off the plug on the inverter and wired it through a breaker switch and then had a plug on the other side.
Pay back in the UK would be around 6 months here as our electric rates are expensive!
So you just plug in the inverter into the wall outlet? And you added a breaker for safety?
great video, any updates with the 4 panel system after a year?
Still works. Broken even already so it's making money from here on out.
Neat!
With a grid tie system didn’t you have to have the utility come out and check the wiring? After the inspection they give your the green light to proceed and a turn on date no?
I think this is under the radar. The smart way to do this (illegally?) would have been to get a larger residential panel and use a microinverter so it can't back-feed the grid. Far safer, more powerful, and more efficient...
Nice
=D
How did you tie this system into the house electrical system?
Can you do a review on Webull stock lending program ? We can lend stocks to short seller.
Less than 20W instantaneous power generated from 400W capacity panels? How much instantaneous power do you usually get on a clear day?
70% of capacity. It is an unusual smoke filled orange sky day.
beat the bush is it true that you are moving to austin texas? I heard through the grapevine I will not tell you who though. That you are planning to cash out
loved your presentation. Just a note, you buy and sell kWh.
Thanks for the info!
Nice video, do u need permission from electric company PG&E ( I also live in Bay area) for sourcing electricity back to the Grid, is that needed ?
please put a link to the previous video in your description.
ua-cam.com/video/UWIccIrZMWI/v-deo.html
Are you in the USA? What part of the country. How do you aim your panels?
Cool
=D
The panels are doing that black dot illusion, I cant look at them for 10 second lol
Did not notice until I read this. Ugh!
so when you showed the daily graph from the utility, the bar graph, was that with your original 2x 100 watt panels, or with the 4 panels, newer setup, i have watched quite a few of your vids, in your first one i thought you figured $6 a day savings, did you ever reach that or no, what has been your actual daily money saved with the 2x100 watt panels say for a good 6hrs of sun.
Oh no... $6/day? That's $180 a month. No way it can make that much electricity. It's around 150W for two panels. x6 hours means about 1kW/day or $0.25/day or $7.50/month. That's near the $6 figure I got before.
@@BeatTheBush it was your first video i watched and i know you mentioned $6 dollars, maybe it was a month, i am thinking about doing this but i cant go over my swamp cooler which runs at 400 watts or the utility co wil see my meter go backwards then ill get caught LOL
MPPT inverter.
After I watched your video, I set up my DIY 400W system near my patio. Question: Howcome people said to set up my Solar Panel System grid-tied and connected directly to my MPPT inverter is not recommended as this will not only harm my inverter by putting high loads of power directly into my inverter, but it also has a low-efficiency due to its conversion (DC - AC - DC). It will be better off to put a charge controller and a battery bank to help me in the long run by protecting my system.
However it will increase my initial cost, and more things need to replace in the future. I don't get it!! Are they trying to spend more than I need?
Disclaimer here that when you set up your own DIY system, you still have to follow code and you're doing it at your own risk. With that said, if you go from solar to inverter back to using electricity somewhere, you lose efficiency at about 20%+. It's more efficient to just produce DC and take the DC back out.
Crazy how much ash is falling on the solar panels! How much less power do these solar panels produce under these smokey conditions? I would imagine that even though desert places are sunny the dust levels may make solar panels less effective also.
I think it wasn't that much. After cleaning it jumped up maybe less than 10 watts. Sun light still gets through a lot.
so can I really just plug the grid tie inverter into a regular outlet in my house???? is that what I'm understanding?
You have to have the contacts in place with your utility to do so.
@@BeatTheBush yes, I know I have to contact them first, but the actual physical part, is it really just that easy?
Do you have the Grid-Tie inverter on 24/7 or do you turn it off at night and back on in the morning?
The grid tie inverter draws
I think the $ per watt is somewhat high for this system. You have to get cheap used panels or free panels. Solar system installation used to cost up to $4 per watt, Tesla solar’s dollar per watt right now is only $1.49 per watt! Btw thanks for your video it started my obsession to solar energy. Im in-the process of changing my pool pump which runs me $79 a month to run to a solar brushless motor setup.
What exactly is a Grid Tie system? How's it differ from other solar systems?
grid tie means no battery. feeds energy into the grid.
Why do you need the ac breaker before plugging into your house?
It is for breaking the circuit for anything plugged into the same circuit as the grid-tie. You need that there or else the solar will just keep power it during a short.
one doubt : why did you add those new panels in parallel to the converter and not all in series ?
He said his inverter was 24v id imagine he didn't want to blow it up
@@Laser2120 You have two in series to make 24V. If you put them all in series, it would be 48V. So that's why you have two sets of 24V in parallel.
I was both excited and skeptical of this series. Me being a "use the power" vs "store the power' kinda guy...this is perfect but Im concerned about interfacing with my power company.
I don't think u will have any interface with your power company as long as u not producing more power than u consume
@@netsai61 Yeah I only have 200 watts of solar aka 140 or so.
But in a new video he said you need a breaker. I'm just trying to learn.
You don't necessarily need a breaker for a small system like yours or his but adding one is just an added safety
@@netsai61 is it important what kind of inverter i use...im looking to buy to try it myself
@@ddaky8 grid tie inverter is what u need to do what he did in the video . I bought mine on Amazon 2 years ago when they were cheaper
What power meter type do you have? A regular digital meter doesn’t know which way power flows so you get charged for sending power back to the grid. So if you’re using less power at any point in time than you generate you’ll have that condition.
