This beginners series is absolute gold. When we first went off grid, we were so unprepared and charged our devices off a couple of 25w solar panels and used the car while it was running. It was an absolute nightmare but slowly, slowly we upgraded to a 100w system and it changed our lives. Now there's a 400w system and life is so easy. This year the system will go up to 800w And we'll have a freezer at last. The worst thing as a beginner, is having the confidence to put appliances like a freezer on your existing system as there is so much conflicting information out there. This series is easy to understand and I wish i had seen it 5 years ago. We have 520wh flooded lead acid batteries and can only imagine how good lithium is. Thanks for all of your hard work putting together these amazing videos.
Mahalo for sharing your journey! I started off with one fifty watt panel, and one 12v lead acid 30 years ago....and never stopped growing, and learning more. Never looked back. 30 years gone by fast my friend! Aloha!🤙
This past weekend, when I was camping I cooked my first meal with my nuwave flex off of solar. I have three 110 watt lensun flexible solar panels and one 100 watt BougeRV CIGS solar panel on my truck and cap. I have one 12v 100 watt Dr. Prepare lifepo4 battery. Victron mppt solar charge controller 100/30 Being able to make my normal coffee and cook eggs and potatoes for breakfast and a hamburger for dinner is so awesome. I can not run these all at once and I noticed the battery needs to be in absorption mode or float (preferably float) and I can only operate it when there is full sun. I plan on getting a bigger battery now but for now it is working on one 100ah battery.
When I first started with solar, I had two 12 V lead acid batteries from Walmart, a 200 W inverter and three 100 W solar panels. I lived in a condo and had a deck on the second floor. The solar panels could not be seen by anyone as per condo rules, so I laid them flat on the banister. They looked more like a table than anything else. I knew right off the bat to put this in operation every day as soon as possible would also help start the payback. I started easy, running my refrigerator during the day and any TV and lights that we would use. the solar would keep the batteries charged and in the evening I would shut everything down so the batteries stay fully charged and I would repeat the process again in the morning. I kept it simple, at the time these components were very expensive. Payback was slow, but it soon added up, reducing my electric bill. Thanks again, Bob for the tremendous amount of thought and work you’ve put into this series!
great content ! I run 660amps of battery (lipo4} with a 50 amp victron controller and 800 wats of panels on a converted cargo trailer with a fridge and a freezer with a microwave and a 5000 btu ac. induction cook top diesel heater and i AM. always at 100% by 9am in the PNW ! i love it !!!
Set my 4 200+ batteries yesterday. Fabricated most of my 2/0 cab)es to wire 2s2p for 24v. Mounted my 24v 4000w inverter. Next is the busbars, shunt, on/off switch, controller and panel breaker ... panels need to wait till I can reenforce my RV roof
I like using low wattage rice cookers and the 350w Dash griddle. To bath I use a 600w immersion water heater and 5 gal bucket. For instant coffee or tea I use 300w immersion heaters in a cup or jar. I use 5w USB fans & the Onite camping bulb.
Probably my favourite three appliances are computer w/ led monitor, led light bulb, mobile smart phone. I run them everyday the sunshines shines for several hours without using any battery power just a little fan less 125 watt inverter I bought for the car cigarette lighter plug twenty five years ago. The big 2.4 KW pure sine inverter can not run on such low power😊 It is power thirsty.
