In this video I wire the solar panels into the EG4 inverter and connect the batteries to have a working electrical system and remove the need to run a generator.
I know this videos a few months old but a suggestion here. You need a non combustible backer behind the inverter. 10 bucks at Home Depot. Hardie backer concrete doard whatever.
Awesome channel! Can’t wait for your future videos. One concern I would have would be Colorado winters with those lithium batteries. Lifepo4 can’t be charged below freezing so you may want to build an enclosure with some method to heat the batteries when solar is present. Something as small as an insulated box with a small heater or even a 100w light bulb may be enough.
Thanks for the comment! I made an insulated box off camera, and if the batteries were being charged and discharged to any substantial depth regularly I think the heat they release would be enough to keep them at 10-15°C, but because I’m not using them at the moment they’ve been getting quite cold. I installed 28W heating pads last week and after temps in the teens Fahrenheit for a few days they were sitting at 13°C. For $20 I highly recommend that addition!
OK give me one reason why you didn't line up the apex of your shed with the sun and put the panels on that. Being steep the shed roof would optimise the solar gain in the winter -when you need every bit of power that you can get. Add some panels there and use some of the power to heat the batteries in the winter.
The ridge of the A frame does in fact run E-W, and that’s no accident! I have another 7KW of panels to mount, and at least 12 panels will likely end up on the A frame. The two ground arrays I built were a better initial choice for mounting in my situation, as I wanted covered storage for my trailer and trencher, and then also a separate enclosed area for smaller equipment that was still too big for the A frame (which is on a raised foundation). My battery heating system only draws around 14W anyway, and as it turns out is completely unnecessary when the batteries are in use, which is all the time now with the house. I’ll be sure to make a mounting video for those A frame panels, and I’ll be looking to do that with few to no roof penetrations as that is the main reason I don’t like roof-mounted panels. Stay tuned!
You’re not wrong about those winds! Although I’ve had worse winds in the spring than this winter at least. Ended up going with tension lines from the corners to the center posts for bracing. A northerly would cause uplift but the shed blocks that on this array. The one I’m building now is exposed but I’m enclosing it so the walls will give it the shear strength it needs and mitigate the uplift. Hopefully!
@@RidgyDidgeRanch tension lines should do the trick. ya, this winter has been relatively mild with winds, spring can be rough, but the worst I've seen have been in Dec/Jan. I'm on the other side of the mountains from you - to your east. Your project is looking good!
@@andreww7938 thanks mate! Your side is beautiful too. Had my eye on some land by Westcliffe but this just made more sense with a bunch of family in Poncha Springs. Cheers!
A couple questions if you don't mind. My EG4 6500 and 3 server batteries are in transit. I'm grinding my brain on placement. I notice you didn't provide the recommending clearance on the bottom. Do you have any concerns (e.g. noticed heat build up or reduced air flow)? Is the fan on the inverter loud? I have a pellet stove and hate the noise. I suspect this will be about the same.... can you comment? You chose direct burial of the solar panel cables. i personally want to put mine in conduit. Besides cost and critters, is there another reason you went with direct burial? Pretty mountain you get to look at. Although it looks like cold high desert to me - so are the winters there brutal (guessing SW colorado or NW arizona - possibly New Mexico)? Love the overall look of your property improvements. Your solar panel ground mount looks awesome. I think I'm going to copy it instead of going with Iron Ridge. Any regrets after living with any of it for a few months?
Hey Mondavou, I’ll be honest, I didn’t consult the handbook much past the settings so was unaware of bottom clearance requirements. It seems to be vented all the way round and it mostly isn’t touching the wall behind and so I’m not overly concerned with heat dissipation. I’ve put 3.3kw input through it and it’s barely warm to the touch. The fan is loud when it’s charging the batteries with the full solar input. If you have some base AC load so all the power isn’t going to batteries it’s significantly quieter. Even so, noise is one of the main reasons I’ve mounted it in the shed and not in the house. On the panels, I quite like how they are and haven’t had any issues. Improvements I intend to make are sealing between the panels so rain doesn’t drip down between them and potentially enclosing one like a tiny pole barn for storage. I’ll have 3 more arrays mounted soon enough and 2 will be at a steeper angle for optimized winter production, when I’ll need more power. Hopefully that helps! With some more time over winter I intend to make more of an ‘instructional’ video on making the ground array which might be beneficial. It was super easy and I don’t think it gets much cheaper!
