Very cool! I had the privilege of visiting a Menards for the first time last Tuesday. We were on vacation in northern Kentucky and visited the Menards in Cincinnati, that store is awesome! I wish we had those down here in northern Florida
Hello from Chicago! Every time I watch your channel I'm amazed at how much you know about everything you touch and use daily, and how much I know nothing!
When I added a subpanel in my garage, I needed to move a couple of circuits out of the main and into the sub to make room for the breaker to feed the subpanel. Like you, I was going to wire nut wires to make them long enough to move the circuits over to the subpanel. When I asked the electrical inspector about it, he told me that I could not use the main panel as a pass-through enclosure. Instead, I had to pull the wires out of the main panel entirely and perform a splice in a separate junction box. You may want to double-check with your electrical inspector to see if you need to do the same. Take care and God Bless.
Maybe the panel is outside...wire nut splices in high humidity areas tend to go bad over time with in reased corrosion and resistance and heat. Inside a house at home humidity levels probably not an issue.
I was under the impression that splices could be made in the panel but I much prefer to install a Jbox and splice outside the panel .. much cleaner IMO. Thx for the excellent video
I am just ready to install a single Ecoflow Delta Pro backup at our place in the Bahamas. I'm using a Reliance 6 circuit transfer switch (single box, comes with breakers, cord, and receptacle, about $320.00). I did replace the 30 amp 240 breaker with 2 120v breakers since all 6 of my circuits will be 120v. Hoping it all works, because power goes out here at an average of 4-6 times a month, but generally only for 30 minutes to a couple of hours, though it can, on occasion, last all day (or night). Installing 2 200v panels, but will of course keep the Ecoflow plugged in all the time. Thanks for your input on this system, sucks about not being able to plug both into the grid. It seems there would be some way to resolve this, but I'm a long, long way from an EE! 👍
Thanks for sharing with us Evan, knowing your way around an electrical panel and staying within codes is awesome. You're doing a great job with your Electrical Energy around there. Stay safe and keep up the great videos and keep having fun too. Fred.
Use a automatic transfer switch like a Moes that will monitor battery voltage and switch from battery to utility and back at the voltages you want it to.
Am finding your solar primary installation and thought process fascinating. I imagine more and more of us will be turning to solar as time goes on and you make it so much easier to understand. Thanks!! 👍👍👍
It's so exciting to see you all excited about going off grid. You're in the right track, keep it up! It's really rewarding. Your system will keep growing up on you faster than you can handle. As you said Winter is the real trial time, when you realize all the shortcoming of your configuration and decide to fix it or improve it. Thanks for sharing, and good luck with this project.
I subscribed after watching you install a transfer switch. I see a lot of DIY videos where the owners rely on flipping breakers to choose the power supply. Great job and very clean looking.
👍👍👍👍👍👌Very interesting and slick system to handle your critical loads without having to use your standby generator, great use for the Eco Flo as a battery bank nice work on the critical load panel and switch over panel.!!!
Good job Evan! All I could do was watch and try to understand ...you are very well versed and that's great ! You remind us of our son and his abilities to do... create and fix ! Annnd your mannerisms are very much like his too! We love your sharingbof everything with us and even the whoops and ouch...and breaking of things...all in acdays learning events ! its all good and exciting and a pleasure to watch ...we crack up and we learn from you too ! You're a terrific guy with a terrific gal at your side ! We sure missed seeing you. Just got our cable andbinternet back yesterday since Feb 21st...big ice storm here took put trees and electricity and damaged a lot of structures...anywho ! 🤗 well be catching up on all we missed ! God bless y'all !
I have had 3 100 watt panels on my workshop and 3 100amp hr bats I run my compressor and stick welder and plasma cutter off it for 3 years, but I just have a a simple system
A workaround for the ecoflow charging while they're running low might be setting up a automatic transfer switch with a simple relay that you could just hook up a charger into the solar input and charge during your off-peak time-of-use rate our overnight for now
Since none of your current critical loads are 240 you could feed each phase of sub panel from ecoflow independent. That way they could be changed from grid without shutting down output to panel. Down side is you wouldn’t be able to feed main panel during grid outage
I’ve been considering the same thing but saw an automatic transfer switch. You’d need battery back up as the automatic transfer just switching the charging system and it will consistently run off battery.
Both my Ecopros get here in three days. If they haven't addressed this my workaround is to power the house with the generator and then charge the (now off-line) Ecopros individually with available house outlet AC. Throttling back power use within the home would help shorten battery charge/gen run times.
When you get to the point that you're going to go full solar, I suspect you're going to need to consider a battery solution that's more focused on solar battery backup. The portable units are nice, but may not be the best long term solution.
Like Signature Solar EG4 Rack batteries.rack if 6 is over 30kw. And around $10,000 alit cheaper than adding additional batteries to echoflo. Better value all the way around and more geared for solar. They have inverters that accompany around 450 volts. At very affordable prices and utilize 2 fir split phase about $1,600 each. Hope this helps...... Jeff
@@JWTXI’m in between the Ecoflow and EG4 right now. I know the EG4 is way better value, but I’m worried to screw something up because I’ve never done this before.
