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@HybrydaDrzymaly Just read it, great paper. The fact that it can increase an EVs driving range during cold conditions is impressive.

@soniashapiro4827 Working on it :) :D 👍

@HybrydaDrzymaly Hello, it would be possible to add heat to the system using PTC, using a variety of methods. Very interesting idea!

@GerryKirkpatrick 10awg is usually no problem, have you tried ordering some MC4 crimps and testing the fit? Might be able to improvise and get the wire in there somehow

@@solarpoweredge Yes, I ordered from Solar super Sonic Store. The sealing components would not slide up the cable.

@bradlyons7046 Hello, you should connect the wattmeter to the solar panel first before anything else. The speed at which the battery is drained is determined by the watts consumed and the size of the battery - so just use the wattmeter to measure it for reference. The 24v fan should draw less power from the battery overall. It's a good idea to use the wattmeter to measure each setup and write down the results

@george.carlin Welcome! yes it's very common to use solar panels for a residential hot water heater. I have a few of those DC HWH elements to experiment with. I also made multiple portable emergency hot water heaters for showers. Current project is a thermal storage system using hot water - water works very well for storing/distributing heat, and like you said it's "Quiet". Hope to make a video about water heaters as soon as possible.

@HybrydaDrzymaly Hello, with properly configured diodes one can easily extract at least 10-20% more watt-hours than unregulated resistance alone. If interested check out this presentation on the research paper and the related playlist th-cam.com/video/whOXELklxQ4/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/play/PL8a6nRTNyF9PK7SExvQKNhN0t3RUP9pT7.html

@argellaguardia9390 Hi, thank you for subscribing!!! yes, that is how all fans shown are being powered. It's like a voltage divider / regulator. These are 50 amp bridge rectifiers. We can use any silicon rectifier diodes though. I plan to try the TO-220 type diode as soon as possible, they could be cheaper.

@@solarpoweredge thanks for the idea. I am considering this kind of set up because I do have big heat sinks and i ant to utilize my solar panels power to get rid of grid power during the day.

@argellaguardia9390 NP, I like the idea of using up excess power for heat... I think a lot of solar panels are under-utilized after the batteries are charged

@niallparker3655 Hi, diodes range from a few pennies to 80 cents for certain bridge rectifiers. The kW (heating power, array size) is mostly limited by how the DIY'er builds the system, not so much the diodes themselves. This idea is mostly not understood. But in my experience it scales up very well - therefore MPPT is never going to be cheaper than nichrome heaters and power diodes. The simplicity and low cost are clear benefits of nichrome/diodes. The diodes are just there to provide regulation mostly, extracting the last 10-20% of watt-hours. Currently starting a new solar rack and electric heating build, it will be over 10kw for the first test. No problem at all. I may try some larger diodes and a larger heatsink, but that will still be cheaper and simpler than MPPT for sure. FYI there are actually peltiers experimentally integrated underneath the "square" diode heater, to scavenge voltage from the heat. I didn't mention it to avoid making things more confusing. -Dave

@colinhamer6506 Thanks for subscribing! I understand exactly what you're referring to, and have experienced the same environment on YT. You know what they say, can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink... DC is certainly the way to go. For example I am building out a low voltage DC home datacenter among other projects. It makes perfect sense to have LVDC available in the home for running small appliances. I want to skip the inverter whenever possible. Also am building out a low voltage solar-powerwall and many small appliances that can run straight off the solar with battery optional. Here's one of many examples of efforts to move in that direction: th-cam.com/video/zEZ0ke48awM/w-d-xo.html Again thanks for subscribing, and hope you enjoy the videos! -Dave

@steveadal4735 Thank you, glad you enjoyed this :D infrared bulb helps keep the workshop warmer :)

@Tsegaygebreslassie-b7j Welcome :) :D 👍

@bobetization Yeah they are awesome, maybe I will get one for videos

@d512295 4, but I have only heard back from 2 so far

@mppforall I'm upset with myself for not including it... thanks for letting me know.. updated. Too much going on and I forgot.

No worries, you got a lot going on. I love what you're doing. Can't get enough! 😊​@@solarpoweredge

@mppforall Thankful to hear that :D and thanks for watching :)

@dannydivine7699 Hello, good question... and being open minded, especially asking questions for heartfelt investigation is never dumb :) Efficiency is about cost, ease of use, reliability, level of complexity, and much more. I've been heating my home with simple, cheap solar electric resistance heaters for years. This saves wear and tear on my complicated and expensive inverters and heat pumps. Adding Diode strings solves the problem of extracting that last 20% of solar electric heat, while also avoiding complicated MPPT circuits. More heat, but still cheap and DIY friendly. Times will change! Always good to know the alternatives. And if simple coils of wire and diodes can extract most of the solar electric heat, then it is truly an efficient and affordable alternative to charge controllers, batteries, inverters, heat pumps etc. I don't know when heaters like this would be on the store shelf, but diodes are very much in use in some countries for solar electric cooking. I think few people, if any, are using them for space heating.