HOWdy R-D-R, Thanks for the VIDEO SUGGESTION = S L O W the camera down when you are EXPLAINING your installation UNDER your PANELS I would have REALLY liked to SEE the details of your WIRING ( instead of a BLURRY fast-forward condensation ) I'm assuming you wired your PANELS in SERIES --- "+" to "-" toward the center from BOTH ends "in" to the MIDDLE and then (maybe) utilized a high AMP Siamese connector ? to join the two STRINGS together ??? COOP ..
So I originally designed the system with the intention of using an MPP6548, and made the last minute change to the EG4 when it was released. Unfortunately my panels in series would give an VOC of 512V, just over the 500V the EG4 can ingest. And while the series configuration would definitely reduce my losses with the square of the current, given my cable choice and length my line loss should be
@@RidgyDidgeRanch The inverter is actually rated at 450v & 18a per mppt. So you’re well under the max capacity of the inverter. I thought the same thing as you and contacted signature solar and they replied telling me that.
@@fullsizeoffroad7560 Glad I didn’t do the series configuration then! I’ve only connected 14 of my 56 panels so hopefully shouldn’t have any issues with 14 in each mppt on a split-phase system. Thanks for the info!
I have two eg4 6500 ex 5 months old for sale if anyone could point me in the right direction on where to sell. Any known used solar equipment solar groups etc.
DIY solar forum. I see you must’ve gotten the pulsating, flickering pieces of junk like I did. All they are is an expensive solar charge controller to me. The inverter portion sux!
I do like Will Prowse! I know he is a fan of fuses over breakers but I like the convenience of being able to use it as a switch when needed. It’s since been replaced with a new breaker and no issues at all
I know this videos a few months old but a suggestion here. You need a non combustible backer behind the inverter. 10 bucks at Home Depot. Hardie backer concrete doard whatever.
It's always a good feeling to be generating free energy. Might want to have an extinguisher on hand just in case! Great Work!
You have a good power set up right there Ben.
Thanks for sharing what you're doing. It's inspiring and gives ideas for what is possible with research and hard work.
This was very helpful! I was going to order from docan
Awesome channel! Can’t wait for your future videos. One concern I would have would be Colorado winters with those lithium batteries. Lifepo4 can’t be charged below freezing so you may want to build an enclosure with some method to heat the batteries when solar is present. Something as small as an insulated box with a small heater or even a 100w light bulb may be enough.
Thanks for the comment! I made an insulated box off camera, and if the batteries were being charged and discharged to any substantial depth regularly I think the heat they release would be enough to keep them at 10-15°C, but because I’m not using them at the moment they’ve been getting quite cold. I installed 28W heating pads last week and after temps in the teens Fahrenheit for a few days they were sitting at 13°C. For $20 I highly recommend that addition!
OK give me one reason why you didn't line up the apex of your shed with the sun and put the panels on that. Being steep the shed roof would optimise the solar gain in the winter -when you need every bit of power that you can get.
Add some panels there and use some of the power to heat the batteries in the winter.
The ridge of the A frame does in fact run E-W, and that’s no accident! I have another 7KW of panels to mount, and at least 12 panels will likely end up on the A frame. The two ground arrays I built were a better initial choice for mounting in my situation, as I wanted covered storage for my trailer and trencher, and then also a separate enclosed area for smaller equipment that was still too big for the A frame (which is on a raised foundation). My battery heating system only draws around 14W anyway, and as it turns out is completely unnecessary when the batteries are in use, which is all the time now with the house. I’ll be sure to make a mounting video for those A frame panels, and I’ll be looking to do that with few to no roof penetrations as that is the main reason I don’t like roof-mounted panels. Stay tuned!
I would consider cross bracing the solar panel setup. the winter winds in that valley can be extreme.
You’re not wrong about those winds! Although I’ve had worse winds in the spring than this winter at least. Ended up going with tension lines from the corners to the center posts for bracing. A northerly would cause uplift but the shed blocks that on this array. The one I’m building now is exposed but I’m enclosing it so the walls will give it the shear strength it needs and mitigate the uplift. Hopefully!
@@RidgyDidgeRanch tension lines should do the trick. ya, this winter has been relatively mild with winds, spring can be rough, but the worst I've seen have been in Dec/Jan. I'm on the other side of the mountains from you - to your east. Your project is looking good!