An EcoFlow has got to be almost the *MOST* expensive way to do a solar/battery system. Using separate battery/charger/inverter units is probably less than half the cost.
Very true. A big hassle to make an emergency system function as a power plant. Best to use a real solar inverter system like sol-ark. Hranted it costs more but over 30yrs it will pay you back in money and ease of use I can assure you.
After several comments and discussions, I will address a couple items. Apparently you should never try to charge the Delta pro, while it is outputting power to a system, where the Ground and Neutral are connected to the system that is charging the delta pro. This is the problem I was seeing. It would happen, in 240 volt or 120 mode, Since the subpanel ground and neutral are connected with the main panel. Second item, I don't have a Well Pump. The house is connected to a rural water system. That's why a well pump wasn't in the critical load panel.
Sounds like it may work with my SMA - SPS on my 5.1kW solar inverter (SPS is secure power supply, can run in off grid mode, the reason I went with Delta Pros for backup power), that should send up to 1800 watts on an off grid mode circuit to power the Delta Pros when the grid is out. That's my plan at least...it stinks because I can't use either solar array since they are grid tied and wired up to their own inverters. A full system would be better but would cost me $10-20K. Did you think of installing the Ecoflow Smart Home Panel instead? That would have automated backup, used solar when available, etc, or are you going to moving to a more real inverter, battery system?
Evan, you only bond neutral and ground together at first panel. Not in secondary panels. It looks as though in the solar powered panel you have a green ground wire running from your ground buss to your neutral buss.
@@CountryViewAcres ok, I couldn't get a close look at it. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. I went back and stopped the video and zoomed in and now see what you did. It looks good. The circuits you moved to the second panel are they supplied 24/7 from solar?
@@CountryViewAcres Is the seperate panel on solar 24/7 or is it possible to feed it by switching to mains power? Is that what the other switch is for? I'm trying to figure out the schematic in my head.
@@CountryViewAcres Hey Evan, have you heard of a grid tie inverter? A grid tie inverter can be plugged into your system, either the solar or mains system and be fed from the two panels you pulled out and the grid tie inverter matches the phase of the circuit and feeds power into the circuit from the solar panels and so items plugged into that circuit get power from the solar instead of the electric grid. On my channel I did videos of a gentleman who lived not far from my place that had a bunch of panels and grid tie inverters and he was on a electrical provider that would purchase his excess power. It was a simple system but he cut his power use way down.
*I think the possible work around to this being unable to recharge while outputting AC 240 Volts to your backup circuits at the same time is to attach two of the EcoFlow "Smart" Generators (One to each Delta Pro unit) via the special side DC battery expansion sockets, and this way when you setup the smart generators to automatically turn at the battery charge level you set, then you will see a seamless switchover to simultaneous charge while outputting your 240 Volt AC continuously without interruption. Unfortunately, two extra EcoFlow Smart Generator units not an inexpensive upgrade.*
Good information your giving us, my son and I installed the generator system with the plug-in receptacle and the interlock a few months ago. It wasn't easy, especially the way we are set up at our home, but we did get it hooked up. We haven't tested it yet, but hopefully we won't have any issues if we need it. Great video, enjoyed watching, thanks Evan. Have a nice weekend!👍
C want to consider your total autonomy. This would mean that your battery storage would be big enough to supply power for an extended period if you could not produce enough solar power to completely charge the batteries
Just a couple observations...you mentioned you're going to up grade you 100a 12 ckt panel in the future. When you do you should also move all the branch circuits that are served by the sub-panel into that panel. It's a code violation to use the main panelboard as a junction box per NFPA-70, 408.3.A.2. The same holds true for your solar/gen input outlet, it should be piped directly into the transfer switch...it's an outside source and has no business being routed through that panel. Also remember the Neutrals and Grounds need to be separated/isolated from each other in the sub-panel.
THANKS for this! Excellent presentation! I noticed the Eaton Double throw Transfer switch you chose is a 2 pole, rather than a 3 pole which I've come to shakily believe was required. You're tying the neutrals together. Can you shed some light on this subject as I really don't understand the significance or difference between 2 pole and 3 pole regarding neutrals or bonded neutrals.
I maintain the metering system at an electric cooperative in Missouri. Every state has different net metering laws, but I find it very interesting that you have chosen to maintain your own battery system rather than using the grid as a free battery. This truly does give you redundancy in a power outage situation for your critical loads, similar to a hospital or other high uptime facility. Congratulations on an innovative design. It should benefit you for years to come. It will be interesting to see how the batteries hold up over time with daily use.
Evan has already stated his utility only gives him 3 cents per kwhr as sell back and he pays probably 3 or 4x that for grid power. Not a great deal. The market likely will cause a lot of people to say I'll store my own power with deals like that and also find a way to be 99% off grid leaving utilities wondering why they are losing customers. If utulities were more fair on sell back power people would glady joing net metering deals. As it is they are scared they will be put out of business. That is exactly what they are driving as a result. I won't feel sorry for them either.
