I would look at taking equal length positive and negative wires with one off top battery and one off bottom battery. This will help equalize battery draw and charging across the bank. Nice system!
You're actually the 3rd person suggesting this. I will inquire as to why the solar installer made the connections in simple parallel. Thank you for your input.
you really should fix this. the top battery will do all the work with the other two acting more like slaves. move one of the inverter leads to the bottom battery to make them all work together.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve The other option is to make one common positive and one common negative buss bar for all three units and then go to the inverter with those buss bars. the installer did it they way they did because it looks the cleanest and is the easiest and cheapest but is by no way correct. yes change it to one of these other options. nice video.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I did not think I could sit through a 45 min video, but I did. The information are practical and useful, and your presentation is captivating.
Thank you Meta, I really appreciate those kind words! I know it's long but I figured if someone is thinking about solar, 45 minutes to (hopefully) learn is a tiny investment. Bonus to those that stuck to the end, they got to see Brindy do a cameo. Thanks again!
Nice set up - one improvement you could do is use a water cylinder and immersion heater to use as a "dump load" so instead of the inverter winding down the solar input to 0 when your battery is charged (and thus wasting solar power you could be getting for free) it will just keep feeding solar to heat the water and give you nice free hot water!
Very coo.....hot idea! We don't have room for any type of heater in the cabin, thus the little tankless heater. I do feel that when the batteries are full (typically by 9AM) that I would like to do something with all the potential power. Maybe Ill buy a Tesla and never visit another gas station 🤪 Thanks for commenting Mr. B
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Well you could always house the tank in a shed or attic? It would solve the issue of your water heater taking 7kw as if the solar tank has already pre-heated up 200 litres of water to 40 -45 degrees then your 7kw water heater won't hardly need to do anything to get it to 50 - maybe give the water a 1kw top off on the way through! Worth thinking about as it's the proverbial 2 birds with 1 stone. ;)
@@MrButuz We don't have an attic or shed in the cabin but as soon as we swap the SA12k for a SA15k the tankless will be prefect. The MAX draw is 7k but once it heats up it then continues around 4k so really we could get by even without the SA15k.
Yes a water cylinder is a great idea for the dump load. Maybe build a small shed outside, looks like you have great building skills! You might want to adjust the temperature a bit higher to take advantage of the "free" heat and put a temperature regulator on the output to prevent any scalding. Instantaneous Water heaters are not the best solution with solar or batteries.
I noticed that there was a fair amount of space in the cupboard with the panels and the Sol-Ark. The footprint of that storage box should be enough for a slim water heater. Maybe not the perfect place, water + electric, but as you already have the tank less there, maybe it's not an issue. If you are definitely going ahead with your plan of building your own house and the cabin will be just for guests, then the guests aren't going to need all the storage room that you guys currently need. I like the idea of using the tankless as a backup, maybe think about switching it to the main house (as you clearly, understandably love it) and as a backup there, it will be difficult if not impossible to ever run out of hot water, no matter how many people are in the house! Good luck with your project and I appreciate your honest, open and quick response to comments. That's really helpful for all of us budding solar nuts!
Since seeing your video ive built a hell of a solar system for our off grid home. You and a few other guys videos gave me the confidence to do this and after being sick with cancer me and the wife needed a sure thing as far as power even if i get morw sick. Thanks for the videos and the ideas of making this possible. One day ill make a video to show what i have done following yall
Hey Matthew, that is super cool! I am not only thrilled for you, I am honored to be of some inspiration. Now you will be the one to inspire others. I hope your system gives you many, many great years! Yes, I would love to see a video showcasing what you accomplished one day. Happy 4th of July to you and the family!
The Battery subject. As I have read some of the comments about the way the battery is wired, I did not see anyone comment about the Aluminum terminals used for the wire attachment. If you are planning on staying with this you should use ferrules over the bare copper as it will interact with the aluminum. I ran into this making control panels for VFDs in the industrial sector. We were required to use ferrules to comply with UL. Those aluminum terminals can heat up and loosen over time due to way it expands and contracts with heat(high current times or heavy loads). Nice setup. Good luck.
one other small thing is that if he ran the negative lead from the bottom battery It would cause all of the batteries to flow from there rather than the top lead. hopefully the wire from the inverters would still be long enough not to cause excess resistance
Thank you for sharing this video. BTW to solve the issue at 6:10, the main POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE battery (DC) cable must be connected to one of the terminals of the bottom battery to eliminate unbalance discharging and charging current draw due to the resistance of the jumper cables (for battery paralleling). The bottom battery will get bit less voltage-current during charging and will last longer during discharging caused by the resistance of the jumper cables.
Hi Ricky, you're the 5th person to say this and it makes perfect sense. I'm going to inquire with the solar installer why this wasn't connected as such and will have it corrected. I greatly appreciate your input!
Hi, those are some BIG batteries. I would suggest that you use busbars which will DEFINITELY balance out the batteries and reduce the heat loss in the cables during charging and discharging. This is important with 5kw batteries, so with 7.5kw, I would say it's a must! Great video. Thanks.
@@simonpaine2347 Appreciate you man! Besides having the installers correct the balance issue we're having them swap the SA12k for a SA15k so endless hot water can flow and we can run all equipment at the same time without a problem.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve yes you're right but even though busbars are installed if not correctly wired/connected, balanced charging/discharging rate will not be achieved.
@@ricky786 100%! Lengths of Cable l and the lengths of the cables can become an art, but it's so important for safety and for getting the best out of the system and therefore the investment.
Hi, Great Video, But I wanted to correct you on a couple things you stated about Lifepo4 Cells. 1. They Do get hot and swell if they are used below the rated min voltage or over charged beyond the recommended 3.65v by the manufacturer. 2. They are not "sealed" so to speak, they all have vents in case they need to gas out if over charged, improperly used etc.. and the fumes are indeed toxic. The main safety of Lifepo4 is they will not catch fire or explode. When I say not sealed, I dont mean in the fact of a lead acid where you can open them etc. But to the point that they have a vent that is set to a particular pressure point to let out the gasses if the cell were to malfunction.
Definitely lifepo4s would get hot and swell under those conditions but the internal BMS would prevent that. I've been flying RC helicopters for 12 years and lipo batteries are scary. Even following perfect charge/discharge rates and cooling times they overheat and puff up after so many uses. Since I've been using lifepo4s I never had a problem. As for being sealed, makes sense they would have a safety for emergency venting. I would compare it to a gasoline engines freeze plugs, well, reversing cold and hot factors. I have to look at my smaller lifepo4 batteries and see where the emergency vents are since they appear as a solid plastic housing with glued seams.
@@hanalei412002 Morning H M There is one oak tree on the left which is currently bare. I'm going to cut it down before Spring because it would create shade later in the day with leaves. Other than that, zero shade.
Hi nice setup. Suggest U use Equal length positive and negative cables to your inverter also run your positive line from the top of your batteries draw from the negative side on the bottom battery always use diagonal. I am in the process now of switching over to some EG4 batteries I just received yesterday to replace my outback nano carbon lead acid battery's after 5 years off grid inTN. Making a video now on the new battery rack cabinet and switching The factory installed bus bar so it can be used diagonally as they should be. Don't know why they do that anyway hope this helps.
Hey thanks alot for the info! When our solar installer comes to do the main house I'm going to ask why they connected the batteries the way they did. With my limited knowledge on technical solar, I thought connecting the batteries in parallel was sufficient. Can't wait to check out your videos. I've been kinda fascinated with solar since it's inception.
May I suggest connecting one(either + or -) to the first battery and the opposite lead to the last battery so that you have as close to same length to the inverter as possible instead of number three having to go through more cable due to extra cable length between them. Sorry if you touched on this, I haven't finished the video yet. Also, more doggo. 🐕
Hello Joe! Yeah, I had a dozen comments on that one and I appreciate each one because I don't expect people to read all comments before posting. I will have the installer fix that issue and we're having the SA12k upgraded to a SA15k. Brindy says "tank u jo" I have a couple videos featuring her with more to come! Thank you for your time.
Very nice setup dude! Did you get a loan for the cost? How many years on the loan? I would like a solar system but not for a off grid but to reduce the electric bill. We run the A/C April- October up here in Ohio. Gas furnace for the winter. The gas bill is not too bad. Propane is the worst up here in Ohio as for cost. I have a metal roof i have got installed back in 2015 and i really like it. The loan was 3yrs/$6000 for a 1500 sq ft home. I do get alot of sun on most of the roof. I added a 20x10 covered screened in deck. That really cooled the kitchen sliding glass door side of the house. Now have been alot solar fields pop up in Ohio on the farmlands , we don't see a dime in savings on them. I do like solar systems on the homes. Don't get me started on wind turbines lol😂
Hello and good morning LLA! We didn't take a loan for the solar, it's paid in full. I like to say our electricity is free since we have no bill or loan but figuring it out, it will take about 9 years to break even. (versus if we had a monthly bill from the power company) Remember, after credits we only paid 19k for the 28k system. Would have cost 20k+ if we ran power lines and then we would be at the mercy of the power company. We are in a good situation because we sold our house in S Fl for over half a million and it was paid off. Bought that house 30 years ago and only paid 89k! Actually paid it off in 15 years so the bank didn't get much interest from me. That money is what's paying for our main house. Speaking of, it will of course also be solar and it's a 3/2 2000sq ft with central AC! Goes to show how solar is viable these days with all the amenities of an on grid home! As for the cabin, I solved the tankless water heater with a $8 flow valve (i made a video on it) and everything has been amazing since. A couple days ago I spoke to my buddy for 2 hrs, helping him figure out his grid tied system to install. He's doing the same as you, to supplement. Bonus for him living in S Fl, when the hurricanes blow power he will have the battery storage so no more noisy generator and storing 20 gallons of gas like he's currently doing. The generator can only run selective stuff and no AC but his solar system will run the entire house. With the tax credits now is a great time to install! Not many people in S Fl have propane, only in their bbq grills lol. I know it gets real expensive in northern states! Best thing to do is have a big tank like 500gal and fill it in the summer when prices are lowest. If you have any questions about solar email me at DukeTogo_13@hotmail.com I can give you my number at that point if you want to call and really get into details.
@@CRAZYBUILD349 Thank you C.B. very appreciated. Very cool you're into R.C. I've been fascinated with remote control since I was a youngster and have been flying 250 & 450 size helicopters for the last 15+ years. I think I'm going to get into boats next since I have a 1/4 acre pond on my property.
Very nice video. A friendly note. If you buy a heat pump water heater it will pull 360watts. I have one in my off grid house. I replaced the heat elements with 1500w elements so even if I use the normal heat elements it will not overload my inverters. $1700 for a water heat may scare you but it’s cheaper than upgrading to solark 15k.
I actually solved the tankless water heater issue so I don't have to upgrade the SolArk. I'm going to do a video on it because it can help others. Thank you for the heat pump info, that's a great idea for off grid for sure. Tankless isn't the best for pure solar but it is a viable option depending on the system you have. Lucky I made ours work and it's awesome.
The problem with your batteries is your SOL ARK is connect to the top battery on the POS and NEG terminals. So if you move the NEG cable down to the bottom battery you should be perfect.Don't forget to shut everything off first. Be careful.
Months ago I had the main technician fix the imbalance issue. He also updated the SolArk's software and everything has been great since. I solved the tankless water heater issue with an $8 flow control valve. (I made a video about it) Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!
Great Video, Thanks for sharing all these details. I'd also ask your installer about your DC conduit for the PV conductors. Once it's inside a home they should be using EMT conduits. Not to mention no Rapid shutdown? Off-grid I guess so no need to meet code to pass an inspection, but I think a licensed contractor should follow NEC Codes at a minimum. All in all, great looking system, Congrats!
Thank you for taking the time to comment, I do appreciate it. Not sure about the EMT conduit but it does have a rapid shutdown. The installer also came out and fixed the battery balance issue. I am super happy with the entire system.
Yup, it has the AUTO COOL DOWN mode pre set for the higher heat settings. ..... Funny, UA-cam isn't showing a lot of comments. I'm only seeing them by scrolling down myself so sorry if I miss something from you.
