how long would an 5000 btu house air conditioner run? or maybe a 12v? ima truck driver my truck has a 12v system for ac but 4 batteries is not enough for the heat. thanks if you can help me.
5000btu uses about 500W full on, meaning if it runs at maximum like when it is very hot outside. Then a 2500Wh battery when fully charged will run it for 5 hours. If it's more mild, you might only use half the energy and it will last 10 hours.
@@BeatTheBush thank you 10hrs is actually the desired time. since we have to stop 10hrs to rest before we can drive again. thanks for the info. will tell my boss about this batteries.
Preach it brother, get down with the lifepo4 sickness!! DIY is the route to go because nothing is better than knowing precisely how everything works before you jump in the bandwagon. I have been my own DAILY power man for at least ten years, my work is more reliable than our power grid. My lights are still ON when the power man, PG&E cometh to investigate. My battery bank always blows their mind. I can go for an entire week in crappy weather without firing up a generator.
On August 2, 2024, SF East Bay, I had a very lightly loaded name brand Lifep04 battery catch fire and set the whole battery rack on fire. 8 of 12 of the 300AH batteries burned. The Fire Investigators think that a BMS shorted on a battery on the bottom shelf and failed to protect itself. I had water on it 70 seconds after hearing the pop. We have extensive smoke damage and some water damage. After building my own battery/inverter/solar units since 2017, this is the first one that failed. It was build #12 of the 14 units I built including units for motorhomes and vans belonging to friends of mine....all for free. They buy most of the parts, I build it. That unit ran reliably 24/7 for 16 months, lightly loaded running 2 fridges and 5 chest freezers, undersized solar input, too. PG&E removed my meter for a week. The power console burned up the sub panel behind and not connected to the unit. I am bewildered. I trusted in name brand lifep04 batteries. A Powerhorse 7500 inverter generator ran for a week straight until they capped wires and put my meter back in. Sucks smelling exhaust at 3AM when the breeze changes. The gen set was 35 feet away.
@@kimmer6 Damn Man, That sucks !!! Sounds like a freak accident... I've been thinking of building a batt-serv in a cement wallboard "mini-bunker"to isolate modules, and with a stove pipe venting to the outside. I've done a lot of arc welding and those batts contain a enormous amount of energy. For You, and I, and everyone reading this, do you think that kind of system would've contained and vented your fire-storm ? ...again, heartbreaking to hear, hope your back on your game !
You’re seriously one of the most useful UA-cam channels I’ve ever subscribed too. I’ve followed you since I graduated high school in 2016. Thanks for all the information and entertainment!
I also Opted for 2 CHINS 280AH Batteries ran in Series for 24 Volt Systems for a Total of 8 and 8 Renogy 200AH AGM Batteries in 24 Volt Packs to Buss Bars to Power 4 Separate 3,000 Watt Inverters = WIN / WIN
I ordered the same ones a few weeks back, but they also had $100 off the set and a slightly cheaper. Also you can find 4PCS 3.2V 310AH LiFePO4 Cells @ $460 (~11.5/wh @ 3,968wh). So barely looking, you can find DIY LiFePO4 solutions for as low as 11¢ per watt, which is crazy. Commercial solutions are at least 3x that (and that's reasonable).
As someone that has built a DIY to power most of my home office, I absolutely appreciate the level of the detail you get into that other videos don't. The bonus is that I even picked up two bits of new/good information. I LOVE the voltage chart at the 6:00 minute mark. Very good visual. Also, I hadn't thought about getting an inverter that can use both AC and DC and having it switch over to the grid if the batteries fall to a certain %. Very, very nice work coming from a fellow solar content creator! :)
@@maddhatter3564 It's because solar is not good. You are lacking something and it is energy security. Which is why you are constantly trying to learn more tricks to squeeze out more power from something not capable of delivering.
@@maddhatter3564 Okie Dokie Solar Wacko whatever you say. You will never convince me this trash tech is worth anything. You people spend more money in batteries and gear then you will EVER save.
This is the most explanatory solar/battery introductory video i’ve seen so far, regarding having all the necessary information to understand how the system is working, important info about usage of the system, and best practices. Things like the lifepo4 charge-curve are important to know when monitoring a system by reading voltages manually during charging and use to better know the true state of charge, and the characteristics of the battery under load. This is a good resource. Great video.
1 Gets right to the point 2 Spoke quickly like a newscaster. Otherwise, I swipe to the next video 3 this took a lot of preparation to put this together 4 it was nice he used inches for my sorry butt that hasn't learned the metric system that everyone knows but me 5 several charts that his explanation were easy to follow 6 I own a company that does remodeling carpentry, electrical, plumbing every day, and I never realized how involved the new batteries are vs the old school marine batteries that we have used till now. Thank you brother just a great job
Breaking down even the terminal post size was pretty impressive. Most people just want to impress you lots of numbers they don’t understand but this was well thought out.
Very articulate and he does go into detail more than any of the other UA-camrs on solar I’ve built systems and this guy knows what he’s talking about and he actually describes the smaller details that you need to know I really like this guy
This is a very good video. You have explained a lot things other similar videos do not. I went the solar station route because I do not understand electricity enough to be comfortable with it on my own. I bought 2 pecron stations each for $855 a piece total of $1710. That gives me 2 2000watt inverters and 2 1980 lifepo4 battery's for 3960 total battery storage. I want to build a system like yours as well because I just got to. Thank you for your explanation of best practices on charging and discharging these battery's because most YT channels make it like just charge to 100% and discharge to zero which never seemed wise to me. Everything in the video was educational well done!
exactly, 100% charge and 100% discharge can be done but it hurts even lithium batteries. As does fast charge/fast sischarge. Which is what EV owners soon learn
First time watcher, I’m half way thru but it’s great to meet a fellow EE’er. It’s funny, we all talk alike. When you get to Ph.d. EE, the lingo changes but we still talk very much alike 😅. Great video, cheers!
I am building this exact unit for my ADU, however, I am going with a PowMr 3000w 24v for warranty reasons. For the last year, the ADU has been averaging about 2.8kw per day. I should be able to offset a large amount of grid energy with this setup. Thank you for taking the time to produce this content, very informative.
Beware of the PowMr as requires a minimum 120V PV operation for MPPT. Meaning you'll need at least around 7 panels in series depending on the panel you use. If you have that many, no problem.
Build an off grid system myself with 5kwh of storage. We are a lower energy user but looking at 3.4 year pay back plus it will run in the event of grid failure. So far going great really pleased.
@@BeatTheBush I sourced and installed. 6 jinko tiger neo panels at 435w each. Mpp solar invertor and renogy batteries.. panels have sinced dropped in price....
Excellent guide from zero knowledge to actual installation. Simple, slow but not too slow, detailed and sufficiently thorough without going into too much detail that would make it tiresome or cause attention to falter.
Ive been offgrid since 2012 but still watch these to pick up a point or 2 that i may have missed. from my experience this is one of the most accurate and easy to understand videos . And he avoids the high buck "cool" gadgets that dont do anything for performance.
Even more reason to keep up to date@@maddhatter3564 as it's by no means a mature technology in any aspect of it and replacing expensive infrastructure components is just around the corner. Once off grid one needs to keep a watchful eye on latest developments.
I'm currently testing a fossibot F2400, which was £749 for 2kw in the UK. So it's about the same price as the DIY system for slightly less capacity, but far less trouble.
