Awesome video. I only do yard work at my house, but I have switched completely to electric power on all of my lawn equipment and I am loving it. No more gas or the noise that it’s inherent with that type of equipment and on the long run it’s much cheaper. Again great video.
Even as a Tesla owner, I don't think I ever envisioned someone showing up to do lawn care in a Tesla until maybe the Cybertruck comes out! Your production quality and content for this video is top notch and you have one slick set up. It will probably slow you down for a while with customers wanting to check out how you are turning the lawn care business upside down. I have three out of my four neighbors converted to electric mowers with one loud obnoxious Toro to go - lol!
Haha i am on the electric conversion spree too. I have a chain saw, blower, weed eater However my lawnmower still works so why should i replace to electric. Tough to justify $500/$600 When it breaks i will replace it with electric
@@danielt6810 less maintenance and thus cost, is the biggest reason to go electric in the first place. i'm in the same boat currently, wanting to get a battery electric riding mower but ours works and is only like 5-6 years old. our plan is to sell it and then make the change, most likely when these mowers go on a bigger sale because yea the upfront cost is pretty massive.
I switched to an electric mower with a working gas mower - I have no regrets. My Ego 21" self-propelled is a life saver, and the fact that it folds is really nice for my tiny shed. That being said, if my mower wasn't 5 years old and literally the most bargain bin version of a mower, I maybe wouldn't have been so eager to replace it. It helps that I was in the ecosystem already with an Ego string trimmer. Now I have a mower, a trimmer, a chainsaw (which is so awesome, by the way) and a leaf blower. I'll never go back, even with $.36/KWh electric rates.
Cybertruck will be a game changer for this bloke, pass through power from, the cybertruck and being able to tap into its huge battery atleast 100kwh+ battery,
Has someone who used to spend $1,500 to $2,000 per month on fuel for my landscape company and who is now retired and heavily into solar power you are my new hero❤ just subscribed I wish you all the luck brother you are a trendsetter in a positive influence❤❤❤
Thank you Veteran! Means a lot, seriously. This was something I really wanted to explore. On paper it made sense to me, but only so much you can do before you just have to go out and figure it out in the real world! My goal is helping others decide if it’s the right fit for their situation.
@@solarpunksteve Just watched both of your videos and subscribed. Nice work. I think a great idea for a future video (you’ve probably already thought of it) would be an expense comparison to traditional one-man gas based setups. I would think those setups would go through 5+ gallons of gas per day ($17@ $3.4/gal gas), so your solar payback might pay for itself in just a few mowing seasons.
@@cgh7612 that is if the mower's batteries don't overheat and fail within that time period. As he said in the video the most expensive part is the batteries.
I live with an off grid, solar system and watching your video made me smile and I think to myself why would people ever bother with gasoline for lawn maintenance purposes it seems so foolish, knowing that the exhaust gases are highly toxic and super noisy and the flammability hazard. Good for you man I like your set up you should franchise that idea and it would take off.
@@zippydastrange I have been driving my electric car for 12 years now and all I’ve ever done is replace the tires and brakes and the windshield wipers. Batteries are considered high grade ore and therefore are not put in the landfill. They are used to make the next generation of batteries. It is far better to transition to electric technology, then garbage gasoline engines. In my lifetime I have rebuilt all kinds of engines with carburetors and I am so sick of doing it. I won’t do it anymore. Gasoline is toxic and it absorbs into your skin and destroys your liver. Since my electric car is recharged with solar energy I don’t have to worry about a dirty energy source in some remote location. I know I’m ahead of everyone and it’s gonna be catch up for you.
You should look into charging the batteries on DC. There's a variety of ways to do that but it is pretty inefficient to convert to AC to just convert back to DC downstream.
I was thinking the same thing. The EGO batteries are nominally 56V, not too far above the nominal 48V of the EG4 5kWH battery. By using a DC-to-DC boost converter it should be possible to charge them, but the issue is battery management. I don't know if the EGO batteries have a built-in BMS (Battery Management System), but I suspect they do. If they do, then it would be easy. I tested one of my EGO batteries and it measured 57.4V without any load. Nominal NMC lithium cell voltage is 3.6V, so the packs probably contain 16 cells in series, and can be charged up to 4.2V. 4.2 x 16 = 67.2V, so a DC-to-DC converter outputting around 68V should work well. Of course doing this would almost certainly void the EGO battery warranty! Proceed at your own risk.
I came here to say the same thing. Converting DC to AC back to DC equates to a significant amount of power loss. Going DC to DC would make this system significantly more efficient.
That would be ideal, but I'm sure the batteries/mower would not be happy, and any warranty would be void using unofficial chargers, and insurance would kill you if they found out you burned down 100kish of equipment to charge maybe 2% more an hour
@gregben Ego batteries are 51.8v Nominal (14s @ 3.7v) that EG4 lifepo4 is 51.2v nominal (16s @ 3.2v). The problem is the EG4 battery would need to be full to get the ego battery to charge to probably 90%. If the EG4 battery is at 70% then the Ego battery could probably only get to 60%. He could skip the eg4 battery and charge direct from solar to the ego batteries, but no sun means no charge, and his mentioned premium price for tool batteries.
One of the most difficult things to do as a YT content-creator is to nail the content and the editing. This does both very well! Your channel should start to take off.
I was pleased to see you using ferrules on your terminal connections :) While not needed for saddle-type screw terminals, an awful lot of screw terminals -- esp. the cheaper stuff -- still depend on the end of the retaining screw mashing into the stranded leads, and ferrules are a much more robust install practise.
Nice solar setup my fellow 321 resident. Love that you took the idea and ran a business out of it. I hope you have lots of customers that are fellow EV owners.
Loving the clean lines and minimalistic look of your trailer solar setup. I'm still on the fence about what type of setup would work for my trailer but right now I'm leaning towards an ECOFLOW Pro battery generator which will simplify my look and is also transportable for camping, home usage, etc. Because of the equipment that I'm running, I see that our power requirements are different. Awesome video!
Thanks so much! I like the idea of the "battery generators" like an ECOFLOW and I completely recognize it's an easier "plug n' play" solution but personally I'm still not sold based purely on cost. I mean EGO batteries are basically $1000 per kWh (insanity), the ecoflow is about $888 per kWh (not terrible considering it comes with inverter and outlets ready to go), but the EG4 setup I have works out to about $409 per kWh and that's including the inverter. Figure a little more for breakers, outlets, wiring etc. but still. Anyway I can't wait to see what you end up doing and hope things work well for you! Let me know if you have questions. How do you like the Toro Grandstand Revolution?
If I had to do it all over again, I would go with the EcoFlow or other all in one system. But because I started transitioning to electric before that came out, I went the hard way of combining all the components myself. At the end of the day, both ways are about the same price.
@@OffGridEssentialsbyFirebear Just some square sticky-back cable tie things from home depot that have a screw hole in the middle. The stickiness wears off so I put small screws in each one into the plywood to keep them from moving.
I’ve been barking up that tree for 20 years now, you’re doing everything exactly how it has to be for efficiency. Great work and top notch presentation
Sweet setup! Good job on making every piece fit together so nicely inside the trailer. One more advantage to having the battery and the solar panels is that you can be "offgrid" even if you use all the batteries inside the tools. You don't have to start a noisy generator or deal with the customer for access to an outlet. It keeps the interaction with the clients at a minimum and you can do your job in peace, without long extension cords in the way running from some house.