Keep in mind illinois has 6 nuke power plants and 11 reactors in the state and generates more nuke power than any other state. Nuke power is the most expensive power you can have and the most dangerous/highest risk. Its no wonder Ill only pays 3 cents per kwhr for solar buyback. They are trying to discourage solar to prop up their nuke mistake. The little guy like Evan suffers in high prices, higher risk of a Fukushima event plus a pittance in solar buy back rates. Its phenomenal how one man like Evan or myself can now own their own solar power plant on their own land and not really need the grid if you add generator backup and enough panels and batteries. If you know what youre doing theres no risk with solar for a catastrophic event. The complexity of nuke steam power generation just from water cooling systems is enormous in maintenance and cost. Glad I dont live in illinois with the corrupt and incompetent gov there but we all dont have choices where we live so you have to make the best of it sometimes.
@@trophyfishn9757 Existing nuke plants sell power at around 3 - 4 cents per kWh which explains why utility is offering 3 cents to buyback his solar. Places that pay full retail rate for exported solar (net metering) are losing money and will be phasing out that program.
Hi! Have you considere a Tesla Powerwall 2 system with the gateway that automatically switch when grid power is needed and automatically manage you demand of power. Also you have a very well made phone app to manage and to monitor the system . Powerwalls can be also put up in series to increase your energy storage
Thanks Evan. I have a grid tied solar panel system, it is a 9kw system. It is my understanding that the solar power generated is first used to power my house during the day with any excess send to the grid. It seems to me that your solar could power your home entire during the day if it produces enough, with any excess sent to charge your batteries. You could then us the batteries to power your house at night or use the grid. Thanks for sharing, I sure hope that you are consulting with an electrical engineer as you make these changes.
In a emergency situation, this is the last step. First step is a panel, a controller, a battery if you have this resource, and a inverter. With enough panels you only need a buffer battery to keep the voltage steady.
🤔 just a thought....if you see this. You could use a self switching regulated power supply to make a DC output. This plugs into your ac outlet, but could replace input for the solar on the ecoflow units. The eco flow units would think it's solar input and not switch out of split phase. Since the ecoflows self protect themselves, it shouldn't be an issue if you forget to unplug it and the sun comes up.
I mean....additionally....since none of your loads are split phase in your critical loads panels......you don't need split phase. You could, in all reality, just wire one eco flow to L1, and the other to L2. It would require a second transfer switch, but that would be another option. Both of these recommendations are things I would literally do if I had ecoflow. I do not however, I am self installed Sol Ark 15k, doing it all behind the meter with a critical loads and limited to home sell.
Hey Evan, I have run into the same exact issue in my setup. I basically set up the way you did before seeing your video. I ended up custom making a wiring harness with 10 AWG SOOW generator cable with the 240 / 120. Generator female plug on one end and two 30 amp RV 120v male plugs on the other to plug into my delta pros. That means I am really running my transfer panel at 120 volts instead of 240 but, like you I have no 240 volts loads there. I think what's going on it that delta pro has basically 2 power circuits - a 3600 watt inverter that doubles as the AC charge controller when in UPS mode and the MPPT solar charge controller that only deals with solar charging. I think the problem comes in when we ask the delta pros to invert and sync with each other to match phase and frequency 180 degrees ot of phase with each other to create the 240v and simultaneously try to charge on ac input. Since the inverters are active for output, they are not available for AC charge control. When not using the double voltage hub, the Delta Pro's can enter UPS mode allowing ac charging and straight through ac to the front panel outputs at the same time. Pretty sure that's the reason. One other problem I have encountered is even though I am using the 30 amp RV outputs, I can only pull 20 amps per delta pro while AC charging is happening. I am running about 325 watts per side on my transfer panel. When my wife tries to use the 1700 watt air fryer and other loads are active, we can exceed tat 20 amps and the delta pro kicks out. If I am inverting and not ac charging I have the full 30 amps available (3.6 KW) and there is no problem. Others have expressed the same problem so it just takes a little power management to avoid. Other than these caveats I love the delta pro setup. I am running two delta pro units and four extra battery units. Loved your video! Mike
In retrospect, would you have opted for a smart breaker panel, and a grid side ATS? That would allow you to change essential circuits in seconds. I have a Pro Ultra and a smart breaker panel that can manage circuits with a phone app. The Pro Ultra is connected directly to a few solar panels. We charge at night with a TOU discount. The ATS, connected to the Pro Ultra, is next. Would you advise for or against?
i have a generator plug on the outside of my house with lockout on the main breaker, I was thinking of adding one inside, is there a switch box to choose which input to use (outside/inside)? and what would that product look like?
While not the cheapest solution, I would use the Square D 92351 3-pole double throw switch to switch between two inlets. It's an idea i picked up from Silver Cymbal's channel.
My wife and I are both addicted to your videos. We LOVE them. On this one however, I am not positive but I thing wire connections are not allowed in a panel under the NEC. I think you need to use an external junction box. Did your installation pass inspection?