I'm in the research process to do this, very helpful. I just converted my 24 ft motor home to 200 amp Renogy lithium Iron phosphate, Renogy dc to dc with solar input. 100 amp solar on the roof.
are you sure its 100 amp? perhaps 100 watt? 100 amps of solar would be huge even at 24vdc (thats 3000 watts for a 24vdc system, 1500 watts for a 12vdc system.)
Awesome … as an engineer myself, this is discussed at a simple enough level I can completely understand. And maybe even attempt to keep the fridge and freezers running after a hurricane
Ok my unsolicited opinion the quality of the video production was above par as was the scripting, editing and videography. The content in clarity, explanation and continuity (no pun intended) was very well thought out and offered. I just can not come to the place where I need to do this because I use on average 600 KwH of electricity a month here in Thailand. My electric bills are consistently 60 dollars US. So 10 months for 1 battery makes for a difficult decision but these videos make for an interesting case. I have an unfair advantage over most as I was an electrician for the railroad and understand the wiring,, termination and cabling more than most folks would..... Thanks for the vids and this one earned a sub.
20kWh a day... not unreasonable but your rates are so low, it only makes sense to do this for energy independence in case the power goes out. As a hobby, I watch the solar come in daily and it's my kind of fun!
I know a man that when he built his house he had one breaker for each outlet, he had like 3 or 4 panels, he said it saved money on electricity, curious if you were talking about anything like that
Good video! But have you looked into server rack batteries? They go around $1.3k for 5kWh at 48V which is more common for powerful inverters, 48V requires smaller gauge cables and server rack case and format allows for easier stacking of multiple batteries
@@matthewqtran1318 google EG4 server rack batteries, it’s one of the good ones. There is also great DIY channel for solar/battery systems with install details, disassembly and other important tests - “Will Prowse”, hope that helps!
This is the best video I have seen on how to set up a smaller solar/inverter/battery system. You explained everything very well and built a nice, practical system that just about anyone could build. Great job!
I built my system to just protect the small Freezer & large refrigerator , patio fish pond & lighting using 5ea 100 watt panels ,3ea 200 amp battery. plus loads of hook up. P.S. my panels track the sum.very efferent & not a lot of money , jots of time, the learning curve.
Ecoflow pro x2 (7200 wh) on Amazon is down to $3300, or $0.46/wh....which is pretty tempting. Still trying to understand the cost of integrating it with my house panel. If I need to hire an electrician to set up a new panel that's going to blow the costs up
I was subscribed to your channel very early on when you started, but UA-cam banned my account and lost all my subscriptions, now that I found you I remember you used to make very useful videos such as this one, I'm glad I found you again and subscribed.
One thing to note, most imverter or UPS systems conceal the technical data as to what features and capabilities they have. Marketing has a way of eliminating the need to use your brain and obtaining a system you can build yourself. They always use proprietary connections and electronics to prevent you from using competing products to justify charging you more money. Load balancing, zero switching time, voltage leveling (continuous inversion) high current transfer switching, current and voltage monitoring, temperature charge monitoring and calculated runtime are some features they are capable of having. You can even gave fancy systems which omit the transfer switch entirely by providing a supply conversion capable of supplying the entire output current needed for the inverter ratings. These systems are typically more lossy than using a transfer relay but are desireable for electronics. Most people are lazy and ignorant and more than willing to pay for it.
@beatthebush 9:10 when batteries are connected in series the amps remains constant, you should NOT exceed the max battery discharge amperage. In this case you should only pull a max of 120amps and not 240. Watt hours has been used misleadingly here 9:10
So glad this video appeared on my feed! I've built the my own using the kepworth 200ah x2 and watching your video it looks like I've done a good job as myself I've got no experience previously. It's been running 10 months Running 80% of my house daily Just got to purchase bigger Solar panels, and the extra information on the battery charging was most helpful as I charge at 20a which now i know it the correct amount But I always fully charge the batteries in General they use 30% daily then fully charge to 100% Now I'm going to change it
If you want to get extra life out of them and you only use 30% and not mind having less reserve capacity, charge to only 80%. The top 20% and lower 20% degrades the battery most.
Some more points. I solder, not crimp connectors. Solar panels are cheaper than batteries, so aim half your panels somewhat toward sunup, and the rest somewhat toward sundown. This reduces total intake, but extends the duration of your charge and takes discharge time off your batteries. Some people use flooded lead acid batteries. Their electrolyte can be diluted for smoother service and much longer life. Never wire batteries in parallel. They fight. More batteries can be used with separate chargers running into separate loads. Don't submit your entire house to AC. Use low voltage LED lighting and appliances and even cut out the AC inverter when possible. Schedule your high energy loads for morning and day.
NO! You do not solder these connections that will increase your resistance significantly introducing lead silver mix versus copper times how many ever ends of the cables no! Plus if they ever get hot, they will de- solder themselves !!! Just look at the Victron literature, and you’ll know you made a mistake
on the 2 gauge, crimping is better than solder. Now you could solder the outside to seal it. But the crimp makes it fuse into one piece. It's a weird physics and electric thing. Cut one open and see.
Terrible idea! Soldering will increase internal resistance between the connections. The recommended approach is crimping especially when dealing with large amps. crimping works by exerting the connections into maximum surface contact and act as a single piece of conductor. This allows electrons to flow freely and better.
Two 200 A-hr batteries are just $1046 today. 4000 full cycles at 5.12 kWh/cycle. So, 5.1 c/kWh. But an upfront cost so ~7 c/kWh over the 10 yr life. Cost-effective to avoid paying 5p-9p peak rates (33 c/kWh Summer, 15 c Winter) by charging the batteries off-peak (14 c & 11 c, resp.). I can charge even cheaper via solar panels, which serve double-duty for carport cover.
WOW people really don't understand "Radom Acts of Kindness or intentional Acts of Kindness" they actually benefit the giver more than the receiver‼️☯️☯️. I love this guy because he "Gets It's" ‼️✌🏼🤟🏼🖖🏼my friend😉👌🏽💕
We bought it in 2015 and due to the FIT (feed in tariff) in Japan where the power company pays at a higher rate for the power we do not use but sell back to them so the payback was 7 years for a 5.1kw solar system. I think the prices of panels has actually gone down since then but the per KWH (kolowatt-hour) the power company pays for those starting now is much lower. But that deal only lasts for 10 years and then amount they pay drops down to just 21.6% of what it was after that so getting a back-up battery system to save the extra killowatts for you our use at night etc. makes sense.
excellent video. I want to put a 3000kw system on my house with about 5kw of battery to run my kitchen. I need to figure out how to peel the wires off my main breaker panel and put them into a dedicated subpanel.
DIY Solar ☀️is exciting and the components are getting better while prices keep coming down. I recently built my first 3000 watt system with a 5.12kWh ⚡️battery and solar panels for less than $3000! You are so right in saying people need to start learning new skills to leverage their knowledge into ways to save more money 💵. Our goal now is to take our entire farm off the grid completely! Lots more to learn, but we’ll get there!
My state screwed us serfs over. They were giving away 200 foot fire watch towers free, just pick up. But only to other government agencies. They would be perfect for a combination water tower, windmill, solar panel rack, TV Radio HAM radio antennas, wifi AP, weather monitor, and intrusion observation point. and of course a zip line play area 🤕
@@robertsmith2956 offer a local agency you trust the members of to use your land for little to no charge as long as you have access to the tower as well. You'd probably have to work with an attorney for liability/'limited use' clauses, as well as right-of-way access to the tower on your property, but it might be worth it!