That was a great point about running things during the day when excess power from the solar would otherwise go to waste once the batteries are full. And a great lesson on the difference between "power" and "energy". Your battery stores energy. Your inverter supplies power. So the inverter has to be supply the necessary power during operation (watts), but you need to calculate how much actual energy (watt-hours) your devices use to determine how long the battery will last. (the battery also has to deliver the power used by the inverter but lets ignore that for now). Lets say your microwave burns 1100W when running, and on average your microwave is running around 10 minutes over the whole day. That's 1/6th of an hour. So the microwave uses 1100 * (1/6) = 183 watt-hours/day (0.183 kWh/day) of energy in that example. Not much, actually. -- Hot plates and toaster ovens use a bit more, and also cycle on and off, so those have to be measured to determine how much "energy" is required to prepare a meal. Fridges and CPAP machines use even more "energy". The CPAP machine often has to run while you are asleep, 8-10 hours a day at 60W. So the CPAP burns 60W x 10h = 600 watt-hours a day. The fridge is on 24x7 but cycles... well, put it on a kill-a-watt and look at the total consumption after 24 hours to get the fridge energy consumption. Usually the fridge eats 1kWh/day to 2kWh/day. A/C systems burn enormous amounts of energy, but there are options such as getting a smaller A/C unit that consumes less power just to take the edge-off, and run it most of the day. Still, even a small A/C is going to burn 350W or so and can cool a small room or take the edge off of a larger room. Oxygen generators (for someone suffering from heart failure) are even worse. An oxygen generator can burn 400W 24x7. That's 400W x 24 = 9600 watt-hours/day. 9.6 kWh/day. That will put a solar system to the test, you need around 2000W worth of solar panels to generate that much energy and that's in summer. In winter you'd need far far more solar panels as well as a lot of storage to buffer the energy across several days. Not all devices are suited for off-grid operation. But it can be surprising just how many typical home appliances work just fine off-grid. -Matt
CPAP Machine, NuWave Flex, Efficient Refrigerator and Lights and Internet Router all Work well on a WZRELB 2500 Watt 24 Volt Inverter and 100/50 Victron Smart Solar Charge Controller and 2 280AH CHINS Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Bank - Aloha 🤘🌴
Great video as always! Get a watt meter for that fridge especially. Your fridge also runs a defrost mode as well. Defrost is a lot more power usage. My fridge when running sits around 106 watts in defrost it goes to 400 watts. Thankfully defrost modes are not long or often but they occur. Always cook during the day if you can like stated in the video. In my mind no point in being all charged up and not taking in solar just a waste of some good sun juice!
By comparison, everyone else is driving a hummer. I like the idea of camp systems and living close to energy. I made it a goal to see how cheap you could design an energy system to live off grid. Now I cook with propane so that is not included in the mix. My house is 900sqf and I only use it 5 months in the summer too. But I have refrigeration, dishwasher, small pump, domestic hot water. clothes washer with its own hot water tank (all loads use hot water for extra clean) and a CPAP machine. I can go for days in rainy weather. And I did this with only a car battery from a vehicle we didn't bring for years. Nobody was interested so last year I added a 50AH lithium battery to the mix and sulfated battery from town recycling so the clothes washer doesn't stop when a cloud passes by. This is all accomplished by energy management scheduling on priority when available. Solar people waste so much energy. Smart energy is so much cheaper using technology.
very good. I us the muti inverters method. then switch them on and off as I need. gives me back up inverter . just sw3ap plugs around. I keep watt meter in my inverter at all times. and 2Kw is a good size . with not running all at same time you can do a lot. like do laundry after cooking. no need to run big loads all at once. like running air fryer ,hair dryer, cloths washer, vacuum ,power tools., micro wave all at once. that a lot of power. if you only run what you need at one time. that 2KW inverter will do it all. to run all at once looking at 10 KW inverter. the weather crazy all over. the northern rocky 's getting 15 in snow with wind and wide spread grid down warning hear in Boston NY .it's 90 and very muggy ! no wind. grid ok but voltage down . a early sign of possible problems later. them meters check volts and amps.
I'm in good shape these day's. Prepped and ready. Hurricane season upon us, but so far eastern pacific is quiet. That could change in a heartbeat tho. Waters are getting warm out there however! Fingers crossed. Aloha!🤙
Well... I made it all the way through Video #2... I'm on a roll now !! Hahaha... Keep 'um comin' Brother. I'll find the time to stay tuned in between repairing an ice machine, settin' up a new portable back-up generator, fixing the brakes and doin' an oil change on my truck, finishin' building a storage loft in my garage/shop, weldin' up some steel carts and work tables, finishin' the planter sign for the wife's cafe, building a crane lift x 2 (multiple locations), finishin' room additions, etc...etc...etc... now that I've refitted and re-engineered a new Chinese weed eater from Hell. Hahahahahahaha...