We are actually looking to add a backup power system. Researching whether to do a natural gas or propane backup generator or a solar system like yours. Thanks to your video I have come to my conclusion, Gas it is!!!!! Wow Evan, sorry but that looks way too complicated, and living in Northern Ohio we have too many dark overcast days to depend on that system. Luckily you'll always have your portable gas generator to charge those batteries, LOL. Good luck to you and Rebecca, and thanks for the videos.
Question where does you water supply come from if comes from well when power is out will well still work ? If not do you need to fire up direct hot water system? If city water maybe if still getting power to run pumps
Ya power is nice, Hydro shut are s off to fix thing from 8 a m , to 2 p m, Still on Well and septic so that means nothing but rain barrel water LOL Yup power is nice Enjoy your video
Man!!! awesome work, my respects!!! I need to do something similar at home in LA, the power company is breaking my bank month after month. Great content and video!
Hey Evan, great installation! I really enjoyed it. Can you please shed some light on how you connected the inlet box to the transfer switch? I am not clear on this part. If you could explain that to me I would really appreciate it. Thank you
@@CountryViewAcres I don’t know where your from but if you know anybody that works in the signal department for a major railroad they could probably get a set of retired batteries that are only a few years old.
Hi Evan, your ecoflow setup is fabulous 👌 just a little thing to check ✔️ please watch Gadget John he did his van with the ecoflow system, and the wire burnt a hole in his new floor... it's something you can check. Is it OK? the wire was sent by ecoflow and stupidly fused 2 wires together, which caused the fire 🔥 so watch it and check your wire...
I was actually going to do this exact setup and make a video myself! I am not currently in a financial situation to buy the materials yet, but will likely be employing much of the setup you have here.
Well Evan I'm assuming when you build your other system on the pole barn I assume it's going to have a different style inverter such as an all-in-one system. And automated transfer switch. Pulling levers is so 1970's
My EG4 life pro batteries are rated for 7000 cycles if not run below 80 % . Consistantly running them into the 30-50 % range may greatly shorten the life. My advice? Less panels, more batteries.
I would never use flimsy PVC conduit indoors. Would have bent a 90 degree bend in EMT conduit from bottom of double throw switch.Being the space between service & solar panels is less then 24" you could have just installed one piece of conduit between them. Two large factories that I worked in you were never allowed to use PVC conduit or drain lines due to toxic smoke they produce when on fire.
Excellent video as usual. I know you are an electrician but could you go into more detail as to how you moved the circuits over to the sub panel, maybe a short video?. Thanks.
Could you use a ac to DC converter and power through the pv ports maybe with a splitter where you can use both the inverted power along with the solar input. Just a thought don't exactly know the viability of it, just a thought.... Jeff
Logic leads the way. Newer technology always improves the dual source of power. All those solar cells could easily fit on the pole barn roof and power up the barn. Cost-effective methods should be explored for us solar energy greenhorns.
Seems to me that you would be better served with a real solar inverter and battery setup system. You’ve got lots of room under that staircase for a DIY battery bank.
Very cool! I had the privilege of visiting a Menards for the first time last Tuesday. We were on vacation in northern Kentucky and visited the Menards in Cincinnati, that store is awesome! I wish we had those down here in northern Florida
Love the Freedom Safe in the hidden closet! 🔐
Great video, funny how you and I are on very similar paths at the same time.
Hello from Chicago! Every time I watch your channel I'm amazed at how much you know about everything you touch and use daily, and how much I know nothing!
You lost me at " I'm Evan " Glad you know electrical wiring, watts, voltage, flux capaciters, etc. You're beyond an handy man!
LOL--I was going to say the same thing!
Lol, I was thinking the same exact thing!!! But it is impressive!!!
He’s an industrial electrician in his day job.
Great plan. You're approaching self sufficiency at a rapid rate.
That's Very Informative!! I look forward to your future Solar Power information!! Have a Wonderful Weekend!! ❤😊🌹
If you asked me to do all of that electrical work, I would be shocked ... literally!
When I added a subpanel in my garage, I needed to move a couple of circuits out of the main and into the sub to make room for the breaker to feed the subpanel. Like you, I was going to wire nut wires to make them long enough to move the circuits over to the subpanel. When I asked the electrical inspector about it, he told me that I could not use the main panel as a pass-through enclosure. Instead, I had to pull the wires out of the main panel entirely and perform a splice in a separate junction box. You may want to double-check with your electrical inspector to see if you need to do the same.
Take care and God Bless.
Maybe the panel is outside...wire nut splices in high humidity areas tend to go bad over time with in reased corrosion and resistance and heat. Inside a house at home humidity levels probably not an issue.
I was under the impression that splices could be made in the panel but I much prefer to install a Jbox and splice outside the panel .. much cleaner IMO. Thx for the excellent video
Very interesting but way over my head there great work there stay safe 👍
Great tutorial video . i especially like your sharing the cost of materials, and design.
