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Well, I can see one reasoning flaw that will limit it's application. First you make the statement that sand can be heated hotter than water. Then you say you'll be heating the sand with hot water plumbing. So, isn't the maximal heat level controlled by how hot you can heat the water? Unless...

Sounds like a money extraction scheme to me. You'll need to pay a just bit extra to get the UL certification? This reminds me of years ago when I went into my county's code office with my cabin blueprints that I was going to be constructing in the local mountains. Their reaction was "why are...

Keep in mind that aluminum oxidizes to form a barrier coating, and the al-oxide is not a good conductor. I would brighten each contact surface just before use. In household situations where al wire is used, you MUST use anti-oxidation paste and special connectors to deal with the issue of...

Can we call this "Presentation Grade"?

I put my panels on rotating mounts, and yes it does make a difference, though just a few percent. But, going out and rotating my mounts to watch the power increase is more worthwhile than watching television.

My sister-in-law first told me this, and I've found it to be true. "You remember the quality long after the price is forgotten".

The way a MPPT controller like your Victron works is that it transforms the raw DC voltage of your solar panels down to what your battery bank wants. What this means is that you may wire panels in series to raise the solar voltage significantly higher then what your battery voltage is. It is...

Here is my V4.0 ground mount. I'm very proud of the cantelevered trusses supporting the rear. I mounted my panels in portrait because I'm committed to 120VDC with my system. In landscape I would have room to mount 6 panels. That would be 1500W per array mount.

You are already setting yourself up for failure. I can immediately tell you that what you are putting together is totally inadequate, and it's wasted money. First, your batteries are ~65Ah each? That means 130Ah total. What's optimal for charging is (130Ah/8) X 13V charging X...

The very first thing I would check is the voltage and amperage being fed to the pump. Do you have a clamp meter that can measure amperage?

These are some of my manual tracker designs. I go out at ~7:30am, 9:30am 11:30am, and again at about 1:30pm to pull the array frame around by hand. I call it hillbilly solar tracking! Made out of mostly full-channel unistruts, with schedule 40 pipe sunk in concrete.

People are always confusing pump power values. The pump is rated at it's horsepower OUTPUT, not the INPUT. That means the force of the water coming out of the pump is equivelent of 1/2 hp. Since electric motors are about 1/3rd efficient, you should assume it takes ~3X the amount of...

For me, I consider DC appliances a waste of money. They are really only for the smallest, most marginal systems, where you are counting every single watt. Many have a hefty price premium for being "niche market". I think your money is better spent making a beefier AC system that can handle...

I simply walk to the utility room and look at the controller display. I flip the pump switch when I see 2000+W coming in. Pretty much every morning I walk out to the utility room with my coffee in hand to watch the power go up as the sun raises. I call it "watching the electricity channel"...

Ummm, why are 11 posts in this thread devoted to just fuses and wiring? Well, I'm a WSU graduate, and spent a bit of time in Forks. What plans do you have for the 9 months of the year when it's cloudy and drizzling? Yes, you'll be at full output in July, August, and September, but what about...

I've paid the anal-retentive, excessive-complusive tax. How about the overkill tax?

Here's a link to one of RCinFL's technical explainations, which goes into far better technical detail then I could ever hope to give. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/looking-to-rewire-my-small-off-grid-cabin.42921/#post-543030 Here are his details, cut and pasted. Although this review is...

When I look at the suggested items that are potentially powered via this unit, I see glifs of PCs, TVs, Fans, and Radios. No big ticket items like compressors, pumps, or power tools. What this suggests to me is that this is just another generic low-budget high-frequency transformerless...

Unistruts are great, aren't they. I built my mounts with unistruts also.

Wrong response! It should be "but honey, now you can run your hair-drier longer".

OK, let's start out with some terminology. That is not an inverter, as you mentioned in your original post. That is your charge controller. The charge controller's function (a MPPT one) is to transform the raw high-voltage solar input into lower battery-charging output, making extra charging...

First thing is that the battery connections are incorrect. Looking at your pic, lets call the top battery #1, and the bottom battery #2. The two paralleling connections that go from the +of bat #1 to +of bat #2 is correct, and so is the negative parallel connections. But, the negative wire...

When I first starting building my cabin, I started referring it as being up to 18th century standards with wood heat, then 19th century standards with a running water, then 20th century standards when I had a flush toilet, hot/cold running water, and electricity. Getting the TV antenna was a...

You have a garbage generator that's producing power so dirty that its already ruined two well pumps in less than 2 years. You should be expecting a well-pump to last at least a decade when supplied with proper power. The answer is yes, of course solar can completely power your well-pump, and...

This mentality seems to be a holdover from the 1980's when solar was 4-5$ per watt. It's reversed today with solar as cheap as 4-5 watts per dollar. I'd rather throw another 1000W that costs me 220$ at a problem then purchase a super, super efficient refrigerator that cost me 3000$. I bought...

From the secret spy camera imbedded in every Chinese inverter.

What a lot of people fail to realize is that the solar panels are now actually the very cheapest part of the whole solar system, so there really is no serious concern any more about DC to AC to DC inefficiencies. Back when solar was 4$/W and each and every W was so precious, then yes it was...

Don't buy anything yet. Do the power audit first. Decide how many days of autonomy you need for sunless days. Find out what your December 21st sunhour value is. Itemize first, plan second, purchase third, install fourth. You'd be surprised how so many people here can't get that order right!

I'm sorry, but this does not appear to be a proper install? Is your panel positioning final, or is that just a pic of the panels during construction? You are in Los Vegas? The panels need to be suspended ABOVE the roof, not on it. In summer, the panels will get very hot, voltage will drop...

The voltage you select is proportional to the amount of current you need to pull from the batteries to supply the watts you need. A general rule of thumb is you really don't want to pull more than 80-100A through wires. Hence, the following recommendations. 1-1000W loads, select 12V 1000-2000W...