To get them even more balanced use a buss bar and connect each battery to ot with equal length cables. Run you power then fron the buss bar to the inverter. This way it will charge and discharge all 3 the same time.
To balance load of battery's, connect positive on top one and negative on bottom one. Connect also communication cables between battery's and inverter, to get same load and charge, extra info on inverter screen will show for battery's also.
If you're able to and you might want to look at adding a hot water tank as a solar energy dump this way it would help with the hot water. As it would only run when you had excess solar power. If you could somehow put it in line with the tankless in theory would keep a tankless from turning on unless absolutely required. Those hot water tanks can hold super hot water for a quite a long time
I actually solved the tankless hot water issue. Works perfect now and we can run everything at once without a problem. I'm going to do a video on it so maybe I can help others. Thank you for the suggestion though, I really appreciate it!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve I was also wondering about the solar calculator link as well? Great video, nice to hear about the balancing between wood heat and the heat pump setup through a cold snap/low solar period.
I would recommend anyone going with solar to install your own system. Not only will it save you tons of money but of and when you have a problem you know how to diagnose and fix especially off griders. It's really not that hard just do you research.
Get one of those small 20 gallon water heaters, its literally a supplemental battery for storing thermal energy. Right now you are putting way too much demand on that water heater especially if you want to take a shower right before bed. You could even use a timer for the waterheater, where you could have it be off late at night and use power when you first get your solar coming in early in the AM..
Unfortunately there's no room in the little cabin hence the tiny tankless. We love tankless water heaters and when we swap the SA12k for a SA15k all will be golden.
i love the idea of using timers, particularly in off-grid situations where the owner didn't go very overboard on the system capacity. really, a little bit more planning involved in how you will actually use things, to optimize (and economize) your system usage. the water heater is a perfect use of the excess energy (depending on your typical shower - hot water use schedule really), perfect if you did have a defined space to fit the water heater.
@@vhornwright5085 I solved the tankless water heater issue. I'm going to do a video on it because it may help others, off grid or not for those wanting a tankless water heater.
The reason why the top battery is first to discharge is because of how you connected your batteries. If you had a busbar which connects your batteries connect to instead of the cables to each other, then you will evenly discharge at the same across all your batteries. Also the other benefit of busbar is that batteries do not generate as much heat at the terminals.
Thanks for the info, first video I saw from your channel… I’ll check out other videos. Anyways, won’t Victron inverters be of better value or they cost more when compared to the 15KW inverter that gives you 12KW?. I understand they want headroom but they shouldn’t sell numbers they don’t provide.
Hello Fancy, I went with SolArk because the only reputable solar installer in the area (still an hour drive away) sells and warrantees SolArk. I'll have the 12K swapped for a 15K and then pair the existing 12K with another 12K (types must match) at the main house so it will be used and not sold at a loss. Two 15Ks would be overkill at the main house since we will have propane to run the cooktop and tankless propane water heater. Bonus, SolArk has been amazing for us.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Alright then, I understand. I just personally hate how they sell numbers that they don’t provide, that one doesn’t sit well with me but I understand why you want them. It’s all good.
5:36 Your connections are nice... but if you want an more even discharge your going to have to connect the + all the way to the bottom and the - stays at the top... of vice versa ...as you wish... and try to keep both cables the same lengt to the inverter ... but in the end thats nothing to worry about ...lots of other rack systems do it like this with buss bars at the side even ... so your ok ... Maybe just put some protection over the +- poles ...it is a high voltage system... so it is deadly yes ;....
Morning John. Yes, I did have the lead installer come over and he fixed the issue of balancing and did a software upgrade. Everything works great now. I also solved the tankless heater issue which I recently did a short video on. Thank you for taking the time to comment and add assistance!
Sorry. Lifepo4 stands for Lithium Iron Phosphate. Li = Lithium, Fe = Iron, Po = phosphate. Daisy chaining batteries is not ideal. Instal a busbar for positive and one for negative. The power distribution will be more even, and the wires will run cooler.
Yes, that's exactly what I said breaking down the periodic table for lifepo4. We are having the installers do that to balance out the batteries and at the same time having the SA12k upgraded to a SA15k. Thanks for watching Mark!
I had the lead installer come out a couple months ago. He did a software update to the SolArk and that solved the battery imbalance. I asked him about the "top negative to bottom positive" cable and he said this system wasn't designed that way. It's working great so I can't complain. Thanks for the suggestion though, it makes sense.
it draws the top one because it has the least resistance... and this means that 1 of the batteries (the top one in this case) would be cycling the most out of all 3 of them because it will be charging and releasing the charge more frequently to charge the bottom batteries and also it will be the first to be used when it discharges..... if all 3 batteries has a communication line, you can use it to connect to a computer/smart device/controller to adjust the bms to mitigate this by adjusting when the 1st and 2nd battery will release its charge automatically.... to mitigate it without the communication line, you just need to use a busbar to connect all 3 batteries before connecting to the inverter/charger unit.... make sure the length of wire from the busbar to the batteries are all the same length this will make all 3 batteries have almost the same resistance to the charger and inverter unit thus making it truly evenly using all 3 batteries at the same time... its all about the resistance
Thank you for taking the time to help and explain all of that, it totally makes sense. I didn't install the system, I choose all the equipment. It was installed by a solar installation company. I had the lead tech over (a couple months ago) to check everything and solve the imbalance issue. After a software update the batteries balance great now. I asked about what you and others mentioned and he said that's the way it's designed. Strange I know but the update fixed it. Thanks again Freaky D!
1kw/hr baseload roughly you got running your settup....you really could use 30kwh of batteries if you have no grid backup. That might buy you enough to get past most cloudy days if you dial back the consumption.
We've gone multiple times, 4 days without a hint of sun and never ran out. It's been a year and a half so far and it's been great! The only issue we had I fixed. The tankless water heater I talked about, solved it with an $8 flow control valve.
LoL! Hanwha Q Cells. German engineered PVs made in South Korea. I've had excellent service from everything made in South Korea so I expect the same from the panels. So far they are amazing. They don't fudge the numbers like most PV companies either. I've seen over 7K watts coming in and the panels are only rated at 6.02k watts!
Microwaves of that kind you seem to have here, do just on/off the magnetron (pulse heating) with on/off cycle matching the power rate. New inverter microwaves can modulate the power going to the magnetron for continuously reduced power consumption.
Cool, an inverter microwave is new to me. We love our little retro mirco in the cabin but for the main house I will certainly check out these inverter types, thank you!
Heating water with solar is so much more efficient through thermal solar, you can always supplement with the tankless heater. Plus it is on your roof, saving precious inside space. That could solve your inverter size problem.
I solved the tankless water heater with an $8 adjustable flow valve. (I made a video on it) Everything works perfect now. Thanks for your suggestion which otherwise would be a great solution.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve I will check that out. I really like your setup plus what an amazing price. I recently installed my own off grid system (3300W solar with 14.4kW battery bank) and am now focusing on water. Here in rural spain many people have solar thermal panels with tanks on their roofs. Thanks for the detailed tour. All the best!
thanks for sharing. would love to hear about your typical usage. how late do you stay up at night? typical usage after most of the solar charging has occurred? wood stove as primary heat source kept going during the day (when temp differential is large enough between in and out), or you just start it before bed time to carry through the night?
We run the cabin like we are on the grid, we just don't worry or try to conserve which is why we went a bit larger then some people would. Wife and I both work from home so we use more then two people would if they had jobs elsewhere (away for 9 hours a day with nothing running) Although the AC also does heat, we run the WBS on occasion just for fun. My wife saw the forecast for the upcoming 3 days of freezing temps / clouds so we knew to run the WBS during those evenings. I don't think record freezing and no sun for 3 days will happen here again for a long long time! Thank you for watching!
I would recommend a removable metal barrier between your hot water supply including fittings and your solarark+batteries, especially with sharkbite type fittings. You don't want water spraying on your system in case of a leak, nor pipe burst?
I actually thought about doing similar but the housing on the batteries offers protection from everything but a flood. The SA I believe is outdoor rated, I know the newer ones are. A great idea for sure Mark.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserveI just replaced my 40 gallon electric water heater in emergency. I would like to have a tankless. The SHARKBITE push-to- connect fittings I put on 15yrs ago never leaked. All the hard water up here in Ohio killed the Whirlpool heater I installed back in 2009. And I'm not using a well either.
@@lowlifeangler We LOVE our tankless water heater! Had one in S Fl for about 9 years till we moved and it was awesome! Got it after being tired buying a tank heater and having them rust and leak every 10 years! I did a lot of tankless water heater research and Rheem is excellent. Titan, like I have is the most efficient made. If you're running solar you need efficiency or you will quickly max out your inverters wattage draw! Yes, Sharkbite S.S. braided pipe is awesome! I used it in our old house and for those 7-8 years it was perfect, never leaked a drop!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Awesome! We to bring our cheap pop-up camper and stay a week at your homestead 😂. I haven't been that area of Florida. Been wanting to visit St. Marks state park. I think that south east from you.
@@lowlifeangler Not sure where St Marks is but I've been hitting Panama Citys "St Andrews State Park" fishing and it's an award winning beach. I feel like I'm in the Caribbean when there! If you are in the area we can go fishing together especially if you bring the kayak. Some gorgeous lakes here and the Chipola River is just "wow!" PS you can park your camper on The Preserve any time!
I recommend two upgrades. One more battery so you can have 28kw of battery storage. Second install a heat pump style water heater they would be more energy efficient than that tankless electric water heater that you currently have. And the heat pump water heater will not over load your inverter.
So far the three batteries have been sufficient and it's been a year and a half living here. Our main house is almost finished so having guests stay in the cabin for a few day or a week we definitely have enough storage. I installed an $8 flow valve on the shower head which solved the tankless heater problem. I simply dialed down the flow to around 1 GPM and it's working great. Draws around 3k and the temp is slightly over 100 degrees. I did a video on that if you're interested. What you suggested with the heat pump is great but luckily unnecessary for us.
I had the lead installer come out last month and he updated the software and fixed the battery balance problem, it's perfect now. This Saturday i'm posting a video on how I solved the tankless hot water issue. It can help others with tankless whether electric or propane.
Also if those lugs on the batteries are aluminum and the wires are copper they need No ox (Corrosion preventer) on the connections so they don't corrode and impede electrical flow. Aluminum gets that light oxidation coating fast!!
I live completely off-grid myself up here in Northwest Ohio but my panels are ground level on a stand so I can get to them when it snows or any other issues they may have.
Awesome. Love it. I have off grid in Utah 5F to 105F temps snow etc. and 9 days of clouds at a time in winter. Aside from other peoples notes to change your battery wiring to be more balanced. You should have at least one more battery and add the additional solar panels. When the sun does come out in the winter, you need the solar panels available to get that charging fast. The extra batteries for longer cloudy days because you have such an electric-based house. More insulation or improved insulation would also help reduce the electric heat requirements. All looks really cool though love it.
Morning Rick, thank you for watching and your comments. If we lived in the cabin permanently the extra battery and panels may be necessary but so far it's not. We're just living here until the main house is built. Funny, one semi rude guy said I was already ridiculously over solared HaHa! The cabin is a mid 2021 build so it has the latest spray foam and insulation goodies. There's no attic so nothing there to be additionally foamed either. It's amazing how well it keeps our temps in and outside temps out! The double pane impact resistant windows help greatly in that regard. I'm going to contact the installer this week and have them do a proper balance connection as you and others have mentioned. Thanks again, I do appreciate your time!
for their usage, they likely don't need any more solar panels in reality. if all batteries are topped up by 9 am the next day, there's not problem there. and extra battery for the storage, for the event like 3 days with low sun- low solar input, and more heating load. this is different in every scenario really... different people use power in different ways. example; i am more of a night person, so more power usage up until midnight really. that may just mean 50 watts in lighting, 1500 watts for 5 minutes for a kettle, 1500 watts for 3 minutes for microwave popcorn, opening the fridge a few more times for things, so an added cycle for the fridge compressor - say 1000 watts for 10 minutes, 1000 watts for 5 hours for the tv in the background, 240 watts for 5 hours for laptop charger, washing your hands or dishes - hot water usage, so on and so forth... also consideration of other equipment as in tools etc, depending on your hobbies or work - lifestyle. I would require more battery storage in that situation, and especially considering a colder ambient temperature outside being in Canada here (southern Ontario, not the midwest to be fair, no constant -30 deg C temps),
@@berettaboi 100% spot on! Everyone uses power differently so everyone's setup is relevant to their requirements. We went a bit on the high end so we wouldn't have to worry based on our use and equipment. Plus it's smart to go a bit over to cover any future degradation of batteries and PV output.