@@solarpoweredge Thanks, I will have to do more research to learn more about diode sizes / availability. And honestly more about diodes in general, I as the true redneck, always thought a diodes only purpose was to control direction of current flow. Thanks

@dannydivine7699 Welcome - I always thought of them that way too, but it's amazing what diodes can do!

@pramodgehlot8512 Hi, a subscriber told me about this... you can file your patent idea as a "micro entity" on the USPTO website. It costs much less, but you will have to make drawings and documents to file. Also it helps to hire a good patent attorney, although they might charge a lot.

@CheMathiewNgayihiAbbe Hello, I believe your setup is just fine! if you want to add simple over-current protection on the battery side, I recommend "12v automotive fuses". Those are a quick way to add over-current protection without using a circuit breaker. These are just my opinions and ideas, hope it helps :)

@TheSuperChannel :D 👍

@jima3252 Good ideas, need to open one of these up and see what kind of heater it has inside the bottom half. I later tried a different cup with a 100w panel and boiled an egg th-cam.com/video/-QthPOTDLSY/w-d-xo.html

@markpennella right, absolutely possible! The 50A diodes can take even more power. But still need cooling. Oddly enough, we don't want the diodes "hot" but to heat the air. Otherwise, they just burn up. The cooling in this video was adequate for a bench test and demonstration at least.

@asificam1 The cheapest diodes are just pennies. Bridge rectifiers are more of premium solution but worth it for their simplicity. For years solar electric heat worked well for us during winter, but without MPPT there is always some waste. It turns out diodes are a simple and cheap way to extract most of that wasted heat, but avoid MPPT altogether. I am certainly not against MPPT but this channel has a grid-down and keep-it-dirt-simple theme in the background (my personal preference for just about everything)

@user-tn1hk6zm2freedom Good point, and that is one of the suggestions in the video. I like the cheap LM2596 boards. I am fond of keeping it super simple, hence for years I have run BLDC fans off of voltage dividers, even diode chains can do the same thing. Key is to under-volt the fan to allow for voltage swings. Works extremely well when used correctly and cautiously.

@kefirheals7383 Wow! I hope this idea helps you... mice are unbelievably effective at sneaking in... the stainless steel wool can tear up your fingers so watch out. I was thinking about doing exactly the same thing, building a door in place of the rollup. But the building company wanted $7000! You may want to look at a insulated (sectional) folding door to replace the rollup, and then use a anti-mouse bottom door seal which has metal inside the rubber in case they chew. Plus any other steps possible. But no matter what, it's extremely challenging to prevent mice!

​@@solarpoweredge Challenging?! And how! Not much deters them. I think the Stainless steel wool might. I went on-line to look for some, and I guess it comes in different grades - from extra fine, fine, medium,. coarse, and extra coarse. What grade did you purchase? (Yeah, $7 grand ain't in the equation. LOL.) Thanks.

@kefirheals7383 Yeah that was not gonna happen, not only that the price was for 2 ordinary plain white doors and a frame. Seriously couldn't believe it. I used a mixture of 434 stainless coarse and fine, be advised it's very sharp and will cut skin easily. It's a good idea to watch those metal ribs, getting the steel wool up inside those openings would be paramount. And just anywhere mice can get in or might try to.

@@solarpoweredge Thank you so much! Warning duly noted. I'll make sure to wear gloves.

@kefirheals7383 No problem!!!

@EgonSorensen Indeed there are lots of potential ideas! Like heating water... working on that for past several months :)

@steveadal4735 Greetings sir, your 10 year old is very smart! George the cat sends his regards... he spends most of his time sleeping on a very plush cushion, annoying us, or sleeping in front of a heater - after which he annoys us further :D :)

Actually I think I figured it out. Thank you again!

@CalvinDeSantis NP just got your email :D

Thank you to everyone for the good wishes! Thank you watt cycle! I already own a 100ah mini and it works great. Already planning to make a small dc/usb power station with this 12ah!

