diy solar

diy solar

Search results

  1. Symbioquine

    Living with the DuroMAX XP9000iH

    There's a rudimentary wiring diagram earlier in this thread that might help with figuring out what to probe. The simplest thing to check first would be that all the connectors are fully seated and that kind of thing. Next, I'd look visually for signs of a failure like burn marks around any of...
  2. Symbioquine

    Modbus and epever

    I don't know anything about Home Assistant, but assuming you're talking about the "Charging equipment status" (0x3201) register, you can't just map from the number to a single status value in most cases since "different parts of the number" mean different things. There are lots of ways to...
  3. Symbioquine

    Need help with a School Project

    Or, similarly, you might be able to avoid the superstructure/air-resistance necessary to support the lens, by instead pointing the solar panel down and making the body of the vehicle into a reflective collector that focuses a larger area of solar onto the panel. (Though you have to be careful...
  4. Symbioquine

    Need help with a School Project

    Pretty much all off-the-shelf converters will have capacitors inside so you need to really nail down what the rules actually mean and how they're enforced.
  5. Symbioquine

    Need help with a School Project

    Reducing rolling resistance, air resistance, and the rotating mass of the wheels should also be considered. Possibly even with unconventional support and propulsion - depending on the surfaces this device needs to operate on (and the weather conditions it should operate in)... * Very light...
  6. Symbioquine

    Lights Ghost Glow When On Inverter

    Possibly helpful: &
  7. Symbioquine

    How efficient is your generator?

    Is that all extrapolated from their marketing numbers or have you measured for yourself? 6.667 (kWh generated) / 33.41 (kWh total energy) = 19.95% efficiency 6 (kWh generated) / 33.41 (kWh total energy) = 17.96% efficiency If we assume ~$6/gal for fancy ethanol free gas in the US, that's...
  8. Symbioquine

    1200A 12V power supply

    Probably worth mentioning (at least for other folks that find this topic), power supplies like the ones for computers usually aren't designed for supplying constant current (CC). In other words they will try and hold their output voltage stable at all costs until you try and draw too much power...
  9. Symbioquine

    How Long Can Your System "Coast"?

    Haha, don't beat yourself up. Lots of folks talk about "days of autonomy" (i.e. total kWh ÷ kWh/day) which is what you're referring to there. "Coasting" (as I'm trying to define it here) is a bit different. It's about the behavior that the system exhibits under real-world conditions. While you...
  10. Symbioquine

    How Long Can Your System "Coast"?

    Not sure why (almost) everybody thinks I need "advice" here. I'm at ~48.6 degrees N so I know about seasonal variations in production (though maybe not as intensely as @upnorthandpersonal) - and yes my system is arguably oversized for the rest of the year too. That's not the point of this...
  11. Symbioquine

    How Long Can Your System "Coast"?

    Not relevant. The question I'm posing (updated title to make it clear that it is a question) refers to the abstract reservoir of power a system has relative to production capacity and usage. Whether that reservoir is in one big battery or segmented somehow with a software control scheme...
  12. Symbioquine

    How Long Can Your System "Coast"?

    I'd argue that you should replace "full" with "full enough", but otherwise that's correct. I should have specified that the idea of "coasting" as a system size metric really only makes sense in the least productive time of year. Most of the late fall and early winter I get that. A good day at...
  13. Symbioquine

    How Long Can Your System "Coast"?

    We'll call the time where a system is neither all the way full nor too close to empty: "coasting" IMHO, time spent coasting is one measure of how well an off-grid system is balanced in terms of production capacity, storage capacity, and usage. Lots of ways to look at this, but; If your...
  14. Symbioquine

    Are there any batteries do not deteriorate while stored?

    I think you may have missed the specific case I was talking about. I'm referring to dry never activated flooded lead-acid batteries. For example the Rolls documentation includes this; I can't remember where I saw the 5 to 10 years claim, but I'm pretty sure that's true. Presumably, storing...
  15. Symbioquine

    Are there any batteries do not deteriorate while stored?

    There are a lot of trade-offs, but several of the flooded chemistries can be purchased as dry/empty cells and activated by adding electrolyte when needed. Some lead-acid battery manufacturers advertise 5 - 10 years of storage with minimal loss of capacity. Nickel iron batteries should store more...
  16. Symbioquine

    InfluxDB downsampling

    I do have an ugly script that I use to produce summary metrics - interpolating and adding up data from my batteries/inverters/SCCs/etc. Maybe it will serve as inspiration since you could do something similar for down-sampling purposes...
  17. Symbioquine

    InfluxDB downsampling

    I'm curious to hear what you learn/find. I also have this "problem", but I've just been assuming my metrics db would grow more or less indefinitely since storage is cheap. (My .tar.gz backups are up to ~11 GB now for 3.5 years of data)
  18. Symbioquine

    14.4 KW solar, 40.96 kWh backup, 2 solark 15k inverters, off grid family home, doable or delusional?

    You need to plan for the replacement cost of your critical hardware anyway and you'll learn a lot by living with a system for a while. So if your budget is $60K because that's what it would cost to get grid power, I'd argue for spending less than half that up-front on your electricity/energy...
  19. Symbioquine

    Charging with suitcase generator?

