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Yeah, am almost ready to post new content on the mobile Victron EV charger and then, I think I might finally have time to finish the other side of the shed. I’m using one of the cheapo ebay single axis trackers to move the panels and it’s working great.

No problem, there is a practical reason for it for my installation. In 107 degree heat, my panels/batteries fall short of what the mini split needs to keep it comfortable, without drawing from the house, as it needs about 7.5 kW in a day like that. The system produces about 6kW. After I finish the other set of panels to move them into catching morning sun, It's likely I'll make up that 1-1.5kW deficit, and the shed will be self-sufficient.

Ok fur shur.

Should be soon. Need to integrate the Arduino Cloud framework with the current code, and build some molex connectors for the hall sensor signal wiring from the actuators. I don't think we'll have the touch buttons on the Giga display for awhile, and will probably make a separate video for that. The next video will be produced with my partial sponsor, Progressive Automations.

Yeah. I have a LOT of work to do on my content creation skills.

I wouldn’t have guessed a step drill would work well for plastic, but I’ll give it a shot. Do you think distances like this are affected much in loss? It definitely was a consideration when I was bringing 200v, 100ft from our offgrid to the Ford Lightning charger. I used 8awg for that.

Latitude is about 30.2573° N. We are moving the panels from about 20 degrees east facing to zero, then to 23 degrees west facing, in the evening, so moving about 43 degrees throughout the day tracking the sun. I'm working on the MQTT portion of SolarAssistant, and should have production embedded in our webpage soon. We're currently producing about 15-16kw on a full sun day with the 3.6kw system.(***We just hit 19.5kW a couple days ago - 2-20-2024) . More than I thought it would put out in winter***)

Santan solar

It's about $1.5k in solar panels. The total for the project is around $4k after expected tax rebates. A 240VAC would generator kind of defeat the purpose? A generator would never pay for itself ? Our 14x8 art studio shed system (see video) is 1/3 of the size, of this, and has been running a 9k btu Mini-split AC/heatpump for almost 2 years for 4-5 hours per day. Next project for this one, is adding a 12k btu Mini-split AC/Heatpump to the garage that will also be powered by these panels/system.

I wouldn't say crazy expensive, but it does require some up front capital. One has to look at it as an investment of expendable capital that compares well to most other investments over time(see projects with Every day Dave for his solar investment comparator). The problem is, if there are no early adopters willing to lay out capital for projects like this, the technology won't reach economies of scale to get to those with lower incomes. If you didn't have a Truck, EV which only get's around 2 miles/kW, you could probably build one of these systems for closer to $3k, and likely see payoff in 2-3 years, as they get closer to 4 miles/kW.

@@racingtogreen2023 for me spending two times as much for the initial startup and then buying charging stations and having to replace batteries at what some gently used gas powered cars go for seems way way too expensive to be feasible or a intelligent way to spend my hard earned money. Overall electric power in the u.s is still being produced overwhelmingly by coal power and other fossil fuels at a much bigger factory polluting at a much higher rate. As of now going electric makes no sense financially or does it benefit our constantly changing environment. If the power came from nuclear, hydro, wind in some cases or solar in some cases it would make much more sense but it doesn't and will not fit atleast another 100 years. Our infrastructure is old and outdated and all our government and power companies are worried about is making money not making a change. Change being the key promise behind many government officials all while maintaining the status quo. So yes I'd say crazy expensive or if you'd like very very expensive and only for the wealthy who have expendable cash they don't mind throwing in the garbage. The middle class doesn't have that money to burn my friend.

Im from Western Norway and a Air to air Heatpum/MiniSplitWorks "more than perfect for 10 Monts a year since 2001 (Panasonic) than i have to start a second Heat pump to supply the house (250 X2 m2Tjey will draw approx 3 kW and give back 12kW at 4C @@racingtogreen2023

Well, the idea behind this project is to circumvent coal fired electricity, by making your own, and the whole basis of the channel is finding the cheapest way to do it. This is used panels, saved from being trash, one could say, and a refurb inverter that was half what it would have been new. You can also get lightly used LiFePo4 batteries from Powerqueen at a discount as well.