Thank you! It takes a lot of time and effort but I can’t stand messy cables. I was giving a quote to someone and after mentioning I used all electric equipment they said “I have some outlets around the back I guess you could use”. I had to chuckle a little bit, I said “nope I’m all good, sun is shining!”
Steve, I do love what you have done. I have a 10KW ground mount system that feed 100% of my power to Georgia Power. We have had this system for 15 months now. I am in a program that allows me to use my Bi-Directional meter and average the power I use over the full month; I have no batteries in this system. I have had bills of about $4 to $15 over the last 5 months. Of course, during the winter, we have higher bills of about $40.00 because of the lower angle of the sun. We are now building a Solar-Generator for the system. We use the same controllers you have but 2 of them are for 240 Volts and have 6000 kw service. We are using the same batteries but, again 2 of them, for 10Kws of storied power. This will be used as a “Whole House UPS” and give us about 24 hours of backup power. I see you getting some negative feedback because of the TOTAL electric approach with even a Tesla. How limited of the view. I love my 2004 Tahoe and our 3002 Honda Accord. We use about $100 in gas/month. I use Natural Gas heat, Hot Water, Stove, and Dryer. This used the most economical power for the ‘Thermal Energy’ and allows us to use the Electrical power for lights, computers, TV, and the other loads in the home. Solar is expensive but we won’t worry about being without power during power outages and the sensitive electrical loads will have very clean power. Being 75 years old, doing upkeep on gas engines like lawnmowers, weed eaters, and blowers is getting really hard. I love your setup and you can work for your landscape company with little noise to your customers and the upkeep of the equipment is much less work and less money. Note: I love my Tahoe and Honda, but I envy your Tesla. I just don’t drive the miles to justify it.
I built the same setup but with the Growatt 3k-ES version inverter and 3k of panels. I use it to charge my Nissan Leaf and it covered 90%+ of my driving. If you add a second battery, don't forget to use a bus bar and a DC rated breaker and/or a T class fuse.
This is so cool. Been thinking about starting up a small lawn care business and wanted to build basically exactly this. I love my electric stuff, but I also know the cons of charging time versus just refilling a gas tank. This solves it all-as long as you have enough batteries to be able to swap.
Nice setup. I didn't want to run conduit and wires from my house to my shed, so I bought one solar panel, a 10 amp charge controller, a deep cycle battery, and a 1000 watt inverter to charge my Ego weed eater batteries, run a light, and provide power for a skill saw, or electric chainsaw. It's perfect for my once-a-week use. It was $300 and probably would have cost the same amount for wiring and conduit. I used the same setup to run my Christmas lights from sundown for 6 hours last year also. I now have two separate systems using lifepo4 batteries to run most of my house all the time now. The independence just feels great.
Hey yeah, it's amazing the solutions you can come up with when there are lots of options out there on the market for solar/batteries/inverters etc. I ran some Christmas lights from a battery and inverter in order to decorate a trailer for a parade and it looked great! No generator noise or fumes while everyone sat in the back and enjoyed themselves. LiFePO4 batteries are where it's at! I'm excited for manufacturing to start taking place in the US in the near future as it's been strictly overseas for many decades now and with some patents/agreements ending, we should start to get it here too, which will further drive costs down and innovation up.
Steve, I have either worked for or owned a yardcare business since I was only twelve years old. About three years ago i took a temp job in the winter working at the Solar fields near my home and came up with this same idea. I had two different enclosed trailers and I rigged them both with solar. I was fascinated by this idea so I purchased some Greenworks equipment after trying a few other brands. Over the last few years I have come to use Greenworks and Toro Revolution equipment both. Toro HD21 is the best electric 21” walk behind. Greenworks 30” Commercial walk behind is the other and I use Greenworks 60v ride on. All have worked very well. You have done an awesome job with these videos! I ran into problems with my inverter and sometimes chargers overheating but other than that it has been an amazing shift. I’ll have to do some videos on it. Thank you for sharing this.
You could also build your own battery pack using individual cells for a custom battery pack to best suite your needs. It’s cheaper but you their is a time component. If your looking to scale your business vertical integration might be a good option.
I thought about that too, and yes it would be cheaper to build them, but there's definitely a cost to my time. And I can make more out there on a jobsite than I would save by building a battery myself. Totally a great option for those on a budget, but best thing in my case is keeping things as simple as possible. I have plans in the future to build bigger and different systems so I might take the time to build the batteries myself at that point.
@@solarpunksteve id also be cautious of making your own pack due to insurance/safety purposes. I made my own DIY 48v/280ah pack for my house but in a mobile (shaking, rattling, etc) environment... warranty and UL/saftey is preferred in a business for sure - you did it the right way.
Man, nice to see this! I've been wondering about the possibilities and realities of doing something similar for about a year now. Glad to see that it can work out well!
I was wondering about it too! And since I didn't see anyone else doing it, I figured why not find out for myself. It's been an interesting journey for sure, from leaving my previous job and starting a business to designing a solar panel/inverter/battery setup and now making videos on youtube. It's not without challenges for sure, and there's things I need to cover to help people understand what they might expect, and there's still many things I want to explore for myself. So it will be an ongoing adventure! Glad you like it so far and let me know if you have questions, I'm planning to address as much as I can in videos that way I have a wider reach, but always happy to try and get you answers directly too if I can.
This is so rad. What’s nice about this too is the components are modular and if you want to upgrade the panels, or inverter, etc in the future you can. Good work. Sub’d.
Yeah and with having something like this, you can change to different lawn equipment too! There’s risks of course and who knows how long all this will last in this type of environment, but I’m willing to give it a shot!
FYI, I found out doing a test.... I had 4 panels that produced 120v.... Connected to the EG4 3000.... But being at or just above 120v.... It seriously limited my wattage input... I should have seen between 8-900W, but was only seeing 300w... I imagine if I had even 1 more panel, bringing my voltage up just a little, It would have produced more.... I will be testing this theory more next week. Great Video!
Very interesting. I was worried about not making enough voltage with my 6 panels if I wasn't getting full sun, but so far they seem to produce that minimum 120V even when overcast or morning/evening etc (although it's not like I'm getting a lot of wattage). However I have yet to see the full 1200W from my panels. Closest I've gotten is 1000W briefly. I've talked with Rich Solar a little bit and will probably do some testing on the panels when I get some time, but for now they are still making enough power for my needs. I'm not surprised that they might be limited though, I mean we've had extreme heat these last few weeks, and they are mounted flat on my trailer and close to the roof so the venting could be a little better. I'm interested to hear what results you get from your testing, let me know!
Another small bonus to that solar setup is that in case of power outages or what not, you have a nice alternative to a generator for critical house systems and can keep working if reasonable.
Yt algorithm brought me here, and i'm really surprised of your ingenuity. U got a new subscriber🙌, i'm definitely staying here for a while to see where it goes. Keep up the good work dude!
I built a 5kw powered trailer to power my metal 3d printer, crypto mining, and model Y. It was a fun project! Great job on your build. Looks super clean! Excited to see more of your content 👍
Woah! That’s awesome. Do you travel around with it or is it stationary? I saw your short clip of the metal 3D printer, would love to see the whole setup!
