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Maybe I just got lucky but I over voltaged my Victron SCC and it just said "Over voltage" and refused to do anything until I fixed it. Which was a bit latter (an hour?) before I saw the error. Maybe it was the amount I was over too. I was only over by about 30%ish. I also over voltaged my...

I'm so glad you brought that to my attention! I do plan to be 100% off-grid by the end if that matters? I know there is a UL certification for grid-tie. Which I don't think I'll need because I will never export. Or do I still need that one. But I guess a general UL electronics certification...

I do have them on my list and check their site frequently for deals. :)

Hi, My system is running well but it's time for my next purchase. I would like to maximize my savings but in the end, I will probably get all three options before the end of the year. Hopefully... I have narrowed my options down to: 16 EVE 314 cells + box + JK BMS (JK-PB2A16S-20P) 34 400...

I don't know about this being like one of the big box stores. That might not be the right comparison. To me, this would be like Microcenter. They are a DIY computer parts/etc place. I think they started way back when you could only get parts from magazines (286 days?). They have maybe a...

Victron Quattro 10000VA. Right now my panels can fully charge my batteries by 11AM on a sunny day. My issue mainly is I only have a Victron 48/1200VA. Which I have seen it go up to 1000 watts. So I need more inverting power I guess. Which will lead me to get more batteries. I only have...

Thank you! That is great news. Now, time to get me some cells. :)

Hi, So, I have 2 strings of 12 volt LiFePO4 batteries x 4 to make 48 volts, 100 AH each. This is working well but I now realize, again, I went in the wrong direction. So I want to pivot to cells. The cells I'm thinking about getting are 314 AH. If I understand correctly, I can't just add...

I love your 2nd point. What price can you put on having some peace of mind? Your third point is also a very strong one. Most server admins I know have backups and redundancy. It never occurred to me until just now that there is a single power option without some sort of self generation...

I have two responses to this: 1) My 401k has not done so well since Covid. So compared to that, this investment is much more reliable and has a higher return. The key here is reliability. People speculate on what their return would be if they invested. My energy bill is my energy bill. If...

Very nice test results! Well above stated AH.

That makes me cry. The cheapest I've seen in the USA is $1700 for that model. If I could find it for around $900 like that one, I would be all over it!

Battery Hookup is very close. About a 3 hour drive. And they have some interesting auctions. Time to try and snipe a deal. gobelpower not only charges shipping, they have a 4.4% payment charge. I finally bit the bullet and signed up. But the payment charge stopped me. :(

Awesome. Thank you for replying! Now I just need to figure out how to hide the bill from my wife. :)

Has anyone ordered from gobelpower.com before? Good or bad experience? I have to create an account to get shipping info, which I am holding off doing. Is $59 a good deal for grade B 280 Ah cells? This will be my first time buying cells and my first time ordering from outside the USA. So I'm...

I would not suggest you sell your inverter just yet. If you really want to try the 12 volt thing, you can get a cheap 300 watt 12 volt inverter from Amazon for about $25. That would let you test your bug zapper at least. Then when you are ready to go back to 24 volts, you would still have the...

Good suggestions. Thanks!

I should probably not talk being a noob myself, so take everything I say with a grain or so of salt. Victron has an AIO in the EasySolar-II right? So you kinda get the best of both worlds. Be very careful where you buy your Victron stuff from though. I got mine off of Amazon and the retailer...

Okay. So, is there a good battery balancer anyone would recommend for 12v batteries?

Right now, I wouldn't buy anything. First I would look on the back (front, top and bottom) of your charge controller. Get the make and model. See if you can google some info about it in English. Then you can see how much you can panel it with and how much you can charge. After that, make...

This is how I have mine wired except the positive and negative both go to bus bars that the inverter ties to. Not opposite ends of the bus bar though. Does that part matter that much?

The only reason I stuck with these types of batteries is because they were cheap and easy to get on-line. Here is a diagram of what I have and my proposed wiring.

So when lifepo4 batteries get full, don't they up the voltage that they are putting out? I'm guessing the bus will have the average of whatever strings are connected to it. So if one string is full and putting out 58.4 and one string is putting out 54.4, then the bus would read 56.4?

I think the 30A is out. Doing a little googling and I saw a couple 30 amp pwm charge controllers that say the max is 450 watts of solar panels (many are made by the same manufacturer). Unfortunately, you usually have to stay under a certain voltage coming from the panels too. This should be...

I think it's voltage. I think the smart shunt is just sharing voltage and current to the SCC. And the batteries are dumb, without any communication interface at all.

Oh, I just realized that I never answered your question. The reason I think I need the 3rd balancer is because the 2 parallel strings will drain and charge at different rates. So, for instance, string 1 could fill up before string 2. The voltage would kick the charge controller into float and...

Hi, I just assumed each string would get out of sync with each other string. But what you are saying makes perfect sense. Sorry, I'm a little slow at times but I'll get there. lol

I think I understand you are saying I should get at least a balancer for each string? Adding the 3rd balancer to keep each string in sync seems like the logical next step to that. So I need 3 balancers today and one for each string if I keep using the same type of batteries?

Hi, I put together my 2nd battery from 4 new Echo-Worthy 100Ah 12v batteries (to make 48v). I have 4 existing 100Ah 12v (in series for 48v) batteries that are currently running my system. Here is my thinking. I think I need a balancer for the 4 existing batteries to keep them in sync with...

That depends on the charge controller and your panels. I had a charge controller that could only utilize 2 100 watt panels before it was maxed out. But my new charge controller is able to handle 6 400 watt panels so far. You will need to check the manual for the charge controller and also...

Okay, I am new too so forgive me for asking what might be a stupid question. But it looks like you have a charge controller sitting on top of the battery right below the big block inverter. Is that correct? And you don't have the solar panels connected through the charge controller? If that...

August in Texas has to be the highest energy consuming month right? I guess it's time I showed my bill: That estimate was a little high (I think I only used 10,000 KWH) but...

I believe the house settled a bit and no one bothered to fix the windows. None of them fully shut but there isn't a draft. So I bet there is quite a bit of savings there. And a thermal camera is a great idea! Between that and the energy monitor, I'll find the culprit!

Oh, I have never seen one of these. I'm going to get one. Thanks!

Wow, okay. So I'm about 25% higher on average (during the not so hot or cold months). But not nearly as bas as 400% above norm as I had originally thought. Thanks!