Yes, that surge to start the refrigerator, the plugin surge is higher than the startup surge for a second or so it is needed, so make sure to check the Wattmeter's highest reading for both and size the batteries and inverter to cover the surges.
The instructions are very clear usually, but you need to wire your Negative pole on the battery to the Battery Minus side of the shunt (Gauge), then all negatives must be connected to the other side of the shunt, and the Load Minus side becomes your battery negative terminal, all negative must now be connected on the shunt load side. You will have a small red cable from the shunt, that goes to the battery-positive terminal, and that's it.
Unprecedented is a great scrabble word but it's being abused lately. History defines whether anything is actually unprecedented. Truth is, very few things (except climate heating) isn't new
This beginners series is absolute gold.
When we first went off grid, we were so unprepared and charged our devices off a couple of 25w solar panels and used the car while it was running. It was an absolute nightmare but slowly, slowly we upgraded to a 100w system and it changed our lives.
Now there's a 400w system and life is so easy.
This year the system will go up to 800w
And we'll have a freezer at last.
The worst thing as a beginner, is having the confidence to put appliances like a freezer on your existing system as there is so much conflicting information out there.
This series is easy to understand and I wish i had seen it 5 years ago.
We have 520wh flooded lead acid batteries and can only imagine how good lithium is.
Thanks for all of your hard work putting together these amazing videos.
Mahalo for sharing your journey! I started off with one fifty watt panel, and one 12v lead acid 30 years ago....and never stopped growing, and learning more. Never looked back. 30 years gone by fast my friend! Aloha!🤙
This past weekend, when I was camping I cooked my first meal with my nuwave flex off of solar.
I have three 110 watt lensun flexible solar panels and one 100 watt BougeRV CIGS solar panel on my truck and cap.
I have one 12v 100 watt Dr. Prepare lifepo4 battery.
Victron mppt solar charge controller 100/30
Being able to make my normal coffee and cook eggs and potatoes for breakfast and a hamburger for dinner is so awesome.
I can not run these all at once and I noticed the battery needs to be in absorption mode or float (preferably float) and I can only operate it when there is full sun.
I plan on getting a bigger battery now but for now it is working on one 100ah battery.
When I first started with solar, I had two 12 V lead acid batteries from Walmart, a 200 W inverter and three 100 W solar panels. I lived in a condo and had a deck on the second floor. The solar panels could not be seen by anyone as per condo rules, so I laid them flat on the banister. They looked more like a table than anything else. I knew right off the bat to put this in operation every day as soon as possible would also help start the payback. I started easy, running my refrigerator during the day and any TV and lights that we would use. the solar would keep the batteries charged and in the evening I would shut everything down so the batteries stay fully charged and I would repeat the process again in the morning. I kept it simple, at the time these components were very expensive. Payback was slow, but it soon added up, reducing my electric bill. Thanks again, Bob for the tremendous amount of thought and work you’ve put into this series!
My pleasure brother🤙
great content ! I run 660amps of battery (lipo4} with a 50 amp victron controller and 800 wats of panels on a converted cargo trailer with a fridge and a freezer with a microwave and a 5000 btu ac. induction cook top diesel heater and i AM. always at 100% by 9am in the PNW ! i love it !!!
Mahalo!🤙
Keep both freezer and fridge full...even if it's jugs of water.
Remember air/space can't freeze or hold temperatures.
So true!🤙
Set my 4 200+ batteries yesterday.
Fabricated most of my 2/0 cab)es to wire 2s2p for 24v.
Mounted my 24v 4000w inverter. Next is the busbars, shunt, on/off switch, controller and panel breaker ... panels need to wait till I can reenforce my RV roof
Thanks for sharing, your doing a great job informing us on your solar usage.