    This is a good point to bring up. That long tail (low) charging current for lead-acid batteries would be stupid to try and serve with a large generator under normal conditions. I think a fair number of folks here have large LFP battery banks which can take pretty high charge rates for long...
  20. Symbioquine

    Charging with suitcase generator?

    This. Curious if folks in this thread are measuring their own kWh produced & fuel usage and doing the efficiency math... See https://diysolarforum.com/threads/how-efficient-is-your-generator.50418/
  21. Symbioquine

    Living with the DuroMAX XP9000iH

    One of the other fuses is for the 12v (cigarette style) socket on the front panel so you can put any reasonable size fuse on that e.g. 5A/7.5A/10A. I think it might be a 10A, but I'm not sure. In a pinch you can also "borrow" that fuse as part of the solenoid replacement fix (make sure to...
  22. Symbioquine

    Living with the DuroMAX XP9000iH

    I don't know if anybody else here has done the same, but the motorized ball valve is working fine for me. (I only use propane.) The main downside I've noticed is that it is a bit slower than the solenoid so it more frequently takes the generator a little longer to start. i.e. it cranks for a...
  23. Symbioquine

    Living with the DuroMAX XP9000iH

    Welcome time traveler! I'd be surprised if the solenoid makes a loud bang noise when it fails. However it is pretty easy to get these generators to backfire when running on propane if you shut off the generator via the start/stop button (or fob). I believe this happens because the start/stop...
  24. Symbioquine

    Living with the DuroMAX XP9000iH

    Not sure why I didn't get a notification about your post @turbov6 It's not full off-the-shelf auto ATS functionality, but on page 2 of this thread I described the pins on the ATS plug which cause my XP9000iH units to start/stop. Using that (assuming your unit is the same), it should be possible...
  25. Symbioquine

    DIY 'Chargenectifier'

    This sounds awesome! I'd love to hear more about this! Can you share photos of the mill in action and the before(raw material)/after(finished) photos of a board you've made?
  26. Symbioquine

    Got a free kholer standby generator

    Maybe you're referring to my thread: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/living-with-the-duromax-xp9000ih.55122/ ?
  27. Symbioquine

    Best material to insulate batteries? Best R-value?

    When you start asking about "Best R-value", my mind goes to vacuum based insulation strategies. Almost certainly impractical, but fun to think about. :unsure: In practice, this is why you need the math @sunshine_eggo is pointing to. Engineering is almost never about "best" - but "good enough"...
  28. Symbioquine

    AGS - Auto Generator Start Information Thread

    For the DuroMAX XP9000iH, see my post here which would fall under the information category of AGS via relays. I haven't done it yet, but I have an Atkinson AGS unit that I plan to use to automate starting/stopping the XP9000iH via the ATS plug as I've documented in that post.
  29. Symbioquine

    How efficient is your generator?

    @OffGridInTheCity Did you get the EG4 Chargeverter(s) and do you have any efficiency data? Maybe you'd like to start that thread?
  30. Symbioquine

    How efficient is your generator?

    Update: I added the data for my system through the last generator run in the spring (April 23rd) to my initial post (page #1). My main takeaways (beyond the fuel type efficiency differences noted earlier in this thread) are: At around 60% of the nominal rating of my generator (on propane) I'm...
  31. Symbioquine

    Victron used to monitor/record Epever voltages over 30 days

    I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt this answer. When just connected together (addressed differently) via RS485/Modbus the charge controllers do not "share" any data with each other unless there is some kind of other (Modbus) "master" device also connected to the same (Modbus) bus...
  32. Symbioquine

    Living with the DuroMAX XP9000iH

    Good to have you onboard. Please share anything you learn about these generators!
  33. Symbioquine

    My Friend Was Banned For "Self-Promotion?"

    Presumably there's some sort of switching mechanism (relays/IGBT) behind the panel in that video. Obviously that would take power too, but the device has its own solar cells. I think this is one of those "devil in the details" kinds of scenarios where it's not intrinsically a bad idea, but would...
  34. Symbioquine

    My Friend Was Banned For "Self-Promotion?"

    Microinverters apply their MPPT algorithm at a per-panel level so there is no need to "bypass" a given panel (though the strings of cells in the panel might still have bypass diodes). If there isn't very much sun, then the affected microinverter(s) will simply contribute less power to "the grid"...
  35. Symbioquine

    Can an 8s BMS be used in a 5s or 6s pack?

    If you get/have an Overkill BMS (or possibly another JBD BMS) you can refer to the Overkill Solar guide on alternative cell count configuration: https://overkillsolar.com/2023/06/30/bms-configuration-for-alternative-cell-counts/ Arguably this thread should be moved into the Danger Zone.
Back
Top