Cinder block would be awesome.
What would you do if you can spend $10,000
- Thread starter JWLV
- Start date
what does "best from China" mean? In my case, DIY is not an option due to local codes and permitting. Everything has to be engineered, permitted, and UL listed. I've priced SOL ARK and it costs more. A wife friendly system doesn't hurt either.
chrisski
Solar Boondocker
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2020
- Messages
- 5,309
With 10 kw of panels, 8 kw inverter, and 20 kWh of batteries, I’m where I want to be solar wise.
I’d choose a 5 ton and 4 ton inverter air conditioners to replace the 16 year old units I have. The 4 ton draws 4.5 kW when on, so hoping the inverter units would half the total kWh.
I’d choose a 5 ton and 4 ton inverter air conditioners to replace the 16 year old units I have. The 4 ton draws 4.5 kW when on, so hoping the inverter units would half the total kWh.
sunshine_eggo
Happy Breffast!
robbob2112
Doing more research, mosty harmless
A friend of mine always says when we win the lotto he will be 'on a plane with 2 hookers and a briefcase full of blow'
Brucey
Solar Wizard
If there was more money could build battery factory....mmmm
HarryN
Solar Enthusiast
Installing solar and a house wide power system has a lot of regulations associated with it.
I don't actually care about selling power back to the grid.
At the same time, it is not uncommon for us to have:
- Power outages during fire season
- Very high priced power during peak demand times ( roughly 2 - 8 pm in the summer )
- There are a bunch of EV chargers being installed down the street so the local grid is likely to get squeezed hard this summer / brown outs and calls for using less power.
So for me, it is interesting to think about just installing some 1 kW class / 2 kW-hr UPS units around the house, along with a timer that cuts off the incoming charging power from 2 - 8 pm.
I can put those in with zero permits perfectly legally at the point of use and cover a lot of ground in terms of backing up the refrigerators, furnace fan, internet, etc.
So essentially that appliance would switch over to being on battery power during the peak demand time period and serve as a back up for longer outages. A typical home refrigerator uses ~ 1 kW-hr / day ( based on the label ) so that is 2 days of power run time, plus ~ 1 day of coasting from being cold.
I would probably build mine of course using commercially available batteries, but there are off the shelf type units on the market.
In a pinch I could rig up some solar wiring to it during a long outage without an issue.
I don't actually care about selling power back to the grid.
At the same time, it is not uncommon for us to have:
- Power outages during fire season
- Very high priced power during peak demand times ( roughly 2 - 8 pm in the summer )
- There are a bunch of EV chargers being installed down the street so the local grid is likely to get squeezed hard this summer / brown outs and calls for using less power.
So for me, it is interesting to think about just installing some 1 kW class / 2 kW-hr UPS units around the house, along with a timer that cuts off the incoming charging power from 2 - 8 pm.
I can put those in with zero permits perfectly legally at the point of use and cover a lot of ground in terms of backing up the refrigerators, furnace fan, internet, etc.
So essentially that appliance would switch over to being on battery power during the peak demand time period and serve as a back up for longer outages. A typical home refrigerator uses ~ 1 kW-hr / day ( based on the label ) so that is 2 days of power run time, plus ~ 1 day of coasting from being cold.
I would probably build mine of course using commercially available batteries, but there are off the shelf type units on the market.
In a pinch I could rig up some solar wiring to it during a long outage without an issue.
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Brucey
Solar Wizard
If I was trying something like this I'd prob go with the just released 120V version of the multiplus 12/1200 and a 12V 200Ah LFP per point of use. Could daisy chain them all with ve.bus splitters and cat5 and control them via Cerbo or venus os device, or maybe an ess assistant for time of use.
HarryN
Solar Enthusiast
Thanks - but i don't need all of that cerbo stuff and the whole goal is to not have them wired together around the house - that is just a hassle.
Nothing wrong at all with Victron but I try to use as many components made in North America as possible.
I already have built some similar things with 2 battle born 100s in a 24 volt setup, bogart solar charger and monitor, USB outlets in a suite case so I would just do it that way. It is a bit tight but works. It transmits any data I need via WiFi to whatever device I want ( no application required ) and also has a display.
I don't want to become a slave of the power system - it is supposed to be working for me and I don't need to think about it. If I have to think about it regularly and keep looking at the graphs - then the project is a failure.
If the grid was reliable and mostly ran on coal, hydro and nuke, then I would not have to think about this stuff.
Brucey
Solar Wizard
Yep …it’s everywhere now… most have this type program available …SS does ..BB does. Rich solar is working on getting it….Amazon has got it on many things…I just did a Phoenix 24 / 1200 inverter that way from an Amazon site ….beats the hell out of a credit card at 20% …
I will gladly use other people’s money for 0 % interest…unless it’s a small purchase I won’t buy a thing if they don’t have one of these programs .
“Affirm” is my first choice if I have the choice.
Brucey
Solar Wizard
Ah I've seen the affirm offers but nothing in the zero percent for 24 months range, more like zero percent for four months etc. Maybe my carts just not large enough to unlock those offers.
When you buy blue, they know you got money so they don’t offer the primo deals
Brucey
Solar Wizard
Yeah pretty sure they actually increase the pricing for the far gone like us.When you buy blue, they know you got money so they don’t offer the primo deals
Brucey
Solar Wizard
If the cats are still there they will just destroy the new couch?
It varies and seems to be price dependant…I just look to see what offered and decide from there..
It seems the best value is for 12 months ( ususlly zero..) I think they cut a deal with the supplier to fund them in place of you paying interest so that's a variable …..
But some where in the equation somebody is paying them somehow…!
I did a bunch more batts for 0 % / 12 months …paid off..
The next thing I bought the 0% option was only 6/months…( lots smaller deal);. paid off
Just got 20 new panels and this time it was 12 months at 0%.
I will pay them off by Christmas ….and then report …Paid off
It seems some what arbitrary depending on info that we can’t know… but if you look for it , there generally a decent deal to be had.
Freaking pay pal is now at 29% except for 6 months pay off.. feature ..
I still use them if needed but only for the free 6 month stuff…
A secondary benefit is if you still owe a significant amount after getting the product , you are in a stronger position to negotiate a more fair settlement if there’s a problem with the gear as opposed to if they have all the money up front..
Ya gotta be fair and be nice but they will listen to ya…
Been there , done that … they will communicate with ya a lot better if ya still owe them money…
Just my observation….J.