Lots more coming in this series...Aloha!🤙
Fantastic job on this series! Really enjoy it and I'm not a beginner.
Mahalo!🤙
I like using low wattage rice cookers and the 350w Dash griddle. To bath I use a 600w immersion water heater and 5 gal bucket. For instant coffee or tea I use 300w immersion heaters in a cup or jar. I use 5w USB fans & the Onite camping bulb.
Probably my favourite three appliances are computer w/ led monitor, led light bulb, mobile smart phone. I run them everyday the sunshines shines for several hours without using any battery power just a little fan less 125 watt inverter I bought for the car cigarette lighter plug twenty five years ago. The big 2.4 KW pure sine inverter can not run on such low power😊 It is power thirsty.
Aloha!🤙
The voice of reason.
🤙
That was a great point about running things during the day when excess power from the solar would otherwise go to waste once the batteries are full.
And a great lesson on the difference between "power" and "energy". Your battery stores energy. Your inverter supplies power. So the inverter has to be supply the necessary power during operation (watts), but you need to calculate how much actual energy (watt-hours) your devices use to determine how long the battery will last. (the battery also has to deliver the power used by the inverter but lets ignore that for now).
Lets say your microwave burns 1100W when running, and on average your microwave is running around 10 minutes over the whole day. That's 1/6th of an hour. So the microwave uses 1100 * (1/6) = 183 watt-hours/day (0.183 kWh/day) of energy in that example. Not much, actually.
--
Hot plates and toaster ovens use a bit more, and also cycle on and off, so those have to be measured to determine how much "energy" is required to prepare a meal.
Fridges and CPAP machines use even more "energy". The CPAP machine often has to run while you are asleep, 8-10 hours a day at 60W. So the CPAP burns 60W x 10h = 600 watt-hours a day. The fridge is on 24x7 but cycles... well, put it on a kill-a-watt and look at the total consumption after 24 hours to get the fridge energy consumption. Usually the fridge eats 1kWh/day to 2kWh/day.
A/C systems burn enormous amounts of energy, but there are options such as getting a smaller A/C unit that consumes less power just to take the edge-off, and run it most of the day. Still, even a small A/C is going to burn 350W or so and can cool a small room or take the edge off of a larger room.
Oxygen generators (for someone suffering from heart failure) are even worse. An oxygen generator can burn 400W 24x7. That's 400W x 24 = 9600 watt-hours/day. 9.6 kWh/day. That will put a solar system to the test, you need around 2000W worth of solar panels to generate that much energy and that's in summer. In winter you'd need far far more solar panels as well as a lot of storage to buffer the energy across several days.
Not all devices are suited for off-grid operation. But it can be surprising just how many typical home appliances work just fine off-grid.
-Matt
Great great information from you as always brother! Mahalo!🤙
CPAP Machine, NuWave Flex, Efficient Refrigerator and Lights and Internet Router all Work well on a WZRELB 2500 Watt 24 Volt Inverter and 100/50 Victron Smart Solar Charge Controller and 2 280AH CHINS Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Bank - Aloha 🤘🌴
Sweet! That's what I'm talking about brother! Well done! Mahalo for sharing that with everyone! Aloha!🤙
Now I’m hungry that looked tasty…Have fun stay safe.
🤙
Great series Bob, thanks mate, take care, stay safe mate. Seeya Rob........from Australia.
Mahalo mate!🤙
Great video as always! Get a watt meter for that fridge especially. Your fridge also runs a defrost mode as well. Defrost is a lot more power usage. My fridge when running sits around 106 watts in defrost it goes to 400 watts. Thankfully defrost modes are not long or often but they occur. Always cook during the day if you can like stated in the video. In my mind no point in being all charged up and not taking in solar just a waste of some good sun juice!
Mahalo John!🤙
Aloha my brother. You are on a roll!