Would it be better to buy 8 separate batteries and connect them in a series? I would assume the life would be longer. Or worse case, 1 battery goes bad, you can replace that one instead of 1 of those full 4 cell series packs. Please let me know your thoughts.
I think you mean buying individual cells. Yes, this is possible but you will have to assemble it with other parts such as the case, bms, wiring, and possibly a cooling solution.
Excellent video. The 200ah batteries are a good choice for more than a one battery installation, but if you need it, 2x100ah or 4x100ah batteries allow a higher discharge rate with their 2 or 4 BMSs. Looking at the company's pricing, they may even be a bit cheaper.
I would really like to see a discussion of Lithium batteries and the factors that contribute to spontaneous combustion. I have seen multiple videos of EVs that go up in flame on their own, just one reason I would never put one in my garage. I am therefore reticent to take Lithium backup into my very residence. I have never had a problem with lead acid however, so I will probably put up with the reduced power storage & maintenance issues when I make the move to some power backup.
excellent work, brother! I too have recently been introducing myself to DIY solar. I want to spend as little as possible to power the essentials of this home (2 refers, and 1 WFH desk office) in case of grid failure. Thank you for your skills at explaining the details to us rookies out here. Greg (garden grove, CA)
amp draw doesn't double in series, voltage does. but for a self contained battery, that isn't a bad price at all. It would be nice if it had a connector port so you could monitor the cells inside.
You do a great job explaining all you need, I did the same thing for my office and was continually buying, this piece then that piece off of Amazon until I got everything I needed, I wish I came across your video first.
Whaoo! What a scoop, plugging 2 batteries together, connecting them to your system with stuff you bought that can be made out of squashed copper tubing with a hole drilled into it... Anyhow thank you for your efforts, good luck with your set up.
I think this is cool, and DIY is the only way to make it make sense for many of us. For instance, electric is like $0.10 per kWh here - so to get a 5-year breakeven you'd need the solar to be $1 or less per Watt. Installers want $3 or more - that will never breakeven for me. Pro-install solar just isn't an option, but DIY comes out as a decent investment at year 5+ and batteries instead of a generator definitely makes sense too.
I don’t have solar and am not getting it but would like a battery backup for winter time when power goes off to run my furnace a couple lights and my router, freezer and fridge for 24 hours. Would I be able to do something like this and use commercial power to charge my system?
My system is still 24 vdc lead acid with 300AH useable capacity. (220AH per string). thank you for pointing out that lithium isn't prefect and too deep of discharge will damage battery. I've had discussions with many who believe they can fast charge and fully discharge Lithium without any affect on the battery (especially true from the EV proponents when i point out the battery specs are misleading). I've been off-grid for 10 years and just replaced my batteries for the first time last year. I'm hoping lithium will be more affordable come next replacement time. TY for your vid.
@@michaelb3917 currently 1300 watts on main bank. and a couple of free standing 100 watt 12 volt subsystems.oh and 3 50 watt battery maintainers for stored vehicles.
Great video. Excellent explanation, and description of everything involved. I also like your strategy of using the system in a modular sense which is something I never considered. Leave the grid power for the large appliances and use the solar for specific lower loads. Brilliant!
Dipende con inverter ibrido a48volt tipo easun 6.2kw con 400euro is good for house e puoi lasciare la rete per caricare dall inverter quando non c'è sole
I have a very similar system. It feeds my bedroom off grid. Its great because even if the power goes out i can still function in my beadroom. I have 1.2kw solar and 3.5kw inverter. Also running 24v. I don't know if it actually saves me much power, but its nice to not worry about any power outages. Yes the cost of all the breakers and wires add up. I mounted mine on a board on the wall the same way. Its right near the breaker box. I disconnected the wire from the braker running to my room and connected it to this system instead. That way i didn't need to run extension chords, just use existing outlets.
1.2kW solar, you like are making around 5kWh/day. If you use all of that and the battery never tops out, at $0.33/kWh, that's $1.65/day so from that you can check your break even point.
Nice description. I have six of these in a series/parallel configuration with 1200 watts of solar. I kept buying batteries when on sale but didn't have a maximum output or capacity in mind. So with six of these, I now possess 15000 WH of power. It may be overkill but PGE here in California has been pretty unreliable at times.
Overkill... never, I say add six more if you can house and charge them. I have 21kw hours right now, and did not consider how I am going to charge the batteries within one day. So now that is my focus, do not want to mount panels on the roof though, so I am searching for cost effective ways to mounts 30 panels.
can I leave a setup like this plugged in to AC outlet all the time? is there overcharge protection? I'm not planning on using any Solar PV panels. I just want a back up system for my home server.
Man U went into so much detail thank u definitely going be check other videos as most they want whole home that’s my goal even those batteries 600 piece better long run thx again
Seems to me that a server rack battery like an EG4, 1200.00 paired with EG4 All-in-one Solar System: 3000W Inverter, 749. simple more compact and a better way to go.
I think I would like to start out with a backup power system that I can run during peak hours when power is expensive and recharge when it's cheap. Then add on to it until I have an off grid solar system.
Remember charge and discharge has inefficiencies. You loose about 30% going in then out. So the difference has to be more than that to make financial sense.
Gold. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and also shining light on the truth of needing to become an expert on any diy venture. The end result will almost always wind up saving you money. Very smart, thank you.
Excellent! Subscribed and keep up the good work. I wish more people would look at these systems vs Li-ion battery walls that can be far more hazardous and far more expensive. These batteries will last longer also with more usage and cycles.
If you later spend to increase the # of solar panels, and batteries, are you eventually going to instal a 6-10 circuit transfer switch like a Reliance Switch that can switch from 15, 20, and 30 Amp. That Reliance 10 circuit switch comes with the 10 circuit transfer switch, 30 amp inlet outdoor inlet box, and 10 ft generator cord.The switch would need to be hooked up to your main board for your home, but in case of emergency power outage, all you do is switch off ac power, then turn on the dc transfer switch, and the switch will allow you to control any circuit you have connected to it. I live in the North East parts of the US, and we get cold ass winters, so when I install the switch later in a few weeks, my boiler will be definitely hooked up to the switch, along with various other essential things like my computer room with all the routers /wifi stuffs, and I can't forget my kitchen, gotta have food to eat.
company can increase your bill when you try to either use it conservatively or produce your own energy. Mine is almost tripled for about the same amount of kWh if not lower. Water is also no exception
Thanks for the in depth explanation on this DIY system. Each battery comes with its inbuilt BMS, when I series 2 of this batteries, do I need another BMS externally to ensure that the 2 batteries charges and discharges equally? What protection does this series have?
Another great addition would be a "Heat Alarm" which is like a smoke alarm but it detects heat like from a battery fire, car fire, etc. You normally put them in a garage or any place a smoke alarm wouldn't make sense or trip for no reason.
There are anti-fire "bombs" and they have for Lithium fire version for this. Place just above potential fire and they should stop or suppress fire. Problem is those special ones are price af.
ok next project for BTB, how to convert your home completely to DC, cut out the inverter/adaptor middle man. lol, bet you could save another 10-15% on electricity doing this and just wiring in voltage regulators? 12v dc?