@CalvinDeSantis Nice idea... I hot glued a DC converter and plug to a 5ah to make a mini solar power brick - it's very handy for everything :)

@1kzrider :D 🎉

@Adrian_Galilea Efficiency can include but is not limited to: cost, ease of use, durability, complexity, electrical power consumption, DIY accessibility, long term outlook, etc. For example Microwave ovens waste a ton of power, but they get the job done so quickly they are in wide use. Peltiers are a very unique in that they can make "cold" for so little effort and complexity, even connected straight to a solar panel. No refined gas, no compressors, no high pressure or brazing copper pipes. Research is still ongoing... by ignoring conventional thinking about Peltiers, I boosted the efficiency of one of my test rigs by 50%. Got down to 14F for half the power. At first I thought I made a mistake, but it was a verified result. I believe there is more to Peltiers than commonly accepted. The research has been expensive and takes a lot of time. Hope to present the results and findings as soon as humanly possible.

@stevegill866 🎉

🎉 :D

@subhobroto Hi shuvo! good to hear from you, hope all is well :D 🎉

🎉 🎁 :D

@oskosh50 NP :D

🎉

🥳 🎉 🎁 🎁

@vrrevolution9183 :D

@solarpoweredge if anyone doesn't respond i will take theirs :P

@vrrevolution9183 lol. I'm still waiting for 3...

@colin8532 Next time I will do 10 "digital" prizes :D

Hey @jmr and @JonD-ee3im still have not heard from you, if you want to claim your prize please email me - thanks!

@lezbriddon I hear you, it's an extremely obscure topic... definitely not claiming free energy just more efficient extraction of PV watt-hours and thus heat. Some of the worst comments I ever got were on these diode videos, they seem to attract a lot of flak. I am fond of saying "a person with an open mind isn't dumb" :D I don't understand 0.5% of anything but I am ready to learn more and hope to find something new... Diodes getting hot is supposed to be a terrible thing in electronics... MPPT has it's place and I'm sure heaters will someday use it, but I have always had a "make it better, but keep it dirt simple and cheap" perspective. A string of diodes fits perfectly. They cost more than heating wire, but diodes can get more heat by operating in a better way from current limited solar panels. So they must have applications somewhere. That's a pretty funny joke, incidentally every time I get a perforated document, I just tear it by hand or get the scissors... how many times it just tears outside the perforations and has to be taped together, so better just cut them to save on tape lol

I did the same thing a few videos ago, thinking it was another re-tread of a "free energy" idea by someone with an overly simplistic understanding of some basic aspect of physics... but nope! This is true creativity: recombining existing things in new ways to achieve goals. Most excellent!

@geniferteal4178 Hello, an unmodified grid tie inverter can't work safely without the presence of grid power. So that leaves us with batteries/inverters in most cases. In my opinion, a potential solution is to build a PV DC powerwall. And make appliances run off of solar direct. I have been working on that for years at a small scale. It's a parallel effort, having multiple power sources (redundancy) is always a good thing. Here's my work-in-progress demonstration: th-cam.com/video/zEZ0ke48awM/w-d-xo.html

@solarpoweredge i've gone two weeks without electricity, so i'm looking for a serious replacement. If i've got enough on the roof I'd like to be able to use it. I don't have any solar at the moment.This is something that's been bugging me and preventing me from getting. The fact that I wouldn't be able to use it if the grid goes down. Seems counterproductive to have the perfect generator on your roof but you're not allowed to use it. I get the need to disconnect, but why isn't that enough?What do I not understand? If there's too much energy being generated, I thought maybe if you had three rows of three panels, they could be wired in three segments and maybe only use as much as you need and switch the other one off? There might still be excess energy to do something with, but is there a safe way to get rid of it? Do I not need to get rid of it? I don't know. I just wish there was a way to make it work.

@geniferteal4178 2 weeks, that doesn't sound fun... do you know anybody in your area that is familiar with solar? It might help to team up with someone. Sounds like you need a small off-electrical-grid solar power system as soon as possible, just to get some basic power for lights, small appliances, etc. Solar panels make DC power. Pretty much the entire world runs on AC. That's why we store the DC in batteries, then have converters (inverters) to make AC on demand for appliances. Grid tie inverter makes AC right away and pushes it backwards into the home wiring and sometimes the power grid itself. But without the grid, that grid tie inverter won't work at all. What's missing is DC / solar powered appliances, which is what I have been working on as much as humanly possible. I feel it's necessary to have small to midsized DC and solar powered appliances, but their availability is often not very good.

@solarpoweredge i'm not looking to change all my appliances. I want to run what I have and keep it running. I could prioritize certain things like fridge, freezer and heating, but I don't really want to think about what I can or can't run if the power's out.I want to just run the same stuff unless of course, i'm not generating enough gy that's a different question. I talk to everyone who bothers me about switching to solar energy or adding solar energy, but they're just the salespeople, and they don't understand they say battery, I say, two weeks, then they say, yeah, I could have someone and i'm like, nope, i'm not giving you my information. When you say without the grid, That inverter wont-work. Is that for safety reasons, or is there a separate necessary reason like where does the extra energy go? I understand the safety concern. But I also feel there's a bit of you can only have energy supplied by us. You can't supply your own kind of mentality. The government kind of doesn't want us living off grid. So which is it does it actually not work?Or do they just not allow it to work for safety?