Yeah, I need to add some music to it or something tho...

A linear actuator

I don’t really have a name for it, and it’s of my own design. I did actually file a patent for the mechanism, mainly to find out how to file a patent.

@@racingtogreen2023 cool!! Thanks!

Keeping the fordlightning thread updated so far. Getting ready to start the video series here.

Not sure I’m understanding what you are saying? They are under the panels. Let me know, I’m getting ready to do the other side and am open to suggestions. It is definitely struggling with the initial negative angle. I just tried to run it off a Drok buck converter that only goes to 5amps, and it appears to need every bit of 6-7 amps to start to raise the panel. Once the arm is moving up, it drops to less than 2 amps. I think it may be solved by beefing up the mounts at the hinge. I could also raise the block ramp at the end of the track a bit, as it helps get the arm moving up with less vertical force needed.

Punch a hole thru the roof And run the ram at a better angle to reduce torque start up.@@racingtogreen2023

The timer makes sense. Sonoff with inching.

I actually have one, just need to implement it, and add the code. We're building a 10 x 360watt panel system now, mounted inline to our backyard fence which is going to be an absolute sail, and will definitely need one. The actuators on the shed are eco-worthy, which definitely feel like they are higher quality than the 20" Vevor's that I just picked up. The two eco-worthy's lifting my workshop/shed roof have been going strong for a year and a half so far.

Lol, not likely, but the Victron... We'll see, once we do the cloudy day tests. The Epever has been a champ for a year and a half so far. Solid product, and once you figure out the settings, and cloud system, easy to monitor as well.

@@racingtogreen2023 That's something you don't hear much with respect to Victron. It's usually raved about as "superior". I have the 40 amp Epever 24 volt, and it is fine for what it does. I am upgrading to a 48 volt system soon and will need a lot of amps.

We’ll see. Maybe it will perform better on a cloudy day, or maybe it’s a matter of the 80 amp Epever actually being a higher quality product then, say, a 50 amp Epever. It’s possible. I’ve had issues with the Victron 75/15 as well when trying to replace a 30 amp Epever. The load out ports on the victron wouldn’t send power out like the 30 amp Epever does. The 30 amp Epever feeds my home office, from 600watts of panels on my tool shed, so I thought that would be a cheaper way to test a Victron, but the Victron just wouldn’t work for that use, although it does have load out ports. Per the forums, it’s a software issue, longstanding. So, at this point, I just don’t have that much positive to say about the Victron, other than the software interface being a bit prettier.

Yeah, my 24v system in my ryobi tool shed has dual 120mm temperature triggered fans. Generally this one will be able to be opened when running and so the inverter fans will be able to cool it.

Thanks!

Good idea, but whatever I use will have to be relatively slippery as the metal bar will be pushing up on it a bit. Some of that is due to the weakness of the rear mount/hinge, which I also have to rectify.

Yeah, looking for a shorter bolt. This is all still pretty much in the prototype stage.

I think, it’s working for my needs, and I’ve only done one side so far. The west side which get’s ver little morning sun, as it’s canted down, facing westward will be set to rise 60-75 degrees at least, so it should produce significantly more output from 8am - 12pm. The Epever cloud uploads will allow pretty specific data on the increase once completed. Yeah, this is definitely most useful for someone like us, with panels on both sides of the roof, oriented, east vs west.

Thanks! I need to repost the code as I think it’s a bit changed, and super-reliable now. Running perfectly in 115 degree heat inside the box.

Wish I spoke italian!

My Arduino wifi 1010 seems to get flaky around 110-120 F. I had to add the fan to keep it below that.

You can buy the parts from the links provided, but this is a DIY video.

They are dropping fast, batteries are pretty stagnant, though. The 100ah 12v in my project has been staying pretty close to $300 since I bought it. My inverter is pretty high quality, which is why I assume I can run a full size Rigid table saw with it. I’d be curious how many of the prebuilts can run thst kind of equipment with that kind of inrush amperage. The price if mine is going up, as well, as I’m swapping out the cheapo charge controller with a victron 15/70 smart controller, about a $100 increase, so it’ll be a pretty high quality, $850 controller.

