Hi everyone! I’m building an overland trailer and I’m in the process of doing electrical. I have 2 12v 100Ah batteries in parallel, I thought I bought 2/0 but ended up with 2awg wire instead. Would I be fine to leave it as is or should I upgrade my wire? The total length of 2awg wire is about 2ft. I plan to run a 2000w inverter and add the solar charging unit later this week.

I want to take my two office shed off grid. I have a stack of Jackery 6kWh. I need solar panels for my portable battery pack. I believe I have to mount a track on the roof. I would prefer to not puncture the roof, but I understand that might be hard to achieve.

Here are the specs: solar panels must have a voltage of between 17.5V-60V at 12A when using one DC input port or 17.5V-60V at 24A when using both of the input ports, capped at 1400 watts of input. 

So I am thinking 1 or 2 550w panels.

(Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus system so long as it meets the following input specifications: 17.5V-60V⎓12A, Double to 24A/1400W Max).

What are some decent brands, how would you mount them, and any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I should ask some professionals to mount it for me. I am terrified about leaks.

Like I said, I have 6kWh, but suspect I need to increase it to 8kWh.

Hey everyone,

I'm in California (PG&E territory), and my solar company went bankrupt before they could get me on NEM2. Now I'm stuck under NEM3, and my electric bill is actually higher than before going solar because of the terrible export rates. I know adding a battery will help, but I need advice on a budget-friendly DIY setup.

My Current System:

• Solar Panels: ZNSHINE SOLAR ZXM7-SH108-405/M
• Microinverters: Enphase IQ7PLUS-72-2-US (Grid-Tied)
• Combiner Box: Enphase IQ Combiner 3 w/ IQ Envoy
• Service Disconnect: Square D DU222RB (Non-Fused, 240V, NEMA 3R)
• No Battery, No Hybrid Inverter

What I Need Help With:

1. Best Budget Battery Setup: I'm looking at EG4 6000XP Hybrid Inverter + EG4 48V LiFePO4 Batteries (100Ah or 200Ah). Does this seem like a solid choice, or should I look at something else?
2. Microinverters (IQ7+) Issue: Since my system is AC-coupled, I know that the IQ7+ inverters don’t work well with batteries. Should I:
   • Bypass the IQ7+ and rewire my panels to the hybrid inverter?
   • Keep the IQ7+ and AC-couple the battery (less efficient)?
   • Swap them for something else?
3. PG&E Considerations:
   • If I install this setup, do I need to notify PG&E for interconnection?
   • Can I run in zero-export mode and avoid dealing with PG&E altogether?
4. Critical Load Panel vs. Whole Home Backup: Should I install a critical loads panel, or would a 200A transfer switch for full backup be better?
5. DIY Installation Feasibility: I’m comfortable with electrical work but want to make sure I don’t run into unexpected issues.

Budget & Expectations:

I’m hoping to keep the cost under $7K for a DIY install. My goal is to store solar power during the day and use it at night to reduce my PG&E bill rather than relying on terrible NEM3 export rates.Has anyone else done a DIY battery install in PG&E territory? Would love to hear your experiences, especially if you've worked with EG4, Sol-Ark, or AC-coupled setups!

Thanks in advance!

120kwh of Soluna batteries finally came in, can’t wait to get off work and open my presents…

Some of you may have noticed that I made a few posts recently. I've been doing a lot of reading to prepare for getting an estimate for a solar system with 1:1 net metering. If the estimate is astronomical, I'd like to make my own estimate for a diy system that can live alongside the grid. Going completely off grid diy would most likely be more expensive than having something installed for me. I'm pretty comfortable with electric work (I used to work construction.) I'm kind of figuring out solar...

So the problem that I see people run into is their system back feeding small amounts to the grid. I have a new smart meter, so I can't have that if I don't want to actually be grid tied. To be clear, I would like to avoid actually being grid tied and dealing with the power company. I would like to have a 30kwh to 60kwh battery bank, with the capability to charge the bank from the grid in the couple of winter months when solar production is low.

So from doing a lot of reading, the solution seems to be... Install a second panel next to my main panel, and move everything over to it. The second panel would be fed by the inverters, which get their power ONLY from the battery bank. The main panel would only have one breaker on it, which would feed an eg4 chargeverter. The chargeverter would be able to charge the battery bank from the grid just enough to make it through the night until the solar array starts charging the batteries in the morning. I expect this to happen mostly in Dec and Jan (I'm in the north east.)