I have a smart meter.
I have a similar DIY. I have a smart meter. I have 6 -240 watt panels with a microinverter at each panel. The electricians wired the solar through it's own breaker and into my home's breaker box. I'm not charged for the extra electricity but I can't get a credit either, not net-metered.
did you have to contact the electric company and change your meter.
Yes, you may have to sign up for net metering from your utility.
Could a system like this be used to just charge an EV car instead of going to grid. Would that make the car energy free?
Yep, with 400W (peak) it would take a looong time to charge it though (you wont get many miles/day).
Might be about right size for a solar charged electric bicycle though.
I thought about doing just this last night (although possibly 2 x 400w panels with microinverters) and feed into a 240v outlet. The goal would be to assist powering our 12,000 btu mini split, fridge, TV, etc. Seems like possibly the best bang for the buck/effort and it would be a real residential system (last 25+ years, more powerful, more efficient, and far safer. I actually found this video seeing if this might work, seems like it should.
The biggest problem I see now is where to get the panels as shipping is costly. I checked CL and ebay, nothing decent nearby and I only see full system "installers" in my state... I doubt they will be willing to sell me panels at a fair price, lol!
One word of caution to those looking to do one of these (experimental/under the radar) systems, if you have a digital meter on house, you will get charged for power you're using AND MAKING if you don't have a way of blocking the generated power from the meter!
If I ever get a sprinter van I'm going to throw solar on the top and spend 6 months in it! Got a lot of work to do first though ha...
=D Live in a van eh? I imagine I might just get by with small amount of electricity. Probably the fridge sucks up the most power to keep things cool.
Maybe someone can help me understand the issue of panel output voltage and inverter stated input range. For example in this eco-worthy kit there are 20 panels Vop 18V each, I believe meant to be wired in series. Wouldn't that combine to a 360V output? The inverter used is rated at 45V-90V DC input. If the panels are in parallel the input voltage would be lower than the inverter minimum and in series would be way higher than the maximum. So, what am I not seeing properly? @t
4 in series and put 5 of these in parallel.
How is the inverter holding up?
Still going.
You can still be an engineer ;-)
I know you only have 100 watt panels, but it might be worth a check to see what your voltage drop is between the panel and the house. IOW, heavier wire might give you a boost because that end is DC.
I remember doing this check. I spec'ed out the gauge of the wire for the maximum current it will pass.
@@BeatTheBush ... there's a hole in your figuring. After 10 - 20 feet you can get quite a voltage drop, especially with #18 wire (speaker wire?) at LOW voltage. Just a few volts can be a 25% loss!
waiting for the another update
1000th like here :)
Most utilities now the smart meters will alert the utility that you are using a grid tie inverter they will send you a letter telling you to remove it. Monopolies don't like competition. I wonder if that has happened to you since this video is 2 years old maybe since you're not making much they won't notice. I think there are inverters that have a way to shut off the back feeding they use current clamp goes around each wire feeding from the meter to your panel each 120V leg and it only turns on the inverter when it detects power flowing in from the grid when you turn something on.
Hope the speaker wires hold up.
If not, I will replace them with the same wires. I have a huge spool of it.
with 400 watts of panel, you should generate at least 250 watts. I live in the bay area as well. retired chinese engineer.
i like to email u and share some ideas of solar and option trading. with option trading, i generate an extra pay check each month.
Boa noite.. Como faço pra compra u m equipamento completo solar de 800kwh/ mes
Where did you come up with the 0.8kW number in your ROI calculation? That should really be 300 W.
Did you mean 0.8 kW-hr/day?
Yes, roughly 800Wh/day due to building shade.
What about the floods what you do then
Stand on the panels and surf! Make sure your buy property with high enough elevation?
Did you have to tell your power company before I stall a grid tie system? Did they make you change rate plans?
If you don’t then your billed usage stays at 0 when the solar panels are producing more power than you’re consuming.
Mark M its not that simple it depends on the meter. Some places the meter actually keeps spinning if you export power. Among a bunch of other safety issues,, this set up is totally illegal and requires an interconnection agreement with the utility.
Thanks for the video. Without meaning any rudeness, please consider this feedback: if you don't have batteries to store the electricity generated by the solar panels, you will obviously be in the dark if the grid goes down. From what I have been reading lately, there is at least a fair chance of that happening. As for your 500 watt inverter, that isn't much.
I just got a Ecoflow Delta portable power station. It is basically a 1100 watt-hour lithium battery, plus a 1700 watt inverter, and the protection circuitry, in one box. I have four solar panels to charge it up if the grid is down. I can power the refrigertaor and a chest freezer (and maybe a few more things), and charge it through solar panels while the inverter is running appliances, Again, no offense, just some honest feedback.
Of course one can install batteries, and while you're at it, might as well fill the whole roof with solar panels. the whole point is to do it as cost effective as possible with fast ROI. having batteries would defeat the whole purpose of what he's trying to achieve. I'm sure he doesn't mind being in the dark for a short time vs having to pay all that equipment off in 20 years.
You need a charge controller if you want to add a battery backup
Why do all these guys record their videos on cloudy (or in this case, smoky) days?