@@andreww7938 thanks mate! Your side is beautiful too. Had my eye on some land by Westcliffe but this just made more sense with a bunch of family in Poncha Springs. Cheers!
A couple questions if you don't mind. My EG4 6500 and 3 server batteries are in transit. I'm grinding my brain on placement. I notice you didn't provide the recommending clearance on the bottom. Do you have any concerns (e.g. noticed heat build up or reduced air flow)? Is the fan on the inverter loud? I have a pellet stove and hate the noise. I suspect this will be about the same.... can you comment? You chose direct burial of the solar panel cables. i personally want to put mine in conduit. Besides cost and critters, is there another reason you went with direct burial?
Pretty mountain you get to look at. Although it looks like cold high desert to me - so are the winters there brutal (guessing SW colorado or NW arizona - possibly New Mexico)? Love the overall look of your property improvements. Your solar panel ground mount looks awesome. I think I'm going to copy it instead of going with Iron Ridge. Any regrets after living with any of it for a few months?
Hey Mondavou, I’ll be honest, I didn’t consult the handbook much past the settings so was unaware of bottom clearance requirements. It seems to be vented all the way round and it mostly isn’t touching the wall behind and so I’m not overly concerned with heat dissipation. I’ve put 3.3kw input through it and it’s barely warm to the touch. The fan is loud when it’s charging the batteries with the full solar input. If you have some base AC load so all the power isn’t going to batteries it’s significantly quieter. Even so, noise is one of the main reasons I’ve mounted it in the shed and not in the house. On the panels, I quite like how they are and haven’t had any issues. Improvements I intend to make are sealing between the panels so rain doesn’t drip down between them and potentially enclosing one like a tiny pole barn for storage. I’ll have 3 more arrays mounted soon enough and 2 will be at a steeper angle for optimized winter production, when I’ll need more power. Hopefully that helps! With some more time over winter I intend to make more of an ‘instructional’ video on making the ground array which might be beneficial. It was super easy and I don’t think it gets much cheaper!
@@RidgyDidgeRanch Thank you. I appreciate your time and input.
HOWdy R-D-R,
Thanks for the VIDEO
SUGGESTION = S L O W the camera down when you are EXPLAINING your installation UNDER your PANELS
I would have REALLY liked to SEE the details of your WIRING ( instead of a BLURRY fast-forward condensation )
I'm assuming you wired your PANELS in SERIES --- "+" to "-" toward the center from BOTH ends "in" to the MIDDLE
and then (maybe) utilized a high AMP Siamese connector ? to join the two STRINGS together ???
COOP
..
Dude, where are you? Aussie accent, 120v inverter. *Confusion*
Ahh Colorado.
Yeah just shake a tree around here and some Aussies will fall out!
@@RidgyDidgeRanch Have a successful new year man. From Perth.
Use high voltage so you don't have any loss from solar panels.
So I originally designed the system with the intention of using an MPP6548, and made the last minute change to the EG4 when it was released. Unfortunately my panels in series would give an VOC of 512V, just over the 500V the EG4 can ingest. And while the series configuration would definitely reduce my losses with the square of the current, given my cable choice and length my line loss should be
@@RidgyDidgeRanch The inverter is actually rated at 450v & 18a per mppt. So you’re well under the max capacity of the inverter. I thought the same thing as you and contacted signature solar and they replied telling me that.
@@fullsizeoffroad7560 Glad I didn’t do the series configuration then! I’ve only connected 14 of my 56 panels so hopefully shouldn’t have any issues with 14 in each mppt on a split-phase system. Thanks for the info!
I have two eg4 6500 ex 5 months old for sale if anyone could point me in the right direction on where to sell. Any known used solar equipment solar groups etc.
DIY solar forum. I see you must’ve gotten the pulsating, flickering pieces of junk like I did. All they are is an expensive solar charge controller to me. The inverter portion sux!
My 6500ex in a hunk of cheap, pulsating, flickering junk! Try starting a 2 ton heat pump with a soft start.
You have a 2 ton heat pump that runs on 120V??
You need to watch Will Prowse. Lots of good information in his TH-cam. The breaker is not ideal.
I do like Will Prowse! I know he is a fan of fuses over breakers but I like the convenience of being able to use it as a switch when needed. It’s since been replaced with a new breaker and no issues at all
He gets free junk from the distributors, of course he’s going to talk up the junk.