Great question. We do have a Honda generator we used in South Florida during power outages like hurricanes. Pretty sure it can be linked to the SolArk as it's 60Hz but we don't have the needed hardware attached. Since it's just a cabin for guests (the main house is almost finished) I'm not worried about the batteries running down. We've gone a max of 3 1/2 days without seeing the sun on several occasions and still had a bit of power remaining so it's just not a concern. After solving the tankless water heater issue (i did a video on it) all has been amazing.
Hey, just dropping a note if you haven't bought your second Sol-Ark yet, you might want to check out the 18KPV inverter and its little brothers at Signature Solar. Basically a clone of Sol-Ark but a lot cheaper.
@@lbroome Why hello there! Our main house will be finished next week, they are knocking out the punch list items now. The solar was installed and inspected a few months ago and it's amazing. We have 22 Canadian Solar "all black" 400 watt panels, 4 Life Power 7.5k batteries (same as the cabin but 4 of them instead of 3) and a Sol-Ark 15k. No tankless water heater because it would require a second inverter. A Rheem 60 gal tank is in the corner of the 3 car garage. The house is 2,000 sq ft under central air with soft start motor. We are very excited to move in soon. Thank you for checking in with me and the suggestion.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Wow, that's good to hear. That 60 gallon tank is a good idea with all those panels, free hot water! Sounds like you are all set!
And THEN..U can install maybe 400ft long 8ft deep 4"diameter Sched.20 pvc pipe loop grid circulating antifreeze through a CAR radiator & fan setup..two radiators better..for the 50 to 60-ish°F ground temps. Then whatever else u now have is only for supplement Just needs modest circulating pump..no power-gobbling compressor!
When the batteries are nearly full, they aren't topped off slowly to persevere the battery, that's just the nature of the cells. When the cells are 98% full, it takes time for the electrons to find a spot. Think of it like going to a movie theater. When it's almost empty, you find a seat instantly. When only 2 seats are left, it takes some time.
The reliability of grid power comes from there being several generators and several separate transmission routes available to get power to your meter. The problem with solar is that you have one supply (your panels) and one inverter. Assume that winter will bring some 1% solar days and you could well be solar free for three days so you will need a second or third source of electricity and fuel for it... Given a south facing roof there is no reason not to fill it with solar panels so that you still make power on poor sun days...
Can't handle this any longer, people keep getting it wrong. Watt is an INTENSITY measure. It shows how intensive energy flows. With other words, it is performance. Energy stored is an EXTENSIVE measure. Its real unit of measure is Joule, but for the sake of simplicity you can also use Watt-hours (Wh). When you say your battery is 18kW it does not show how big it is, it shows how high performance it can support. If you want to talk about amount of energy it is Watt.hours (Wh).
I’m surprised that you don’t have some type of plastic cover over the battery cable ends and terminals for safety. I know you have this in a cabinet but if you are working on one battery, you could touch a terminal with something metal.
Never heard of these batteries before, I’ll have to look into them to see why they were chosen! By the way, what was the overall cost of your system, since it wasn’t a DIY ? 🖖
Talked about cost near the end of the video. Would of cost over 20k just to run power to the cabin. Paid 19k after receiving 9k refund on 2022 taxes so cheaper than the electric company and we'll never have a bill.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve That’s actually a good price considering DIY, I built my own, but made enough mistakes that it cost me almost 20 K! But I did learn a lot! I started with 3000 W inverter, 24 V system and realized that I should’ve went with 48 V. 6.5 K PV. I just basically run my dryer on the grid and then go back off grid. Every other appliance is geared towards 120 V. I learned I could do with 5000 W inverter and 14k of battery. I think the key to have a smaller system is to have a good heating alternative. Things like woodstove, diesel heater, propane. You basically only need this kind of stuff for three months out of the year. 🖖
@@simon359 It actually wasn't DIY, I wish I was that skilled! Yes, I totally agree with everything you said. For us though, even if we had a garage to keep a tank water heater we still would of gone tankless. We got spoiled in our last home with one for the last 9 years. The main house will have propane for the cook top and the tankless propane water heater.
Point of contention. Sol-Arks are designed in Texas but made under contract in China by Deye. Sunsyk, Sol-ark and Deye are all made in the same factory. I have 2 Sol-ark 12ks and love them..
Yup and the wifi support currently comes from China. Rumor that will be changed to Texas but our SolArk is NOT wifi connected so no matter what I don't worry about it. Were swapping the SA12k for a SA15k in the cabin then pairing that SA12 with another for the main house. Thank you for your helpful information!
Yes they are working on moving it to Azure or some cloud service here in the US. You know you can use Solar Assistant to monitor it locally also right?
Hello J.R. The battery company is LIFEPOWER and the addy is as follows. lifepower.solar/our-products/ Mine are the PRO model. The SolArks are made in China and sold through a Texas based, veteran owned company which covers the warrantee. Word on the street is SA is going to expand production to Texas but I doubt that will happen. We love the entire system so much we're using the same equipment for the main house. Only difference is more of everything and a SolArk 15k instead of the 12k.
Yup, Ftlaud911 and you are both correct. I had the lead solar tech come over a few months ago. He updated the SolArk software and fixed the battery imbalance. I solved the tankless water heater issue with a flow control valve which I did a video on. Everything is working perfect now and we are extremely happy. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
It draws more from the top battery because that is the shortest route. You should have connected either the - or + to the lowest battery...... and now I see the other comments on that ;-)
That is a ridiculously large system for a cabin. I run 1.5k of solar into 4.4k of battery for 3 days just fine. I also heat with wood and have gas appliances. My on demand heater will run for weeks on a 20 pound propane tank and so does my full size oven.
We don't have propane, pure electric here, hence the system we have is perfect. Simply drying one full load of clothes (4.5k draw for 50 mins) would drain your batteries dead. Our main house will have a 500 gal propane tank to run the tankless water heater and cooktop, just not necessary here.
Driver A drives a rusty Honda civic hatchback to the Food Lion and driver B drives a shiney Ford F250 …they both work at the local mill. … they both went and got 3 bags of groceries…drove the same distance and they both took their wife and one kid. Whose to say one was driving a ridiculously over sized vehicle to go get groceries… ? One guy looked like he was living life with vision and the other looked like a broke college kid… This solar install was done by a motivated young ,white American male achieving something most people never do…….a dream perhaps….that’s what we do and have done for a few hundred years..support his spirit and achievements don’t criticize his choice to excell…..much of this country and the world hates his type nowdays… we are the only group of people alive that don’t support our own kind and our way of life….that’s why we’re seeing the country’s demise…….shame on us……….! I say bravo to him….good job guy….👍
all depends on the usage needs. this is a live in, electric dependent (with wood stove as main heat i suppose) with all the comforts. washing machine with dryer? in a typical cabin situation, you might not even have a washer, but use clothesline to dry outside. ductless split a/c/heat? that's pretty new fancy tech for a cabin, if multi-season, most likely a wood stove only, or space heaters. likely would be a propane stove or simply a bbq for a basic cabin cooking needs. i have a propane fireplace in a poorly/partially insulated 500 sq foot cabin, and i have burned through a 20 lb propane tank in a few weekends just keeping heat overnight with outside temps near freezing. 1 lb per hour of use is pretty typical round about rate honestly, obviously depends on how many BTUs ultimately, high fire, low fire.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve I think you are missing my point. Certain electric appliances are extremely inefficient like any electric heating appliance. You are not homesteading you are glamping. No homesteader has $100k for a solar electric system.
@@rocktech7144 You're right, the system didn't cost us 100K, it only cost us 19K and we will never have an electric bill, water bill OR a propane bill on it. Did you even pay attention to the video? It would of cost MORE THAN 20K just to run electric to the cabin. OK, time to do some glamping!
Definitely within reason. Batteries are by far the most expensive part of the system. Mine were like $5,000 each (less after tax credits) On a sunny day we are typically fully charged by 10am and then we have all this POTENTIAL solar with no place to store it. So instead of getting a gas powered UTV we're getting an electric one. One less product relying on petro and we can take advantage of all this extra, free power.
Doing research on PVs in 2021 and 2022 Panasonic made the most efficient and reliable products, plus they had one of the best warranties. No wonder Tesla used (don't know if they still do) Panasonic PV's for their flat solar tiles and the Tesla Powerwall is actually made by Panasonic, it's a rebadged "Evervolt."
Interesting - Google searching doesnt even show any half decent Panasonic PV panels that I can see and states that the Powerwall is made in Nevada. Evervolt seems to come out of India. @@HomesteadOnThePreserve
There's one Black Oak that is on the left side. I'm actually going to remove it next week because it'll start to leaf. Plus, I don't want branches falling on the PVs.
Only if there was not enough space on the roof which we have plenty. Since the panels / mounts are rated to a category 4 hurricane the roof is the best spot and look cool too.
Another great question. A larger inverter, in my case the SolArk 15K would not require more panels. The larger inverter would allow me to draw a maximum of 12K watts at once instead of 9K. This extra draw is sometimes (but rarely) required when taking a shower due to the massive draw of the tankless water heater. (can't run lots of stuff at once while taking a shower) If we had the typical TANK water heater the SA15K would be pointless. The solar panels have to match up with the batteries not the inverter TO A POINT. Meaning if I was running a little inverter that can only draw say 4k max then I would be limited on what I could run and that would mean I wouldn't need as much panels and batteries since my "load" is small.
Great question and I actually mentioned that before editing down my video. Initially it was 60 minutes but I thought I was getting to technical and lengthy so edits were called upon. The Sol Ark 12K idols at 60 watts and I believe 75 when the cooling fans are spinning.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve that's not bad at all I have two of those 24v 3000 watt cheap Chinese all in-one inverter chargers with built-in Mppt solar charging they both idol at around 35-40 watts each but they run great though each one also has a Victron Smart charge controller running with it so I can monitor everything on my phone via Bluetooth
@@diysolaradventures7894 Hey that's cool! A lot of people are hostile about Chinese products but not all are bad. Although we would love for everything to be made here in America, bottom line, if they do what they're supposed to and LAST then mission accomplished!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve right and I like the fact that they are affordable though each one of my inverter/chargers cost only $500 and that's not bad for a 3000 watt all-in-one within Mppt 80 amps of solar charging
I am replying in realtime here, so bear with me. You should ditch the tankless electric, and install a hybrid electric water heater, runs on about 500 watts and stores around 40gal of hot water.
Great idea but there's no room in the little cabin, thus we went with the tiny tankless. (plus I'd never trust a tank INSIDE a house) We're going to swap the SA12k with a SA15k to reach perfection. We will then pair that 12k with another 12k in the main house. Thanks for watching Michael!
Some say when you daze chain them together you should pull one off the top and other off the bottom. Most pull red + off top and black - off the bottom. They feel the power goes through all batties like that. I use a bus bar each battery has it's own cables. Does it matter who knows. If you not having trouble who cares.
@@roberrbush5446 Product manager came to our cabin. He ran a diagnostic and then a calibration. He did not do the "negative to positive" cable as everyone is suggesting. He said it's not designed that way. The batteries are balancing perfectly now, we are very happy!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Software I don't know if I believe in that is the best I run my batties to a bus all cables the same and pulling off the middle of it. Works great is that why did I just get lucky who knows. Some that more 168.000 miles a sec. Does 2 inch. make a diffrents I don't think so for me it is wire size and connection points Keep them from getting hot .Heat is lost power. just my 2 cent. Thanks Love your system can't want to see your big system.
