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I got curious today as to how much solar electricity our panels have actually produced, at what cost, compared to the production guarantees and projections on the Solar City lease. Not sure if this will be interesting to any one, it is little different than the typical cost benefit analysis as...

DOA. Replace the cells, do use a BMS on the next build and for the QuickBooks bank account entry use the category of "Education".

Apparently nothing prevents it considering its already started as of 2020 with the never ending clot shots.

This can happen with partially cloudy conditions. Its called Cloud Edge Lensing where certain types of clouds can actually magnify solar radiation as they move across the sky but is usually for short periods of time.

Wow, at that price point they wanted to use low cost inverters? Since you are in Utah I would suggest the contractor makes some time on Sunday to attend church and take a refresher course on the 10 commandments, particularly the one about not stealing. They probably did you a favor anyway...

I suppose in a public forum its not advisable to recommend someone replace a breaker with one that isn't code compliant but I know what I would do if it was my frozen and refrigerated items that were at risk due to a ridiculous breaker. I can understand using ARC fault in bedrooms but not the...

Sounds like this post should be in the "Up in Smoke" section of the forum. Many inverter type generators support parallel operation but it requires a sync cable. The only way I can think of to successfully parallel 2 older, conventional generators together would be to tie the crank shafts...

The Schneider XW Pro can output 8500W each for 30 min at 25 deg C. from battery only. So 2 of these will definitely outperform the Sol-Ark. As a satisfied Schneider user I'm probably not very objective. I would agree with you that the Sol-Ark is probably easier to install and wire up vs. 2 XW...

Datasheet shows max usable current as "17/17A". I would read that as each MPPT is capable of taking 17A.

So on Jan 27th General Minihan tells the troops war with China is coming in 2 years and coincidentally there is a Chinese Spy balloon discovered over US territory on Jan 28th. Does anyone remember the movie "Wag the Dog". I always thought it was a documentary not satire. But then what do I know...

Many of us use Emporia Vue. Low price vs. features is probably the best value. Some on the forum don't like the fact it is cloud based and doesn't keep 1 second data long enough. This is what I use with 10 CT's. Accuracy is good. IoTaWatt is highly recommended also, costs more but affords more...

There is a "heat island" effect that is well documented in urban environments due to the thermal mass of buildings, concrete and asphalt. Its a localized phenomenon and taken as a percentage of the whole is only about 15% of the land mass which is only 30% of the total surface area, the...

Your experience with the BMS is unfortunate because it has left you with the impression a BMS is more trouble than its worth. A properly functioning BMS is stable and is absolutely necessary for LFP cell chemistry. Inverter settings for High and Low Voltage Cut Outs are based on total battery...

I would recommend you go over to YouTube, Off Grid Garage and watch the video series where he did all sorts of charge/discharge testing. Its very informative, real world stuff.

I understand this forum is for DIY Solar, I hope its OK to go off topic a little for educational purposes. This comparison is based on Nat Gas usage. This post is mostly aimed towards new forum members and anyone who is lurking and/or here still learning. Long time forum members and contributors...

I'm sure there is going be A LOT of disagreement about this subject. Strictly speaking the term "grid" specifically refers only to the electric grid. So if the utility transformer is right in front of your house or property or 5 miles away, if you are not connected to it, you are Off-Grid. I...

Unless you need high wattage for faster hot water recovery time the lower wattage element makes a lot of sense. Does the same job just takes a little longer. Regarding heat pump water heaters, they operate with a Coefficient of Performance of at least 2 and higher. Even if you didn't use the...

With 6 batteries you could theoretically charge at 600A as long as the current was divided perfectly equally. That would require some serious wiring and chargers. In practice most of us limit charging to 0.5C max and on a daily basis keep it more in the range of 0.25C. With the 6 batteries 150A...

More like does anyone ever read manuals anymore?

Conext is a single MPPT. The 3-position terminal is for convenience only. Would be better to do 2 strings of 10 panels assuming that is a 600V controller.

There is a big difference between a 5.4kW and a 8kW system. Seems like you want to base the choice on Brand name and price vs. what you actually need as far as system size to provide adequate solar for your usage. Since this is an Off-Grid system its even more important to size the solar array...

The scenario you describe is called Self Consumption and can yield savings but only in States like CA where Time of Use charges can be 3 to 4 times the off peak rates. In this case, the efficiency losses are more than compensated by the savings of not using utility power during peak times.

Nice write up and great description of what it means to be off-gird. FWIW, seems like the evaluation of the 5K may be a bit unfair as it was obviously the result of having unrealistic expectations of a 5kW high frequency inverter. There are so many posts on this forum from experienced users...

Since the fuse holder melted at only 71% current its a heat issue caused by a connection with too much resistance.

Ya, laugh if you wish. This is one of those ideas that sounds preposterous to anyone who never got caught up in FE when it became popular starting in 2015. I thought so too until my curiosity kicked in and I started doing some simple experiments myself and researching. My conclusion: We live in...

With the limited information provided (no individual battery or cell data) its just a guess. It sounds like the batteries are not getting fully charged and are probably at different SoCs. Are there any warnings or alarms on any of the batteries such as low voltage shut down? Are the settings...

I'm looking at the time stamps on the posts above. WOW, you guys have a serious solar equipment addiction issue. Maybe we need to form a special group of forum members to provide intervention services. :giggle:

I'm using Enphase Microinverters and they do have the ability to display a graph of temp., voltage, amperage etc. for each panel. If the NEP's have this feature I would first take a look at those values. I would also swap the microinverters on panel 9 & 10 since they are so far apart in...

Not sure who is being referred to as "You" in your post. It sounds like your facts are not accurate, its not the entire system at fault, it sounds like it's only the battery capacity and/or insufficient solar panels to charge them fully. Run time decreased from 12 hours to 5, sure seems like...

So that is about a 4% capacity loss after only 67 cycles, which as you suspected is quite high. However, since there is no historic capacity data from when you initially received the cells, its difficult to determine if they were used or low capacity cells to begin with or have undergone...