Most reacted posts

I'm an off grid cabin and have a refrigerator, dishwasher, clothes washer and hot water. All powered by PV. My whole system cost less than than my wife's wine bill for three summers. She is in this members program and I can see the total each time I buy more. I can honestly say that I didn't...

It is surprising how much extra power there is with a solar system. I heat all the house water with only excess PV, be it just a few watts or hundreds. It can be as short as just a few seconds, but it adds up over the day. Just random collection, hot water has lowest priority. I just wanted...

I've been diverting excess PV power to heat water at my camp for years. It is the only source of hot water as I got rid of my propane heater. A simple method is used to determine when there is excess power. At the power point voltage, the maximum power is obtained from the panels. Use less power...

I find Ray totally unwatchable. I keep telling myself, shouldn't an add be showing up soon. Please make an add come on. Take 20 minutes to say something that takes a minute. You get a new set of batteries and can't remember you have charged them!

My whole system is broken stuff. There is a cornucopia of electronics out there deemed uneconomical to fix. Broken stuff does go in and out of favor. At different times broken stuff is so cheap and then a bunch of youtube videos make people think they can fix these cheap by buying a couple...

The theory is the panel always stays at the power point voltage. A capacitor bank stores this energy. When voltage rises above a set point the heating element turns on. When it drops below another set point it turns off. The capacitor bank begins to recharge till that upper voltage is reached...

I've actually tested those Jotta breakers. The problem with all these DC breakers is that they don't have a snap turn on. I'd be careful using them as a switch. You can push one on very slowly and they will sizzle. I don't know why that is considered ok. Turn on isn't usually a problem...

Probably too late to say don't do it. I built 5,000sqft one on a two acre lot in an industrial park. Never has earned a dime and just got filled with my toys. Costs a bundle for taxes and maintenance. What did Warren Buffet call his plane, Indulgence.

What are you complaining about. I no longer have a heart rate!

I didn't believe it either. I have a large capacity LG front loader. It operates off four grid tie panels with the HV DC just going into a MSW inverter, no battery. Settings are COLD TAP so no added heating. I feed hot water into the cold inlet, PV heated, and all cycles are done with hot...

I hope you have another use for all that sand later.

Just disconnect the heater. I run a dishwasher and only have a car battery for the house. I have a GE Profile dishwasher and it only takes 100WH for a full cycle. The leads that went to the heater now go to a relay. That feeds power from array DC which is only 60V. Dishwashers are poorly...

You won't find those rules printed anywhere because they were just made up. Arcing has to do with the voltage, speed of the opening, distance, current and very important, contact material. Primarily the melting temperature of that material. Copper and silver make very low resistance contacts...

Personal belief systems will always trump logic. Those who feel they have no control over their life gravitate to the only thing they can do which is to say no.

What voltage is safe? People used to die with 32V Delco generators if they were sweaty. I admit I was a little anxious when I climbed into a shower in Europe and there was a 230V instant heater there with me. There has to be a current path. Ground makes a local safe area. Even with low...

And now for something completely different. For the last three years I have done my laundry with the power from four Trina 226W 30V grid tie panels. No battery, just an old MSW inverter where the series string is fed right to the high voltage capacitor of the H bridge output. We line dry so the...

The real practical consideration is when do you need the power and that is usually in the morning. I have an east facing array and my system has totally recovered by 10am. This results in needing less battery. Don't know how this matters here. Majority buy batteries like women buy shoes.

Reported news is seldom accurate and bent towards sensationalism.

No violations to see here. The shed actually cost more than the solar system and it runs the entire house. The two charge controllers shown are not connected, CC is MSB chosen because it is typical of low end CC. Two windows and a skylight, all Andersen. The door is historic from an amusement...

While they don't allow this in US, it is legal in many European countries up to 800W without any permitting. I bought some electronics from a guy in the US and he showed me his solar system. He had more than a dozen of these 500W units and panels everywhere on his house. He pays $25 a month to...

My guess would be DC. Something causing the H bridge to output to only be half cycle. But, the vacuum should be a universal motor and that would love DC.

There are a variety of water heater controls like this in Europe that use voltage directly from array https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263190867548 where this is more of the norm. Heating from batteries is a rather poor way to do it. Even from a 48V system the currents are enormous with serious...

Leave batteries out of it. You can store energy in water, but why. Just use the energy when it is generated. I heat water with PV efficiently and it is super cheap for me, being just the cost of the panels. But, winter is just a bad time for solar. Just feed it into some electric baseboard...

Vinyl siding, YUCH. Cement board is the only way to go with siding.

I use only MSW inverters. I'm particularly insensitive to electronics.

I just got an update from someone who built one of my designs. I just might make some boards. "Thought I would share an update. I have finally got all the bits together and implemented the hot water system based on your approach. Due to circumstances, I needed a new tank and bought a 250...

Every successful solar system has excess power. It has to or it can never recover from a bad day. Water heater is the typical dump load and this can be done from battery or from panel voltage. Many do it from battery sensing a "full' voltage. This is not ideal as it involves several...

I have three dump controllers all connected to water heaters. The first water heater is small and has priority getting any excess first to heat a small amount of water to serve most needs. The second is a slightly larger preheat tank for water. It has a lower priority and heats next or takes...

Yes, you can and it is a fairly simple technical problem. Once upon a time, solar was only the realm of technical individuals. Now it is open to everyone and that requires off the shelf products which are almost automatic to set up. What products are out there now for this purpose are quite...

I know how to do it and that is what he wants. It is never going to work with someone who buys before they understand what they are doing.