@@roberrbush5446 The big system will be very similar. 18 Q-Cell 430w panels (instead of 14) and 4 7.5kw lifepo4 batteries (instead of 3) and a SolArk 15k (instead of SA12k) We are very excited for the new build, we signed the contract several weeks ago.
I'm not sure why the system was throttling back the solar panels when the batteries were only at 53.6%? When you put the dryer on, the panels kicked in, seems like a programming / setting issue. Surely you need to charge the batteries whenever they get that low and there's solar available?
The batteries were like 98% full at that time, they were just getting topped off. I am having the installers come out to fix the battery balancing issue. Thanks to the commenters for making me aware of that and how to fix it. Thanks for watching Simon!
Great question. Initially we were but decided we didn't want to be reliant on any product or service. Propane means constant filling and constant $$. After solving the tankless water heater issue (I made a video on it) everything has been flawless and unless something breaks, it's all free. Our main house will also be 100% solar and that's going to run central AC. A soft start compressor is the key there.
Yeah, my original plan was to supplement with a wind turbine but the solar has been flawless. Any additions to the solar or supplementation of power would be a waste of money and resources.
Hello, Thanks for the info I learned a lot from you. If you could help me on my system I would appreciate. I have 8 Panels each 350watt mono, I bracketed them in 4 and 4 in 2 lines or rows due to the space, I do have combine box with 4 and 4 fuses and breaker etc, happy to share images, then down stair in a cupboard a 8 batteries of 150amp gel 3000 deep cycle which would connect to STECA SOLARIX PLI 5000-48 INVERTER HYBRID INVERTER- indicated 80amp, no controller needed I hope. I can tackle the battery connection in Parallel etc, but connecting the panels so they dont go over the 48 invertor is my problem. 4 panels lined up 350 watt each and another row 4 panel 350Watt, Pls could you help. And how this would go to the combine box, I assume I have 4 positive fused and 4 negative. I understand I ask big fever, but would appreciate if you could help, I got 160amp fuse for solar wire before it get into the invertor, One point to consider my system is not high tech like yours, Thanks in advance Alex
Morning Alex, I wish I could help you but I'm not familiar with the installation of solar, I paid for my install. I have the knowledge of how everything works and functions together but not the assembly. I suggest you EDIT what you wrote to me so you can COPY the message and ask someone on UA-cam that does solar installation like David Poz. He's a friendly and very knowledgeable guy. Sorry I couldn't be of more help and I hope you get everything sorted out. Take it easy, Clyde.
You have the batteries wired incorrectly. The negative and positive needs to be at opposite ends to pull power equally through the cells in a balanced manor.
The BMS does NOT shut the battery down at 20%. They shut it down at close to zero %. You programme your inverter (if you have a decent modern one) to shut it down at 20%. But the LiFePo batteries show almost full until very low. Unless you have an amp sensing device that can test the actual remaining amount of charge (doesn’t exist) without disconnecting it and doing a load test, which still isn’t all that accurate. All this “state of charge” measuring talk is Bally-hoo. There is no accurate way to measure the electric power left in a battery, period. Not that you cannot roughly estimate it, but there is no way to read the amp hours remaining. Only the voltage and the amps it can still put out under a load. Just try looking at your state of charge indicator(s), and then see what the total draw is with all your devices being used, and then see how long before the inverter, or the BMS, shuts it down. You will find, as I have, that there are so many variables in the draw to devices, like temperature for one, that there is no accurate devices available that will tell you how long you can run x amount of draw off a x amount of charge. And yet, though they do mention often that voltage is an estimate, no one will flat come out and say there is no accurate measurement of amp hours left, or if the battery is really at 90%, or 100% etc. . Good luck to all, I finally have, after two years of intense study, building on a very good electrical background, figured out all the pertinent ins and outs of solar electric power. And the products that are available to institute that. Two very different fields of study.
Good morning Bowen. Yes, the SolArk is programmed to shut down the batteries at what it preceves is 20% remaining capacity. That number would give me around 18k of usable watts. I have never run dry on power and we recently had another 3 days of solid clouds. On day 4 we were a bit low but the sun was showing and by around 1pm all batteries were back at full charge. A few months the lead tech guy come over and updated the SolArk software and fixed the battery imbalance issue. (I solved the tankless water heater problem with a control valve which I made a video on) Everything is working flawless now and the system is amazing. I'm not a solar guy but I've always loved the technology. You're obviously extremely knowledgeable and if you do solar videos I'll definitely check them out. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
if I were going to do this I would do a few things differently. Would use a solar thermal heater for the water as a drain back system.. So no more 7kw water heater. I would look at using a water to water heat exchanger heat pump smallest one that i could find to do radiant heat picking up extra heat from the thermal heater or possibly just expanding the themal system large enough to run radiant heat also. I would consider putting in rain water collection as it is pretty much just a matter of filtraton. even with storage tanks the cost and running cost of a well would be much reduced Looking at your windows would place more on the south face to add to solar heat gain during the winter. Just my two cents
I solved the tankless water heater issue with an $8 part. I made a video on it to help others. Being over a year now living with solar it's been absolutely amazing!
@@stevepailet8258 Thanks but I already solved it with a flow control valve. It's only drawing 3 - 3.5k watts now and heats the water to around 106 degrees!
Instant hot water is terrible for offgrid. Large tank is the way. Use it as a dump load from panels when battery is full. Having 500 litres of hot water will last you a long time.
Amount of panels only dictates the rate the batteries can get charged. Let's say I only had 4 panels, it would take almost 4 times as long to charge the batteries but the draw of 9k stays the same. Only correlation would be drawing directly from the panels instead of the batteries (or less draw from the batteries) Example: If i need 4.5k to run the clothes dryer and my panels are taking in 3k at that time then only 1.5k would come out of the batteries.
I've been pushing the SolArk and discovered it never trips under 9.5k watt draw and sometimes hits 10k before it pops it's breaker. Not the 12k it SHOULD be but 9.5 to 10 is pretty darn good.
Those batteries should be charged at the same time. Daisy chain has to send the charge into the first one which send to the second and the second sends to the third so again you are using up cycles way faster than you should be. I use 52-60 cycles a year but I have a 58kw battery bank, 51kw usable since I leave about 9% top and 10% bottom. My batteries should out live me which is around 40 years. Lithium breaks down at different rates depending how much C is charged or discharged and temperature also is a factor. My basement never goes over 70F summer and under 50F winter.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve ask them if they know the difference between daisy chaining batteries and each battery to a busbar. I say this because they will say they followed the manufacturers advise. I bet they do and they can change it for an amount of money at your cost.
I just saw a heat pump clothes dryer that uses a lot less power, maybe you can check it out. Btw, my brother in the Philippines, just had a 7.5 kwh system with two 10.5 kwh LiFePO4 battery pack, all made in China. It cost him US$ 9,250.
Wow great price! Did that include the install? I solved the tankless water heater issue and did a video on it if you want to check it out. It works perfectly now and the draw is only around 3k watts.
I will add 2 more 5k inverters. But then I need more solar. I have 9400 watts now and want 18kw of solar Then I also need to add another set of batteries so another $15,000 or so to do this myself.
I actually solved the problem and we can now run everything (including the clothes dryer) while taking a hot shower without issue. I'm going to do a video to demonstrate a tankless electric can be totally viable with solar. Thank you for taking the time to comment and watch our video!
I got rid of our tankless water heater and went back to a large tank and use it for our dump load so the inverter puts all excess power once batteries are charged into the tank heater and charges the car
We went tankless not only because we love them, there's no garage to store a tank. Won't put one inside the cabin because they leak every 10 years. (main house will have a garage & tank heater) I did solve the tankless issue and just posted the video if you want to check it out.
When people make a solar system and when they show a video of the panels being shaded.
Now, you have trimmed the trees. Thanks for your prompt reply.
You are correct sir and I since cut the trees that where creating the shade.
I would look at taking equal length positive and negative wires with one off top battery and one off bottom battery. This will help equalize battery draw and charging across the bank. Nice system!
You're actually the 3rd person suggesting this. I will inquire as to why the solar installer made the connections in simple parallel.
Thank you for your input.
you really should fix this. the top battery will do all the work with the other two acting more like slaves. move one of the inverter leads to the bottom battery to make them all work together.
@@sNEAKYnIGHTmUPPET Yup, definitely going to do that, makes perfect sense.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve The other option is to make one common positive and one common negative buss bar for all three units and then go to the inverter with those buss bars. the installer did it they way they did because it looks the cleanest and is the easiest and cheapest but is by no way correct. yes change it to one of these other options. nice video.
@@lukefarmer5391 Appreciate your time helping out a stranger!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I did not think I could sit through a 45 min video, but I did. The information are practical and useful, and your presentation is captivating.
Thank you Meta, I really appreciate those kind words! I know it's long but I figured if someone is thinking about solar, 45 minutes to (hopefully) learn is a tiny investment. Bonus to those that stuck to the end, they got to see Brindy do a cameo.
Thanks again!
Nice set up - one improvement you could do is use a water cylinder and immersion heater to use as a "dump load" so instead of the inverter winding down the solar input to 0 when your battery is charged (and thus wasting solar power you could be getting for free) it will just keep feeding solar to heat the water and give you nice free hot water!
Very coo.....hot idea!
We don't have room for any type of heater in the cabin, thus the little tankless heater. I do feel that when the batteries are full (typically by 9AM) that I would like to do something with all the potential power. Maybe Ill buy a Tesla and never visit another gas station 🤪
Thanks for commenting Mr. B
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Well you could always house the tank in a shed or attic? It would solve the issue of your water heater taking 7kw as if the solar tank has already pre-heated up 200 litres of water to 40 -45 degrees then your 7kw water heater won't hardly need to do anything to get it to 50 - maybe give the water a 1kw top off on the way through! Worth thinking about as it's the proverbial 2 birds with 1 stone. ;)
@@MrButuz We don't have an attic or shed in the cabin but as soon as we swap the SA12k for a SA15k the tankless will be prefect. The MAX draw is 7k but once it heats up it then continues around 4k so really we could get by even without the SA15k.
Yes a water cylinder is a great idea for the dump load. Maybe build a small shed outside, looks like you have great building skills! You might want to adjust the temperature a bit higher to take advantage of the "free" heat and put a temperature regulator on the output to prevent any scalding.
Instantaneous Water heaters are not the best solution with solar or batteries.
I noticed that there was a fair amount of space in the cupboard with the panels and the Sol-Ark. The footprint of that storage box should be enough for a slim water heater. Maybe not the perfect place, water + electric, but as you already have the tank less there, maybe it's not an issue.
If you are definitely going ahead with your plan of building your own house and the cabin will be just for guests, then the guests aren't going to need all the storage room that you guys currently need. I like the idea of using the tankless as a backup, maybe think about switching it to the main house (as you clearly, understandably love it) and as a backup there, it will be difficult if not impossible to ever run out of hot water, no matter how many people are in the house!
Good luck with your project and I appreciate your honest, open and quick response to comments. That's really helpful for all of us budding solar nuts!
Since seeing your video ive built a hell of a solar system for our off grid home. You and a few other guys videos gave me the confidence to do this and after being sick with cancer me and the wife needed a sure thing as far as power even if i get morw sick. Thanks for the videos and the ideas of making this possible. One day ill make a video to show what i have done following yall
Hey Matthew, that is super cool! I am not only thrilled for you, I am honored to be of some inspiration. Now you will be the one to inspire others.
I hope your system gives you many, many great years!
Yes, I would love to see a video showcasing what you accomplished one day.
Happy 4th of July to you and the family!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve one of the unexpected great things of this solar adventure is meeting like minded good people. 👍
The Battery subject. As I have read some of the comments about the way the battery is wired, I did not see anyone comment about the Aluminum terminals used for the wire attachment. If you are planning on staying with this you should use ferrules over the bare copper as it will interact with the aluminum. I ran into this making control panels for VFDs in the industrial sector. We were required to use ferrules to comply with UL. Those aluminum terminals can heat up and loosen over time due to way it expands and contracts with heat(high current times or heavy loads).