I did a quick look through of your channel, man thanks for putting out these type of things, a good collection of info I feel like this stuff should be taught in school
Thanks for the video…I didn’t expect to find 12v batteries that are slightly near lifepowers abilities at a lower cost than lifepower so easily.., I have looked at lots of options but these look the best choice as of now for me.
I worry about Chinesium batteries and the very short 2 year warranty instead of a 5 year warranty and 10 year lifespan claimed by other brands. Are these batteries manufactured (assembled) in USA and thus consumers are protected by the Magnusson Moss Warranty Act, the UCC, and other USA laws, or are manufactured in Canada and customers protected by similar laws? Or is it all imported Chinesium with no legal recourse against the manufacturer if they end up causing something like the Great Chicago Fire?
even without solar a battery bank like this can save you tonnes of money alot of energy suppliers offer two rates or EV tariffs, you will need to double check with your supplier but where i live and with my supplier these EV tariffs can be used to charge battery systems on that EV rate which is so much cheaper than a normal flat rate or even a night rate in alot of cases
Thanks for this video. Built system with your replacement Eco-worthy 3000w charger/inverter and two Eco-worthy 12.8v 280AH LiFePO4 batteries. Very straightforward build and list of part was of immense help. All working really well as backup with plans to move a circuit or two from main panel to this (two 200w 18v solar panels in series). It would be helpful to someone wanting to do this to show your inverter parameters. Hard to find what to program in and Eco-worthy is difficult to get info out of. I just used the LifePO4 battery type with 8 strings for my 12.8v batteries.
Servel makes a 12v "full size" refrigerator that doesn't need to go thru an inverter. I had one that ran on natural gas. It came with the 1900's house I bought. One day it occurred to me that it never made any noise. Surprise to me that the electric cord only powered the inside bulb. But there was also a gas valve and flex line behind it full of dust. I regret getting rid of it. It had thick insulation and weighed a ton.
set up a separate small system for climate control of the batteries. Never hurts for them to have a space heater, and window ac to keep them happy. If nothing else use the power to drive the solar tracking system, and get those last pesky electrons hiding in the shadows. 😎 I wired my house into 6 zones so I could bring each area online one at a time. ROI is less than 2 years that way. and you roll the savings back into the system. A side benefit, is EOL is staggered as well, so no big hammer at the end, just continue the pay it forward. solar bank one gets to old, replace it, not entire systems panels all at once. Same with batteries and inverters. and if a failure happens, you can decide what area gets the outage, and keep the critical system active just moving a power cable. I have my emergency lighting, and alarms on a separate system with no inverter at all, straight DC. I put the LED cabinet lighting in the kitchen on it, so it does get used between disasters. It is tucked away in my storm shelter.
Excellent video. They also have rate plans that have peak metering where I live, if you can store energy and not use any during high-demand hours rates are very low so they can balance loads. There are alternate sources of energy storage that can be had at very low per-unit prices, but these are getting very cheap. Subscribed
Excellent! Very detailed and informative. Wondering if one could run a furnace in case there’s a power outage. Not sure about the typical amps and wattage needed but it would be a good exercise. Thanks again
I have at least 5kw , I live off grid,, I spent a total of $1500 nz which is about $1000 us,, i got 1800w of panel a solar controler and 1500w constant inverter, all 48v,, the 16 truck batteries I got for free, truck yards toss out perfectly good batteries when refitting trucks,,
Question I have been trying to get answered is if you went to a transfer switch for 1 house circuit do you tie the neutral of the inverter output to the house panel nuetral . Reason I say this is because the inverter is similar to a floating neutral generator and needs bonding and grounding at one end of circuit. Thx for any input.
I think that might not be the way this product is intended to be used. You do not really need a transfer switch because the inverter can power off the batteries at all times and seamlessly switch to grid power. (10ms switch time) So you power everything off this inverter or perhaps only one or two circuits worth.
![Why a 48V System is Better than a 12V? [Vatrer Power]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8ukQ9wQfMIY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Why a 48V System is Better than a 12V? [Vatrer Power]](/img/tr.png)
Get this 12V - 200AH LiFePO4 battery here: shrsl.com/4prqt (15% Off code: AYKIQ2) (Final Price is approximately $350!!!)
how long would an 5000 btu house air conditioner run?
or maybe a 12v? ima truck driver my truck has a 12v system for ac but 4 batteries is not enough for the heat.
thanks if you can help me.
5000btu uses about 500W full on, meaning if it runs at maximum like when it is very hot outside. Then a 2500Wh battery when fully charged will run it for 5 hours. If it's more mild, you might only use half the energy and it will last 10 hours.
@@BeatTheBush thank you 10hrs is actually the desired time. since we have to stop 10hrs to rest before we can drive again.
thanks for the info. will tell my boss about this batteries.
I have about 16 batteries that are all 200 AH deep cycles that idk what to do with lol.. tossing that out there yall
This batteries work with a schnider inverter?
Preach it brother, get down with the lifepo4 sickness!! DIY is the route to go because nothing is better than knowing precisely how everything works before you jump in the bandwagon. I have been my own DAILY power man for at least ten years, my work is more reliable than our power grid. My lights are still ON when the power man, PG&E cometh to investigate. My battery bank always blows their mind. I can go for an entire week in crappy weather without firing up a generator.
On August 2, 2024, SF East Bay, I had a very lightly loaded name brand Lifep04 battery catch fire and set the whole battery rack on fire. 8 of 12 of the 300AH batteries burned. The Fire Investigators think that a BMS shorted on a battery on the bottom shelf and failed to protect itself. I had water on it 70 seconds after hearing the pop. We have extensive smoke damage and some water damage. After building my own battery/inverter/solar units since 2017, this is the first one that failed. It was build #12 of the 14 units I built including units for motorhomes and vans belonging to friends of mine....all for free. They buy most of the parts, I build it.
That unit ran reliably 24/7 for 16 months, lightly loaded running 2 fridges and 5 chest freezers, undersized solar input, too. PG&E removed my meter for a week. The power console burned up the sub panel behind and not connected to the unit. I am bewildered. I trusted in name brand lifep04 batteries. A Powerhorse 7500 inverter generator ran for a week straight until they capped wires and put my meter back in. Sucks smelling exhaust at 3AM when the breeze changes. The gen set was 35 feet away.
@@kimmer6 Damn Man, That sucks !!! Sounds like a freak accident...
I've been thinking of building a batt-serv in a cement wallboard "mini-bunker"to isolate modules, and with a stove pipe venting to the outside. I've done a lot of arc welding and those batts contain a enormous amount of energy.
For You, and I, and everyone reading this, do you think that kind of system would've contained and vented your fire-storm ? ...again, heartbreaking to hear, hope your back on your game !
You’re seriously one of the most useful UA-cam channels I’ve ever subscribed too. I’ve followed you since I graduated high school in 2016. Thanks for all the information and entertainment!
Wow, thank you!
Will Prowse has some good info from years ago before he got filthy rich. Now it`s a rich guy channel.
I just ordered Eco-Worthy 560Ah/7168Wh (2x 280Ah) 12.8V LiFePO4 for $950 from Amazon. $0.14 pennies per Wh. Best deal I've found yet.
2x 280amper 12.8volt in parallelo is 560amper in 25.6v is 280amper 7kw ok
@stefanocerna6504 You're correct, I fixed it. (2x 280Ah). Thank you!
