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I love breakdown videos where you take a popular product and rip it apart as well as bench test. That honestly was the main reason I went with a Chins lifepo bank. I also purchased a separate Weize lifepo battery per your breakdown, and so far, it has been awesome.

I would like to see videos on DIY solutions for those of us in the upper-midwest. I know you're not in the area, but many of the DIY projects you do are completely unrealistic for me in Michigan.

that would require massive infrastructure investment to get the power down those rails. not to mention, just about every rail system in the US has been neglected. agree it's a viable option, but again... no political will to invest in it. in MI we just had the Palisades nuclear plant...

14.7kw generated in the past 13 days. ?‍♂️ 5.2kw of that was generated on 12/28.

quick update.... after 8 months being commissioned, I have not experienced a single fault, error or outage. I am extremely impressed with my Growatt AiO. it just keeps on working. we experienced a very mild winter, and effectively, my winter production was zero. I had the Growatt on grid...

yep, more accurately... step 1: https://www.suncalc.org/ get your azimuth step 2: plug in arrays, azimuth and angles here https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/

mini-splits and heat pumps are extremely inefficient for heating with ambient temperatures below 40deg. we have 6 installed in our home, SEER 22 rated Bryant units, and we do not use them for heating at ALL. IMO, they are worthless for heating. We are in Michigan. that being said, you should...

it appears those are lag "screws" in the wood I would highly recommend you replace them with bolts, backing plate and lock nuts all the way through the pole. even slight amounts of wind will work those screws loose pretty quickly. looks like a nice setup! you could always add a guy wire to...

If you don't need to be able to pull all the way through, just put them on the 'back' side only, above the hood of the car. plenty of space there.

with my Growatt, it wasn't until I installed solar-assistant that I could see the actual startup loads from fridge compressors. that's absolutely what you're seeing.

I admire your desire to control your own power. honestly, it's a decent, basic setup. but unfortunately, as others have said... this is extremely dangerous. those panels HAVE to be properly secured with at least a reasonable attempt at meeting code. one strong storm later... one of those...

a generator manual transfer switch is what you need. you feed the transfer switch generator input from the EG4 then feed the critical loads from there. a transfer switch will allow you to change the input from generator(PV) or the grid. you need this type of interconnect to prevent any...

Great experiment! Solar is fun! I would only suggest that for systems intended to be backups/emergency-only, you don't permanently mount panels anywhere, especially on the roof. Why? because with small panels like this, you can easily move and tilt them perfectly for the time of year to...

OP, your main panel is wired correctly. grounds and neutrals must be bonded in the USA. so no, don't change anything. subpanel should be the same. grounds to ground bus and neutral to neutral bus.

if components are UL listed they absolutely can be in a main living area. you'll need to check with your local jurisdiction regarding installation requirements. when properly installed with quality components, the risk of fire is very low. there are many videos online, including some from...

must be. I'm literally watching my Growatt aio charge my batteries at 1200w + power my 350w loads. PV input is 1550w.

I just drew it out. draw.io is great.

nice ideas... but none of that will meet USA NEC 690 residential requirements because we've started with unlisted equipment.

the overhang on a shed will be fine. your main concern should be wind. secure the shed with deep anchors.

yes. it's AC power like any other. it can be routed anywhere so long as you account for temperature derating in attic. your electrician should be perfectly familiar with all things NEC and running AC power. the solar microinverter as the source is irrelevant from a wiring perspective...

deal-breaker for me at this price point is no UL listed components for NEC residential install. i know SOK batteries are, so you would need to come up with something other than victron. sorry; but at that pricepoint i'm paying someone to install it/support and doing it legally. i specd out a...

had to go look it up, but sadly RSD, GFP and AFCI all apply to "buildings" whether occupied or not. GFP is easy to address with a DC-GFP breaker for $70. so, just do it. module level RSD (in theory) makes things safe for first-responders on your roof. honestly, as long as they have...

6v GC2 are far more durable than automotive 12v. if you can handle the space and weight, they're solid. you'll need them in series pairs. i have two in place of a single 12v in our motor home, and have been happy so far. but, we never really use battery power. $90ea at sams club. 4x would...

first off... welcome! yes, totally doable at just about any lat/long. it all comes down to budget. IMO, I would go for multiple smaller fixed ground mounts at varying heading to maximize production through the day. i would have a small climate-controlled utility building housing all the...

yep, sure did @ChrisG -- worked exactly as expected. i posted it all in my show-and-tell thread.

that makes sense, in that case, I could never backfeed.

busbars like these are awesome: https://smile.amazon.com/MidNite-Solar-Long-Terminal-Bus/dp/B073TBGDX1/ alternatively, copper crimping sleeves work great with shrink wrap

EG4 are not UL listed for residential installation nor do they support grid-tie. they really can't be compared in the context of anything "grid-tie"

Midnite classic 200. it's fine... I get some production on some days, like 10-80watts, but that's typical and not even remotely usable. Barely enough to charge my phone up, lol.

Let's also be specific... underground in conduit, not just buried bare. THWN is what I know is correct. XHHW-2 should also work based on what i'm seeing online. you need wet rating at 90degC. https://www.awcwire.com/allied-university/this-vs-that/xhhw-2-vs-thhn-thwn