Nice setup. Good luck.
one other small thing is that if he ran the negative lead from the bottom battery It would cause all of the batteries to flow from there rather than the top lead. hopefully the wire from the inverters would still be long enough not to cause excess resistance
Thank you for sharing this video. BTW to solve the issue at 6:10, the main POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE battery (DC) cable must be connected to one of the terminals of the bottom battery to eliminate unbalance discharging and charging current draw due to the resistance of the jumper cables (for battery paralleling). The bottom battery will get bit less voltage-current during charging and will last longer during discharging caused by the resistance of the jumper cables.
Hi Ricky, you're the 5th person to say this and it makes perfect sense. I'm going to inquire with the solar installer why this wasn't connected as such and will have it corrected. I greatly appreciate your input!
Hi, those are some BIG batteries. I would suggest that you use busbars which will DEFINITELY balance out the batteries and reduce the heat loss in the cables during charging and discharging. This is important with 5kw batteries, so with 7.5kw, I would say it's a must!
Great video. Thanks.
@@simonpaine2347 Appreciate you man!
Besides having the installers correct the balance issue we're having them swap the SA12k for a SA15k so endless hot water can flow and we can run all equipment at the same time without a problem.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve yes you're right but even though busbars are installed if not correctly wired/connected, balanced charging/discharging rate will not be achieved.
@@ricky786 100%! Lengths of Cable l and the lengths of the cables can become an art, but it's so important for safety and for getting the best out of the system and therefore the investment.
Hi, Great Video, But I wanted to correct you on a couple things you stated about Lifepo4 Cells. 1. They Do get hot and swell if they are used below the rated min voltage or over charged beyond the recommended 3.65v by the manufacturer. 2. They are not "sealed" so to speak, they all have vents in case they need to gas out if over charged, improperly used etc.. and the fumes are indeed toxic. The main safety of Lifepo4 is they will not catch fire or explode. When I say not sealed, I dont mean in the fact of a lead acid where you can open them etc. But to the point that they have a vent that is set to a particular pressure point to let out the gasses if the cell were to malfunction.
Definitely lifepo4s would get hot and swell under those conditions but the internal BMS would prevent that. I've been flying RC helicopters for 12 years and lipo batteries are scary. Even following perfect charge/discharge rates and cooling times they overheat and puff up after so many uses. Since I've been using lifepo4s I never had a problem.
As for being sealed, makes sense they would have a safety for emergency venting. I would compare it to a gasoline engines freeze plugs, well, reversing cold and hot factors. I have to look at my smaller lifepo4 batteries and see where the emergency vents are since they appear as a solid plastic housing with glued seams.
This is the best solar setup i've seen,very neat.
Well done and thanks for showing.
Thank you Mando!
you don't think the shade will take away from the install?
@@hanalei412002 Morning H M
There is one oak tree on the left which is currently bare. I'm going to cut it down before Spring because it would create shade later in the day with leaves. Other than that, zero shade.
In Serbian : Odlicna prezentacija i izbor opreme. Sve objasnjeno jednostavno i lako prihvatljivo. Bravo i HVALA
I know the word BRAVO so I'll take a chance and give you a big THUMBS UP!
You have a great system. I’m glad it is working well for you.
Thank you sir, appreciated. I solved the tankless water heater issue with an $8 adjustable flow valve and the system has been amazing since!
That was a nice review. I'm glad you got the Sol-Ark even though their rating methods may be a little questionable. You have a great system!
Thank you Larry, I really appreciate it!
Hi nice setup. Suggest U use Equal length positive and negative cables to your inverter also run your positive line from the top of your batteries draw from the negative side on the bottom battery always use diagonal. I am in the process now of switching over to some EG4 batteries I just received yesterday to replace my outback nano carbon lead acid battery's after 5 years off grid inTN. Making a video now on the new battery rack cabinet and switching The factory installed bus bar so it can be used diagonally as they should be. Don't know why they do that anyway hope this helps.
Hey thanks alot for the info! When our solar installer comes to do the main house I'm going to ask why they connected the batteries the way they did. With my limited knowledge on technical solar, I thought connecting the batteries in parallel was sufficient.
Can't wait to check out your videos. I've been kinda fascinated with solar since it's inception.
@@ktube4848 Very curious their reason for the parallel connection, I will inquire.
Best solar video I've seen...complete explanation...👍
Thank you David, I really appreciate that.
May I suggest connecting one(either + or -) to the first battery and the opposite lead to the last battery so that you have as close to same length to the inverter as possible instead of number three having to go through more cable due to extra cable length between them. Sorry if you touched on this, I haven't finished the video yet.
Also, more doggo. 🐕
Hello Joe!
Yeah, I had a dozen comments on that one and I appreciate each one because I don't expect people to read all comments before posting. I will have the installer fix that issue and we're having the SA12k upgraded to a SA15k.
Brindy says "tank u jo"
I have a couple videos featuring her with more to come!
Thank you for your time.
BTW, stick around (or skip) to the end of my videos, Brindy usually does a cameo!
Very nice setup dude! Did you get a loan for the cost? How many years on the loan? I would like a solar system but not for a off grid but to reduce the electric bill. We run the A/C April- October up here in Ohio. Gas furnace for the winter. The gas bill is not too bad. Propane is the worst up here in Ohio as for cost.
I have a metal roof i have got installed back in 2015 and i really like it. The loan was 3yrs/$6000 for a 1500 sq ft home. I do get alot of sun on most of the roof. I added a 20x10 covered screened in deck. That really cooled the kitchen sliding glass door side of the house. Now have been alot solar fields pop up in Ohio on the farmlands , we don't see a dime in savings on them. I do like solar systems on the homes. Don't get me started on wind turbines lol😂
Hello and good morning LLA!
We didn't take a loan for the solar, it's paid in full. I like to say our electricity is free since we have no bill or loan but figuring it out, it will take about 9 years to break even. (versus if we had a monthly bill from the power company) Remember, after credits we only paid 19k for the 28k system. Would have cost 20k+ if we ran power lines and then we would be at the mercy of the power company. We are in a good situation because we sold our house in S Fl for over half a million and it was paid off. Bought that house 30 years ago and only paid 89k! Actually paid it off in 15 years so the bank didn't get much interest from me. That money is what's paying for our main house. Speaking of, it will of course also be solar and it's a 3/2 2000sq ft with central AC! Goes to show how solar is viable these days with all the amenities of an on grid home!
As for the cabin, I solved the tankless water heater with a $8 flow valve (i made a video on it) and everything has been amazing since.
A couple days ago I spoke to my buddy for 2 hrs, helping him figure out his grid tied system to install. He's doing the same as you, to supplement. Bonus for him living in S Fl, when the hurricanes blow power he will have the battery storage so no more noisy generator and storing 20 gallons of gas like he's currently doing. The generator can only run selective stuff and no AC but his solar system will run the entire house. With the tax credits now is a great time to install! Not many people in S Fl have propane, only in their bbq grills lol. I know it gets real expensive in northern states! Best thing to do is have a big tank like 500gal and fill it in the summer when prices are lowest.
If you have any questions about solar email me at DukeTogo_13@hotmail.com I can give you my number at that point if you want to call and really get into details.
Wow your channel really took off !! Good luck man !!
Apparently people love solar which is totally cool.
Hope they love Chupacobras as well!
great infomation,,very nice setup you have,,,
@@CRAZYBUILD349 Thank you C.B. very appreciated.
Very cool you're into R.C. I've been fascinated with remote control since I was a youngster and have been flying 250 & 450 size helicopters for the last 15+ years. I think I'm going to get into boats next since I have a 1/4 acre pond on my property.
Very nice video. A friendly note. If you buy a heat pump water heater it will pull 360watts. I have one in my off grid house. I replaced the heat elements with 1500w elements so even if I use the normal heat elements it will not overload my inverters. $1700 for a water heat may scare you but it’s cheaper than upgrading to solark 15k.
I actually solved the tankless water heater issue so I don't have to upgrade the SolArk. I'm going to do a video on it because it can help others.
Thank you for the heat pump info, that's a great idea for off grid for sure. Tankless isn't the best for pure solar but it is a viable option depending on the system you have. Lucky I made ours work and it's awesome.
That was awesome information. Learned alot to take to our property. Thank you!!!!! 😁
Glad you enjoyed it and all the best to your future homestead!
Thanks for a update. Keep it up. Helps motivate everyone 😊
That's a nice system man 6 kilowatts is a good number off-grid as long as you have the battery to capture that power as you do
I was worried before we moved in that I may have to add another 7.5 or a couple panels but nope, all is perfect.
I appreciate your input, thank you!
The problem with your batteries is your SOL ARK is connect to the top battery on the POS and NEG terminals. So if you move the NEG cable down to the bottom battery you should be perfect.Don't forget to shut everything off first. Be careful.
Months ago I had the main technician fix the imbalance issue. He also updated the SolArk's software and everything has been great since. I solved the tankless water heater issue with an $8 flow control valve. (I made a video about it)
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!
Great Video, Thanks for sharing all these details. I'd also ask your installer about your DC conduit for the PV conductors. Once it's inside a home they should be using EMT conduits. Not to mention no Rapid shutdown? Off-grid I guess so no need to meet code to pass an inspection, but I think a licensed contractor should follow NEC Codes at a minimum.
All in all, great looking system, Congrats!
Thank you for taking the time to comment, I do appreciate it. Not sure about the EMT conduit but it does have a rapid shutdown. The installer also came out and fixed the battery balance issue. I am super happy with the entire system.
when you shut down your dryer turn knob to cool down and let it finish or you will be replacing a part in your dryer before it should be needed.
Yup, it has the AUTO COOL DOWN mode pre set for the higher heat settings.
..... Funny, UA-cam isn't showing a lot of comments. I'm only seeing them by scrolling down myself so sorry if I miss something from you.
To get them even more balanced use a buss bar and connect each battery to ot with equal length cables. Run you power then fron the buss bar to the inverter. This way it will charge and discharge all 3 the same time.
Yup, we're having the installers come out and do exactly that.
Thanks Hondra!
To balance load of battery's, connect positive on top one and negative on bottom one.
Connect also communication cables between battery's and inverter,
to get same load and charge, extra info on inverter screen will show for battery's also.
Very good information indeed, I do appreciate it!
Exactly.
@@ustmissouri8029 I'm going to inquire why they didn't do that during the install.
I like your setup ... well organized ...
If you're able to and you might want to look at adding a hot water tank as a solar energy dump this way it would help with the hot water. As it would only run when you had excess solar power. If you could somehow put it in line with the tankless in theory would keep a tankless from turning on unless absolutely required. Those hot water tanks can hold super hot water for a quite a long time
I actually solved the tankless hot water issue. Works perfect now and we can run everything at once without a problem. I'm going to do a video on it so maybe I can help others.
Thank you for the suggestion though, I really appreciate it!
You had me at ......the blue Pittie, I miss my boy.
@@tonyinfinity She's the best dog I ever had or known, I dread the day.
Prayers to your sweet boy.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Amen
Where is a link to the solar calculator you show in this video? Looks like a great calculator and I like your explanations. I subscribed
I just replied to your email with the calculator link.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve I was also wondering about the solar calculator link as well? Great video, nice to hear about the balancing between wood heat and the heat pump setup through a cold snap/low solar period.
Just sent ya the calculator
Hey Kwik, email me at DukeTogo_13@hotmail.com and I'll send you one. I just sent one out to Jacob.
Sorry Kwik, just saw your request a couple days ago. I gave you my address, send request and I'll reply with the calculator.
I would recommend anyone going with solar to install your own system. Not only will it save you tons of money but of and when you have a problem you know how to diagnose and fix especially off griders. It's really not that hard just do you research.
Definitely a great option for anyone willing to take on the task.
Get one of those small 20 gallon water heaters, its literally a supplemental battery for storing thermal energy. Right now you are putting way too much demand on that water heater especially if you want to take a shower right before bed. You could even use a timer for the waterheater, where you could have it be off late at night and use power when you first get your solar coming in early in the AM..
Unfortunately there's no room in the little cabin hence the tiny tankless.
