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  1. H

    Small off-grid cabin system design (in reverse?)

    I have built both 24 and 48 volt systems, AGM and LiFe types. The big advantage of 24 volt systems, especially for a DIYer is the ease of finding components and end use devices that are 24 volt compatible compared to 48 volt. There are refrigerators, lights, chargers, USB chargers, fans, etc...
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    Small off-grid cabin system design (in reverse?)

    As a practical matter - my suggestion is to start by building a small 24 volt system at home to play with, and then work on building the 48 volt system. Even if you don't actually purchase a 24 volt inverter for the learning system, it will help a lot with building up the higher spec...
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    DIY Portable Power Station w/ MPPT

    Just an FYI, the forum does not allow links to amazon like that. I know that you are just trying to be helpful. Added - ( AFAIK ) - could be completely wrong. Edited - thanks for the clarification. I have been avoiding linking to supplier web stores where people can find things for this...
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    Small off-grid cabin system design (in reverse?)

    If I am understanding things, your cabin is located in an area that routinely will be less than 30 F, a substantial portion of the year. The cabin is heated, but really only when you are there. There is enough snow for solar panels to be covered and not able to supply much power - routinely...
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    Why was I getting shocked??

    Thanks for writing it up. I like to put a breaker in between each battery pack and the bus bar. This makes it easier to: - Diagnose what is going on - Shut it down in sections in case something is not quite right - Re-set the BMS of that battery pack ( which often is done by completely...
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    Installed 3rd SOK 206Ah 12V battery

    Nice setup. Are you going to have any method to individually shut off / breaker / fuse each battery ?
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    What lithium battery for an electric trolling motor 12v? 14ft boat.

    For fun I looked up 40 lb force electric trolling motors. The link that came up was for a minn kota endura max 45 trolling motor. ( so 45 lbs ) The rated current was 42 amps. So ( 42 amps ) x ( 12 volt ) x ( 4 hrs ) ~ 2 000 watt - hrs. ____________ A typical example Li battery / size 27 is...
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    Ecoflow Delta 2 connecting to batteries and therefore output of Victron SS75/15

    Take a look at the eco flow unit's 120 vac charger wattage rating. The inverter wattage rating will need to be at least 50% larger than that number to work and ideally double in order to use it for charging. What you are trying to do is not as easy as you think. It might make the most sense...
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    Ecoflow Delta 2 connecting to batteries and therefore output of Victron SS75/15

    If your goal is to have a back up ( 12 volts ) separate from the ecoflow, then just build them separately and keep them separate. If you goal is to charge the Ecoflow from the Litime batteries, then just add an inverter and use the 120 vac charger from the ecoflow to charge it up.
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    Work truck 12v-560ah no solar.

    Looks like a good project.
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    Ecoflow Delta2 max DC output question

    Usually the ecoflows and bluetti units are designed mostly for 120 vac output and really just a nominal amount of regulated 12 volt. If you need more than 10 - 15 amps of 12 volt, the usual method is to buy a 120 vac to 12 volt converter and feed that into a DC distribution box - or a pre-made...
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    What am I doing wrong? Bad solar charge controller or bad panels?

    Perhaps try to measure the panel Voc and see if it is roughly matching what you expect? Since you saw a voltage spike, I guess it is useful to see if the BMS has tripped.
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    Beginner planning solar pond aeration

    Was it hydro ponics or ultra sonics ?
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    Whole roof solar replacement

    Definitely provide paths for air flow so that the hot air can rise off the panels as much as practical. My vote is to do everything possible to ensure that they are very securely mounted. Possibly even using the nuts with the plastic lock - I think they are called nylocks or something like...
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    Beginner planning solar pond aeration

    If your goal is algae related, this outfit offers an interesting option using ultrasonics. https://www.hydro-bioscience.com/
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    DC to DC Charger - Ignition Switch Alternative?

