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I was speaking with a guy I sorta/kinda know at a local watering hole this evening, and he was crying into his beer that he had just spent $1700 on a 50 gallon hot water heater. I said, "Well, at least you'll get a good-sized rebate and tax credit for it being a heat pump type." IT WASN'T! This...

As I plan out our new (hopefully off grid) house, I see that I have room for quite a few strings of panels mounted at various angles and orientations to optimize sun position and season. I want to use either ground mounts or mounts on only the steepest portion of the roofs (e.g. steep angle of...

Hi Folks. Hoping our battery gurus can shed some light on this situation. The system is comprised of six 210W panels (1260 watts max total, 3S2P) feeding a Victron MPPT 150/45. Inverter is a Victron 24V single phase (120V) 3000 KVA Multiplus. A Victron SmartShunt monitors charge/discharge and...

I am getting ready to set up an office in a 10'x16' (160 SF) "shed" building, and am trying to decide whether I should attempt to (primarily) heat it with an EG4 9K BTU mini-split, in midcoast Maine (zone 6). Thoughts and ideas welcome. Here are the relevant details: Building will have 3"...

We're building a new home in Maine this year, in the middle of a blueberry field. NOT likely to do net metering because I don't want to deal with the hassle. MAY bring grid power to the house as "added convenience", but just as likely to remain off-grid (still need to chat more with the power...

Hi Everyone. To get right to the point, I'm wondering if it helps LIfePO4 battery longevity to charge them only up to about 85% capacity each day, which is what I'm currently doing, rather than top them up all the way, or even up to about 95%. I rarely run them below 50%. So, that's the basic...

I have four, old 12V marine-type 100 AH batteries I bought from Walmart 10 years ago that amazingly seem to still be serviceable. They've been stored in the heated garage for the past four years, and I periodically recharge them 2-3 x/ year. I even used them to power my solar setup for a few...

Hello Solar Braintrust, I currently have a small (1.26 KW) all-Victron system and monitor it using Victron's VRM and a Raspberry Pi running Venus OS. Works amazingly well. Planning an off-grid home and barn with construction starting this spring, and trying to decide between Victron or EG4, but...

Well, this one has me stumped. 24V 3000 KVA Multiplus powering three sheds. Works perfectly, but with one weird thing. LED lights controlled by Lutron Caseta dimmers. When on solar/batteries, no issues at all. I ran an AC line from the garage to the shed with the solar equipment this past summer...

Hi all, I've been a Victron fan since day one, and am still happy that I bought it for my small (1.26 KW) "shed" system. But I was surprised (OK, disappointed) to find that my 3000 KVA Multiplus wimped out today as I tried to use it with a small (5-ton) electric (hydraulic) log splitter. The...

We're slowly building a new house in rural Maine (probably habitable late 2024). It will be our retirement home and I hope to make it net zero (double stud R40 walls, R60 ceiling, R20 floors) and I'd like to avoid using fossil fuels except for the backup generator if possible. I'll also have a...

DIY mini-splits (Mr Cool or EG4) both have ~16 foot line sets as standard when they ship. I just installed an EG4 In a location that needed only about 8 feet of line, and of course now I have all that mess coiled up behind it. I know I can't cut that, but in thinking about future mini-splits I...

We're slowly building another house about 7 miles from our current home in the middle of a blueberry barren (field) in rural Maine, where we get only about 3-3.5 hours of usable sun in the darkest days of winter, and where it snows (sometimes a LOT). This will be our retirement home, so we're...

Hi Everyone. I've been lurking on the site and learning, and really appreciate both the knowledge and friendly attitudes of people on the forum. My question today is about how to size and connect the wiring from the solar panels to the charge controller, which I'll get into in a moment. I think...