@@solarpunksteve Yeah It's mostly a stationary lab that I can use anywhere, but I recently used it to move half way across the country haha Yeah thats funny I forgot about that clip. Xact Metal is the company I started. You can see some more clips of the printers on their channel. www.youtube.com/@xactmetal I plan to build some more solar powered trailers for a startup I'm working on now. Check back in case I upload some content related to the builds!
New subscriber here. Excellent set up. Very well thought out and what a great service for your customers. I operate a all electric mobile dog grooming service called Lavish Paws and I also tow with a Model Y. It has been a great vehicle thus far and is our only vehicle. We have solar on the house and power the trailer with Ecoflow Delta Pros. Customers really appreciate that we are self sufficient. No loud gas generator or fumes. Anyway Ill be following along in your journey good luck to you sir all the best.
This is so cool, what an amazing build! I have all electric lawn equipment and a solar shed I built. I haven't had to deal with gas and pulling a cord in years. I'm NEVER going back to the pain, hassle, and maintenance of 2 cycle gas engine.
Love my ego 360 42". Their weed eater design is top notch! No more slamming the bump head, it automatically dispenses the line and reloading takes about one minute. So much physical effort spent on those bumpheads, especially yards with a lot of weed eating needed. So you gain more productivity and reduce fatigue.
Have you considered adding a solar panel awning for the side of the trailer. You could raise it while working to double the solar charging while giving you some shade. Also, adding a matching EG4 battery on the other side of the trailer would double your reserve while keeping the weight balanced in the trailer
I have considered it, but this was step one and for my use case it's working quite well so far. Next step would be to plug in at home after a day to recharge if I'm running out of battery/not enough solar as that's the most practical/cheapest solution, then of course I could add another onboard battery like you said, and lastly it would be totally sick to pull up to a yard and deploy extra solar out the sides of the trailer, but that's not something I'm focused on right now haha. As for the battery balancing out the trailer, I think at the moment I have it relatively well balanced: I park the mower slightly to one side of the trailer and then have all the batteries on the other side, so I think it mostly evens out. Next trailer I think I will consider recessing the onboard batteries in the floor near the axle to provide lower center of gravity and a balanced load. We'll see!
@@solarpunksteve could plug in the trailer at some job sites as well when needed. Not all have power and some might not have out door power outlets but some do.
FAN-TASTIC! This is awesome thinking for sure and very nicely done!! No more gas and oil and you get energy from the sun all day. If you find yourself needing a boost often I could imagine adding additional panels on one side of the trailer that could be pivoted up while parked. More complicated than the fixed mount panels but just a thought if needed. I'm not a commercial lawn care guy but have dumped all my lawn tools for EGO. Overall, excellent stuff. I am working on a setup for my home to charge it all from Solar as well, some time before that project makes KWH though.
Thanks! It's been a really fun experiment and learning experience so far! It's not the perfect solution for every problem by any means and won't be something everyone can/should do. In regards to the deploy-able solar, I love the idea and I've been thinking about it for a long time, but realistically it's not practical or scalable, not to mention just the complexity. I think what makes the most sense in my opinion right now is if I need it, charge the trailer at home after the day, if I need more then I install another onboard battery and double my storage capacity.
@@solarpunksteveDepending on the application, someone starting out could also get a towing vehicle with bi-directional charging to use to top up the trailer battery while parked and working when sun alone isn't enough for the day. There are more and more options available now, which is great to see.
Awesome Setup ! I'm considering buying some EGO equipment for my new yard, about an acre. And installing a solar battery for going off grid. This was pure inspiration! Thanks
Hey thanks! So far things have been working great, I would recommend it if you’re comfortable with the price. You could definitely get a fantastic gas mower for the price, but if you’re set on electric it’s a great option. I would check out the larger 52” mower, as I feel it’s a better value for the money since it actually comes with all 6 batteries and they are the 12ah ones not the 10ah. Anyway, if anything changes regarding my opinion of ego I will be sure to let you all know!
Thanks! It's a challenge but I like trying to make things easier to understand. It's a skill I've worked on a lot but there's always room for improvement! Let me know if there's anything you think I should cover in the future or expand upon a topic if I didn't cover it well enough.
@@solarpunksteve I think you did a great job being able to condense it down to 10 min. You did a better job than I do. I struggle to get mine shorter because I keep thinking “I gotta include this…”. Looking forward to your next video.
This is a genius business model! Offering a standard service but with with a novel twist that you could even charge a premium for. Plus because everything is electric you drastically cut your operating costs... granted the startup cost I am sure was much higher, but I think it has the potential to pay off big in the long run. In all seriousness you could probably sell these setups as turnkey businesses or even franchise them.
Thanks! They aren't a sponsor, and I will most likely keep it that way, hard to stay unbiased when someone is behind your equipment and financial "choices".
@@solarpunksteve Most virtuous and commendable. Fact is, few would guess E-Go tools are professional grade outside your channel, but you are proving it continually..👍 For the company, gold. Hard core fossil fuelers are going to start reconsidering mixing 2 cycle oil, carburetor issues and constant repairs. recurring fuel costs if they see you. (Towing with a Tesla is a cherry on the cake!)
I hope you have some serious tracking on that trailer and those items. I linked my buddy, who has an all electric lawncare thing going already. Thanks for the video!
The main disadvantage would be the limited amount of charge-discharge cycles on the LiFePo battery, being a whole unit by itself makes you have to face a repeating cost from time to time in order to replenish its capacity. That being said, it's an awesome job!
The storage battery is LiFePo4, rated for about 3,000-5,000 full charge cycles before degrading to 80%. The trailer will fall apart before the battery does. I’m interested to see how long the ego batteries last. They are Lithium Ion which are rated at 300-500 charge cycles. What’s interesting in this setup is that the batteries are topped off regularly which is where Lithium Ion likes to live. So they should last even longer.
Just started out this year in the uk. Battery equipment is still rare, only hedge cutters and small blowers for most. I went full makita 36v for everything which had been successful so far. Dual charger and inverter in my tow car. Looking into a bigger trailer with a similar settup to this on board. Thanks for a well put together video just subscribed.
Hey awesome! I’ve been around a few areas in the UK, you’ve definitely got a challenge regarding space. Even towing with my car instead of a truck, it would be really difficult parking my trailer anywhere. I would imagine a van would be a great use of space? I’ve even considered it here if I could find an electric one. Congrats on being an entrepreneur trying to figure it out in your area! Let me know how it goes.
DeLand area checking in! It's great to see you doing this, Steve. It's also really cool to see the eGo mowers and tools being used in a commercial setting. I'm subbed now, so I really look forward to seeing your progress and experiences going forward. Best wishes for clear skies and good business!
So, this is really cool. One problem I have is where you positioned everything. For example, that inverter and battery is heavy, move that to over your axel. The Tesla is cool and all, but you don't want your trailer out of balance on it because it'll yank the car around. Second, instead of wiring in a cable to charge your trailer, put a generator hook up on the trailer, so you can just plug an extension cord into it. Safer and you wont wear out your lugs from screwing them on and off. Lastly, look around for some bigger panels, get some good second hand 300 watt panels, those 200s are serving you well right now, but they're gonna age out and die. 300 watt panels will keep you going for longer, not just in terms of battery charges, but in longevity of your system. Nice work!