I also Opted for 2 CHINS 280AH Batteries ran in Series for 24 Volt Systems for a Total of 8 and 8 Renogy 200AH AGM Batteries in 24 Volt Packs to Buss Bars to Power 4 Separate 3,000 Watt Inverters = WIN / WIN
Make them both for around $200 each the BMS should be the most expensive part!
They're all cheap Chinese 💩
I ordered the same ones a few weeks back, but they also had $100 off the set and a slightly cheaper. Also you can find 4PCS 3.2V 310AH LiFePO4 Cells @ $460 (~11.5/wh @ 3,968wh). So barely looking, you can find DIY LiFePO4 solutions for as low as 11¢ per watt, which is crazy. Commercial solutions are at least 3x that (and that's reasonable).
As someone that has built a DIY to power most of my home office, I absolutely appreciate the level of the detail you get into that other videos don't. The bonus is that I even picked up two bits of new/good information. I LOVE the voltage chart at the 6:00 minute mark. Very good visual. Also, I hadn't thought about getting an inverter that can use both AC and DC and having it switch over to the grid if the batteries fall to a certain %. Very, very nice work coming from a fellow solar content creator! :)
I do the same, im completely off grid but often look at these vids for any new pieces of info, maybe something i overlooked.
@@maddhatter3564 It's because solar is not good.
You are lacking something and it is energy security.
Which is why you are constantly trying to learn more tricks to squeeze out more power from something not capable of delivering.
@@commoncentsamerican solar has actually done me very well but theres always room for improvement. You know nothing about what you are talking about.
@@maddhatter3564 Okie Dokie Solar Wacko whatever you say. You will never convince me this trash tech is worth anything. You people spend more money in batteries and gear then you will EVER save.
Ive got an offgrid office aswell I DIY it with scooter batteries, Love these videos to see other DIY options
This is the most explanatory solar/battery introductory video i’ve seen so far, regarding having all the necessary information to understand how the system is working, important info about usage of the system, and best practices.
Things like the lifepo4 charge-curve are important to know when monitoring a system by reading voltages manually during charging and use to better know the true state of charge, and the characteristics of the battery under load.
This is a good resource. Great video.
1 Gets right to the point
2 Spoke quickly like a newscaster. Otherwise, I swipe to the next video
3 this took a lot of preparation to put this together
4 it was nice he used inches for my sorry butt that hasn't learned the metric system that everyone knows but me
5 several charts that his explanation were easy to follow
6 I own a company that does remodeling carpentry, electrical, plumbing every day, and I never realized how involved the new batteries are vs the old school marine batteries that we have used till now.
Thank you brother just a great job
Everyone I know uses standard units of measurements
stop the flow, slow the speed
Breaking down even the terminal post size was pretty impressive. Most people just want to impress you lots of numbers they don’t understand but this was well thought out.
Very articulate and he does go into detail more than any of the other UA-camrs on solar I’ve built systems and this guy knows what he’s talking about and he actually describes the smaller details that you need to know I really like this guy
Thank you for including the cost of tools in your calculations, a lot of DIYers don't.
It's criminal some of the cost breakdowns I see on random stuff 😂. Like, let's just ignore sometimes hundreds of dollars in tools!
This is a very good video. You have explained a lot things other similar videos do not. I went the solar station route because I do not understand electricity enough to be comfortable with it on my own. I bought 2 pecron stations each for $855 a piece total of $1710. That gives me 2 2000watt inverters and 2 1980 lifepo4 battery's for 3960 total battery storage. I want to build a system like yours as well because I just got to. Thank you for your explanation of best practices on charging and discharging these battery's because most YT channels make it like just charge to 100% and discharge to zero which never seemed wise to me. Everything in the video was educational well done!
exactly, 100% charge and 100% discharge can be done but it hurts even lithium batteries. As does fast charge/fast sischarge. Which is what EV owners soon learn
Lifepo4 is good da 20% a 90% long time 6000cicle
First time watcher, I’m half way thru but it’s great to meet a fellow EE’er. It’s funny, we all talk alike. When you get to Ph.d. EE, the lingo changes but we still talk very much alike 😅. Great video, cheers!
I am building this exact unit for my ADU, however, I am going with a PowMr 3000w 24v for warranty reasons. For the last year, the ADU has been averaging about 2.8kw per day. I should be able to offset a large amount of grid energy with this setup. Thank you for taking the time to produce this content, very informative.
Beware of the PowMr as requires a minimum 120V PV operation for MPPT. Meaning you'll need at least around 7 panels in series depending on the panel you use. If you have that many, no problem.
I have run a large house on 6kw solar 10kw battery and powmr 5.5 kw inverter for a year with no issues on 240v in Australia
It's actually cheeper to set this exact system in Africa than in the US 😮
Welcome to America….
By how much?
Ive heard that solar in mexico is cheaper too
Maybe because that's where the lithium mines are
If only africa had amazon and purchasing is more risky if dodgy cells
Build an off grid system myself with 5kwh of storage. We are a lower energy user but looking at 3.4 year pay back plus it will run in the event of grid failure. So far going great really pleased.
3.4 years? Wow, I can only get that low with a battery less grid tie system.
@@BeatTheBush I sourced and installed. 6 jinko tiger neo panels at 435w each. Mpp solar invertor and renogy batteries.. panels have sinced dropped in price....
Excellent guide from zero knowledge to actual installation. Simple, slow but not too slow, detailed and sufficiently thorough without going into too much detail that would make it tiresome or cause attention to falter.
Ive been offgrid since 2012 but still watch these to pick up a point or 2 that i may have missed. from my experience this is one of the most accurate and easy to understand videos . And he avoids the high buck "cool" gadgets that dont do anything for performance.
Even more reason to keep up to date@@maddhatter3564 as it's by no means a mature technology in any aspect of it and replacing expensive infrastructure components is just around the corner. Once off grid one needs to keep a watchful eye on latest developments.
I'm currently testing a fossibot F2400, which was £749 for 2kw in the UK. So it's about the same price as the DIY system for slightly less capacity, but far less trouble.
I'm in the research process to do this, very helpful. I just converted my 24 ft motor home to 200 amp Renogy lithium Iron phosphate, Renogy dc to dc with solar input. 100 amp solar on the roof.
are you sure its 100 amp? perhaps 100 watt? 100 amps of solar would be huge even at 24vdc (thats 3000 watts for a 24vdc system, 1500 watts for a 12vdc system.)
Awesome … as an engineer myself, this is discussed at a simple enough level I can completely understand. And maybe even attempt to keep the fridge and freezers running after a hurricane
Ok my unsolicited opinion the quality of the video production was above par as was the scripting, editing and videography. The content in clarity, explanation and continuity (no pun intended) was very well thought out and offered. I just can not come to the place where I need to do this because I use on average 600 KwH of electricity a month here in Thailand. My electric bills are consistently 60 dollars US. So 10 months for 1 battery makes for a difficult decision but these videos make for an interesting case. I have an unfair advantage over most as I was an electrician for the railroad and understand the wiring,, termination and cabling more than most folks would..... Thanks for the vids and this one earned a sub.
20kWh a day... not unreasonable but your rates are so low, it only makes sense to do this for energy independence in case the power goes out. As a hobby, I watch the solar come in daily and it's my kind of fun!
I know a man that when he built his house he had one breaker for each outlet, he had like 3 or 4 panels, he said it saved money on electricity, curious if you were talking about anything like that
@@blakeburgess7171 How much did he spend on cabling?
