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Agreed - about not doing this when I'm 70. I have a CCTV camera focused on my remote cabin panels, and they've been covered with no more than 2" of snow for three days, and producing essentially nothing. If I had some sort of melting system, it would take care of the little snow cover and get...

Here is another idea: HeatTrak Snow and Ice Melting Mats. Pretty expensive compared to the RV mats, and they run on 120 V power and consume more electricity. But likely more durable and they are designed to melt snow.

Finding a temporary attachment method would make this very low risk to test. On my roof, the panels are pretty close to the roof surface - perhaps a few of those air pillows that come in Amazon boxes could be stuffed in there to hold a pad against the panel temporarily? Something else that can...

Exactly. Same for me... lots of nice south-facing roof space, and ground mounts would have been way more expensive with the trenching, ground anchors, and cost of material. Ground mounts would have cost roughly three times the cost of the panels themselves, while a roof mount was 1/3 the cost of...

Thinking of experimenting with snow melting for my roof mounted array. Has anyone tried using 12 volt heating mats made for RV holding tanks? They are self-adhesive and thermostatically regulated to turn on below about 45 degrees F and off at 68 degrees. I wonder if it would work to stick one to...

Yes, I have two Victron Quattro 48/3000 running in split phase 120 V. Works great.

My system is working very well overall. I had one issue about a month ago when the breaker from the solar charge controller to the batteries kept tripping, but I reviewed the sizing against my design and found I'd installed a lower-rated breaker than desired. So I replaced that and the problem...

As of today, everything is installed and operating except the panels. I am awaiting some muscle to help get the panels on the roof. But the inside components are all working well - the two Quattros, the battery bank, and the AC panel with four circuits so far. The genset connection is working as...

Thank you - this was very helpful. When I realized that the main AC panel in an off grid solar setup is a sub-panel, it all clicked. The grounding conductors that come from my inverters to the AC panel are equipment grounding conductors and should be attached to the grounding buss on the panel...

I am now installing the equipment I've been discussing in this thread. Grounding in solar setups is not simple or clear. I've opted to let the Quattros employ their N-G bonds in battery/inverter mode, and have an N-G bond at the generator for genset mode. In wiring the Quattros' AC out to the AC...

That's a strong argument for my #2 solution above...

I believe this is correct, too. I will have comms between them.

The way I see it there are two ways I could do this: 1. Enable the N-G bonding relay in the inverters which will handle the N-G bond in inverter mode. Don't bond N-G at the AC panel. Use an N-G bonded generator, which will open the relays at the inverters and the only N-G bond will be at the...

The inverters are coordinating their operation in split-phase mode. Each inverter is supplying a separate buss in the AC distribution panel. I believe both N-G relays should be enabled to handle needed grounding events for the separate branches. Does this make sense?

Advice I've gotten from the racking dealer has strongly recommended grounding the array. From my reading, grounding the physical structure of the panels and racking is primarily for lightning, which we get a decent amount of. The panel ground is not connected into the electrical wires of the...

Here is an updated diagram. To keep things neat and tidy, I've decided to use a Midnite Solar Mini DC wiring panel to house most of the connections and breakers, and that is reflected on this diagram. I believe I've also addressed the helpful points of those who responded to the initial diagram...

So the plan was to drive a new ground rod outside and run the ground wire from the equipment inside and attach it to the rod. Also was going to ground the array on the roof to the same ground rod. It is a metal barn with wood frame. I could drive two ground rods - one for the array and one for...

Totally agree. My constraint is that the cabin will be unheated when we are not there, and I don't want to risk artificial heat on LiFePO4 batteries below freezing. It gets to -10 or so quite often where I'm located. When we move there permanently in a few years, we'll heat it 24/7 and by then...

Great comments from all. Thank you! Will add this. Good catch. Now I am looking at the wiring through the battery bank to the busbars and from the busbars to the inverters, which I realize is undersized in the drawing. I'm using the calculations from AltE and would appreciate knowing if I've...

This was drawn with Microsoft Visio. I've also used LucidChart for similar drawings, which I think is free maybe? Not a bad observation. The current and voltage (85A/48V nominal) mean it is probably undersized at 6 ga, and when in doubt... The charger is set to produce lowest 55.2V during...

I'm in the final stages of designing an off-grid system for a cabin. I would appreciate any feedback on the diagram below, specifically wiring gauges, fuses/breakers, etc. The inverters stack to give 3000W/240V AC split phase at the AC distribution panel. The cable length between the inverters...

Yes, SMA was a good option too. Heard good things about them. In the end, I've used Victron before and been very happy. Hope it lasts...

Been a while and a lot of water has passed under the bridge. After consulting with AltE and Schneider about the altitude issue, it was strongly recommended by both not to exceed the altitude limitation. The concern is arcing across circuit boards due to the air at altitude being less of an...

I am also planning a heavily insulated room, minimally heated, for the equipment and batteries. Every other thing in the cabin will be cold-weather tolerant. In case the heating fails for some reason, I'm selecting good old lead acid batteries, which are fine in freezing temps, as long as they...

That's exactly what I've found in other sources. They seem to have two elevation thresholds in the design of high voltage circuitry: 2000 m and 5000 m. For the higher elevations the spacing between conductors must increase to provide the same insulation against arcing. Incidentally, after I...

My installation is at 9100 ft (2775 m). I am installing mostly Schneider equipment, and have ordered a 600VDC/100A SCC from them. According to the specifications, the highest elevation for the SCC to operate in is 2000 m (6562 ft). I inquired from the Schneider tech support as to how to derate...

I've seen conversion kits to make the Honda run off propane, but it is not recommended. See this thread: https://www.powerequipmentforum.com/threads/eu7000is-propane-conversion.21034/ Issue is with keeping the valves cool, apparently. If you need propane, then a propane or dual fuel one like...

I looked at alternatives to the Honda too because Hondas are so expensive. I bought mine two years ago and got a pretty good deal at $4300. At the time the DuroMax and others were going for under $2000. I have no firsthand knowledge of the DuroMax, but it seems like a good deal. The main things...

So.... Noob question: What is switchgear and what is it used for?

I have two shunt battery monitors in RVs - one by Victron (~$250), and one generic $35. I like them both, but if I am looking for a remote monitoring capability over WiFi and the cloud, I am thinking the Schneider one may be the best option. And yes, initially since I will be charging in...

I have found references on some MPPT SCCs that state at elevations higher than 1000 M, you need to derate the SCC according to IEC60146. Since I don't want to cough up the > $400 for this standard, does anyone have experience with this? I am at ~2775 M (9100 ft).

Thank you, Mr-Sandman. I've started going through the videos and they offer a wealth of information. Looking at what I ordered Friday: the 6848 inverter, the 100A/600V SCC, and the InsightHome. Of how much worth are other of the cooperative products, like the power distribution panels (AC or...

Mr-Sandman - thank you for the detailed comments. I laid down the cash tonight and bought the XW Pro 6848, Home Insight, and the Schneider MPPT 100A 600V SCC. 7% off across the board at AltE. Will supposedly ship Monday and be here whenever the truck arrives. I'll be doing the install myself...

I may have answered my own question. At higher elevations the MPPT SCC may need to be derated. I'll contact the manufacturer to see what they recommend.

That makes perfect sense - thanks. I would need a PV MPPT charge controller. Schneider has one that talks with the Home Gateway - an 80A/600VDC MPPT for $1076 that would probably work. Looks like the InsightHome gateway would work for my system. So, with the SCC and the comm device, the cost...