I have an open lawn service trailer. Only place I have to collect solar is on the top of the tool box. Bummer. 100w panel. But I had no reason not to add solar. I already had a 1kwh trailer battery that I was overnight charging. As more of my equipment got replaced with electric, I just expanded as needed. And because I charge from the trailer battery instead of only at home, I was able to have the brands that I prefer to use. I still home charge a few batteries each night, but while out on the route, I use the trailer charger. And now that I have power in the trailer, I have also added a microwave and induction cooktop to my collection so I can have a hot lunch during the winter. Most of my stuff is EGO as yours is. But I use the ECHO string trimmer and Milwaukee walk behind mower.
I would like to see ego have more charging programs so you could overnight slow charge your batteries if you wanted, or you could quick charge them, and you could also choose to what voltage/ how full do you want your batteries. Lithium ion batteries get stressed when they are left full, and charging them to 80% is much more gentle on their chemistry.
Awesome setup. I think if anyone is thinking about going electric and want to make fuel on the go and charge on the go this is the way to do it. Going back to what you were saying about getting extra Ego batteries. I would still have 2 extra so your always charging and swapping full batteries between runs. I guess it would be based on your daily usage over time. Great video.
Thanks! Hopefully it's relatively clear to people that I'm not saying this is on the same level as entire crews or others that have high volume/large lots. I still have to pick and choose my clients based on property size/complexity, but I can honestly say I don't really think about battery consumption too often anymore. And being a solo operator you get to kind of manage those things naturally, like "oh I just used the mower a whole bunch on this last yard, let me break for lunch while it charges up a bit more". You're correct though that it would be a good idea to have a second set of batteries ready to go and you "hot swap" but I can get nearly three times the mowing (maybe more) with this setup than I could have if I just bought a second set of EGO batteries and given the costs I thought this was a way better option, with more flexibility, and if I got to the point where the EGO stuff wasn't my choice going forward, I could easily pivot to a different brand etc. Anyway, because I haven't needed them, I haven't bought a second set of EGO batteries for now.
@@LawIV Unfortunately no. I talked with my CPA and they said because it's not attached to a structure (business or home) there's nothing I can claim. It's possible this isn't the case and I would love to hear if I could, but for now I'm claiming it as an asset for the business so it will be written off over time, like any other piece of equipment. Would love it if I could claim 30% though, would make this even more affordable. This is largely an experiment to solve the electric lawn care problem which is running out of battery and not wanting to spend a whole bunch on more batteries that lock you into one manufacturer. I think it actually makes more sense to install solar at your house or business and do net-metering if your provider/state offers it. You get more bang for your buck and there's no wasted energy when the trailer is full and the solar can't output to anything.
First time viewer here although i think ive seen references to your channel before. I'm sure you get endless naysayers but at the end of the day, its basically math and people can not believe it all they want but numbers don't lie and everything you said totally checks out (my house is 100% off grid). That's a really unique and probably a mentally rewarding way to run a lawn care business. At some point when this becomes more common people will think back to you as the first one they ever saw doing it, and realize the dichotomy from how incredulous they were with it initially vs how they eventually came to accept it as totally normal. Just a matter of time. Also, you may have already seen it but one of my favorite youtube moments EVER was when Jason Cammisa drag raced an Alfa 4C against a Tesla towing an Alfa 4c on a car trailer, back in 2016 when he worked for Motor Trend. Your little stoplight tow pig acceleration clip reminded me of that. Great moment in electric vehicle history...
A lot of views already for your two videos in less than a month. Just shows there’s a big audience for this kind of content. Your positive personality and presentation also helps in viewing. Keep it up and good luck with everything. I’m also a YLR owner and pull a similar size trailer as yours. In my experience, the range is cut to less than 50% with mostly highway trips. I’m hoping the Cybertruck will remedy the short trailer pulling range.
Now we’re talking! You think if I can get my trailer to fly it will increase my towing range? Haha just kidding. But I have considered some type of foldout/deployable system, although it’s probably a better idea to go with more batteries, and install a solar array at home where it’s not so space-constrained. Still though, might do deployable just for the giggles.
I’m not gonna start a landscaping company but this is very cool to see. Solar has some nutty benefits people sleep on. I’m in NYC and still generate enough to over produce while charging my car and tools (landscaping to snow blowers)… so I guess it’s all solar powered as well lol. Best part is all the incentives, the panels were actually cheaper than local electricity. Add on rebates for charging my car off peak and I essentially get paid to fuel my car! Having a whole business run off it is just next level. I’d assume a lot less maintenance is required for a large electric mower.
I was wondering why someone was not Marketing a system like yours to the yard care profession. (I had already figured that always having a set of tool batteries 'on charge' was a way to go, capturing every possible Watt of solar. Many communities already have bans on gas powered yard tools (Noise and fumes). You just proved that the solution for charging does not limit your choice of yard tools to a brand.
Thats such a clean and neat setup. I am actually in the process of finishing up something similar. 4 100AH 12v liPoFe4 batteries, 3KW inverter/charger. No actual solar panels (this is just in a station wagon) but just the convenience of charging powertool batteries and that on the go and not getting home with a bag full of dead batteries is worth it for me. (Not to mention forgetting to grab the charged ones the next morning. Been there done that it sucks!!) Just plug 1 extension lead in when i get home to charge it all back up. I have been for a while just using one of those 2KWh solar generator type systems but often find it runs short by the end of the day. Especially if i run my microwave or air frier i keep in the car too. Got sick of paying for take out every day for lunch so just bring it with me now. One day i will get a van and chuck couple of solar panels on the roof to go with it too.
It’d be interesting to see how feasible it would be to add another array as sort of an awning and add to the capacity and shade you while out on a job or something.
was thinking something similar, where the panels basically stack, and fold outwards through a hand crank or small motor, granted probably only one should be out as the other would stick out into the street, so definitely would need separate motor control... but still a neat idea if the power generated needs to be higher output.
Great video. Love the solar trailer. Watched all your videos! Really like the coffee bus! Make sure you let us know when you are going to be the space center for a launch, and I bet you will sell a lot of coffee! I guess you are 2 for two on purchases between the solar landscape trailer and the coffee bus. Great job!
Sweet setup man! Making sure you have the right parallel or series config with your solar panels or batt banks that fits your goals. Blocking/bypass diodes and proper fuse setup will help avoid disasters.
awesome setup, and great that you're testing it out. it can only get better as now you know even more than you did before! I can foresee a new business venture where you outfit other lawncare services businesses with solar trailers....
Nice setup my Dewalt Flexvolt 60 9 amp batteries take 2+ hours to charge when hot so need enough to cover that as brush clearing runs through a 9 amp in 20 minutes
Yes!!! It might not be as affordable, or practical to implement as a generator is for most food trucks, but can you imagine going to a food truck event and it being quiet? Or a food truck/coffee trailer operating *inside* a building or convention center off just batteries, how cool would that be?! By the way, this is what I will be doing when the time comes on my Mobile Coffee Bus over on my other channel @DeltaVCoffee. If everything goes as planned, I'll have one sweet solar/battery/inverter setup onboard. Will make this project seem like a warmup haha.