Good video! But have you looked into server rack batteries? They go around $1.3k for 5kWh at 48V which is more common for powerful inverters, 48V requires smaller gauge cables and server rack case and format allows for easier stacking of multiple batteries
Those rack mounts usually charge $300 to ship, plus tax. This has free shipping and no tax and can connect in series to get 48v.
He's obviously advertising for them, but yea definitely going with a 48v system is way more efficient, and more expandable long term.
Land lines, Telecom equipment and some rack servers use 48 volts common in data centers. I’m told.
could you share a link to one of these server rack batteries? been looking into building my own but so much info out there.
@@matthewqtran1318 google EG4 server rack batteries, it’s one of the good ones. There is also great DIY channel for solar/battery systems with install details, disassembly and other important tests - “Will Prowse”, hope that helps!
This is the best video I have seen on how to set up a smaller solar/inverter/battery system. You explained everything very well and built a nice, practical system that just about anyone could build. Great job!
yes i wish id seen a vid like this before i started in 2012. It wouldve saved me a few hundered dollars in research fails. lol
I built my system to just protect the small Freezer & large refrigerator , patio fish pond & lighting using 5ea 100 watt panels ,3ea 200 amp battery. plus loads of hook up. P.S. my panels track the sum.very efferent & not a lot of money , jots of time, the learning curve.
You have videos on it?
Ecoflow pro x2 (7200 wh) on Amazon is down to $3300, or $0.46/wh....which is pretty tempting. Still trying to understand the cost of integrating it with my house panel. If I need to hire an electrician to set up a new panel that's going to blow the costs up
I was subscribed to your channel very early on when you started, but UA-cam banned my account and lost all my subscriptions, now that I found you I remember you used to make very useful videos such as this one, I'm glad I found you again and subscribed.
Welcome back!
In Australia we recouped our 6.6kw system costs in 4 years and am now looking into some kind of battery and I do like the portable option.
One thing to note, most imverter or UPS systems conceal the technical data as to what features and capabilities they have. Marketing has a way of eliminating the need to use your brain and obtaining a system you can build yourself. They always use proprietary connections and electronics to prevent you from using competing products to justify charging you more money.
Load balancing, zero switching time, voltage leveling (continuous inversion) high current transfer switching, current and voltage monitoring, temperature charge monitoring and calculated runtime are some features they are capable of having. You can even gave fancy systems which omit the transfer switch entirely by providing a supply conversion capable of supplying the entire output current needed for the inverter ratings. These systems are typically more lossy than using a transfer relay but are desireable for electronics.
Most people are lazy and ignorant and more than willing to pay for it.
Can you please show us your solar panel setup? Thanks.
@beatthebush 9:10 when batteries are connected in series the amps remains constant, you should NOT exceed the max battery discharge amperage. In this case you should only pull a max of 120amps and not 240. Watt hours has been used misleadingly here 9:10
So glad this video appeared on my feed! I've built the my own using the kepworth 200ah x2 and watching your video it looks like I've done a good job as myself I've got no experience previously. It's been running 10 months Running 80% of my house daily Just got to purchase bigger Solar panels, and the extra information on the battery charging was most helpful as I charge at 20a which now i know it the correct amount But I always fully charge the batteries in General they use 30% daily then fully charge to 100% Now I'm going to change it
If you want to get extra life out of them and you only use 30% and not mind having less reserve capacity, charge to only 80%. The top 20% and lower 20% degrades the battery most.
Some more points. I solder, not crimp connectors. Solar panels are cheaper than batteries, so aim half your panels somewhat toward sunup, and the rest somewhat toward sundown. This reduces total intake, but extends the duration of your charge and takes discharge time off your batteries. Some people use flooded lead acid batteries. Their electrolyte can be diluted for smoother service and much longer life. Never wire batteries in parallel. They fight. More batteries can be used with separate chargers running into separate loads. Don't submit your entire house to AC. Use low voltage LED lighting and appliances and even cut out the AC inverter when possible. Schedule your high energy loads for morning and day.
NO! You do not solder these connections that will increase your resistance significantly introducing lead silver mix versus copper times how many ever ends of the cables no! Plus if they ever get hot, they will de- solder themselves !!! Just look at the Victron literature, and you’ll know you made a mistake
on the 2 gauge, crimping is better than solder. Now you could solder the outside to seal it. But the crimp makes it fuse into one piece. It's a weird physics and electric thing. Cut one open and see.
NASA and the FAA disagree with you. But hey, the guy in YT comments knows better.
Better to use sunrise to 9am, and after 3pm to sundown as direct charge, that will collect more electrons than MPPT. Then use MPPT 9-3
Terrible idea! Soldering will increase internal resistance between the connections. The recommended approach is crimping especially when dealing with large amps. crimping works by exerting the connections into maximum surface contact and act as a single piece of conductor. This allows electrons to flow freely and better.
Two 200 A-hr batteries are just $1046 today. 4000 full cycles at 5.12 kWh/cycle. So, 5.1 c/kWh. But an upfront cost so ~7 c/kWh over the 10 yr life. Cost-effective to avoid paying 5p-9p peak rates (33 c/kWh Summer, 15 c Winter) by charging the batteries off-peak (14 c & 11 c, resp.). I can charge even cheaper via solar panels, which serve double-duty for carport cover.
This video rocks. Thank you so much. The detail. The plain language. I wish all DIY educational videos were this well done.
Thanks!
Even if you don't go solar, having battery backup is worthwhile.
What’s so weird is I understand everything you’re saying, usually it goes over my head but I think I get it, thanks!
4:25 types of batteries 🔋 which is the best??
WOW people really don't understand "Radom Acts of Kindness or intentional Acts of Kindness" they actually benefit the giver more than the receiver‼️☯️☯️. I love this guy because he "Gets It's" ‼️✌🏼🤟🏼🖖🏼my friend😉👌🏽💕
We bought it in 2015 and due to the FIT (feed in tariff) in Japan where the power company pays at a higher rate for the power we do not use but sell back to them so the payback was 7 years for a 5.1kw solar system. I think the prices of panels has actually gone down since then but the per KWH (kolowatt-hour) the power company pays for those starting now is much lower. But that deal only lasts for 10 years and then amount they pay drops down to just 21.6% of what it was after that so getting a back-up battery system to save the extra killowatts for you our use at night etc. makes sense.
Due to the lower rates you get when feeding back, it makes more sense to only size the system to your needs and try to have a net zero consumption.
excellent video. I want to put a 3000kw system on my house with about 5kw of battery to run my kitchen. I need to figure out how to peel the wires off my main breaker panel and put them into a dedicated subpanel.
DIY Solar ☀️is exciting and the components are getting better while prices keep coming down. I recently built my first 3000 watt system with a 5.12kWh ⚡️battery and solar panels for less than $3000! You are so right in saying people need to start learning new skills to leverage their knowledge into ways to save more money 💵. Our goal now is to take our entire farm off the grid completely! Lots more to learn, but we’ll get there!
My state screwed us serfs over. They were giving away 200 foot fire watch towers free, just pick up. But only to other government agencies.
They would be perfect for a combination water tower, windmill, solar panel rack, TV Radio HAM radio antennas, wifi AP, weather monitor, and intrusion observation point.
and of course a zip line play area 🤕
@@robertsmith2956 offer a local agency you trust the members of to use your land for little to no charge as long as you have access to the tower as well. You'd probably have to work with an attorney for liability/'limited use' clauses, as well as right-of-way access to the tower on your property, but it might be worth it!
