@@DerekDavis213 I'm not saying he should tell about us his private life lol. why would he do that? I am curious to know more about his life story because he is living my dream ( GTR, Sick Homelab, built his own home, CTO etc)
I’m sure he will, but I think a general theme of people who elevate really high in a field/company is they really enjoy what they are doing or are able to do it a lot for an extended period of time consistently. You’re never gonna outrun a dude like this who is building his life around his work unless you have that same passion for the field.
@@DerekDavis213what secrets though? It's not like they were asking for health and love life stuff. More on general things where there are lots of similar stories already on YT? It's not like these questions would need highly detailed answers like company names etc
High performance cars, rallying and track racing, solar powered home in the forest, homelab, playing with radioactive isotopes in the basement, This man is everything I would be as a millionaire lol
It would be great to hear more about you and your background, both professional and personally. Love the content and you’re clearly a very switched on and capable guy 😎👌🏻
Great stuff. I can't help but think when seeing new construction setups like this that there could be much better integration and layout in systems instead of all the individual enclosures and the conduits between them, but nobody is really doing that yet.
In many countries of Europe, if you install batteries with your solar panels, it is common to have the setup in that way (losing grid, you will still have AC from the panels + batteries).
Absolutely love this video, thanks for including some real life examples of what this system looks like and how you use it. I would be curious to get a deeper dive into all specific parts making this system possible. For example take a deeper dive into the batterys, why did you decide to buy that system, how fast does it charge, how do you monitor this, is there any configuration involed in this system. Maybe you could include how your homelab impacted this purchase (I assume it takes up a huge part of the power from your backup system). Amazing videos and loved to watch it, keep up the good work 🤩
I've never heard of micro inverters before, but if I understand correctly, they help reduce power loss due to AC current. This is because you typically have to transfer a lot of DC power from the panels to the batteries and/or to a large inverter, so using AC current in this case can be much more efficient.
I'd say Jeff's wife insists his toys and kit need to be kept away from the rest of the house. No doubt that was a requirement that fed into the construction plans for the house.
What we do here in Pakistan is to make one large main distribution panel (its cheap here to fabricate and build such switchgear than to use off-the-shelf panels) and then sub panels based on power zones or floors. Main Distribution Panel has all the metering, protection, control and automation. The sub-panels are just for protection or some time for metering. We have done these arrangement to extremely big shopping malls down to small homes or off-grid farms. Because sun is good in this part of the world, we usually use high voltage (550 to 1500 V DC) one large inverter instead of microinverters (which, btw, is best in your use case where there's a lot of shading, snow and over cast). PV Modules are getting bigger now. Most common for last 2 years is in the range of 525 - 570Wp or even some places tier-1 suppliers have provided us 600+Wp panels. Which in this time of the year produce 100% of their NOCT ratings which is amazing. Also, the system at your property is, what we call, an AC-coupled system. Which is that everything is connected on AC. That has more to do with your SRTPV is micro-inverters based. Has it been hybrid inverter than your batteries would have to be coupled to inverter on DC (48V for smaller 5-8 kWh or 450 V+ for larger BESS). The DC-coupled systems are usually somewhat more efficient than AC-couples ones. The main inverters controls all the grid/utility/generator, etc in DC systems. You just change the priorities in inverter app or web interface. In some C&I system we install a separate Micro-grid controller or sometimes called fuel-saver (many names for it, but it essentially is a micro-grid controller). This controls system power flows using RS-485 interfaces or other such arrangement. This system of 61.5 Hz is dangerous as most appliances are made on utility/IEEE/IEC standards that allows a +/- 5% frequency variation. By using frequency to control a droop or frequency follower system, we are putting on risk frequency related issues (what are a lot). Most inverters in off-grid mode, therefore, uses V-I system where they adjust their output based on current consumption. You need compatible batteries or DC system for V-I system to work. Droop system are good on inertial system like large turbines coupled together or with grid but not on smaller system. What is happening is that by generating higher frequency, AC batteries are de-syncing the micro-inverters...which is easily cause fire due to frequency hammering (back EMF) as the system grow older. Thanks for making awesome videos. There couldn't be a person better than a veteran CTO to make videos that'd be authentic and stems from solid experience.
Thanks for the awesome videos! I found your forum thread on home building and went through the whole thing. It was super entertaining, I'm into this kind of stuff!
The system is really neatly put together but IMHO this is way over complicated and too many parts to potentially fail and render the system inoperable. As you explained I kept wondering why you didn't just go with a pair of Solark inverters that handle everything in a very compact unit. Then you just need panels (no microinverters) and batteries (and the disconnects etc) and you can ditch the xfer switch. Generator is optional input directly to the Solark that calls for it if and when batteries get low.
Appreciate you taking the time to explain the setup. Was curious what the estimate is for how long the house could run off grid on battery and if there were any plans to expand the battery system. :)
I was talking with my father about micro inverters, what happens if they get fried? Wouldnt they make the repair alot more complicated especially on a roof install?
can you please make a video talking about your life story(education, professional life etc), life advice and how you got to where you are now. ??
You are asking him to reveal ALL his secrets, on a public UA-cam channel?
@@DerekDavis213 I'm not saying he should tell about us his private life lol. why would he do that? I am curious to know more about his life story because he is living my dream ( GTR, Sick Homelab, built his own home, CTO etc)
@@DerekDavis213 he already made his money, why not
I’m sure he will, but I think a general theme of people who elevate really high in a field/company is they really enjoy what they are doing or are able to do it a lot for an extended period of time consistently. You’re never gonna outrun a dude like this who is building his life around his work unless you have that same passion for the field.