I absolutely love your hard work and diligence. Your work has inspired me tremendously. I just had a thought about the solar panels on the roof of the cargo trailer. As an avid trailer hauler and landscaper for 20 years, I've noticed that any extra drag u place on the roof of the cargo trailer reduced mpg massively. So I would advise if possible to try to add solar to a tall cargo trailer in such a way that either doesn't add significant height and or doesn't introduce sharp edges. So would flexible solar panels that are paper thin glued with small air gaps to prevent overheating be a more repeatable solution. Let me.know what u think. It would be my guess that the extra drag from the panels you displayed here would nullify any energy savings from the 5 kwh gained daily unless of course your speeds were slow and your dialy miles were minimal. Can't wait to hear your thoughts. I'm sure if you looked into it, Your predictions and analysis would be ten times more comprehensive and thorough than my speciation. Keep up the great work. I hope to see more content!!
You are correct! Aerodynamics is key when towing, much more so than weight, especially at highway speeds. Luckily my route keeps me off the highway, but I’ve got some things coming up that might require some over the road travel and I will be making some improvements to the aerodynamics to reduce the impact they make on my range. Of course I will have to make a video about it and share!
Super slick setup. Being a solar guy myself I often wonder if anyone would start using cordless for their lawn business and here you are. My only concern is that these batteries use older type cells and their life cycles aren't that great. They're fine for the normal users but you're using your for a business so those batteries and being cycles regularly. Too bad, no one have come out with lifepo4 cordless batteries yet.
Nice! It is so practical what you have together for where you live. I really should get a 2-3kw system for my NE Ohio home to offset some rising electricity costs and outages. I wonder if you had put a tilt function to your panels something that can tilt them 10-15⁰ left or right to get a bit more energy over the day possibly even drive it with a screwdriver sun tracker system so it'll adjust while you're busy in the field.
This gives me so many good feelings. It's just so cool to see this done. I'd love some more "day in the life" type videos like your first one and also more like this video. I'm sure it's a lot of work and editing to do these! Great job
Thanks so much! It's one of those things that I didn't see anyone doing (at the time) so I needed to find out for myself. Happy to be able to finally share some of my experience and hopefully others can learn what works/doesn't work from my adventures and apply those to what they would like to do for their setup. I'm working on more videos as fast as I have time for, but let me know if there's anything in particular you would like to see in the future or questions you want answered. Good luck if you embark on your build!
NICE
Thanks so much! Your art is awesome!!
Awesome video. I only do yard work at my house, but I have switched completely to electric power on all of my lawn equipment and I am loving it. No more gas or the noise that it’s inherent with that type of equipment and on the long run it’s much cheaper. Again great video.
Even as a Tesla owner, I don't think I ever envisioned someone showing up to do lawn care in a Tesla until maybe the Cybertruck comes out! Your production quality and content for this video is top notch and you have one slick set up. It will probably slow you down for a while with customers wanting to check out how you are turning the lawn care business upside down. I have three out of my four neighbors converted to electric mowers with one loud obnoxious Toro to go - lol!
Haha i am on the electric conversion spree too.
I have a chain saw, blower, weed eater
However my lawnmower still works so why should i replace to electric.
Tough to justify $500/$600
When it breaks i will replace it with electric
@@danielt6810
less maintenance and thus cost, is the biggest reason to go electric in the first place.
i'm in the same boat currently, wanting to get a battery electric riding mower but ours works and is only like 5-6 years old.
our plan is to sell it and then make the change, most likely when these mowers go on a bigger sale because yea the upfront cost is pretty massive.
I switched to an electric mower with a working gas mower - I have no regrets. My Ego 21" self-propelled is a life saver, and the fact that it folds is really nice for my tiny shed.
That being said, if my mower wasn't 5 years old and literally the most bargain bin version of a mower, I maybe wouldn't have been so eager to replace it. It helps that I was in the ecosystem already with an Ego string trimmer. Now I have a mower, a trimmer, a chainsaw (which is so awesome, by the way) and a leaf blower. I'll never go back, even with $.36/KWh electric rates.
Love your video. Now I need tutn my shed electric and upgrade to electric yard equipment
Cybertruck will be a game changer for this bloke, pass through power from, the cybertruck and being able to tap into its huge battery atleast 100kwh+ battery,
Has someone who used to spend $1,500 to $2,000 per month on fuel for my landscape company and who is now retired and heavily into solar power you are my new hero❤ just subscribed I wish you all the luck brother you are a trendsetter in a positive influence❤❤❤
Thank you Veteran! Means a lot, seriously.
This was something I really wanted to explore. On paper it made sense to me, but only so much you can do before you just have to go out and figure it out in the real world! My goal is helping others decide if it’s the right fit for their situation.
@@solarpunksteve Just watched both of your videos and subscribed. Nice work. I think a great idea for a future video (you’ve probably already thought of it) would be an expense comparison to traditional one-man gas based setups. I would think those setups would go through 5+ gallons of gas per day ($17@ $3.4/gal gas), so your solar payback might pay for itself in just a few mowing seasons.
@@solarpunkstevetotally, new technologies supercharging all kinds of professions
@@cgh7612 that is if the mower's batteries don't overheat and fail within that time period. As he said in the video the most expensive part is the batteries.
@@cgh7612 there's also the time savings which adds up ... The only limiting factor is how many duty cycles he can get out of the batteries.
I live with an off grid, solar system and watching your video made me smile and I think to myself why would people ever bother with gasoline for lawn maintenance purposes it seems so foolish, knowing that the exhaust gases are highly toxic and super noisy and the flammability hazard. Good for you man I like your set up you should franchise that idea and it would take off.
What I love the most about my battery lawn equipment is less noise and easier to push/use.
@@zippydastrange I have been driving my electric car for 12 years now and all I’ve ever done is replace the tires and brakes and the windshield wipers. Batteries are considered high grade ore and therefore are not put in the landfill. They are used to make the next generation of batteries. It is far better to transition to electric technology, then garbage gasoline engines. In my lifetime I have rebuilt all kinds of engines with carburetors and I am so sick of doing it. I won’t do it anymore. Gasoline is toxic and it absorbs into your skin and destroys your liver. Since my electric car is recharged with solar energy I don’t have to worry about a dirty energy source in some remote location. I know I’m ahead of everyone and it’s gonna be catch up for you.
Man, you should license that and franchise. So many people and lawn care companies would jump all over it. Brilliant idea my friend
You have inspired me. 3yrs from retirement, you've shown me a great way to enjoy the outdoors and make some spending cash off the grid. Thanks
Hey congrats on retiring soon, hope it's nice and quiet and with some relaxing mows powered by the sun!
You should look into charging the batteries on DC. There's a variety of ways to do that but it is pretty inefficient to convert to AC to just convert back to DC downstream.
I was thinking the same thing. The EGO batteries are nominally 56V, not too far above the nominal 48V of the EG4 5kWH battery. By using a DC-to-DC boost converter it should be possible to charge them, but the issue is battery management. I don't know if the EGO batteries have a built-in BMS (Battery Management System), but I suspect they do. If they do, then it would be easy. I tested one of my EGO batteries and it measured 57.4V without any load. Nominal NMC lithium cell voltage is 3.6V, so the packs probably contain 16 cells in series, and can be charged up to 4.2V. 4.2 x 16 = 67.2V, so a DC-to-DC converter outputting around 68V should work well. Of course doing this would almost certainly void the EGO battery warranty! Proceed at your own risk.
I came here to say the same thing. Converting DC to AC back to DC equates to a significant amount of power loss. Going DC to DC would make this system significantly more efficient.