Aloha Tim! Yes, the cobwebs in my head are clearing! 🤣🤙
By comparison, everyone else is driving a hummer. I like the idea of camp systems and living close to energy. I made it a goal to see how cheap you could design an energy system to live off grid. Now I cook with propane so that is not included in the mix. My house is 900sqf and I only use it 5 months in the summer too. But I have refrigeration, dishwasher, small pump, domestic hot water. clothes washer with its own hot water tank (all loads use hot water for extra clean) and a CPAP machine. I can go for days in rainy weather. And I did this with only a car battery from a vehicle we didn't bring for years. Nobody was interested so last year I added a 50AH lithium battery to the mix and sulfated battery from town recycling so the clothes washer doesn't stop when a cloud passes by. This is all accomplished by energy management scheduling on priority when available. Solar people waste so much energy. Smart energy is so much cheaper using technology.
Great video
🌴🤙
very good. I us the muti inverters method. then switch them on and off as I need. gives me back up inverter . just sw3ap plugs around. I keep watt meter in my inverter at all times. and 2Kw is a good size . with not running all at same time you can do a lot. like do laundry after cooking. no need to run big loads all at once. like running air fryer ,hair dryer, cloths washer, vacuum ,power tools., micro wave all at once. that a lot of power. if you only run what you need at one time. that 2KW inverter will do it all. to run all at once looking at 10 KW inverter. the weather crazy all over. the northern rocky 's getting 15 in snow with wind and wide spread grid down warning hear in Boston NY .it's 90 and very muggy ! no wind. grid ok but voltage down . a early sign of possible problems later. them meters check volts and amps.
I'm in good shape these day's. Prepped and ready. Hurricane season upon us, but so far eastern pacific is quiet. That could change in a heartbeat tho. Waters are getting warm out there however! Fingers crossed. Aloha!🤙
Well... I made it all the way through Video #2... I'm on a roll now !! Hahaha... Keep 'um comin' Brother. I'll find the time to stay tuned in between repairing an ice machine, settin' up a new portable back-up generator, fixing the brakes and doin' an oil change on my truck, finishin' building a storage loft in my garage/shop, weldin' up some steel carts and work tables, finishin' the planter sign for the wife's cafe, building a crane lift x 2 (multiple locations), finishin' room additions, etc...etc...etc... now that I've refitted and re-engineered a new Chinese weed eater from Hell. Hahahahahahaha...
Got lot more coming brother! Mahalo!🤙
Amen brudda. Maybe mention/describe the cushion needed for start-up surge of freon compressors. Mahalo.
Yes, that surge to start the refrigerator, the plugin surge is higher than the startup surge for a second or so it is needed, so make sure to check the Wattmeter's highest reading for both and size the batteries and inverter to cover the surges.
They make a soft start kit to reduce the surge somewhat
Good point! I'll fit that in somewhere brother!🤙
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Show how to wire up the gauge !!!!!
The instructions are very clear usually, but you need to wire your Negative pole on the battery to the Battery Minus side of the shunt (Gauge), then all negatives must be connected to the other side of the shunt, and the Load Minus side becomes your battery negative terminal, all negative must now be connected on the shunt load side.
You will have a small red cable from the shunt, that goes to the battery-positive terminal, and that's it.
🤙
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great Tacos for everybody lol maybe explain the limit of the 12 volt bms on a 100 ah battery.
🤙
Awesome, thanks! ✌
Mahalo to you brother!🤙
Loved the previous video. I was wondering how you connect the panels to your charge controller. Some sort of buried cable?😮
Gonna show you you in upcoming video my friend🤙
Nice!
Aloha David! Mahalo for your membership! Appreciate the support brother 🤙🌴
@@ProjectsinParadise808 👍
Aloha my friend. I also live Hawaii, Maui in my case, and I am having trouble finding anyone who will ship batteries here. Where do you get yours??
You might need alot more than 400w mate
🤙
Unprecedented is a great scrabble word but it's being abused lately. History defines whether anything is actually unprecedented.
Truth is, very few things (except climate heating) isn't new
WHAT happened to solar made easy, everything else but a bush walk