I am just ready to install a single Ecoflow Delta Pro backup at our place in the Bahamas. I'm using a Reliance 6 circuit transfer switch (single box, comes with breakers, cord, and receptacle, about $320.00). I did replace the 30 amp 240 breaker with 2 120v breakers since all 6 of my circuits will be 120v. Hoping it all works, because power goes out here at an average of 4-6 times a month, but generally only for 30 minutes to a couple of hours, though it can, on occasion, last all day (or night). Installing 2 200v panels, but will of course keep the Ecoflow plugged in all the time. Thanks for your input on this system, sucks about not being able to plug both into the grid. It seems there would be some way to resolve this, but I'm a long, long way from an EE! 👍
Thanks for sharing with us Evan, knowing your way around an electrical panel and staying within codes is awesome. You're doing a great job with your Electrical Energy around there. Stay safe and keep up the great videos and keep having fun too. Fred.
Do you have a pv shutdown switch and an ac shutdown for fire fighters? Would like to see how you did them?
Use a automatic transfer switch like a Moes that will monitor battery voltage and switch from battery to utility and back at the voltages you want it to.
Am finding your solar primary installation and thought process fascinating. I imagine more and more of us will be turning to solar as time goes on and you make it so much easier to understand.
Thanks!! 👍👍👍
It's so exciting to see you all excited about going off grid. You're in the right track, keep it up! It's really rewarding. Your system will keep growing up on you faster than you can handle. As you said Winter is the real trial time, when you realize all the shortcoming of your configuration and decide to fix it or improve it. Thanks for sharing, and good luck with this project.
I subscribed after watching you install a transfer switch. I see a lot of DIY videos where the owners rely on flipping breakers to choose the power supply. Great job and very clean looking.
👍👍👍👍👍👌Very interesting and slick system to handle your critical loads without having to use your standby generator, great use for the Eco Flo as a battery bank nice work on the critical load panel and switch over panel.!!!
Good job Evan! All I could do was watch and try to understand ...you are very well versed and that's great ! You remind us of our son and his abilities to do... create and fix ! Annnd your mannerisms are very much like his too! We love your sharingbof everything with us and even the whoops and ouch...and breaking of things...all in acdays learning events ! its all good and exciting and a pleasure to watch ...we crack up and we learn from you too ! You're a terrific guy with a terrific gal at your side ! We sure missed seeing you. Just got our cable andbinternet back yesterday since Feb 21st...big ice storm here took put trees and electricity and damaged a lot of structures...anywho ! 🤗 well be catching up on all we missed ! God bless y'all !
Nice work Evan have a great day.
Sweet, can't wait to see all this come together. Great work
If you wire the solar panels in series and in parallel it would lower the voltage and raise the amperage.
The amperage will double if in parallel, and that is too high of amperage for the delta pro. The panels aren't perfect for this application.
@@CountryViewAcres What if you put a charge controller infront of the eco pro?
@@Adam20202 some people have used DC power supplies to charge thru the solar connection. So that the 240 volt output will continue to run.
Great video 👍
I have had 3 100 watt panels on my workshop and 3 100amp hr bats I run my compressor and stick welder and plasma cutter off it for 3 years, but I just have a a simple system
This solar power stuff fascinates me. Very informative video. Thank you Evan.
A workaround for the ecoflow charging while they're running low might be setting up a automatic transfer switch with a simple relay that you could just hook up a charger into the solar input and charge during your off-peak time-of-use rate our overnight for now
Since none of your current critical loads are 240 you could feed each phase of sub panel from ecoflow independent. That way they could be changed from grid without shutting down output to panel. Down side is you wouldn’t be able to feed main panel during grid outage
I’ve been considering the same thing but saw an automatic transfer switch. You’d need battery back up as the automatic transfer just switching the charging system and it will consistently run off battery.
Evan, I am glad you know what to do, I was lost there for a while, but you always find a way to make things work.
Both my Ecopros get here in three days. If they haven't addressed this my workaround is to power the house with the generator and then charge the (now off-line) Ecopros individually with available house outlet AC. Throttling back power use within the home would help shorten battery charge/gen run times.
Evan.. Another nice video. Love learning about solar and electrical.
When you get to the point that you're going to go full solar, I suspect you're going to need to consider a battery solution that's more focused on solar battery backup. The portable units are nice, but may not be the best long term solution.
Like Signature Solar EG4 Rack batteries.rack if 6 is over 30kw. And around $10,000 alit cheaper than adding additional batteries to echoflo. Better value all the way around and more geared for solar. They have inverters that accompany around 450 volts. At very affordable prices and utilize 2 fir split phase about $1,600 each. Hope this helps...... Jeff
@@JWTXI’m in between the Ecoflow and EG4 right now. I know the EG4 is way better value, but I’m worried to screw something up because I’ve never done this before.
Good Job Brother 🤙
An EcoFlow has got to be almost the *MOST* expensive way to do a solar/battery system. Using separate battery/charger/inverter units is probably less than half the cost.
Not if you get them for free! ;-)
@@oxfletch Free is only better if it does the job, he's found two big problems already and that is just the trial system
Very true. A big hassle to make an emergency system function as a power plant. Best to use a real solar inverter system like sol-ark. Hranted it costs more but over 30yrs it will pay you back in money and ease of use I can assure you.