My questions are:

1. Will this work without having to deal with the power company, with zero actual export? I need to read more about the chargeverter and how it works, but this is my understanding so far.
2. Again, I need to read more about the chargverter but... Can it be setup to start charging the battery bank when it gets below a certain state of charge? And then stop charging once the solar panels start charging? I also read on a forum that it can be setup to charge at a similar rate that your house is pulling from the batteries, so that you don't top them off overnight before the solar panels can charge them. If anyone has a link to some reading about setting up a chargeverter like this with a zero export setup, that would be awesome.

Thanks for the help, this has been a lot for me to digest. I'd like to have a plan ready when spring arrives and the ground is thawed.

I am planning to build a 19kwh system. I would like to add about 29kwh or slightly more of capacity in batteries. Currently thinking EG4 FlexBoss and Gridboss setup. Other than battery capacity and price - should I be strongly considering other battery features or any potential compatibility challenges w EG4 setup?

So far looked at:

1. EG4 WallMount Indoor (14.3kwh @ $3299 = 2.30w)
2. Ruixu battery (16kwh @ $3125 on sale w coupon at renewable outdoors = 1.95w)
3. Ecoworthy battery (14.3kwh @ $2520 =1.76w)

The obvious choice for my capacity need is the Ruixu since 2 would cover my desired capacity vs needing 3 of the 14.3 size. THOUGHTS/advice appreciated!

So, I have 2 EG4 6500ex inverters, six 48 volt EG4 batteries, and 20 panels, the batteries are stuck at 20%, been that way for two days now. I have solar assistant and can monitor them from my phone.

They have always charged from the grid when there is not enough sun, always, until Monday. It has been cloudy and the batteries will not charge, the grid is supposed to kick on at 25%, it hasn't.

I am out of town and will be for another month, I have no way to tend to them from where I am.

Am I going to ruin the batteries if I just let it fly like this for a month?

What would be causing this to happen?

Last year when I was gone the inverters switched to 50 hz all by them selves and wrecked a bunch of appliances.

Not having good vibes with Signature Solar anymore.

We have an project that's related to engineering so our group choose solar panels, I propose about the using CD for the panels but as I continue read the comments i realized it's fake, so anyone please wanna help us build a DIY solar panel that can benefit the school?

Hey everyone,

I’m setting up a solar power system using 24V batteries and considering an MPPT charge controller (100/50). However, I’ve noticed that most solar panels and batteries seem to be designed for 12V systems.

I know I could connect two 12V panels in series to get 24V, but ideally, I’d like to find a single 24V panel if possible. The same goes for batteries—I could wire two 12V batteries in series, but I’d prefer a single 24V battery if there are good options available.

Any recommendations on: • The best 24V solar panels? • Good 24V battery options?

Would love to hear from anyone with experience running a 24V system. Thanks in advance

I have a parallel hybrid 11kw system. Each inverter is 5.5kw.

I have 9 panels of 455w. For each inverter which has capacity of 5500w solar input max.

Currently they generate maybe 1.2kw total (600w per side max)

I have it positioned where it doesn’t necessarily get the most efficient pv generation.

Can I add more panels? And if so how many panels of 455w can I add?

Hi, I basically have all the electronics (inverter,mppt,etc) for a 12v system. They are left over from other projects. Victron gear so expensive and good quality. I'm building a new home garden-office type situation and was thinking about using this 12v equipment and buying some 12v panels.

I realize 12v is less than ideal.

But, any thoughts on how this could go terribly wrong or any gotchas to consider?

I don't have any idea how many panels maybe 10 panels that are 10A. I haven't thought about if wired in series or parallel

I have 2 x 400w ecoflow solar panels that I use during the summer to charge an Ecoflow Delta Pro portable power station which I use to run a window AC unit. Rather than feeding the cables through a window, I would like to be able to plug them into an outlet on the outside of the building and then plug the power station solar lead into the outlet on the inside of the wall.

Does this exist as an off the shelf item, or would it have to be custom assembled?

Hi all, looking for advice.

I have a Renogy 1000w inverter which has an AC utility, allowing me to run a generator through it and have the inverter automatically switch to battery power when the generator is switched off. This setup runs a small house.

When the generator is on Ill be using a battery charger, is it safe to run this from the house (inverter) power and manually switch it off when the generator goes off, or should I really keep the charger running directly from the generator?

Hi there, I’m installing panels over plumbing vents on my tile roof and the rails mount to same course the vents are on. The rails will pass behind the vents (when viewing from edge of roof) with a gap of approximately 1.5 inches. I’m using iron ridge XR-100 rails. Any concerns or should this gap distance be sufficient? Thank you

I am totally new to solar. Some electrical experience, mostly house wiring, done a few service changes. Looking at building myself a solar system. Grid tie with batteries. I've been poking around marketplace looking at components. How viable are used components? I know alot of people say to get used panels, but what about inverters and batteries? What to look for with them? Right now I'm seeing 2 sunny boy 5kw inverters for $600 each, shows 44kwh. Seems like a great deal, but I'm not even sure if they would be what I need. Going to research now!

