Most reacted posts

In my case it is a serious pursuit (hobby) to game the system to get any advantage over PG&E that I can.

That would be my concern. LFP are better stored at 50% SOC and unless I knew the trickle charged voltage I would be concerned enough to want to do a capacity test.

I agree with @Texas-Mark it is probably just the bus bar. A quick charge after initially checking voltage will reveal if that cell lost enough charge to become unbalanced. I have has several of those kind of incidents without ever losing a battery.

I was previously in a high level financial position dealing with multi million dollar investments and can evaluate the opportunity cost of my capital very easily.. My decision was also based on a hedge against inflation of energy costs, including future erosion of the benefits of solar in...

I must be one of those rare people. I mostly come to share best practices and learn some things.

I remember a thread somewhere that discussed it. I clamped mine because I did not want to stress those little 6mm shallow connections if mine did swell. I used 1/4 inch thread rod with aluminum plates and tightened the nuts with maybe 10 ft lbs of torque. I have had two packs puff on me over the...

I use battery powered garden tools including a lawn mower. Currently converting a chipper shredder to electric. Next will be the roto tiller.They all charge from the solar generated by my system. I am tired of gas going bad and carburator tuneups.

There should be no exposed conductors on a MC4 connector. As mentioned earlier the worst risk of connecting them under load is the damage that the spark can do to the contacts.

In Denmark, I saw sheep grazing underneath the panels keeping the grass low. Sheep are a better solution for a solar farm because sheep are shorter and do not tend to rub on the posts like I have heard cattle can do. There is nothing environmentally negative as far as I know. The effect on rain...

I am not aware of any safety limits with LFP as far as paralleling cells. Tesla uses a more volatile chemistry and has over fifty cells in parallel. Tesla does fuse each cell and has a cooling mechanism.

I have on ocassion called this a hobby. I am a retired financial executive and have used sophisticated financial models for decision making. However at this point in my life my goals are not growth of capital but rather rewarding activities and efficient expenditures. I also live in California...

I have had an Outback Skybox for several years but recently decided to finally rewire my GT Inverter to take advantage of the new battery pack I recently installed. Details of that build are here. My GT system is a 3.8 kW Solaredge inverter with 19 Hanwha cells for a total DC capacity of 5.7kW...

I have found solar a great learning experience. It is overwhelming in its entirety, but as with many complicated things in life if you break it down to simple elements it is easier to understand those elements. Then the big picture emerges.

Why not explain it on the forum for the benefit of other readers?

Some of mine were like that. They tested fine and have been in use for 15 months now with no problems. To me that is typical distortion of the thin walls of those cells. That is why the manufacturer recommends compression when in use.

In this case there are a number of factors that came together not the least of which is a concern for air quality. I grew up over looking the LA Basin and I continue to support efforts to clean the air that we breath. You could blame a lot of organizations, including Heart, Lung and Cancer...

@venquessa I am going to follow the advice of @timselectric but instead of starting a new thread I am going to ignore you. I lack the self control to do otherwise, and I don't want to further hijack this thread. No one said that a battery was an ideal voltage source. It is a voltage source that...

They have no need to invade us. They already have our dollars. Last I checked they own one trillion in US Treasury debt instruments. The good news is that is still the safest investment and in some bizarre twist they have an incentive to not jeopardize that. They are still on a track to have...

Yes, I agree, it is not a good idea to hold Lithium at high voltages for a long time. I agree that setting Float depends on use case. My inverter is always on and there is always load on my pack. Therefore since I only charge from solar my float is set at 3.375 v per cell to keep them topped up...

Sorry to jump into the middle of this conversation but I am new here and have not read the entire thread. The above comment explains exactly why I have been using an Orion Jr. BMS for the past 6 years on two different hybrid inverters with two different packs. The data logging is important to...

You should try to stay within the 1kW extra allowed for export. Have you thought about a hybrid inverter and some storage? I AC coupled my existing GT inverter and added another 3kW of panels but restricted the output of the entire system to be in compliance with my NEM agreement (including the...

A while ago Dave Poz admitted he does not know much about this stuff. It does not look like things have changed much. I still watch his videos but he offers no analytical help but I am sure he gets views and revenue from doing this.

My average cost per kWh is $0.20. I have two EVs and need the grid for backup. However my strategy is to self consume as much of my solar production as I am able. I charge my EVs from solar often. My cost per kWh for batteries was $125.

Actually it was the user base of SolArk users on DIYSolar that influenced my purchase of a SolArk to replace my Outback inverter with a SolArk. Plus a few other features that the SolArk had.

Those links do not show up on small screens of phones and perhaps some tablets.

The RC hobbyists use flame proof bags to fast charge their helicopter Lipos.

I am retired, living in a fixed income so solar and batteries have helped my keep my energy costs down. There is also intellectual stimulation from learning and sharing that knowledge with others on forums like this. I built my first Heathkit 63 years ago and this is a nice way to continue that...

I agree and the owner has a dubious ethical background.

Fortunately the charge controller only sees voltage and the Amps it is delivering to the battery as well as the voltage and curerent it gets from the solar panels. It doesn't know anything about whether there are other things going on with the battery and and anything that is connected to the...