Very informative THANKS
After several comments and discussions, I will address a couple items.
Apparently you should never try to charge the Delta pro, while it is outputting power to a system, where the Ground and Neutral are connected to the system that is charging the delta pro. This is the problem I was seeing. It would happen, in 240 volt or 120 mode, Since the subpanel ground and neutral are connected with the main panel.
Second item, I don't have a Well Pump. The house is connected to a rural water system. That's why a well pump wasn't in the critical load panel.
Sounds like it may work with my SMA - SPS on my 5.1kW solar inverter (SPS is secure power supply, can run in off grid mode, the reason I went with Delta Pros for backup power), that should send up to 1800 watts on an off grid mode circuit to power the Delta Pros when the grid is out. That's my plan at least...it stinks because I can't use either solar array since they are grid tied and wired up to their own inverters. A full system would be better but would cost me $10-20K.
Did you think of installing the Ecoflow Smart Home Panel instead? That would have automated backup, used solar when available, etc, or are you going to moving to a more real inverter, battery system?
Man you have an awesome system great video great info love your videos
Great video!!!
Evan, you only bond neutral and ground together at first panel. Not in secondary panels. It looks as though in the solar powered panel you have a green ground wire running from your ground buss to your neutral buss.
No I don't. I have 3 ground bars in the new panel. They aren't bonded to neutral.
@@CountryViewAcres ok, I couldn't get a close look at it. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. I went back and stopped the video and zoomed in and now see what you did. It looks good. The circuits you moved to the second panel are they supplied 24/7 from solar?
I'm not mad. Sorry if it sounded that way.
@@CountryViewAcres Is the seperate panel on solar 24/7 or is it possible to feed it by switching to mains power? Is that what the other switch is for? I'm trying to figure out the schematic in my head.
@@CountryViewAcres Hey Evan, have you heard of a grid tie inverter? A grid tie inverter can be plugged into your system, either the solar or mains system and be fed from the two panels you pulled out and the grid tie inverter matches the phase of the circuit and feeds power into the circuit from the solar panels and so items plugged into that circuit get power from the solar instead of the electric grid. On my channel I did videos of a gentleman who lived not far from my place that had a bunch of panels and grid tie inverters and he was on a electrical provider that would purchase his excess power. It was a simple system but he cut his power use way down.
*I think the possible work around to this being unable to recharge while outputting AC 240 Volts to your backup circuits at the same time is to attach two of the EcoFlow "Smart" Generators (One to each Delta Pro unit) via the special side DC battery expansion sockets, and this way when you setup the smart generators to automatically turn at the battery charge level you set, then you will see a seamless switchover to simultaneous charge while outputting your 240 Volt AC continuously without interruption. Unfortunately, two extra EcoFlow Smart Generator units not an inexpensive upgrade.*
Good information your giving us, my son and I installed the generator system with the plug-in receptacle and the interlock a few months ago. It wasn't easy, especially the way we are set up at our home, but we did get it hooked up. We haven't tested it yet, but hopefully we won't have any issues if we need it. Great video, enjoyed watching, thanks Evan. Have a nice weekend!👍
I’m pleased you know what your doing. I’m confused half way through the video .lol
Um, are you an electrical engineer? I was lost after the intro. 😂 Glad you know what you’re doing. 😂
We said earlier that sometimes there are power outages, does your area also sometimes have electricity in Padang, thank you, nice to meet you
C
want to consider your total autonomy. This would mean that your battery storage would be big enough to supply power for an extended period if you could not produce enough solar power to completely charge the batteries
Just a couple observations...you mentioned you're going to up grade you 100a 12 ckt panel in the future. When you do you should also move all the branch circuits that are served by the sub-panel into that panel. It's a code violation to use the main panelboard as a junction box per NFPA-70, 408.3.A.2. The same holds true for your solar/gen input outlet, it should be piped directly into the transfer switch...it's an outside source and has no business being routed through that panel. Also remember the Neutrals and Grounds need to be separated/isolated from each other in the sub-panel.
THANKS for this! Excellent presentation! I noticed the Eaton Double throw Transfer switch you chose is a 2 pole, rather than a 3 pole which I've come to shakily believe was required. You're tying the neutrals together. Can you shed some light on this subject as I really don't understand the significance or difference between 2 pole and 3 pole regarding neutrals or bonded neutrals.
Wow! Wonderful job.
I maintain the metering system at an electric cooperative in Missouri. Every state has different net metering laws, but I find it very interesting that you have chosen to maintain your own battery system rather than using the grid as a free battery. This truly does give you redundancy in a power outage situation for your critical loads, similar to a hospital or other high uptime facility. Congratulations on an innovative design. It should benefit you for years to come. It will be interesting to see how the batteries hold up over time with daily use.
Using the grid as a free battery doesn't work if the grid is down in a power outage
Evan has already stated his utility only gives him 3 cents per kwhr as sell back and he pays probably 3 or 4x that for grid power. Not a great deal.