We love tankless water heaters and when we swap the SA12k for a SA15k all will be golden.
i love the idea of using timers, particularly in off-grid situations where the owner didn't go very overboard on the system capacity. really, a little bit more planning involved in how you will actually use things, to optimize (and economize) your system usage. the water heater is a perfect use of the excess energy (depending on your typical shower - hot water use schedule really), perfect if you did have a defined space to fit the water heater.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve you can try to research on heat pumps water heater around your area. They have a better draw from solar
@@vhornwright5085 I solved the tankless water heater issue. I'm going to do a video on it because it may help others, off grid or not for those wanting a tankless water heater.
The reason why the top battery is first to discharge is because of how you connected your batteries. If you had a busbar which connects your batteries connect to instead of the cables to each other, then you will evenly discharge at the same across all your batteries. Also the other benefit of busbar is that batteries do not generate as much heat at the terminals.
Yes, I had the main technician come over a couple months ago. He did an update to the SolArk and fixed the battery imbalance issue.
Best is to use the plus pole on battery 1 and the minius from battery 3. Then the are all evenly charged and discharged.
Thanks for the info, first video I saw from your channel… I’ll check out other videos. Anyways, won’t Victron inverters be of better value or they cost more when compared to the 15KW inverter that gives you 12KW?. I understand they want headroom but they shouldn’t sell numbers they don’t provide.
Hello Fancy,
I went with SolArk because the only reputable solar installer in the area (still an hour drive away) sells and warrantees SolArk.
I'll have the 12K swapped for a 15K and then pair the existing 12K with another 12K (types must match) at the main house so it will be used and not sold at a loss. Two 15Ks would be overkill at the main house since we will have propane to run the cooktop and tankless propane water heater. Bonus, SolArk has been amazing for us.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Alright then, I understand. I just personally hate how they sell numbers that they don’t provide, that one doesn’t sit well with me but I understand why you want them. It’s all good.
Good job my man…..👍 ….we need more like ya..
Appreciate that Jim, you ROCK!
5:36 Your connections are nice... but if you want an more even discharge your going to have to connect the + all the way to the bottom and the - stays at the top... of vice versa ...as you wish... and try to keep both cables the same lengt to the inverter ... but in the end thats nothing to worry about ...lots of other rack systems do it like this with buss bars at the side even ... so your ok ... Maybe just put some protection over the +- poles ...it is a high voltage system... so it is deadly yes ;....
Morning John.
Yes, I did have the lead installer come over and he fixed the issue of balancing and did a software upgrade. Everything works great now. I also solved the tankless heater issue which I recently did a short video on. Thank you for taking the time to comment and add assistance!
Great vid! Thank you for your content
Thank you Godfather for your kind words.
Sorry. Lifepo4 stands for Lithium Iron Phosphate. Li = Lithium, Fe = Iron, Po = phosphate. Daisy chaining batteries is not ideal. Instal a busbar for positive and one for negative. The power distribution will be more even, and the wires will run cooler.
Yes, that's exactly what I said breaking down the periodic table for lifepo4.
We are having the installers do that to balance out the batteries and at the same time having the SA12k upgraded to a SA15k.
Thanks for watching Mark!
i have a tip for you, bring the negativ cable of the inverter at the bottom of your battery. It should ballence the Draw/charge
I had the lead installer come out a couple months ago. He did a software update to the SolArk and that solved the battery imbalance. I asked him about the "top negative to bottom positive" cable and he said this system wasn't designed that way. It's working great so I can't complain. Thanks for the suggestion though, it makes sense.
it draws the top one because it has the least resistance... and this means that 1 of the batteries (the top one in this case) would be cycling the most out of all 3 of them because it will be charging and releasing the charge more frequently to charge the bottom batteries and also it will be the first to be used when it discharges..... if all 3 batteries has a communication line, you can use it to connect to a computer/smart device/controller to adjust the bms to mitigate this by adjusting when the 1st and 2nd battery will release its charge automatically....
to mitigate it without the communication line, you just need to use a busbar to connect all 3 batteries before connecting to the inverter/charger unit.... make sure the length of wire from the busbar to the batteries are all the same length this will make all 3 batteries have almost the same resistance to the charger and inverter unit thus making it truly evenly using all 3 batteries at the same time... its all about the resistance
Thank you for taking the time to help and explain all of that, it totally makes sense. I didn't install the system, I choose all the equipment. It was installed by a solar installation company. I had the lead tech over (a couple months ago) to check everything and solve the imbalance issue. After a software update the batteries balance great now. I asked about what you and others mentioned and he said that's the way it's designed. Strange I know but the update fixed it.
Thanks again Freaky D!
Them 100 watt days really make you appreciate having the grid for a backup.
1kw/hr baseload roughly you got running your settup....you really could use 30kwh of batteries if you have no grid backup. That might buy you enough to get past most cloudy days if you dial back the consumption.
We've gone multiple times, 4 days without a hint of sun and never ran out. It's been a year and a half so far and it's been great! The only issue we had I fixed. The tankless water heater I talked about, solved it with an $8 flow control valve.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Surviving on 5kw a day sounds pretty rough to me, just hope you have a generator for a backup if it gets hot.
@@SarahStuff-p5u No, luckily we don't need one.
What is the name of these panels…Hanna T shells? …with no captions and no links in description….I am unsure. Thanks!!!
LoL! Hanwha Q Cells.
German engineered PVs made in South Korea. I've had excellent service from everything made in South Korea so I expect the same from the panels. So far they are amazing. They don't fudge the numbers like most PV companies either. I've seen over 7K watts coming in and the panels are only rated at 6.02k watts!
Microwaves of that kind you seem to have here, do just on/off the magnetron (pulse heating) with on/off cycle matching the power rate. New inverter microwaves can modulate the power going to the magnetron for continuously reduced power consumption.
Cool, an inverter microwave is new to me. We love our little retro mirco in the cabin but for the main house I will certainly check out these inverter types, thank you!
I love Your explanation thank You! Appreciated.
I'm happy that you're happy!
Heating water with solar is so much more efficient through thermal solar, you can always supplement with the tankless heater. Plus it is on your roof, saving precious inside space. That could solve your inverter size problem.
I solved the tankless water heater with an $8 adjustable flow valve. (I made a video on it) Everything works perfect now.
Thanks for your suggestion which otherwise would be a great solution.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve I will check that out. I really like your setup plus what an amazing price. I recently installed my own off grid system (3300W solar with 14.4kW battery bank) and am now focusing on water. Here in rural spain many people have solar thermal panels with tanks on their roofs. Thanks for the detailed tour. All the best!
@@tjwoodsman1782 Thank you T.J.
I really appreciate your kind words and feedback.
All the best to you and your solar!
In Bulgaria we use solar hot water with a thermostat to top up with electric in winter
We've been to Bulgaria and it was wonderful!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve we go to USA Dallas every 2 years our son lives there
thanks for sharing. would love to hear about your typical usage. how late do you stay up at night? typical usage after most of the solar charging has occurred? wood stove as primary heat source kept going during the day (when temp differential is large enough between in and out), or you just start it before bed time to carry through the night?
We run the cabin like we are on the grid, we just don't worry or try to conserve which is why we went a bit larger then some people would. Wife and I both work from home so we use more then two people would if they had jobs elsewhere (away for 9 hours a day with nothing running) Although the AC also does heat, we run the WBS on occasion just for fun. My wife saw the forecast for the upcoming 3 days of freezing temps / clouds so we knew to run the WBS during those evenings. I don't think record freezing and no sun for 3 days will happen here again for a long long time!
Thank you for watching!
BTW James, I love your profile picture.
Nice system !
Thank you Mr. G, appreciate it.
I would recommend a removable metal barrier between your hot water supply including fittings and your solarark+batteries, especially with sharkbite type fittings. You don't want water spraying on your system in case of a leak, nor pipe burst?
I actually thought about doing similar but the housing on the batteries offers protection from everything but a flood. The SA I believe is outdoor rated, I know the newer ones are. A great idea for sure Mark.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserveI just replaced my 40 gallon electric water heater in emergency. I would like to have a tankless. The SHARKBITE push-to- connect fittings I put on 15yrs ago never leaked. All the hard water up here in Ohio killed the Whirlpool heater I installed back in 2009. And I'm not using a well either.
@@lowlifeangler We LOVE our tankless water heater! Had one in S Fl for about 9 years till we moved and it was awesome! Got it after being tired buying a tank heater and having them rust and leak every 10 years!
I did a lot of tankless water heater research and Rheem is excellent. Titan, like I have is the most efficient made. If you're running solar you need efficiency or you will quickly max out your inverters wattage draw!
Yes, Sharkbite S.S. braided pipe is awesome! I used it in our old house and for those 7-8 years it was perfect, never leaked a drop!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Awesome! We to bring our cheap pop-up camper and stay a week at your homestead 😂.
I haven't been that area of Florida. Been wanting to visit St. Marks state park. I think that south east from you.
@@lowlifeangler Not sure where St Marks is but I've been hitting Panama Citys "St Andrews State Park" fishing and it's an award winning beach. I feel like I'm in the Caribbean when there!
If you are in the area we can go fishing together especially if you bring the kayak. Some gorgeous lakes here and the Chipola River is just "wow!"
PS you can park your camper on The Preserve any time!
I recommend two upgrades. One more battery so you can have 28kw of battery storage. Second install a heat pump style water heater they would be more energy efficient than that tankless electric water heater that you currently have. And the heat pump water heater will not over load your inverter.
So far the three batteries have been sufficient and it's been a year and a half living here. Our main house is almost finished so having guests stay in the cabin for a few day or a week we definitely have enough storage. I installed an $8 flow valve on the shower head which solved the tankless heater problem. I simply dialed down the flow to around 1 GPM and it's working great. Draws around 3k and the temp is slightly over 100 degrees. I did a video on that if you're interested. What you suggested with the heat pump is great but luckily unnecessary for us.
Try connecting one of the cables to the bottom battery and keep one at the top battery so it pull evenly from all batteries
I had the lead installer come out last month and he updated the software and fixed the battery balance problem, it's perfect now.
This Saturday i'm posting a video on how I solved the tankless hot water issue.
It can help others with tankless whether electric or propane.
Also if those lugs on the batteries are aluminum and the wires are copper they need No ox (Corrosion preventer) on the connections so they don't corrode and impede electrical flow. Aluminum gets that light oxidation coating fast!!
The lugs are steel and I believe not stainless because S.S. is less conductive.
I live completely off-grid myself up here in Northwest Ohio but my panels are ground level on a stand so I can get to them when it snows or any other issues they may have.
Great idea when snow is involved.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Yes I've cleaned these panels a few times over this winter here in Ohio
Awesome. Love it. I have off grid in Utah 5F to 105F temps snow etc. and 9 days of clouds at a time in winter. Aside from other peoples notes to change your battery wiring to be more balanced. You should have at least one more battery and add the additional solar panels. When the sun does come out in the winter, you need the solar panels available to get that charging fast. The extra batteries for longer cloudy days because you have such an electric-based house.
More insulation or improved insulation would also help reduce the electric heat requirements.
All looks really cool though love it.
Morning Rick, thank you for watching and your comments. If we lived in the cabin permanently the extra battery and panels may be necessary but so far it's not. We're just living here until the main house is built. Funny, one semi rude guy said I was already ridiculously over solared HaHa!
The cabin is a mid 2021 build so it has the latest spray foam and insulation goodies. There's no attic so nothing there to be additionally foamed either. It's amazing how well it keeps our temps in and outside temps out! The double pane impact resistant windows help greatly in that regard. I'm going to contact the installer this week and have them do a proper balance connection as you and others have mentioned.
Thanks again, I do appreciate your time!
for their usage, they likely don't need any more solar panels in reality. if all batteries are topped up by 9 am the next day, there's not problem there. and extra battery for the storage, for the event like 3 days with low sun- low solar input, and more heating load.
this is different in every scenario really... different people use power in different ways. example; i am more of a night person, so more power usage up until midnight really. that may just mean 50 watts in lighting, 1500 watts for 5 minutes for a kettle, 1500 watts for 3 minutes for microwave popcorn, opening the fridge a few more times for things, so an added cycle for the fridge compressor - say 1000 watts for 10 minutes, 1000 watts for 5 hours for the tv in the background, 240 watts for 5 hours for laptop charger, washing your hands or dishes - hot water usage, so on and so forth... also consideration of other equipment as in tools etc, depending on your hobbies or work - lifestyle.