Exactly, his calculations don't consider the efficiency losses of going dc to ac to dc
That would be ideal, but I'm sure the batteries/mower would not be happy, and any warranty would be void using unofficial chargers, and insurance would kill you if they found out you burned down 100kish of equipment to charge maybe 2% more an hour
@gregben Ego batteries are 51.8v Nominal (14s @ 3.7v) that EG4 lifepo4 is 51.2v nominal (16s @ 3.2v). The problem is the EG4 battery would need to be full to get the ego battery to charge to probably 90%. If the EG4 battery is at 70% then the Ego battery could probably only get to 60%. He could skip the eg4 battery and charge direct from solar to the ego batteries, but no sun means no charge, and his mentioned premium price for tool batteries.
One of the most difficult things to do as a YT content-creator is to nail the content and the editing. This does both very well! Your channel should start to take off.
Can’t take off if I don’t give it wings! 😉 Thanks for the kind words, it means a lot!
I was pleased to see you using ferrules on your terminal connections :) While not needed for saddle-type screw terminals, an awful lot of screw terminals -- esp. the cheaper stuff -- still depend on the end of the retaining screw mashing into the stranded leads, and ferrules are a much more robust install practise.
After working on ships for 10 years, I can’t not use them! Too many things can go wrong with electrical connections in harsh environments.
@@solarpunksteveWhat were you doing on ships?
the european mind cannot fathom not using ferrules
This is so cool, this makes me want to get into lawn care. Thanks for all the details and estimates!
This is so kind, thank you so much! Working on editing more today but of course technology is fighting me. I’ll get it sorted soon though.
Nice solar setup my fellow 321 resident. Love that you took the idea and ran a business out of it. I hope you have lots of customers that are fellow EV owners.
Loving the clean lines and minimalistic look of your trailer solar setup. I'm still on the fence about what type of setup would work for my trailer but right now I'm leaning towards an ECOFLOW Pro battery generator which will simplify my look and is also transportable for camping, home usage, etc. Because of the equipment that I'm running, I see that our power requirements are different. Awesome video!
Ecoflow would be easier if you transferring between setups. Just have solar available and plug in then your good to go.
Thanks so much! I like the idea of the "battery generators" like an ECOFLOW and I completely recognize it's an easier "plug n' play" solution but personally I'm still not sold based purely on cost. I mean EGO batteries are basically $1000 per kWh (insanity), the ecoflow is about $888 per kWh (not terrible considering it comes with inverter and outlets ready to go), but the EG4 setup I have works out to about $409 per kWh and that's including the inverter. Figure a little more for breakers, outlets, wiring etc. but still. Anyway I can't wait to see what you end up doing and hope things work well for you! Let me know if you have questions. How do you like the Toro Grandstand Revolution?
If I had to do it all over again, I would go with the EcoFlow or other all in one system. But because I started transitioning to electric before that came out, I went the hard way of combining all the components myself. At the end of the day, both ways are about the same price.
What wire management product did you use to keep your PV wire so clean and neat to the side of the trailer?
@@OffGridEssentialsbyFirebear Just some square sticky-back cable tie things from home depot that have a screw hole in the middle. The stickiness wears off so I put small screws in each one into the plywood to keep them from moving.
You're going to succeed with anything in life if you put this much effort into it. Great work!
Aww thanks!
I’ve been barking up that tree for 20 years now, you’re doing everything exactly how it has to be for efficiency. Great work and top notch presentation
Sweet setup! Good job on making every piece fit together so nicely inside the trailer. One more advantage to having the battery and the solar panels is that you can be "offgrid" even if you use all the batteries inside the tools. You don't have to start a noisy generator or deal with the customer for access to an outlet. It keeps the interaction with the clients at a minimum and you can do your job in peace, without long extension cords in the way running from some house.
Thank you! It takes a lot of time and effort but I can’t stand messy cables.
I was giving a quote to someone and after mentioning I used all electric equipment they said “I have some outlets around the back I guess you could use”. I had to chuckle a little bit, I said “nope I’m all good, sun is shining!”
Steve, I do love what you have done. I have a 10KW ground mount system that feed 100% of my power to Georgia Power. We have had this system for 15 months now. I am in a program that allows me to use my Bi-Directional meter and average the power I use over the full month; I have no batteries in this system. I have had bills of about $4 to $15 over the last 5 months. Of course, during the winter, we have higher bills of about $40.00 because of the lower angle of the sun.
We are now building a Solar-Generator for the system. We use the same controllers you have but 2 of them are for 240 Volts and have 6000 kw service. We are using the same batteries but, again 2 of them, for 10Kws of storied power. This will be used as a “Whole House UPS” and give us about 24 hours of backup power.
I see you getting some negative feedback because of the TOTAL electric approach with even a Tesla. How limited of the view. I love my 2004 Tahoe and our 3002 Honda Accord. We use about $100 in gas/month. I use Natural Gas heat, Hot Water, Stove, and Dryer. This used the most economical power for the ‘Thermal Energy’ and allows us to use the Electrical power for lights, computers, TV, and the other loads in the home. Solar is expensive but we won’t worry about being without power during power outages and the sensitive electrical loads will have very clean power.
Being 75 years old, doing upkeep on gas engines like lawnmowers, weed eaters, and blowers is getting really hard. I love your setup and you can work for your landscape company with little noise to your customers and the upkeep of the equipment is much less work and less money.
Note: I love my Tahoe and Honda, but I envy your Tesla. I just don’t drive the miles to justify it.
Wow this is next level.... way above what I imagined for a full electric lawn business setup SUBSCRIBED
I built the same setup but with the Growatt 3k-ES version inverter and 3k of panels. I use it to charge my Nissan Leaf and it covered 90%+ of my driving. If you add a second battery, don't forget to use a bus bar and a DC rated breaker and/or a T class fuse.
This is so cool. Been thinking about starting up a small lawn care business and wanted to build basically exactly this. I love my electric stuff, but I also know the cons of charging time versus just refilling a gas tank. This solves it all-as long as you have enough batteries to be able to swap.
Inspirational!
Thanks so much! It’s what I aim for!
Nice setup. I didn't want to run conduit and wires from my house to my shed, so I bought one solar panel, a 10 amp charge controller, a deep cycle battery, and a 1000 watt inverter to charge my Ego weed eater batteries, run a light, and provide power for a skill saw, or electric chainsaw. It's perfect for my once-a-week use. It was $300 and probably would have cost the same amount for wiring and conduit. I used the same setup to run my Christmas lights from sundown for 6 hours last year also. I now have two separate systems using lifepo4 batteries to run most of my house all the time now. The independence just feels great.
Hey yeah, it's amazing the solutions you can come up with when there are lots of options out there on the market for solar/batteries/inverters etc. I ran some Christmas lights from a battery and inverter in order to decorate a trailer for a parade and it looked great! No generator noise or fumes while everyone sat in the back and enjoyed themselves.
LiFePO4 batteries are where it's at! I'm excited for manufacturing to start taking place in the US in the near future as it's been strictly overseas for many decades now and with some patents/agreements ending, we should start to get it here too, which will further drive costs down and innovation up.
Nice setup.
hey andrew
Great walkthrough and all the juicy details I was hoping for! Fantastic setup!