This isn't solar per se, but folks here have a lot more knowledge about battery backup / inverter stuff than anywhere else. May add solar on down the road, but no panels yet.

Long story short, I have some equipment I'm trying to run in the US that's designed for European 230V/50Hz power. Draws almost 3kW but only for about an hour per day. Inrush currents alone would kill my 110V circuits if I tried a simple transformer. No way to rewire the location I'm in either.

I think an online UPS will do what I want, which is to charge a battery bank off of 110V 15A and deliver 230V/50Hz at 13A for a short time (1-2hr max). However, most of the 230V output UPS's want to charge off of 230V and are derated for charging (and probably less efficient) at 110V input.

I can probably put something together involving a battery charger and separate inverter, but wondering if there's an off the shelf option I haven't found yet in my limited searching so far.

Thanks!

Looking to run an off grid cabin with my Jackery 2000 pro and renogy panels. I want to make sure i am being safe when doing so.

I am looking at getting two Renogy 450 watt panels (900 watt total) and want to make sure i can run these in parallel then run a Solar Connector to DC 8mm Adapter Cable to my Jackery. Is there a certain AWG that adapter cable needs to be?

I would like to wire the entire cabin up with standard 120v outlest then have these plug into the jackery. Is there anything im missing?

Okay that was super confusing. I’m picking up two of these Ecoworthy panels used for $150 for both. I was about to pull the trigger on an Anker Solix F3800 and the automatic backup blah blah. But then I realized I’ve gotten into new projects and ended up having to change brands and all the proprietary accessories and crap. So I’ve decided to get a smaller power supply for just backup solar power for the Internet and TV. I gotta be able to surf the net and watch the news! (Get no OTA signals here so Sling it is. Ugh.)

Anyway, which brand have you invested in? Or is everyone here piecing together their stuff Will Prowse and Jasonoid? I want something that will serve my needs on a smaller scale first as a trial run for this first-timer. But be able to grow and expand to full off grid or be adaptable to that big of a scale.

I need to mount 24 hyperion 400w panels on the ground.

Right now I'm planning to weld a frame of 2x2 1/8 wall square tubing but I need a way to attach the panels to this square tubing. I have access to the back side of the panels and would like avoid clamps or brackets if possible. I also don't want to drill 96 holes through the square tubing in order to utilize the mounting holes on the backs of the panels.

Ideally I'd have something that has perforations but can also take the structural role of the 2x2 square tubing but I'm not sure what that would be. I've been looking at z purlins but would like something simpler if available.

Looking to copy the attached image.

I put this setup together after a bunch of YT videos and some advice from y'all a month or so ago. When i finished, some people were curious about it, so i put together this little overview based on the layout i made.

I've since connected an outdoor pump for my garden to the 12V side, and i'm trying to justify an inverter before summer to charge lawn equipment batteries (portable stuff). If y'all see something dumb or that I need to add, let me know!

https://preview.redd.it/719t1xii0sfe1.jpg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6605475592cce4d5d8b40cfd04e2e4d96435949f

I purchased a E33600FLP in December that makes an occasional squealing noise when the fan is running for about 15 seconds, then stops for a while and repeats. Has anyone else had this experience?

I need some help from the UK fellows here, I am going to raise the installation with the DNO soon but would like to get a basic setup as compliant as I can before I do so.

I want to connect my Victron Inverter to the grid so I no longer need to use a transfer switch. The Victron Multiplus II inverter allows to use the "AC In" as a bidirectional terminal for both the grid supply feed and house at the same time (as long as there is a ET-112 meter and Cerbo GX unit to measure grid feed in and allow the inverter to offset needs) https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Energy_Meter_ET112/113406-Energy_Meters-pdf-en.pdf

I will have an electrician install the grid generation meter so he can confirm if all is well but a second opinion from you guys would be good ( I also don't want to pay extra for wasting the electricians time coming out if something is missing)

Many thanks in advance!

https://preview.redd.it/mbm6rd1p4qfe1.png?width=1344&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b9919ca7de57162459e54fe5134ddf009950eb8

I'm interested in putting in a small solar powered system to power lights in a detached shed. I'm a novice and don't need a lot of power, so I'm looking at some All-in-1 kits and I have a question about inverters.

It's an uninsulated space, just looking for enough power to hardwire lights (both inside work lights and some outside sconce and motion spotlights) using a switch, but most of the inverters appear to just have a plug output. Am I just not seeing where the hardwire (i.e. romex) would connect to the inverter? Do all inverters allow for hardwiring, or do I need to buy a specific intervter with this option?