I would require more battery storage in that situation, and especially considering a colder ambient temperature outside being in Canada here (southern Ontario, not the midwest to be fair, no constant -30 deg C temps),
@@berettaboi 100% spot on!
Everyone uses power differently so everyone's setup is relevant to their requirements. We went a bit on the high end so we wouldn't have to worry based on our use and equipment. Plus it's smart to go a bit over to cover any future degradation of batteries and PV output.
Are you set up with a genset to top off the battery bank "if" it is necessary?
Great question. We do have a Honda generator we used in South Florida during power outages like hurricanes. Pretty sure it can be linked to the SolArk as it's 60Hz but we don't have the needed hardware attached. Since it's just a cabin for guests (the main house is almost finished) I'm not worried about the batteries running down. We've gone a max of 3 1/2 days without seeing the sun on several occasions and still had a bit of power remaining so it's just not a concern. After solving the tankless water heater issue (i did a video on it) all has been amazing.
Hey, just dropping a note if you haven't bought your second Sol-Ark yet, you might want to check out the 18KPV inverter and its little brothers at Signature Solar. Basically a clone of Sol-Ark but a lot cheaper.
@@lbroome Why hello there!
Our main house will be finished next week, they are knocking out the punch list items now. The solar was installed and inspected a few months ago and it's amazing. We have 22 Canadian Solar "all black" 400 watt panels, 4 Life Power 7.5k batteries (same as the cabin but 4 of them instead of 3) and a Sol-Ark 15k. No tankless water heater because it would require a second inverter. A Rheem 60 gal tank is in the corner of the 3 car garage.
The house is 2,000 sq ft under central air with soft start motor.
We are very excited to move in soon.
Thank you for checking in with me and the suggestion.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Wow, that's good to hear. That 60 gallon tank is a good idea with all those panels, free hot water! Sounds like you are all set!
And THEN..U can install maybe 400ft long 8ft deep 4"diameter Sched.20 pvc pipe loop grid circulating antifreeze through a CAR radiator & fan setup..two radiators better..for the 50 to 60-ish°F ground temps. Then whatever else u now have is only for supplement Just needs modest circulating pump..no power-gobbling compressor!
You should link's to each part of your solar system.. batteries inverter solar panels. Brand info..
@@thomaswhite5871 I stopped making videos because it became more work than fun but you're right, I should add links.
I love your inverter did you know it has EMP and lightning protection built in? sol-ark is 1 of the best.
I have heard that, I believe it was in the SolArks stats, very cool features!
When the batteries are nearly full, they aren't topped off slowly to persevere the battery, that's just the nature of the cells. When the cells are 98% full, it takes time for the electrons to find a spot. Think of it like going to a movie theater. When it's almost empty, you find a seat instantly. When only 2 seats are left, it takes some time.
That's a great analogy, I like it!
The reliability of grid power comes from there being several generators and several separate transmission routes available to get power to your meter. The problem with solar is that you have one supply (your panels) and one inverter. Assume that winter will bring some 1% solar days and you could well be solar free for three days so you will need a second or third source of electricity and fuel for it... Given a south facing roof there is no reason not to fill it with solar panels so that you still make power on poor sun days...
Can't handle this any longer, people keep getting it wrong. Watt is an INTENSITY measure. It shows how intensive energy flows. With other words, it is performance.
Energy stored is an EXTENSIVE measure. Its real unit of measure is Joule, but for the sake of simplicity you can also use Watt-hours (Wh).
When you say your battery is 18kW it does not show how big it is, it shows how high performance it can support. If you want to talk about amount of energy it is Watt.hours (Wh).
I’m surprised that you don’t have some type of plastic cover over the battery cable ends and terminals for safety. I know you have this in a cabinet but if you are working on one battery, you could touch a terminal with something metal.
I was a bit surprised and expected the same plastic covers since it was a paid install. At least it looks cooler this way.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve great looking setup all the same.
Never heard of these batteries before, I’ll have to look into them to see why they were chosen!
By the way, what was the overall cost of your system, since it wasn’t a DIY ? 🖖
Talked about cost near the end of the video. Would of cost over 20k just to run power to the cabin.
Paid 19k after receiving 9k refund on 2022 taxes so cheaper than the electric company and we'll never have a bill.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve
That’s actually a good price considering DIY, I built my own, but made enough mistakes that it cost me almost 20 K! But I did learn a lot! I started with 3000 W inverter, 24 V system and realized that I should’ve went with 48 V. 6.5 K PV. I just basically run my dryer on the grid and then go back off grid. Every other appliance is geared towards 120 V.
I learned I could do with 5000 W inverter and 14k of battery. I think the key to have a smaller system is to have a good heating alternative.
Things like woodstove, diesel heater, propane. You basically only need this kind of stuff for three months out of the year. 🖖
@@simon359 It actually wasn't DIY, I wish I was that skilled!
Yes, I totally agree with everything you said.
For us though, even if we had a garage to keep a tank water heater we still would of gone tankless. We got spoiled in our last home with one for the last 9 years.
The main house will have propane for the cook top and the tankless propane water heater.
Point of contention.
Sol-Arks are designed in Texas but made under contract in China by Deye.
Sunsyk, Sol-ark and Deye are all made in the same factory.
I have 2 Sol-ark 12ks and love them..
Yup and the wifi support currently comes from China. Rumor that will be changed to Texas but our SolArk is NOT wifi connected so no matter what I don't worry about it.
Were swapping the SA12k for a SA15k in the cabin then pairing that SA12 with another for the main house.
Thank you for your helpful information!
Yes they are working on moving it to Azure or some cloud service here in the US.
You know you can use Solar Assistant to monitor it locally also right?
You might want to hook of WiFi Dongle temporarily just to push the latest Firmware upgrade to it.
It fixes and changes a lot of things.
@@nb117 I read that somewhere. I won't bother but it's nice having that option.
Do you have a link to the batteries. Texas based sol ark, I have heard they are made else where.
Hello J.R. The battery company is LIFEPOWER and the addy is as follows. lifepower.solar/our-products/
Mine are the PRO model.
The SolArks are made in China and sold through a Texas based, veteran owned company which covers the warrantee. Word on the street is SA is going to expand production to Texas but I doubt that will happen. We love the entire system so much we're using the same equipment for the main house. Only difference is more of everything and a SolArk 15k instead of the 12k.
Ftlaud911 is telling you the right thing as I take my phone to comment on it I've seen where he mentioned it in the comments line
Yup, Ftlaud911 and you are both correct. I had the lead solar tech come over a few months ago. He updated the SolArk software and fixed the battery imbalance. I solved the tankless water heater issue with a flow control valve which I did a video on. Everything is working perfect now and we are extremely happy.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
It draws more from the top battery because that is the shortest route. You should have connected either the - or + to the lowest battery...... and now I see the other comments on that ;-)
LoL @ "and now I see....."
That is a ridiculously large system for a cabin. I run 1.5k of solar into 4.4k of battery for 3 days just fine. I also heat with wood and have gas appliances. My on demand heater will run for weeks on a 20 pound propane tank and so does my full size oven.
We don't have propane, pure electric here, hence the system we have is perfect. Simply drying one full load of clothes (4.5k draw for 50 mins) would drain your batteries dead. Our main house will have a 500 gal propane tank to run the tankless water heater and cooktop, just not necessary here.
Driver A drives a rusty Honda civic hatchback to the Food Lion and driver B drives a shiney Ford F250 …they both work at the local mill. … they both went and got 3 bags of groceries…drove the same distance and they both took their wife and one kid.
Whose to say one was driving a ridiculously over sized vehicle to go get groceries… ?
One guy looked like he was living life with vision and the other looked like a broke college kid…
This solar install was done by a motivated young ,white American male achieving something most people never do…….a dream perhaps….that’s what we do and have done for a few hundred years..support his spirit and achievements don’t criticize his choice to excell…..much of this country and the world hates his type nowdays… we are the only group of people alive that don’t support our own kind and our way of life….that’s why we’re seeing the country’s demise…….shame on us……….!
I say bravo to him….good job guy….👍
all depends on the usage needs. this is a live in, electric dependent (with wood stove as main heat i suppose) with all the comforts. washing machine with dryer? in a typical cabin situation, you might not even have a washer, but use clothesline to dry outside. ductless split a/c/heat? that's pretty new fancy tech for a cabin, if multi-season, most likely a wood stove only, or space heaters. likely would be a propane stove or simply a bbq for a basic cabin cooking needs.
i have a propane fireplace in a poorly/partially insulated 500 sq foot cabin, and i have burned through a 20 lb propane tank in a few weekends just keeping heat overnight with outside temps near freezing. 1 lb per hour of use is pretty typical round about rate honestly, obviously depends on how many BTUs ultimately, high fire, low fire.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve I think you are missing my point. Certain electric appliances are extremely inefficient like any electric heating appliance. You are not homesteading you are glamping. No homesteader has $100k for a solar electric system.
@@rocktech7144 You're right, the system didn't cost us 100K, it only cost us 19K and we will never have an electric bill, water bill OR a propane bill on it. Did you even pay attention to the video? It would of cost MORE THAN 20K just to run electric to the cabin.
OK, time to do some glamping!
When you begin to top off the batteries, would it be a good decision to purchase more batteries to let that extra energy get stored?
Definitely within reason.
Batteries are by far the most expensive part of the system. Mine were like $5,000 each (less after tax credits) On a sunny day we are typically fully charged by 10am and then we have all this POTENTIAL solar with no place to store it. So instead of getting a gas powered UTV we're getting an electric one. One less product relying on petro and we can take advantage of all this extra, free power.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve have you heard of the harmony one wind turbine. Maybe you can combine wind power with solar
@@benjiebarker Funny, originally we were planning on doing exactly that but it turned out to be unnecessary.
Geil 😊👍 Gute Arbeit 👍
das Dankeschon Ronny!
i would be interested why you say that Panasonic are the best best in the world. What about SunPower or Aiko?
Doing research on PVs in 2021 and 2022 Panasonic made the most efficient and reliable products, plus they had one of the best warranties. No wonder Tesla used (don't know if they still do) Panasonic PV's for their flat solar tiles and the Tesla Powerwall is actually made by Panasonic, it's a rebadged "Evervolt."
Interesting - Google searching doesnt even show any half decent Panasonic PV panels that I can see and states that the Powerwall is made in Nevada. Evervolt seems to come out of India. @@HomesteadOnThePreserve
At the beginning of the video, I noticed the panels are in the shade. I guess that's not a problem because your batteries are full.
There's one Black Oak that is on the left side. I'm actually going to remove it next week because it'll start to leaf. Plus, I don't want branches falling on the PVs.
The heat pump or air con is a killer, fireplace with heater and and hot water heater but would newer connect battery storage to heat pump or ac
Did you consider ground mounting your panels?
Only if there was not enough space on the roof which we have plenty. Since the panels / mounts are rated to a category 4 hurricane the roof is the best spot and look cool too.
If you get a bigger Sol-Ark Inverter, would you need to add more solar panels to generate for power for bigger Inverter?
Another great question.
A larger inverter, in my case the SolArk 15K would not require more panels. The larger inverter would allow me to draw a maximum of 12K watts at once instead of 9K. This extra draw is sometimes (but rarely) required when taking a shower due to the massive draw of the tankless water heater. (can't run lots of stuff at once while taking a shower) If we had the typical TANK water heater the SA15K would be pointless.
The solar panels have to match up with the batteries not the inverter TO A POINT. Meaning if I was running a little inverter that can only draw say 4k max then I would be limited on what I could run and that would mean I wouldn't need as much panels and batteries since my "load" is small.
