I've got 8x 230 watt panels plugged into 2x 100|50 victrons, plugged into 2x 100ah power queen batteries, plugged into a 'camper' style 2000 watt pure sine inverter. It powers my fridge + washing machine + small appliances + usb devices.
Nice setup you've got going there. I want one of those when I grow up. I bought one of the eg4 charge controller and some mornings it doesn't start up unless I switch the breakers off and on again. Is there a way to do a permanent fix? Thanks for sharing this video
Have you updated the firmware? I did a video on the process so check that out. You will need the special cable from EG4. They sent mine free of charge. I haven't upgraded the firmware on my latest replacement charge controller and it occasionally acts the same as yours in low light condition and will set the code. I need to get that job done along with updating the Batrium firmware. Firmware update is available on the EG4 website, just Google EG4 firmware and the Downloads link will be one of the first links on the search. I'd link it but TH-cam doesn't allow links in comments.
That is a good question. We have actually increased electrical usage since the system was turned on. We now heat the house using heat pumps when there is excess PV coming in, hot water is now heated by a heat pump water heater. The utility company increased electric rates for the next 5 years by 15% and will be increasing fees. I was shooting for 10 years and that might be about right. I did spend extra on the MT Solar mount and the BMS using the Batrium. I originally was looking for backup power using a standby generator and saved that cost. I'm currently building a system for the shop which the total cost will be depreciated out over 7 years. I also learned how to cut some costs and that payback will probably be about 5 years. I found some used tornado damaged mounts which saved about $6K alone. A deal on a pallet of 31 370W panels for $2K. SRNE ASP inverters for less than $2K. All of this is an ongoing project to become energy independent as much as possible. We are living more comfortably. In my coming years if I retire I will have energy security. I had the money for the system and I am receiving a return higher than what I would receive for interest in the money market. It's not for everyone but for us this was the right decision.
Curious how many MW have you run through 6548s? What burned out connection issue did you have? I've 2 of them powering my house. You must have alot of panels to charge up 75kwh of batts and run your house at the same time. How many 🌧 days does it last you?
Just shy of 15 Mwh as of today. With the 58 Kwh we could run 5 days with no PV yield if we managed loads such as no laundry or dishwasher. With 72 Kwh we hope to go 6 days. I do use heat pumps for heating and have a heat pump water heater with a gas in series after it and we shut those off for forecasted poor PV yield. I'm currently building my shop system and that cabinet could hold 114 Kwh plus have another Luyuan 14 Kwh box like the one shown in the video.
I think Doc and I have been running ours close to the same amount of time. I just looked at mine and they have had 14mw ran through each of them. Since they're 120v each I'm guessing that would be considered 14mw total. I don't see how Doc gets that many days out of his batteries, but then I have a fairly heavy load on ours and not enough PV production. I'll be remedying the latter soon.
@@doczwy8143 I'm going to have to hustle and catch up with you on batteries if you're doing all that. I'm up to 90 kWh right now. This time of year that would run us a couple of days if I had no production and was careful. I see more DIY batteries in my future.
@easttexascowboy257 You all have a lot of storage capacity. How much energy does a heat pump water heater use? In 2026 once California starts the $26 connection fee I'll look into my options on my nat gas instant water heater if they don't let me keep the gas connection without the electricity.
@@Gary-ee3kq As with most things, that will vary a lot depending on usage. It's definitely way better than a standard water heater with resistive elements. I have two NG on demand water heaters and our cook top is gas also. If you can go gas that's the best option. We heat and cool around 4k sq ft and have 5 freezers, two fridges, and the usual lights and outlets etc. I don't have the dryer or electric oven on solar but that may be coming some day. The Mitsubishi heat pumps save me on the HVAC costs but it's still a heavy load in summer and the few cold spells we get.
Hey Doc, in my state, my Tesla PowerWalls particate in supplementing grid-heavy events during the summer. Our utility pays us a decent amount once a year for this integration. When you DIY, can your home system participate in events like this, as in my case, Tesla has to manage it.
No, this is an off grid system without any grid interconnection. Systems like yours will feed battery power to grid but one must remember it also takes away from your battery reserve power. Many are using a grid tie interconnection with the array coupled with hybrid inverters. This allows for storing some power on the grid, some in batteries and allow for excess to be put on the grid once batteries are full and loads fully met. Those can feed battery power to grid, it would depend on the agreement. Much of this depends on location and whether the utility offers enough incentives for it to work for the solar property owner. I prefer to keep things simple and not have to play by utility company rules. I've seen cases where there was a contract for $X.XX/kwh paid for grid tie excess only to see the utility change the agreement to get out of paying. 1 to 1 net metering and grid tie are probably heading towards extinction IMO simply because the utilities don't need the average homeowner generator when PV systems are getting cheaper everyday.
@@doczwy8143 I agree the gov and utilities always bait and switch to get their agenda's passed then stiff you even if its in writing.... been there done that never again.. off grid and let them play their games with their captive markets..I will not finance their schemes anymore..