    For a trailer, a possibly better method is to put an inverter at the starter battery and run 120 vac back to the trailer. A 10 awg wire running 120 vac is pretty strong and can carry - at least in theory - 3 kW. That is challenging to do by by using DC. If something goes wrong, the arc will...
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    What would you do if you can spend $10,000

    That is barely the wood to built it now days.
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    What would you do if you can spend $10,000

    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...
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    What would you do if you can spend $10,000

    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 (...
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    Fusing 24 volt system

    The general topic of low voltage disconnect is a good one for the forum. I found a thread that is already started and added a few links to it here: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/low-voltage-disconnect-for-inverter.55244/ If you find additional info on them topic - putting it there to make...
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    Low voltage disconnect for inverter

    https://www.littelfuse.com/products/battery-management/flexmod-electronic-modules/flexmod-low-voltage-disconnects
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    Low voltage disconnect for inverter

    https://www.littelfuse.com/technical-resources/technical-centers/commercial-vehicle-technical-center/low-voltage-disconnect.aspx
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    Low voltage disconnect for inverter

    Just adding some more examples of low voltage disconnects to the thread. This company - inpower makes a variety of them. https://inpowerelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/VCM-24-Data_Sheet-2.pdf
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    southern California flat panel performance in Winter

    Approximately ( 1200 watts ) x ( 50% ) x ( 6 hrs / day ) ~ 3600 watt-hrs / day Assuming that you keep them clean. It will vary down from this by 50% per day from this number, depending on if the rain and if we have fires going locally where you happen to be. If you add some panels on one...
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    Fusing 24 volt system

    A low voltage cut off is a good idea. Some are available that detect the low voltage and trip an on / off relay on the inverter. Waytek and others sell them - but the trip method needs to match the inverter on / off. Here is the data sheet on one from inpower. The voltage might be too high...
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    Fusing 24 volt system

    The next step is to select a breaker for the wires that go from battery pack A to the bus bar. A common breaker for this is this one from bus https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/14/30/Circuit_Breakers/187-Series It is a thermal breaker, so you can think about it like a fuse that trips...
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    Fusing 24 volt system

    The next step is to look at voltage drop: You can do this by hand, but a lot of people use an on line calculator. The blue sea web site has an on line calculator - that is actually for boats and allows for the wires to get hotter than some would choose - but it is commonly used, especially for...
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    Fusing 24 volt system

    In general, wiring and fusing needs to deal with: - ampacity charts - voltage drop - amp interrupt rating Start with the highest load: - Your highest load is the inverter = 1500 watts - There are conversion losses from DC - AC, so just to make it easy, let's use 2000 watts as the amount of DC...
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    Fusing 24 volt system

    Hi - I was thinking of a mobile system since you had posted in that forum. There are additional code requirements for a stationary building that you may or may not need to deal with. Mostly on the solar controller and power shut down side. I am more familiar with mobile setups vs stationary...
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    Fusing 24 volt system

    There really are several power systems running in parallel in a system like this. Battery pack A ---- breaker ---- main bus bar Battery pack B ---- breaker - main bus bar Inverter ---------------------main bus bar ( some like to put a T fuse or breaker on this line ) Fuse block -----...
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    12V-Only System, No Inverter

    On most vans, you are better off using solar panels in the 150 - 200 watt range and mounting them cross wise. This will be much more tolerant of the real life conditions on top of a van driving down the road with cross winds. Set it up to be a 24 volt system. Nearly everything works better on...
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    Combiner Boxes-when to use. I have 4 ground mounts each holds 4 panels for an overall 16 panels. Do I need a combiner box?

    Here is a section of the forum related to combiner boxes and similar in case that is helpful. https://diysolarforum.com/forums/wire-connectors-junction-boxes.59/
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    Is this real or a hoax? California $0.00 export rate

    This is why people are starting to move their solar panels to face the sun during peak demand instead of the 1980s concept of max total production. In this area, peak demand / highest pricing is roughly August 2 pm - 8pm. The later in the day, the better. Go outside and look at how the...
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    Using the charging MOSFET to stop my solar charger from toping up my battery

    If your concern is that a Li battery lifespan is reduced slightly from being kept absolutely full, 100% of the time, then the solution is easy. Just keep a small load on all of the time. Example, LED light, refrigerator, fan, inverter, etc. The solar might fully charge the battery, but it...
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    Question about rapid shutdown and the NEC 2017 1ft and 3ft requirements

    So would you also endorse the idea that if you go over 55 mph, the drivers around you should also turn you in and the city will just send you a fine for $100? Or perhaps a more similar version - your car is parked with the tires 7 inches away from the curb instead of 6 inches. Instead of...
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