@@jmax8619 To much invested in trespassing all government from my land to open an exploitation point.
Your emojis made me think this was an AI comment, but clearly it's not.
I guess this is the kind of comment they trained GPT on though 🤔
Would it be better to buy 8 separate batteries and connect them in a series? I would assume the life would be longer. Or worse case, 1 battery goes bad, you can replace that one instead of 1 of those full 4 cell series packs. Please let me know your thoughts.
I think you mean buying individual cells. Yes, this is possible but you will have to assemble it with other parts such as the case, bms, wiring, and possibly a cooling solution.
@@BeatTheBush I understand. Thank you
I love DIY because it takes a certain type of person to do what you're doing. I love the channel and the video. Thank you 🙂
Excellent video. The 200ah batteries are a good choice for more than a one battery installation, but if you need it, 2x100ah or 4x100ah batteries allow a higher discharge rate with their 2 or 4 BMSs. Looking at the company's pricing, they may even be a bit cheaper.
I would really like to see a discussion of Lithium batteries and the factors that contribute to spontaneous combustion. I have seen multiple videos of EVs that go up in flame on their own, just one reason I would never put one in my garage. I am therefore reticent to take Lithium backup into my very residence. I have never had a problem with lead acid however, so I will probably put up with the reduced power storage & maintenance issues when I make the move to some power backup.
ICEs catch fire 🔥 more often than the EVs, but the media don't bother to over report that.
These are lithium iron phosphate batteries. Not lithium polymer. Lifepo4 batteries are very stable.
excellent work, brother! I too have recently been introducing myself to DIY solar. I want to spend as little as possible to power the essentials of this home (2 refers, and 1 WFH desk office) in case of grid failure. Thank you for your skills at explaining the details to us rookies out here. Greg (garden grove, CA)
amp draw doesn't double in series, voltage does. but for a self contained battery, that isn't a bad price at all. It would be nice if it had a connector port so you could monitor the cells inside.
Facts. Wiring them in parallel doubles the amps.
@@mrwardy7 Well if the wires can handle it. LOL
I've seen alot of channels on this type of information, this guy really knows his stuff.
Very clear and excellent presentation/demonstration. It would be nice to see a bit more details on how you hooked everything up.
You do a great job explaining all you need, I did the same thing for my office and was continually buying, this piece then that piece off of Amazon until I got everything I needed, I wish I came across your video first.
Whaoo! What a scoop, plugging 2 batteries together, connecting them to your system with stuff you bought that can be made out of squashed copper tubing with a hole drilled into it... Anyhow thank you for your efforts, good luck with your set up.
I really enjoyed your video and learning more about a battery backup array. You are a really good teacher / explainer!
I think this is cool, and DIY is the only way to make it make sense for many of us. For instance, electric is like $0.10 per kWh here - so to get a 5-year breakeven you'd need the solar to be $1 or less per Watt. Installers want $3 or more - that will never breakeven for me. Pro-install solar just isn't an option, but DIY comes out as a decent investment at year 5+ and batteries instead of a generator definitely makes sense too.
I don’t have solar and am not getting it but would like a battery backup for winter time when power goes off to run my furnace a couple lights and my router, freezer and fridge for 24 hours. Would I be able to do something like this and use commercial power to charge my system?
Buy a generator. If you don't have a way to recharge your battery just use a generator.
Video very well done. Squeezed a lot of DETAILS into a short period. Many others omit important details. Thank you.
My system is still 24 vdc lead acid with 300AH useable capacity. (220AH per string). thank you for pointing out that lithium isn't prefect and too deep of discharge will damage battery. I've had discussions with many who believe they can fast charge and fully discharge Lithium without any affect on the battery (especially true from the EV proponents when i point out the battery specs are misleading). I've been off-grid for 10 years and just replaced my batteries for the first time last year. I'm hoping lithium will be more affordable come next replacement time. TY for your vid.
What's the Solar Panel size (wattage) of your off grid system?
@@michaelb3917 currently 1300 watts on main bank. and a couple of free standing 100 watt 12 volt subsystems.oh and 3 50 watt battery maintainers for stored vehicles.
@@michaelb3917 I rescue orphan solar panels. lol
Wil Prowse says that you might as well run full charge to max discharge as calendar aging will kill cells just as fast in solar applications.
I REALLY like these kinds of videos. I am an electronics hobbyist/geek and DIYer so its always a pleasure to watch your videos on electronics.
Glad you like them!
Great video. Excellent explanation, and description of everything involved. I also like your strategy of using the system in a modular sense which is something I never considered. Leave the grid power for the large appliances and use the solar for specific lower loads. Brilliant!
Dipende con inverter ibrido a48volt tipo easun 6.2kw con 400euro is good for house e puoi lasciare la rete per caricare dall inverter quando non c'è sole
I have a very similar system. It feeds my bedroom off grid. Its great because even if the power goes out i can still function in my beadroom. I have 1.2kw solar and 3.5kw inverter. Also running 24v. I don't know if it actually saves me much power, but its nice to not worry about any power outages. Yes the cost of all the breakers and wires add up. I mounted mine on a board on the wall the same way. Its right near the breaker box. I disconnected the wire from the braker running to my room and connected it to this system instead. That way i didn't need to run extension chords, just use existing outlets.
1.2kW solar, you like are making around 5kWh/day. If you use all of that and the battery never tops out, at $0.33/kWh, that's $1.65/day so from that you can check your break even point.
Nice description. I have six of these in a series/parallel configuration with 1200 watts of solar. I kept buying batteries when on sale but didn't have a maximum output or capacity in mind. So with six of these, I now possess 15000 WH of power. It may be overkill but PGE here in California has been pretty unreliable at times.
Overkill... never, I say add six more if you can house and charge them. I have 21kw hours right now, and did not consider how I am going to charge the batteries within one day. So now that is my focus, do not want to mount panels on the roof though, so I am searching for cost effective ways to mounts 30 panels.
Actually it's 15,000 W hours of energy. Energy is expressed as kilowatt hours, and power is expressed as kilowatts. Thanks!
can I leave a setup like this plugged in to AC outlet all the time? is there overcharge protection? I'm not planning on using any Solar PV panels. I just want a back up system for my home server.
This was the video I was looking for. Had so many logical points and niches well laid out.
Man U went into so much detail thank u definitely going be check other videos as most they want whole home that’s my goal even those batteries 600 piece better long run thx again
Seems to me that a server rack battery like an EG4, 1200.00 paired with EG4 All-in-one Solar System: 3000W Inverter, 749. simple more compact and a better way to go.
Question I have 3500w of solar is it possible to get it working with this system and reduce the charge times?
Awesome video! I've been wanting to build a battery backup system and this covers all questions I have on getting started. Thank you for the upload 👍
Glad I could help!
I think I would like to start out with a backup power system that I can run during peak hours when power is expensive and recharge when it's cheap.
Then add on to it until I have an off grid solar system.
Remember charge and discharge has inefficiencies. You loose about 30% going in then out. So the difference has to be more than that to make financial sense.
@@BeatTheBush Hmm thanks, I would not have thought of that
Thanks!
Welcome!
Gold. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and also shining light on the truth of needing to become an expert on any diy venture. The end result will almost always wind up saving you money. Very smart, thank you.