I would replace the pair with something like the SRNE ASP 10KW if I needed something bigger or these fail. The LV6548's run everything we need to run in the house. I would add more battery and more PV for expanding the house system. We heat mainly with heat pumps until Dec/Jan and hot water is mainly with heat pump water heater. Possibly next year we will move to a heat pump dryer.
It is for primarily for maintaining cell cycle lifespan. Cell manufacturers have a specification for cell compression to achieve cycle lifespan. This specification is listed in the manufacturer spec sheet. It also does prevent excessive expansion which could lead to side loading on battery terminals when using solid busbars, Terminal failure could lead to cell failure and possible cell ignition. The Luyuan box has minimal compression as shown in that video. I added Poron on each end as cells were loose in the case and there wasn't any compression. The latest cells are now shipped with flexible busbars and I show that construction in the Luyuan box video. Long term use will determine whether calendar aging has a bigger effect on cell lifespan than not having any compression.
Awesome system you got there. How's the new tariff passed by the current administration affect you purchasing those cells in the future? I wanted to build my own batteries myself but because of the new laws, it might be too late?
@doczwy8143 great! I was looking to buy those cells recently and most gets delivered after the end this year. some even around February. now I know I got time just in case I need to RMA. Appreciate the info, doc!
@@jeffw7889 Just remember the Chinese New Year starts on Jan 29th,2025. You won't get anything shipped out until Feb 3rd. If you have cells ordered already, you should be fine.
I decided to use various inverters and charge controllers as part of testing these products for real life long term usage and relate that experience to others. Victron has some good products and I own some of them. The shop system currently being built almost had Victron 10Kw Quattros installed but I decided to try SRNE ASP 10Kw units. As technology keeps increasing in the PV system arena there will be more features and advanced inverter tech coming online. 5 years from now I might be using something different. Battery tech might change and that may have a huge influence on what inverters are available.
Your passion for perfection shows in your work. Doing it right the first time.
I've got 8x 230 watt panels plugged into 2x 100|50 victrons, plugged into 2x 100ah power queen batteries, plugged into a 'camper' style 2000 watt pure sine inverter.
It powers my fridge + washing machine + small appliances + usb devices.
Beautiful System Man!!!
Thanks Joe, I'm building another for my shop. Bigger box and bigger inverters.
Nice walk through!
nice setup doc !
Very cool. Nice forum too.
Nice setup you've got going there. I want one of those when I grow up. I bought one of the eg4 charge controller and some mornings it doesn't start up unless I switch the breakers off and on again. Is there a way to do a permanent fix? Thanks for sharing this video
Have you updated the firmware? I did a video on the process so check that out. You will need the special cable from EG4. They sent mine free of charge. I haven't upgraded the firmware on my latest replacement charge controller and it occasionally acts the same as yours in low light condition and will set the code. I need to get that job done along with updating the Batrium firmware. Firmware update is available on the EG4 website, just Google EG4 firmware and the Downloads link will be one of the first links on the search. I'd link it but TH-cam doesn't allow links in comments.
Nice
I don't know what any of this means, but it looks beautiful.
Thank you. Come join the DIY Solar Forum if you are interested in solar and want to learn.
Geeeze n here I thought I was OCD.
You must have missed the Tornado Damaged Solar Mount video.🤣
Looks good. I have the same setup but yours looks better lol
Nice setup…definitely keep you busy in your sunset years! What’s your estimate of RoR in years? 😅
That is a good question. We have actually increased electrical usage since the system was turned on. We now heat the house using heat pumps when there is excess PV coming in, hot water is now heated by a heat pump water heater. The utility company increased electric rates for the next 5 years by 15% and will be increasing fees. I was shooting for 10 years and that might be about right. I did spend extra on the MT Solar mount and the BMS using the Batrium. I originally was looking for backup power using a standby generator and saved that cost.
I'm currently building a system for the shop which the total cost will be depreciated out over 7 years. I also learned how to cut some costs and that payback will probably be about 5 years. I found some used tornado damaged mounts which saved about $6K alone. A deal on a pallet of 31 370W panels for $2K. SRNE ASP inverters for less than $2K.
All of this is an ongoing project to become energy independent as much as possible. We are living more comfortably. In my coming years if I retire I will have energy security. I had the money for the system and I am receiving a return higher than what I would receive for interest in the money market. It's not for everyone but for us this was the right decision.
Curious how many MW have you run through 6548s? What burned out connection issue did you have?
I've 2 of them powering my house. You must have alot of panels to charge up 75kwh of batts and run your house at the same time. How many 🌧 days does it last you?
Just shy of 15 Mwh as of today. With the 58 Kwh we could run 5 days with no PV yield if we managed loads such as no laundry or dishwasher. With 72 Kwh we hope to go 6 days. I do use heat pumps for heating and have a heat pump water heater with a gas in series after it and we shut those off for forecasted poor PV yield.