@@DerekDavis213what secrets though?
It's not like they were asking for health and love life stuff. More on general things where there are lots of similar stories already on YT?
It's not like these questions would need highly detailed answers like company names etc
High performance cars, rallying and track racing, solar powered home in the forest, homelab, playing with radioactive isotopes in the basement,
This man is everything I would be as a millionaire lol
It would be great to hear more about you and your background, both professional and personally. Love the content and you’re clearly a very switched on and capable guy 😎👌🏻
These videos are thought-provoking. Kudos for grabbing my attention
Great stuff. I can't help but think when seeing new construction setups like this that there could be much better integration and layout in systems instead of all the individual enclosures and the conduits between them, but nobody is really doing that yet.
I love your videos, especially the nerdy details ❤
This is so awesome. Thank you for sharing
In many countries of Europe, if you install batteries with your solar panels, it is common to have the setup in that way (losing grid, you will still have AC from the panels + batteries).
Absolutely love this video, thanks for including some real life examples of what this system looks like and how you use it. I would be curious to get a deeper dive into all specific parts making this system possible. For example take a deeper dive into the batterys, why did you decide to buy that system, how fast does it charge, how do you monitor this, is there any configuration involed in this system. Maybe you could include how your homelab impacted this purchase (I assume it takes up a huge part of the power from your backup system). Amazing videos and loved to watch it, keep up the good work 🤩
Beautiful home
This setup is badass, excuse my language.
I've never heard of micro inverters before, but if I understand correctly, they help reduce power loss due to AC current. This is because you typically have to transfer a lot of DC power from the panels to the batteries and/or to a large inverter, so using AC current in this case can be much more efficient.
I'd say Jeff's wife insists his toys and kit need to be kept away from the rest of the house. No doubt that was a requirement that fed into the construction plans for the house.
Nice Gregtech base
Very well laid out! I was thinking of using solar finally, thanks for posting a perspective on it.
Youre House looks really cool. I like the grey with the wood detials.
What we do here in Pakistan is to make one large main distribution panel (its cheap here to fabricate and build such switchgear than to use off-the-shelf panels) and then sub panels based on power zones or floors. Main Distribution Panel has all the metering, protection, control and automation. The sub-panels are just for protection or some time for metering.
We have done these arrangement to extremely big shopping malls down to small homes or off-grid farms.
Because sun is good in this part of the world, we usually use high voltage (550 to 1500 V DC) one large inverter instead of microinverters (which, btw, is best in your use case where there's a lot of shading, snow and over cast). PV Modules are getting bigger now. Most common for last 2 years is in the range of 525 - 570Wp or even some places tier-1 suppliers have provided us 600+Wp panels. Which in this time of the year produce 100% of their NOCT ratings which is amazing.
Also, the system at your property is, what we call, an AC-coupled system. Which is that everything is connected on AC. That has more to do with your SRTPV is micro-inverters based. Has it been hybrid inverter than your batteries would have to be coupled to inverter on DC (48V for smaller 5-8 kWh or 450 V+ for larger BESS). The DC-coupled systems are usually somewhat more efficient than AC-couples ones. The main inverters controls all the grid/utility/generator, etc in DC systems. You just change the priorities in inverter app or web interface. In some C&I system we install a separate Micro-grid controller or sometimes called fuel-saver (many names for it, but it essentially is a micro-grid controller). This controls system power flows using RS-485 interfaces or other such arrangement. This system of 61.5 Hz is dangerous as most appliances are made on utility/IEEE/IEC standards that allows a +/- 5% frequency variation. By using frequency to control a droop or frequency follower system, we are putting on risk frequency related issues (what are a lot). Most inverters in off-grid mode, therefore, uses V-I system where they adjust their output based on current consumption. You need compatible batteries or DC system for V-I system to work. Droop system are good on inertial system like large turbines coupled together or with grid but not on smaller system. What is happening is that by generating higher frequency, AC batteries are de-syncing the micro-inverters...which is easily cause fire due to frequency hammering (back EMF) as the system grow older.
Thanks for making awesome videos. There couldn't be a person better than a veteran CTO to make videos that'd be authentic and stems from solid experience.
gr8 video,
subscribing!
Thanks for the awesome videos! I found your forum thread on home building and went through the whole thing. It was super entertaining, I'm into this kind of stuff!
The system is really neatly put together but IMHO this is way over complicated and too many parts to potentially fail and render the system inoperable. As you explained I kept wondering why you didn't just go with a pair of Solark inverters that handle everything in a very compact unit. Then you just need panels (no microinverters) and batteries (and the disconnects etc) and you can ditch the xfer switch. Generator is optional input directly to the Solark that calls for it if and when batteries get low.
im so gald i found your channel man i love the tech, i saw a bit of a gtr in one video and the billet sti is a beautiful build do you still have it?
Unless I misremembered you saying this, doesn't your homelab (or rather, Labhome) use 240v?
How'd you manage that if 120v is going to your home?
Appreciate you taking the time to explain the setup. Was curious what the estimate is for how long the house could run off grid on battery and if there were any plans to expand the battery system. :)
I was talking with my father about micro inverters, what happens if they get fried? Wouldnt they make the repair alot more complicated especially on a roof install?