The market likely will cause a lot of people to say I'll store my own power with deals like that and also find a way to be 99% off grid leaving utilities wondering why they are losing customers. If utulities were more fair on sell back power people would glady joing net metering deals. As it is they are scared they will be put out of business. That is exactly what they are driving as a result. I won't feel sorry for them either.
Keep in mind illinois has 6 nuke power plants and 11 reactors in the state and generates more nuke power than any other state. Nuke power is the most expensive power you can have and the most dangerous/highest risk.
Its no wonder Ill only pays 3 cents per kwhr for solar buyback. They are trying to discourage solar to prop up their nuke mistake. The little guy like Evan suffers in high prices, higher risk of a Fukushima event plus a pittance in solar buy back rates. Its phenomenal how one man like Evan or myself can now own their own solar power plant on their own land and not really need the grid if you add generator backup and enough panels and batteries.
If you know what youre doing theres no risk with solar for a catastrophic event. The complexity of nuke steam power generation just from water cooling systems is enormous in maintenance and cost. Glad I dont live in illinois with the corrupt and incompetent gov there but we all dont have choices where we live so you have to make the best of it sometimes.
@@trophyfishn9757 Existing nuke plants sell power at around 3 - 4 cents per kWh which explains why utility is offering 3 cents to buyback his solar. Places that pay full retail rate for exported solar (net metering) are losing money and will be phasing out that program.
well done. its keeping you busy
Good morning! 🌹🌹🌹
Love watching you guys!
Great job and neat too!!
Hi! Have you considere a Tesla Powerwall 2 system with the gateway that automatically switch when grid power is needed and automatically manage you demand of power. Also you have a very well made phone app to manage and to monitor the system . Powerwalls can be also put up in series to increase your energy storage
How long is it going to take to cover the cost of solar equipment in savings of grid usage?
Thanks Evan. I have a grid tied solar panel system, it is a 9kw system. It is my understanding that the solar power generated is first used to power my house during the day with any excess send to the grid. It seems to me that your solar could power your home entire during the day if it produces enough, with any excess sent to charge your batteries. You could then us the batteries to power your house at night or use the grid. Thanks for sharing, I sure hope that you are consulting with an electrical engineer as you make these changes.
In a emergency situation, this is the last step. First step is a panel, a controller, a battery if you have this resource, and a inverter. With enough panels you only need a buffer battery to keep the voltage steady.
🤔 just a thought....if you see this. You could use a self switching regulated power supply to make a DC output. This plugs into your ac outlet, but could replace input for the solar on the ecoflow units. The eco flow units would think it's solar input and not switch out of split phase.
Since the ecoflows self protect themselves, it shouldn't be an issue if you forget to unplug it and the sun comes up.
I mean....additionally....since none of your loads are split phase in your critical loads panels......you don't need split phase. You could, in all reality, just wire one eco flow to L1, and the other to L2. It would require a second transfer switch, but that would be another option.
Both of these recommendations are things I would literally do if I had ecoflow. I do not however, I am self installed Sol Ark 15k, doing it all behind the meter with a critical loads and limited to home sell.
Have you thought about installing a couple of windmills?
Thx
I know it's more $, but I think the Ecoflow Smart Panel would be perfect for your use case
The "fix" is to use eg4 chargeverters and charge your Delta Pros through the solar ports. Good luck.
Lots of information on this video thank you!
Very informative. Thanks for the cost breakdown as well
How are you getting water? You haven't talked about powering a well pump
Hot water heater?
Hey Evan, I have run into the same exact issue in my setup. I basically set up the way you did before seeing your video. I ended up custom making a wiring harness with 10 AWG SOOW generator cable with the 240 / 120. Generator female plug on one end and two 30 amp RV 120v male plugs on the other to plug into my delta pros. That means I am really running my transfer panel at 120 volts instead of 240 but, like you I have no 240 volts loads there. I think what's going on it that delta pro has basically 2 power circuits - a 3600 watt inverter that doubles as the AC charge controller when in UPS mode and the MPPT solar charge controller that only deals with solar charging. I think the problem comes in when we ask the delta pros to invert and sync with each other to match phase and frequency 180 degrees ot of phase with each other to create the 240v and simultaneously try to charge on ac input. Since the inverters are active for output, they are not available for AC charge control. When not using the double voltage hub, the Delta Pro's can enter UPS mode allowing ac charging and straight through ac to the front panel outputs at the same time. Pretty sure that's the reason. One other problem I have encountered is even though I am using the 30 amp RV outputs, I can only pull 20 amps per delta pro while AC charging is happening. I am running about 325 watts per side on my transfer panel. When my wife tries to use the 1700 watt air fryer and other loads are active, we can exceed tat 20 amps and the delta pro kicks out. If I am inverting and not ac charging I have the full 30 amps available (3.6 KW) and there is no problem. Others have expressed the same problem so it just takes a little power management to avoid. Other than these caveats I love the delta pro setup. I am running two delta pro units and four extra battery units. Loved your video! Mike
In retrospect, would you have opted for a smart breaker panel, and a grid side ATS? That would allow you to change essential circuits in seconds. I have a Pro Ultra and a smart breaker panel that can manage circuits with a phone app. The Pro Ultra is connected directly to a few solar panels. We charge at night with a TOU discount. The ATS, connected to the Pro Ultra, is next. Would you advise for or against?