I'm currently building my shop system and that cabinet could hold 114 Kwh plus have another Luyuan 14 Kwh box like the one shown in the video.
I think Doc and I have been running ours close to the same amount of time. I just looked at mine and they have had 14mw ran through each of them. Since they're 120v each I'm guessing that would be considered 14mw total. I don't see how Doc gets that many days out of his batteries, but then I have a fairly heavy load on ours and not enough PV production. I'll be remedying the latter soon.
@@doczwy8143 I'm going to have to hustle and catch up with you on batteries if you're doing all that. I'm up to 90 kWh right now. This time of year that would run us a couple of days if I had no production and was careful. I see more DIY batteries in my future.
@easttexascowboy257 You all have a lot of storage capacity. How much energy does a heat pump water heater use? In 2026 once California starts the $26 connection fee I'll look into my options on my nat gas instant water heater if they don't let me keep the gas connection without the electricity.
@@Gary-ee3kq As with most things, that will vary a lot depending on usage. It's definitely way better than a standard water heater with resistive elements. I have two NG on demand water heaters and our cook top is gas also. If you can go gas that's the best option. We heat and cool around 4k sq ft and have 5 freezers, two fridges, and the usual lights and outlets etc. I don't have the dryer or electric oven on solar but that may be coming some day. The Mitsubishi heat pumps save me on the HVAC costs but it's still a heavy load in summer and the few cold spells we get.
Hey Doc, in my state, my Tesla PowerWalls particate in supplementing grid-heavy events during the summer. Our utility pays us a decent amount once a year for this integration. When you DIY, can your home system participate in events like this, as in my case, Tesla has to manage it.
No, this is an off grid system without any grid interconnection. Systems like yours will feed battery power to grid but one must remember it also takes away from your battery reserve power. Many are using a grid tie interconnection with the array coupled with hybrid inverters. This allows for storing some power on the grid, some in batteries and allow for excess to be put on the grid once batteries are full and loads fully met. Those can feed battery power to grid, it would depend on the agreement. Much of this depends on location and whether the utility offers enough incentives for it to work for the solar property owner. I prefer to keep things simple and not have to play by utility company rules. I've seen cases where there was a contract for $X.XX/kwh paid for grid tie excess only to see the utility change the agreement to get out of paying. 1 to 1 net metering and grid tie are probably heading towards extinction IMO simply because the utilities don't need the average homeowner generator when PV systems are getting cheaper everyday.
@@doczwy8143 I agree the gov and utilities always bait and switch to get their agenda's passed then stiff you even if its in writing.... been there done that never again..
off grid and let them play their games with their captive markets..I will not finance their schemes anymore..
do you want to add more LV6548 inverters?
I would replace the pair with something like the SRNE ASP 10KW if I needed something bigger or these fail. The LV6548's run everything we need to run in the house. I would add more battery and more PV for expanding the house system. We heat mainly with heat pumps until Dec/Jan and hot water is mainly with heat pump water heater. Possibly next year we will move to a heat pump dryer.
I take it the compression loading is to counteract possible battery expansion/deformation when charge/discharge?
It is for primarily for maintaining cell cycle lifespan. Cell manufacturers have a specification for cell compression to achieve cycle lifespan. This specification is listed in the manufacturer spec sheet. It also does prevent excessive expansion which could lead to side loading on battery terminals when using solid busbars, Terminal failure could lead to cell failure and possible cell ignition. The Luyuan box has minimal compression as shown in that video. I added Poron on each end as cells were loose in the case and there wasn't any compression. The latest cells are now shipped with flexible busbars and I show that construction in the Luyuan box video. Long term use will determine whether calendar aging has a bigger effect on cell lifespan than not having any compression.
Awesome system you got there. How's the new tariff passed by the current administration affect you purchasing those cells in the future? I wanted to build my own batteries myself but because of the new laws, it might be too late?
Any tariffs for cells should be in 2026 but that could change. I need another 48 cells to finish out the next build and should order those soon.
@doczwy8143 great! I was looking to buy those cells recently and most gets delivered after the end this year. some even around February. now I know I got time just in case I need to RMA. Appreciate the info, doc!
@@jeffw7889 Just remember the Chinese New Year starts on Jan 29th,2025. You won't get anything shipped out until Feb 3rd. If you have cells ordered already, you should be fine.
Cred că invertoarele Victron erau mai bune😊
I decided to use various inverters and charge controllers as part of testing these products for real life long term usage and relate that experience to others. Victron has some good products and I own some of them. The shop system currently being built almost had Victron 10Kw Quattros installed but I decided to try SRNE ASP 10Kw units.
As technology keeps increasing in the PV system arena there will be more features and advanced inverter tech coming online. 5 years from now I might be using something different. Battery tech might change and that may have a huge influence on what inverters are available.
@doczwy8143 ok. Nu știu dar SRNE este de frecvență joasă? Oricum ai făcut o treabă grozavă👍
@@invertor4245 SRNE is HF. If you like this video, you will like the video covering the shop system.
The old rooster crowed