Excellent! Subscribed and keep up the good work. I wish more people would look at these systems vs Li-ion battery walls that can be far more hazardous and far more expensive. These batteries will last longer also with more usage and cycles.
If you later spend to increase the # of solar panels, and batteries, are you eventually going to instal a 6-10 circuit transfer switch like a Reliance Switch that can switch from 15, 20, and 30 Amp. That Reliance 10 circuit switch comes with the 10 circuit transfer switch, 30 amp inlet outdoor inlet box, and 10 ft generator cord.The switch would need to be hooked up to your main board for your home, but in case of emergency power outage, all you do is switch off ac power, then turn on the dc transfer switch, and the switch will allow you to control any circuit you have connected to it. I live in the North East parts of the US, and we get cold ass winters, so when I install the switch later in a few weeks, my boiler will be definitely hooked up to the switch, along with various other essential things like my computer room with all the routers /wifi stuffs, and I can't forget my kitchen, gotta have food to eat.
don't forget the fireplace fan so it can spread the warmth.
company can increase your bill when you try to either use it conservatively or produce your own energy. Mine is almost tripled for about the same amount of kWh if not lower. Water is also no exception
Thanks for the in depth explanation on this DIY system. Each battery comes with its inbuilt BMS, when I series 2 of this batteries, do I need another BMS externally to ensure that the 2 batteries charges and discharges equally? What protection does this series have?
Another great addition would be a "Heat Alarm" which is like a smoke alarm but it detects heat like from a battery fire, car fire, etc. You normally put them in a garage or any place a smoke alarm wouldn't make sense or trip for no reason.
There are anti-fire "bombs" and they have for Lithium fire version for this. Place just above potential fire and they should stop or suppress fire. Problem is those special ones are price af.
ok next project for BTB, how to convert your home completely to DC, cut out the inverter/adaptor middle man. lol, bet you could save another 10-15% on electricity doing this and just wiring in voltage regulators? 12v dc?
I did a quick look through of your channel, man thanks for putting out these type of things, a good collection of info I feel like this stuff should be taught in school
Thanks for the video…I didn’t expect to find 12v batteries that are slightly near lifepowers abilities at a lower cost than lifepower so easily.., I have looked at lots of options but these look the best choice as of now for me.
I worry about Chinesium batteries and the very short 2 year warranty instead of a 5 year warranty and 10 year lifespan claimed by other brands. Are these batteries manufactured (assembled) in USA and thus consumers are protected by the Magnusson Moss Warranty Act, the UCC, and other USA laws, or are manufactured in Canada and customers protected by similar laws? Or is it all imported Chinesium with no legal recourse against the manufacturer if they end up causing something like the Great Chicago Fire?
I'm fortunate in Australia you can buy very cheap second hand panels, makes building a system incredibly cheap
Awesome explanation. SO many people don't put the time into the whole package. I for one need this detail.Thanks for putting this together.
getting a Lalela Lithium LifePO4 Battery soon....got a 7AH for the gate....and using loads of 18650 for s while now
even without solar a battery bank like this can save you tonnes of money
alot of energy suppliers offer two rates or EV tariffs, you will need to double check with your supplier but where i live and with my supplier these EV tariffs can be used to charge battery systems on that EV rate which is so much cheaper than a normal flat rate or even a night rate in alot of cases
Thanks for this video. Built system with your replacement Eco-worthy 3000w charger/inverter and two Eco-worthy 12.8v 280AH LiFePO4 batteries. Very straightforward build and list of part was of immense help. All working really well as backup with plans to move a circuit or two from main panel to this (two 200w 18v solar panels in series).
It would be helpful to someone wanting to do this to show your inverter parameters. Hard to find what to program in and Eco-worthy is difficult to get info out of. I just used the LifePO4 battery type with 8 strings for my 12.8v batteries.
How would you power a home? How would it hook up to home? Can you add a wind turbine along with panels?
Can you do a video on putting all the stuffs together...this clip is so fast...
So many requests on a 'slower' step by step video. Yes, I will do this soon.
Servel makes a 12v "full size" refrigerator that doesn't need to go thru an inverter. I had one that ran on natural gas. It came with the 1900's house I bought. One day it occurred to me that it never made any noise. Surprise to me that the electric cord only powered the inside bulb. But there was also a gas valve and flex line behind it full of dust. I regret getting rid of it. It had thick insulation and weighed a ton.
Oh yes... Inverter loses about 10-20% of energy AND it uses about 15-30W of power while it's on. Get more solar panels to make up for it?
Thanks for the insights on how to build one. Although we have solar at home, this is extremely interesting if we wanted to DIY a separate one
A great learning experience. BUT if your energy needs are met with solar, then it truly becomes a hobby project.
set up a separate small system for climate control of the batteries. Never hurts for them to have a space heater, and window ac to keep them happy.
If nothing else use the power to drive the solar tracking system, and get those last pesky electrons hiding in the shadows. 😎
I wired my house into 6 zones so I could bring each area online one at a time.
ROI is less than 2 years that way. and you roll the savings back into the system. A side benefit, is EOL is staggered as well, so no big hammer at the end, just continue the pay it forward.
solar bank one gets to old, replace it, not entire systems panels all at once. Same with batteries and inverters. and if a failure happens, you can decide what area gets the outage, and keep the critical system active just moving a power cable.
I have my emergency lighting, and alarms on a separate system with no inverter at all, straight DC. I put the LED cabinet lighting in the kitchen on it, so it does get used between disasters.
It is tucked away in my storm shelter.
What kind of setup would I need to run a washer, dryer, and stove. Electric is expensive in Canada.
Listen to this guy sounded like a real electrical engineer, Cmon Francis😂😂
You could charge the batteries also with off peak power and then run the house when it is peak power
Excellent video. They also have rate plans that have peak metering where I live, if you can store energy and not use any during high-demand hours rates are very low so they can balance loads. There are alternate sources of energy storage that can be had at very low per-unit prices, but these are getting very cheap. Subscribed
Well done! Brilliant description of all factors of the batteries and charge system. You are a clever chap - thanks very much - John
Excellent! Very detailed and informative. Wondering if one could run a furnace in case there’s a power outage. Not sure about the typical amps and wattage needed but it would be a good exercise. Thanks again
Draw up the wiring diagram and sell it , awesome work
I couldn’t find best video ever on this topic. Congrats! Best wishes & Success!
Great video! Do you have a video to build a system for a pool pump motor (230V) to be solar and batteries? thanks
I have at least 5kw , I live off grid,, I spent a total of $1500 nz which is about $1000 us,, i got 1800w of panel a solar controler and 1500w constant inverter, all 48v,, the 16 truck batteries I got for free, truck yards toss out perfectly good batteries when refitting trucks,,
Question I have been trying to get answered is if you went to a transfer switch for 1 house circuit do you tie the neutral of the inverter output to the house panel nuetral . Reason I say this is because the inverter is similar to a floating neutral generator and needs bonding and grounding at one end of circuit. Thx for any input.
I think that might not be the way this product is intended to be used. You do not really need a transfer switch because the inverter can power off the batteries at all times and seamlessly switch to grid power. (10ms switch time) So you power everything off this inverter or perhaps only one or two circuits worth.
I'm planning to set up just storage to back up my home when the electricity is out. Without the solar on the roof. Is that possible?
Thought the batteries were huge for the capacity but it seems you are a compact human lol. Will sub.