Steve, I have either worked for or owned a yardcare business since I was only twelve years old. About three years ago i took a temp job in the winter working at the Solar fields near my home and came up with this same idea. I had two different enclosed trailers and I rigged them both with solar. I was fascinated by this idea so I purchased some Greenworks equipment after trying a few other brands. Over the last few years I have come to use Greenworks and Toro Revolution equipment both. Toro HD21 is the best electric 21” walk behind. Greenworks 30” Commercial walk behind is the other and I use Greenworks 60v ride on. All have worked very well. You have done an awesome job with these videos! I ran into problems with my inverter and sometimes chargers overheating but other than that it has been an amazing shift. I’ll have to do some videos on it. Thank you for sharing this.
Wow Steve you have great camera work for a channel your size. I see massive growth in your future. Well done and great setup.
You could also build your own battery pack using individual cells for a custom battery pack to best suite your needs. It’s cheaper but you their is a time component. If your looking to scale your business vertical integration might be a good option.
I thought about that too, and yes it would be cheaper to build them, but there's definitely a cost to my time. And I can make more out there on a jobsite than I would save by building a battery myself. Totally a great option for those on a budget, but best thing in my case is keeping things as simple as possible. I have plans in the future to build bigger and different systems so I might take the time to build the batteries myself at that point.
@@solarpunksteve id also be cautious of making your own pack due to insurance/safety purposes. I made my own DIY 48v/280ah pack for my house but in a mobile (shaking, rattling, etc) environment... warranty and UL/saftey is preferred in a business for sure - you did it the right way.
I appreciate the bar graph and other info in this video. Very well made video, informtional to us who are interested in these systems. wish you well
Thanks for coming by! Stick around for the installation process in a future video!
@@solarpunksteve I'm currently looking at David Poz channel, he is making a new video soon on diy batteries. I'll definitely stick around!
I love the EG4 products. I use them daily.
So far I’ve been very happy with the operation of my equipment. Hoping they continue to perform for many years to come!
Man, your cable management is beautiful. Well done!
I’ve had this thought randomly and pondered on whether it would be financially viable. Thanks for proving it.
Man, nice to see this! I've been wondering about the possibilities and realities of doing something similar for about a year now. Glad to see that it can work out well!
I was wondering about it too! And since I didn't see anyone else doing it, I figured why not find out for myself. It's been an interesting journey for sure, from leaving my previous job and starting a business to designing a solar panel/inverter/battery setup and now making videos on youtube. It's not without challenges for sure, and there's things I need to cover to help people understand what they might expect, and there's still many things I want to explore for myself. So it will be an ongoing adventure! Glad you like it so far and let me know if you have questions, I'm planning to address as much as I can in videos that way I have a wider reach, but always happy to try and get you answers directly too if I can.
Super smart setup Steve. Looking forward to following your continued success!
This is so rad. What’s nice about this too is the components are modular and if you want to upgrade the panels, or inverter, etc in the future you can. Good work. Sub’d.
Yeah and with having something like this, you can change to different lawn equipment too! There’s risks of course and who knows how long all this will last in this type of environment, but I’m willing to give it a shot!
FYI, I found out doing a test.... I had 4 panels that produced 120v.... Connected to the EG4 3000.... But being at or just above 120v.... It seriously limited my wattage input... I should have seen between 8-900W, but was only seeing 300w... I imagine if I had even 1 more panel, bringing my voltage up just a little, It would have produced more.... I will be testing this theory more next week. Great Video!
Very interesting. I was worried about not making enough voltage with my 6 panels if I wasn't getting full sun, but so far they seem to produce that minimum 120V even when overcast or morning/evening etc (although it's not like I'm getting a lot of wattage). However I have yet to see the full 1200W from my panels. Closest I've gotten is 1000W briefly. I've talked with Rich Solar a little bit and will probably do some testing on the panels when I get some time, but for now they are still making enough power for my needs. I'm not surprised that they might be limited though, I mean we've had extreme heat these last few weeks, and they are mounted flat on my trailer and close to the roof so the venting could be a little better.
I'm interested to hear what results you get from your testing, let me know!
Another small bonus to that solar setup is that in case of power outages or what not, you have a nice alternative to a generator for critical house systems and can keep working if reasonable.
Yt algorithm brought me here, and i'm really surprised of your ingenuity. U got a new subscriber🙌, i'm definitely staying here for a while to see where it goes. Keep up the good work dude!
The algorithm works in mysterious ways! Thanks for checking it out! Hopefully I can keep you engaged 😁
I built a 5kw powered trailer to power my metal 3d printer, crypto mining, and model Y. It was a fun project! Great job on your build. Looks super clean! Excited to see more of your content 👍
Woah! That’s awesome. Do you travel around with it or is it stationary? I saw your short clip of the metal 3D printer, would love to see the whole setup!
@@solarpunksteve Yeah It's mostly a stationary lab that I can use anywhere, but I recently used it to move half way across the country haha
Yeah thats funny I forgot about that clip. Xact Metal is the company I started. You can see some more clips of the printers on their channel. www.youtube.com/@xactmetal
I plan to build some more solar powered trailers for a startup I'm working on now. Check back in case I upload some content related to the builds!
That’s an awesome set up. I appreciate having power available for everything, not just extra batteries.
I use mine to microwave my lunch. (or induction cook when I want something pan fried.)
New subscriber here. Excellent set up. Very well thought out and what a great service for your customers. I operate a all electric mobile dog grooming service called Lavish Paws and I also tow with a Model Y. It has been a great vehicle thus far and is our only vehicle. We have solar on the house and power the trailer with Ecoflow Delta Pros. Customers really appreciate that we are self sufficient. No loud gas generator or fumes. Anyway Ill be following along in your journey good luck to you sir all the best.
This is so cool, what an amazing build! I have all electric lawn equipment and a solar shed I built. I haven't had to deal with gas and pulling a cord in years. I'm NEVER going back to the pain, hassle, and maintenance of 2 cycle gas engine.
Good stuff 👍
Thanks Dan! Working on bringing more your way!
This is an awsome video! Thanks for breaking it down in an honest and well made video.
Love my ego 360 42". Their weed eater design is top notch! No more slamming the bump head, it automatically dispenses the line and reloading takes about one minute. So much physical effort spent on those bumpheads, especially yards with a lot of weed eating needed. So you gain more productivity and reduce fatigue.
This setup is so sick!!! Well done and the cable mgmt is "chef kiss" good
Have you considered adding a solar panel awning for the side of the trailer. You could raise it while working to double the solar charging while giving you some shade. Also, adding a matching EG4 battery on the other side of the trailer would double your reserve while keeping the weight balanced in the trailer
I have considered it, but this was step one and for my use case it's working quite well so far. Next step would be to plug in at home after a day to recharge if I'm running out of battery/not enough solar as that's the most practical/cheapest solution, then of course I could add another onboard battery like you said, and lastly it would be totally sick to pull up to a yard and deploy extra solar out the sides of the trailer, but that's not something I'm focused on right now haha. As for the battery balancing out the trailer, I think at the moment I have it relatively well balanced: I park the mower slightly to one side of the trailer and then have all the batteries on the other side, so I think it mostly evens out. Next trailer I think I will consider recessing the onboard batteries in the floor near the axle to provide lower center of gravity and a balanced load. We'll see!
@@solarpunksteve could plug in the trailer at some job sites as well when needed. Not all have power and some might not have out door power outlets but some do.
So cool! Don’t forget to mention you are also helping the environment!