Thi isal Very well for you but how much would it cost to pay an electrical engineering to fit I it
Great job! you are prepping well.
You have your adjoining walls going vertical & horizontal.
i have a generator plug on the outside of my house with lockout on the main breaker, I was thinking of adding one inside, is there a switch box to choose which input to use (outside/inside)? and what would that product look like?
While not the cheapest solution, I would use the Square D 92351 3-pole double throw switch to switch between two inlets. It's an idea i picked up from Silver Cymbal's channel.
My wife and I are both addicted to your videos. We LOVE them. On this one however,
I am not positive but I thing wire connections are not allowed in a panel under the NEC. I think you need to use an external junction box. Did your installation pass inspection?
Get batteries like battle born for your house.
We are actually looking to add a backup power system. Researching whether to do a natural gas or propane backup generator or a solar system like yours. Thanks to your video I have come to my conclusion, Gas it is!!!!! Wow Evan, sorry but that looks way too complicated, and living in Northern Ohio we have too many dark overcast days to depend on that system. Luckily you'll always have your portable gas generator to charge those batteries, LOL. Good luck to you and Rebecca, and thanks for the videos.
Very informative, thank you!!
Would you need a sub panel if your solar power was enough to run your entire house?
Very interesting sir.. 👌 keeping watching... stay safe 🏴
Great info and video on this. I’m looking to something similar on our home.
Did you talk to the company
Question where does you water supply come from if comes from well when power is out will well still work ? If not do you need to fire up direct hot water system? If city water maybe if still getting power to run pumps
Our house is connected to a rural water system.
Ya power is nice, Hydro shut are s off to fix thing from 8 a m , to 2 p m, Still on Well and septic so that means nothing but rain barrel water LOL Yup power is nice Enjoy your video
I wouldn't mount the solar on the roof. How are you going to clean snow off in winter? It's going to be difficult cleaning snow off.
Great video!! keep up the great work!!
Man!!! awesome work, my respects!!! I need to do something similar at home in LA, the power company is breaking my bank month after month. Great content and video!
Hey Evan, great installation! I really enjoyed it. Can you please shed some light on how you connected the inlet box to the transfer switch? I am not clear on this part. If you could explain that to me I would really appreciate it. Thank you
The transfer switch has two different inputs. One is the inlet box one if the inputs, the other is normal power from the other breaker panel
Evan, can the Ecoflows handle your well pump too? How are you going to get water if you lose grid power?
Really good info. Food for thought have you thought about a medium- size or larger wind turbine to help out on a cloudy day
Why not set up an actual ni-cd battery bank? You would have tremendous storage
The plan is a large permanent system, I just used the EcoFlows for now until the system is in place.
@@CountryViewAcres I don’t know where your from but if you know anybody that works in the signal department for a major railroad they could probably get a set of retired batteries that are only a few years old.
Hi Evan, your ecoflow setup is fabulous 👌 just a little thing to check ✔️ please watch Gadget John he did his van with the ecoflow system, and the wire burnt a hole in his new floor... it's something you can check. Is it OK? the wire was sent by ecoflow and stupidly fused 2 wires together, which caused the fire 🔥 so watch it and check your wire...
I was actually going to do this exact setup and make a video myself! I am not currently in a financial situation to buy the materials yet, but will likely be employing much of the setup you have here.
Well Evan I'm assuming when you build your other system on the pole barn I assume it's going to have a different style inverter such as an all-in-one system. And automated transfer switch. Pulling levers is so 1970's
The circuit you added under the stairs for the Ecoflow, does that run outside to a generator?
My EG4 life pro batteries are rated for 7000 cycles if not run below 80 % . Consistantly running them into the 30-50 % range may greatly shorten the life. My advice? Less panels, more batteries.
I would never use flimsy PVC conduit indoors. Would have bent a 90 degree bend in EMT conduit from bottom of double throw switch.Being the space between service & solar panels is less then 24" you could have just installed one piece of conduit between them. Two large factories that I worked in you were never allowed to use PVC conduit or drain lines due to toxic smoke they produce when on fire.
Excellent video as usual. I know you are an electrician but could you go into more detail as to how you moved the circuits over to the sub panel, maybe a short video?. Thanks.
Could you use a ac to DC converter and power through the pv ports maybe with a splitter where you can use both the inverted power along with the solar input. Just a thought don't exactly know the viability of it, just a thought.... Jeff
yes, someone sent me a video of that.
Logic leads the way. Newer technology always improves the dual source of power. All those solar cells could easily fit on the pole barn roof and power up the barn. Cost-effective methods should be explored for us solar energy greenhorns.
Seems to me that you would be better served with a real solar inverter and battery setup system. You’ve got lots of room under that staircase for a DIY battery bank.
wait...no well pump breaker? Your on city water?
interesting way to go