@geniferteal4178 A grid tie inverter is designed to require grid power for safety reasons. When the power is out, it switches off. Otherwise, people would backfeed high voltage while linemen are working on repairing the power lines, causing them to be injured. It's the same problem with gas generators, that's why the breaker panel is required to have an interlock to prevent accidentally backfeeding onto the grid during a power outage. Off electrical grid power does not connect to the power grid, but instead creates a separate "mini grid" which is independent and supplies power to the house. Basically we don't have good options for no-battery / PVDC-inverters right now. So that means getting batteries, inverter, solar charge controller and solar panels and operating that as a system to power the house. In some years, I kept my grid connection and ran a large solar power system in parallel. So I had more options. In your case, with the power out, any kind of power source would be great. If you know somebody that's into solar (not a salesman) they could probably help you get started in the right direction.

@trevortrevortsr2 :D

fyi just found same ones on temu for $8.77 and already ordered them for testing

@vrrevolution9183 Thanks a lot! Sure, we can use any wires as long as they can handle the amps

@rickdsanchez6452 While crypto is not for me, it's certainly a valid point. Either that or run a datacenter server farm...

@merlin5476 Hi, a grid tie inverter can literally push power back into the grid. To learn about that part, check out this video th-cam.com/video/fFFv2BNhIBs/w-d-xo.html

@solarpoweredge thanks for a swift reply 👍 I shall check out the link. I'm surprised that current can flow both ways at the same time especially at the same frequency ( 50hz). I shall investigate. Many thanks.

@merlin5476 Welcome! :)

@Rich-on6fe True and a good idea... I have an arduino kit but have never got around to opening it. Guaranteed this is one of the first things I'd try :) The main draw of diode chains is they are like nichrome - dirt simple. And yet they behave so intelligently. I find them very intriguing

@solarpoweredge I went so far as to sketch a circuit: Arduino gnd is connected to PV negative. PV positive goes to emitter of a pnp power transistor and also to a 10:1 divider to gnd to provide a PV voltage measurement signal that goes into an Arduino ADC pin. The collector of the pnp power transistor goes through a low value resistor to gnd, providing a current measurement signal that goes into another ADC pin on the Arduino. The base of the pnp power transistor is stimulated by an npn transistor to ground. The base of the npn transistor is driven through a resistor from a voltage signal from a DAC output of the Arduino. You'll need an RC filter if it's a basic Arduino with pwm output and probably also a buffer amplifier (op amp) after the filter. That base resistor will be chosen from experimentation to get it to pull full rated power with full dac (pwm) voltage. Software will multiply the two ADC signals and drive the base to ride the power peak. The gain of the two transistors together might be enough to make it work sensibly - or it might not. Could be a fun little project.

It's worth noting that the current measurement voltage will have to be small compared to the 5V range of the ADC input and DAC output. If it ranges to 1V maximum, the DAC output for the base of the npn can range from about 2V up to 5V. The current measurement signal will therefore be fairly small for the measurement range / resolution and you could either amplify it with an op amp circuit before measurement, or you could use ADC oversampling to make a higher resolution measurement. Oversampling and decimation is a bit like magic.

@Rich-on6fe This is all good information, thanks a lot!

@fxm5715 Thank you... I'm no electronics guru either... a full wave bridge rectifier has 4 diodes, but we certainly don't have to use all of them. The main benefit they deliver is a large, tough metal case that can be mounted directly to a heat sink with a bolt. I'd say it's better to run more units at a lower temperature, BUT diodes seem to take 100C temps just fine. I don't have any data on diode longevity vs. temperature but it surely must have an impact. Therefore I am careful to not overheat and have not lost a single diode yet. I'm sure it will happen eventually though

I think that he is using all 4 diodes, just ignoring the two center taps, i.e. the voltage drop is over a mini chain of two diodes and each rectifier has two mini chains in parallel.

@MLSgeek Right!!

@@MLSgeek Oh, right! I get it. I wasn't thinking of it properly, imagining the two conventional paths for incoming alternating current, but with DC only, the current can simply flow through two parallel paths. Thanks for pointing that out.

@johannes3-16 True statement... I need to get out there and clean them

@wpgenlighten4truth2 Thank you sir :) I love diodes and never thought they'd work as heaters. Glad the videos are useful to you... feel free to post a link to my work anywhere if someone is interested... I think that helps growth and spreads knowledge. I'll keep plodding along hopefully and upload more stuff as soon as humanly possible!

@colinmcdonagh4705 Thanks a lot :) :D