How many watts or power does your Sol Ark inverter Charger needs just to even run that look like it's taking 150 to 200 watts just to operate it
Great question and I actually mentioned that before editing down my video. Initially it was 60 minutes but I thought I was getting to technical and lengthy so edits were called upon.
The Sol Ark 12K idols at 60 watts and I believe 75 when the cooling fans are spinning.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve that's not bad at all I have two of those 24v 3000 watt cheap Chinese all in-one inverter chargers with built-in Mppt solar charging they both idol at around 35-40 watts each but they run great though each one also has a Victron Smart charge controller running with it so I can monitor everything on my phone via Bluetooth
@@diysolaradventures7894 Hey that's cool!
A lot of people are hostile about Chinese products but not all are bad. Although we would love for everything to be made here in America, bottom line, if they do what they're supposed to and LAST then mission accomplished!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve right and I like the fact that they are affordable though each one of my inverter/chargers cost only $500 and that's not bad for a 3000 watt all-in-one within Mppt 80 amps of solar charging
@@diysolaradventures7894 Wow, most impressive!
I am replying in realtime here, so bear with me. You should ditch the tankless electric, and install a hybrid electric water heater, runs on about 500 watts and stores around 40gal of hot water.
Great idea but there's no room in the little cabin, thus we went with the tiny tankless. (plus I'd never trust a tank INSIDE a house) We're going to swap the SA12k with a SA15k to reach perfection. We will then pair that 12k with another 12k in the main house.
Thanks for watching Michael!
But a good video and thankyou
Thanks Matt, appreciate it!
Some say when you daze chain them together you should pull one off the top and other off the bottom. Most pull red + off top and black - off the bottom. They feel the power goes through all batties like that. I use a bus bar each battery has it's own cables. Does it matter who knows. If you not having trouble who cares.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I had the lead installer come out a few weeks ago and fix the battery imbalance, works perfect now.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve What did he dp. Thanks
@@roberrbush5446 Product manager came to our cabin. He ran a diagnostic and then a calibration. He did not do the "negative to positive" cable as everyone is suggesting. He said it's not designed that way. The batteries are balancing perfectly now, we are very happy!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Software I don't know if I believe in that is the best I run my batties to a bus all cables the same and pulling off the middle of it. Works great is that why did I just get lucky who knows. Some that more 168.000 miles a sec. Does 2 inch. make a diffrents I don't think so for me it is wire size and connection points Keep them from getting hot
.Heat is lost power. just my 2 cent. Thanks Love your system can't want to see your big system.
@@roberrbush5446 The big system will be very similar. 18 Q-Cell 430w panels (instead of 14) and 4 7.5kw lifepo4 batteries (instead of 3) and a SolArk 15k (instead of SA12k)
We are very excited for the new build, we signed the contract several weeks ago.
I'm not sure why the system was throttling back the solar panels when the batteries were only at 53.6%? When you put the dryer on, the panels kicked in, seems like a programming / setting issue. Surely you need to charge the batteries whenever they get that low and there's solar available?
The batteries were like 98% full at that time, they were just getting topped off.
I am having the installers come out to fix the battery balancing issue. Thanks to the commenters for making me aware of that and how to fix it.
Thanks for watching Simon!
You really need a hot water tank then. Much cheaper than another charge controller. And then think of the water as a battery in itself.
Curious why not have the dryer, and hot water heater on propane ?
Great question. Initially we were but decided we didn't want to be reliant on any product or service. Propane means constant filling and constant $$. After solving the tankless water heater issue (I made a video on it) everything has been flawless and unless something breaks, it's all free. Our main house will also be 100% solar and that's going to run central AC. A soft start compressor is the key there.
I think a hybrid system of wind and solar would be better for some reason whenever there's no sun there's wind
Yeah, my original plan was to supplement with a wind turbine but the solar has been flawless. Any additions to the solar or supplementation of power would be a waste of money and resources.
Use a heat pump dryer and water heater which is the better answer. Hopefully you use induction cooking
I solved the water heater watt draw issue so all is perfect. I'll do a video which can help others. Didn't have to upgrade the inverter either.
Hello, Thanks for the info I learned a lot from you. If you could help me on my system I would appreciate. I have 8 Panels each 350watt mono, I bracketed them in 4 and 4 in 2 lines or rows due to the space, I do have combine box with 4 and 4 fuses and breaker etc, happy to share images, then down stair in a cupboard a 8 batteries of 150amp gel 3000 deep cycle which would connect to STECA SOLARIX PLI 5000-48 INVERTER HYBRID INVERTER- indicated 80amp, no controller needed I hope. I can tackle the battery connection in Parallel etc, but connecting the panels so they dont go over the 48 invertor is my problem. 4 panels lined up 350 watt each and another row 4 panel 350Watt, Pls could you help. And how this would go to the combine box, I assume I have 4 positive fused and 4 negative. I understand I ask big fever, but would appreciate if you could help, I got 160amp fuse for solar wire before it get into the invertor, One point to consider my system is not high tech like yours, Thanks in advance Alex
Morning Alex,
I wish I could help you but I'm not familiar with the installation of solar, I paid for my install. I have the knowledge of how everything works and functions together but not the assembly. I suggest you EDIT what you wrote to me so you can COPY the message and ask someone on UA-cam that does solar installation like David Poz. He's a friendly and very knowledgeable guy. Sorry I couldn't be of more help and I hope you get everything sorted out.
Take it easy, Clyde.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve Thanks a lot, I got electrician coming and hopefully all will be OK
@@AlexanderYusuf-qd1rt Excellent!
If you remember, let me know how it works out.
You have the batteries wired incorrectly. The negative and positive needs to be at opposite ends to pull power equally through the cells in a balanced manor.
Yes sir, I had the lead tech. out months ago. He updated the software / fixed the imbalance issue. System works amazing now!
The BMS does NOT shut the battery down at 20%. They shut it down at close to zero %. You programme your inverter (if you have a decent modern one) to shut it down at 20%. But the LiFePo batteries show almost full until very low. Unless you have an amp sensing device that can test the actual remaining amount of charge (doesn’t exist) without disconnecting it and doing a load test, which still isn’t all that accurate. All this “state of charge” measuring talk is Bally-hoo. There is no accurate way to measure the electric power left in a battery, period. Not that you cannot roughly estimate it, but there is no way to read the amp hours remaining. Only the voltage and the amps it can still put out under a load. Just try looking at your state of charge indicator(s), and then see what the total draw is with all your devices being used, and then see how long before the inverter, or the BMS, shuts it down. You will find, as I have, that there are so many variables in the draw to devices, like temperature for one, that there is no accurate devices available that will tell you how long you can run x amount of draw off a x amount of charge. And yet, though they do mention often that voltage is an estimate, no one will flat come out and say there is no accurate measurement of amp hours left, or if the battery is really at 90%, or 100% etc. . Good luck to all, I finally have, after two years of intense study, building on a very good electrical background, figured out all the pertinent ins and outs of solar electric power. And the products that are available to institute that. Two very different fields of study.
Good morning Bowen.
Yes, the SolArk is programmed to shut down the batteries at what it preceves is 20% remaining capacity. That number would give me around 18k of usable watts. I have never run dry on power and we recently had another 3 days of solid clouds. On day 4 we were a bit low but the sun was showing and by around 1pm all batteries were back at full charge.
A few months the lead tech guy come over and updated the SolArk software and fixed the battery imbalance issue. (I solved the tankless water heater problem with a control valve which I made a video on) Everything is working flawless now and the system is amazing.
I'm not a solar guy but I've always loved the technology. You're obviously extremely knowledgeable and if you do solar videos I'll definitely check them out.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
if I were going to do this I would do a few things differently. Would use a solar thermal heater for the water as a drain back system.. So no more 7kw water heater. I would look at using a water to water heat exchanger heat pump smallest one that i could find to do radiant heat picking up extra heat from the thermal heater or possibly just expanding the themal system large enough to run radiant heat also. I would consider putting in rain water collection as it is pretty much just a matter of filtraton. even with storage tanks the cost and running cost of a well would be much reduced Looking at your windows would place more on the south face to add to solar heat gain during the winter. Just my two cents
I solved the tankless water heater issue with an $8 part. I made a video on it to help others. Being over a year now living with solar it's been absolutely amazing!
got a link to your solution@@HomesteadOnThePreserve
@@stevepailet8258 Thanks but I already solved it with a flow control valve. It's only drawing 3 - 3.5k watts now and heats the water to around 106 degrees!
did you disconnect on of the heating elements? @@HomesteadOnThePreserve
@@stevepailet8258 Nope
Instant hot water is terrible for offgrid. Large tank is the way. Use it as a dump load from panels when battery is full. Having 500 litres of hot water will last you a long time.
I solved the tankless hot water problem with an $8 flow control valve. The system has been amazing ever since.
Even though your inverter has 9000W capacity, the max power you can have would be limited by the solar panel capacity of 6000W, right?
Amount of panels only dictates the rate the batteries can get charged. Let's say I only had 4 panels, it would take almost 4 times as long to charge the batteries but the draw of 9k stays the same. Only correlation would be drawing directly from the panels instead of the batteries (or less draw from the batteries) Example: If i need 4.5k to run the clothes dryer and my panels are taking in 3k at that time then only 1.5k would come out of the batteries.
I've been pushing the SolArk and discovered it never trips under 9.5k watt draw and sometimes hits 10k before it pops it's breaker. Not the 12k it SHOULD be but 9.5 to 10 is pretty darn good.
Those batteries should be charged at the same time. Daisy chain has to send the charge into the first one which send to the second and the second sends to the third so again you are using up cycles way faster than you should be. I use 52-60 cycles a year but I have a 58kw battery bank, 51kw usable since I leave about 9% top and 10% bottom. My batteries should out live me which is around 40 years. Lithium breaks down at different rates depending how much C is charged or discharged and temperature also is a factor. My basement never goes over 70F summer and under 50F winter.
Appreciate the information. I'm going to ask the install company why they connected in simple parallel.
Thanks again!
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve ask them if they know the difference between daisy chaining batteries and each battery to a busbar. I say this because they will say they followed the manufacturers advise. I bet they do and they can change it for an amount of money at your cost.
@@dc1544 I screen shot your reply so I remember what to ask. Thank you!
That's a really decent price on that system.
After the rebates it sure was and we love it. Since I fixed the tankless issue (posted the video last week) it's been flawless!
I just saw a heat pump clothes dryer that uses a lot less power, maybe you can check it out. Btw, my brother in the Philippines, just had a 7.5 kwh system with two 10.5 kwh LiFePO4 battery pack, all made in China. It cost him US$ 9,250.
Wow great price! Did that include the install?
I solved the tankless water heater issue and did a video on it if you want to check it out. It works perfectly now and the draw is only around 3k watts.
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve - yes it came with the installation.
@@socalbenny4728 Most impressive
Make no mistake even these battries can light up. To many homes and cars still go up in flames, best keep them away from the house
I will add 2 more 5k inverters. But then I need more solar. I have 9400 watts now and want 18kw of solar Then I also need to add another set of batteries so another $15,000 or so to do this myself.
Instead of swapping out for the 15,000w why not add another 12,000w to accommodate the hot water and the other one for the dryer on two separate lines
I actually solved the problem and we can now run everything (including the clothes dryer) while taking a hot shower without issue. I'm going to do a video to demonstrate a tankless electric can be totally viable with solar.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and watch our video!
I got rid of our tankless water heater and went back to a large tank and use it for our dump load so the inverter puts all excess power once batteries are charged into the tank heater and charges the car
We went tankless not only because we love them, there's no garage to store a tank. Won't put one inside the cabin because they leak every 10 years. (main house will have a garage & tank heater) I did solve the tankless issue and just posted the video if you want to check it out.
That's a great idea, love it!
What car do you have?
@@HomesteadOnThePreserve I have a Mitsubishi Phev so gas and electric
Your batteries are in parallel, but are the batteries themselves 12V, 24, or more?
Hey Ken, each battery is 48 volts, 150Ah.
You need a heat pump water heater, uses about 500 watts.
I actually solved the tankless water heater watt draw issue. I'm going to do a video on it because it can help others.