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I say don't overthink it. Go ahead and buy three off the shelf 12v lifepo4 batteries and run them in series. (Just make sure the bms they use allows for more current then your worst inrush currents) Then buy three cheap voltmeters, hook one up to each battery and mount them on the dash...

Yank the output wires off of your 24->12 step down converter and run those directly to your new lights. If they power up like they did with your bench meter then they probably draw more power than your converter can supply (while it's also supplying all of your other 12V needs). If that...

I have piloted a solar powered boat built by the Bortons' company and it was really fantastic! https://www.solarsal.solar/ But of course they have a normal battery system and don't have the issues created when skipping that step. Like some others in this thread I am skeptical about...

I've driven past the solar farms off of rt 36 for years. They put up all of the racks years and years ago and never put the panels on them. It always seemed odd to me that they'd put in so much money but not actually make it functional. It seemed like there was some sort of scam going on...

I'm interested in playing around with an IQ7 microinverter and I'm not sure how one connects to it. Specifically, what hardware was involved that allowed you to update the firmware on yours? Do I need that $700 box or is there some other method? And if I do pay $700 for a gateway can I use it...

I use this when I'm topping off a 24v bank. It's gentle and takes a long time if you have a lot of aH to fill but it works. https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-Battery-Phosphate-Rechargeable-Protection/dp/B0CF62DW36

Off grid systems can be pretty safe in this respect, even ones built by folks you might not want to trust. But if you're grid tied there are a myriad of possible issues you can't easily sidestep. The smart power meter is a glaring example.

Build a greenhouse around your hot tub and you get double the bang for your water heating buck!

The larger the inverter the larger the amount of energy it wastes around the clock even when there is no load on it. For that reason I always select the smallest needed for the job, especially on a small system. But that brings up the larger issue here- you need way more panels than the 600w...

Charge each battery independently and fully and let them sit for at least an hour after the last one is removed from the charger. Measure the voltage of each battery and make sure that each one is within a tenth of a volt of 13.6 volts. Then and only then can you stack them back into your...

This is a 15a plug. I believe you need the larger 20a style in case you plug something big into it. You can tell which is which by the extra notch in the full power one. 3000w/110v= 27.27a

You state that the comms are likely for: Coordinating charge termination That's where I think the comms would stop the issue the OP has found with his system.

Epever says you need to address them differently and wire them together when they are used in parallel, presumably so that they don't have spikes like this. It appears as though you haven't got them sharing data so I would expect the issues you are seeing. If you turn one epever off does...

Unless you plan to put your power into their grid the only answer you should offer this person would involve sucking on a specific appendage. Followed by an armed escort off of your property. The power companies ONLY have any say over the grid and anything that connects to it. Anyone from...

Rectifying power supplies can be very efficient but generally only in a tight design range. Rectifying power supplies that are meant for a wide range of loads are always a compromise of a design which bleeds energy at most power levels. For this reason, things like the wall worts we all use to...

That's a good point to make. Commercial BACnet controllers and even evidently some PLC's will run off of 24vac or 24vdc. That is surely an advantage over diy options like Arduino or Raspberry Pi type setups.

I use BACnet controllers and not plc's but the concept is the same, the controllers I use just allow higher level programming than a plc. But the issue of who maintains them if I get hit by a bus is a consideration I've chosen to deal with head on. My solution is/was to have several extra...

I don't see any photos of the inside. Is it a 12v regulator with panels feeding it?

Are you saying that the previous owner ran the AC unit with the existing inverter and battery bank? If so, it seems like your inverter is just fine for the task. What you need is access to more energy (more panels) and more storage (more batteries).

If you want the most redundant, hard to kill, no single point of failure setup then you should consider multiple charge controllers (one per string) and multiple inverters, (one per circuit). I'd still stay with 48v though. Five 2000w 48v inverts would cost you around a grand and any one...

On the extension cord topic- Why not use a retractable cord? If you cut the ends off and install a male where the female is and vise versa you end up with a retractable cord that reached out towards house power instead of the other way around ;)

Wow, I always heard it called the "nanny state" but I thought that was because they banned guns and then knives. Here in the US of A we can distill all the liquor we want. We just have to drink it ourselves or give it away free to our friends. It's the possible tax-avoidance that drives the...

I use NiChrome for my Lifepo4 battery heaters. There are two things to keep in mind- Insulation and watts per foot. Insulation is important here, just wrapping the wire around a pipe will basically short it out and you'll burn something out. Always measure it with an ohm meter after...

As others have said, inductive loads have inrush currents that exceed their runtime draw. LRA stands for "Locked Rotor Amps" and you need to allow enough power to overcome that. In the case of an AC inductive load you need an inverter with a large enough capacity to ride through the spike...

KNX is still popular in certain European circles but it's making no inroads globally. BACnet is still riding high after beating LON to death and should be the default open protocol to consider. Obviously modbus is a very real option too. But you generally need a computer to tie it all...

For all those wondering how to handle a worthless loser like this "Sunny Rio" fellow, just hover over his username and click ignore.

To offer a simpler explanation- You need to match the impedance of the source and the load to maximize power. We older folks are well versed in this stuff because back when we all had hi-fi stereos this came up a lot. With sound systems you need to match the impedance (resistance) of your...

I have a similarly sized system on a greenhouse. The excess "dump loads" are put into heat when it's cold and ventilation when its hot or humid. If you like growing things, toss up a hoop house near the trailer and have at it :)

I do not. But there is a ton of info here on that topic. Take a peek at that forum and I bet you'll find exactly what you're looking for. https://diysolarforum.com/forums/bms-battery-managment-systems.23/

Run all 8 in series and buy a 200a BMS. Your cells can presumably drain as fast as 1c which is 230a. There are a lot of 8s 200bms options out there with and without the bells and whistles of Bluetooth, etc. "8s 200A"

Efficiency? I prefer a single battery bank to maintain. But I'm all about a charge controller per string and I'm all about an inverter per load. Toggling inverters on as needed leaves you with no losses when the load is off, that's true efficiency. I'm just wrapping up this project:

Yeah, if the people who wrote the manual can't tell up from down I can only imagine how much they butcher the written word!

Interesting. I'm just a few days away from testing my latest battery warmer and this topic is very much on my mind. This is the first time I've warmed a 5kwh battery so I've scaled up the wattage to 50W to accommodate the additional mass. I don't like the concentrated heat of the heat...

It's not a temperature thing, that's what current rating protects against. This is more of a high pot thing where the insulation could cease to be effective in preventing it from shorting against any metal surfaces it's laying up against.

The voltage rating has to do with the insulation on the outside, it has nothing to do with the wire itself. I suspect its a very bad idea and I think it should not be done, But- I do wonder if anyone has bought a roll of shrink tubing and encased an entire length of wire to increase its...