Yeah, I’m far from a professional content provider. I just try to pass on my own greening hacks.

@@racingtogreen2023 well I really enjoyed your vid, it was very clear and easy to follow. I'm just teasing about the Supreme leader Justin part 👋🤠

I’m planning a 48v, large, non-mobile system, to charge our EV truck, and power a mini-split A/C for the garage. Who knows, maybe I will make it mobile as well.

@@racingtogreen2023 cool not have 48volt solar controllar as yet but when i finsh i post it 😎😎😎😎 not have my lithium batttery yet hopefull buy this weekend i have 500 watts ,800 watts,1100 watts ,1500 watts and 3000 watts purn sine wave only one pure sine wave 48 volt

Thanks!

First tomato this weekend. It was delicious.

They are more expensive for a 4kw inverter + 80 amp charge controller in any brand rated reliable. Almost twice as much. We’ve been happy with this set up. With the transfer switch we can get away with only two 12v, 200ah lifep04 batteries on almost all days and if it runs out we get house power.

@@racingtogreen2023 I hear you they are pricey I may self have been happy with the ecoflow too bad they waited till later to put mppt in their 3000 watt 24 volt model

not sure that that is, but hey!

You are welcome. Hope to do more vids on fine tuning the systems soon.

Yep. I realized I was giving up free sun a couple weeks ago, once the 40v garden tool batteries were charged, so ran an extension cord from the 600 watt system back into my home office and now I’m probably saving $20/month on running my one big workstation that runs at 200-300 watts. Two 8 core Xeon’s eat some juice!

In the 12 volt mobile system,,I’m using a $20 PWM charge controller, so giving up some efficiency for cost savings. I keep the 12v system charged up with a 100watt panel.

Thanks. It’s working as well as I could expect. Not everyone will have an ecoworthy hybrid charge controller/UPS, and I don’t think they actually sell them anymore, but if you have one, it works great for this!

Great going.

I’ve actually been lucky with the v1.2 sensor that came with the kit, it appears to have the not so good timing chip as well. I have the resolution set to 12 bit in code and dry is working at 4095, and wet at 3000. It appears to be pretty accurate.I will check out the Kalman filter, though.

@@racingtogreen2023 if you have stable output, you are golden :) if not and values are jumping +/-(tenish), Kalman filter can come handy. looking forward at your next update.

Thanks. Working on another.

“Epever”, the brand of my Solar charge controller. Well priced, pretty high quality charge controllers.

I have a 2000 watt inverter in there and these Roarbatt inverters have been stout. I have the big fuse there as I have been running pretty high draw stuff, like circular saws, and even my Rigid table saw. The Roarbatt/Powerqueen combo seems to be a pretty good solution, and I’ve been using that inverter, and that brand of batteries for over a year now.

Thanks. I’ve been pleased with ALL of my Ryobi stuff. Literally have not had a single tool or battery go bad that I didn’t cause. I got one 40v 6ah wet, and that killed 2 of the 2000mAh batteries in the pack and I built small 3s2p mini 12v packet from the ones that weren’t bad and those were some high quality 18650’s.

There is a free plan. I think you can make up to 10 "Things" on the free plan. I have HA running as well, for other automation. I just picked up one of those little touchscreens with an esp32 built in, so I'll have to check out esphome.

@@racingtogreen2023 unless something changed, that is the first level of paid plan. The free one is good only for testing the hardware, nothing more.

Yeah, it’s cheap, but that’s a good bit of the point. The box only occasionally get’s used and stays charged from occasionally attaching it to one 300 watt panel on my tool shed with the Anderson connector. Does the job. The tool shed itself and the art studio both have Epever controllers.

There is going to be a full series of how-to’s following with parts list known to work, my build, including, powering it with solar, and a lithium battery, the solenoid setup, arduino code, IOT cloud set-up, ect.

I’ve been running mine in the Solar powered tool shed for the better part of a year with no issues. Knock on wood. Summer is coming and I may need to add some ventilation to the ryobi link case it’s in, like I have for the charge controller and inverter. They are temp triggered 120mm 24v fans.

It’s possible there is no sound. Camtasia doing me wrong with the voiceover.