FAN-TASTIC! This is awesome thinking for sure and very nicely done!! No more gas and oil and you get energy from the sun all day. If you find yourself needing a boost often I could imagine adding additional panels on one side of the trailer that could be pivoted up while parked. More complicated than the fixed mount panels but just a thought if needed.
I'm not a commercial lawn care guy but have dumped all my lawn tools for EGO. Overall, excellent stuff. I am working on a setup for my home to charge it all from Solar as well, some time before that project makes KWH though.
Thanks! It's been a really fun experiment and learning experience so far! It's not the perfect solution for every problem by any means and won't be something everyone can/should do.
In regards to the deploy-able solar, I love the idea and I've been thinking about it for a long time, but realistically it's not practical or scalable, not to mention just the complexity. I think what makes the most sense in my opinion right now is if I need it, charge the trailer at home after the day, if I need more then I install another onboard battery and double my storage capacity.
@@solarpunksteveDepending on the application, someone starting out could also get a towing vehicle with bi-directional charging to use to top up the trailer battery while parked and working when sun alone isn't enough for the day. There are more and more options available now, which is great to see.
Awesome Setup !
I'm considering buying some EGO equipment for my new yard, about an acre. And installing a solar battery for going off grid.
This was pure inspiration! Thanks
Hey thanks! So far things have been working great, I would recommend it if you’re comfortable with the price. You could definitely get a fantastic gas mower for the price, but if you’re set on electric it’s a great option. I would check out the larger 52” mower, as I feel it’s a better value for the money since it actually comes with all 6 batteries and they are the 12ah ones not the 10ah. Anyway, if anything changes regarding my opinion of ego I will be sure to let you all know!
Awesome job on the installation. Very clean! Also, great job on explaining how everything works.
Thanks! It's a challenge but I like trying to make things easier to understand. It's a skill I've worked on a lot but there's always room for improvement! Let me know if there's anything you think I should cover in the future or expand upon a topic if I didn't cover it well enough.
@@solarpunksteve I think you did a great job being able to condense it down to 10 min. You did a better job than I do. I struggle to get mine shorter because I keep thinking “I gotta include this…”.
Looking forward to your next video.
This is a genius business model! Offering a standard service but with with a novel twist that you could even charge a premium for. Plus because everything is electric you drastically cut your operating costs... granted the startup cost I am sure was much higher, but I think it has the potential to pay off big in the long run. In all seriousness you could probably sell these setups as turnkey businesses or even franchise them.
Super elegant. If E-Go isn't sponsoring you, they definitely should.
Thanks! They aren't a sponsor, and I will most likely keep it that way, hard to stay unbiased when someone is behind your equipment and financial "choices".
@@solarpunksteve Most virtuous and commendable. Fact is, few would guess E-Go tools are professional grade outside your channel, but you are proving it continually..👍 For the company, gold. Hard core fossil fuelers are going to start reconsidering mixing 2 cycle oil, carburetor issues and constant repairs. recurring fuel costs if they see you. (Towing with a Tesla is a cherry on the cake!)
I hope you have some serious tracking on that trailer and those items. I linked my buddy, who has an all electric lawncare thing going already. Thanks for the video!
Nice, I had this idea 15 years ago, the tech wasnt their then, very cool! Congratulations
The main disadvantage would be the limited amount of charge-discharge cycles on the LiFePo battery, being a whole unit by itself makes you have to face a repeating cost from time to time in order to replenish its capacity. That being said, it's an awesome job!
The storage battery is LiFePo4, rated for about 3,000-5,000 full charge cycles before degrading to 80%. The trailer will fall apart before the battery does.
I’m interested to see how long the ego batteries last. They are Lithium Ion which are rated at 300-500 charge cycles.
What’s interesting in this setup is that the batteries are topped off regularly which is where Lithium Ion likes to live. So they should last even longer.
Just started out this year in the uk. Battery equipment is still rare, only hedge cutters and small blowers for most. I went full makita 36v for everything which had been successful so far. Dual charger and inverter in my tow car. Looking into a bigger trailer with a similar settup to this on board. Thanks for a well put together video just subscribed.
Hey awesome! I’ve been around a few areas in the UK, you’ve definitely got a challenge regarding space. Even towing with my car instead of a truck, it would be really difficult parking my trailer anywhere. I would imagine a van would be a great use of space? I’ve even considered it here if I could find an electric one. Congrats on being an entrepreneur trying to figure it out in your area! Let me know how it goes.
DeLand area checking in! It's great to see you doing this, Steve. It's also really cool to see the eGo mowers and tools being used in a commercial setting. I'm subbed now, so I really look forward to seeing your progress and experiences going forward. Best wishes for clear skies and good business!
You did buy more batteries, just a 5kwh eg4 one instead of ego ones :). That is a great setup!
You caught me, RUclipsr exposed! Haha thanks for checking it out and glad you like it. Hoping to build more cool setups in the near future.
So, this is really cool. One problem I have is where you positioned everything. For example, that inverter and battery is heavy, move that to over your axel. The Tesla is cool and all, but you don't want your trailer out of balance on it because it'll yank the car around. Second, instead of wiring in a cable to charge your trailer, put a generator hook up on the trailer, so you can just plug an extension cord into it. Safer and you wont wear out your lugs from screwing them on and off. Lastly, look around for some bigger panels, get some good second hand 300 watt panels, those 200s are serving you well right now, but they're gonna age out and die. 300 watt panels will keep you going for longer, not just in terms of battery charges, but in longevity of your system. Nice work!
I have an open lawn service trailer. Only place I have to collect solar is on the top of the tool box. Bummer. 100w panel. But I had no reason not to add solar. I already had a 1kwh trailer battery that I was overnight charging. As more of my equipment got replaced with electric, I just expanded as needed. And because I charge from the trailer battery instead of only at home, I was able to have the brands that I prefer to use. I still home charge a few batteries each night, but while out on the route, I use the trailer charger. And now that I have power in the trailer, I have also added a microwave and induction cooktop to my collection so I can have a hot lunch during the winter.
Most of my stuff is EGO as yours is. But I use the ECHO string trimmer and Milwaukee walk behind mower.
Very cool set up. I'm sure people appreciate the green-ness and lower noise as well.
I would like to see ego have more charging programs so you could overnight slow charge your batteries if you wanted, or you could quick charge them, and you could also choose to what voltage/ how full do you want your batteries. Lithium ion batteries get stressed when they are left full, and charging them to 80% is much more gentle on their chemistry.
Awesome setup. I think if anyone is thinking about going electric and want to make fuel on the go and charge on the go this is the way to do it. Going back to what you were saying about getting extra Ego batteries. I would still have 2 extra so your always charging and swapping full batteries between runs. I guess it would be based on your daily usage over time. Great video.
Thanks! Hopefully it's relatively clear to people that I'm not saying this is on the same level as entire crews or others that have high volume/large lots. I still have to pick and choose my clients based on property size/complexity, but I can honestly say I don't really think about battery consumption too often anymore. And being a solo operator you get to kind of manage those things naturally, like "oh I just used the mower a whole bunch on this last yard, let me break for lunch while it charges up a bit more". You're correct though that it would be a good idea to have a second set of batteries ready to go and you "hot swap" but I can get nearly three times the mowing (maybe more) with this setup than I could have if I just bought a second set of EGO batteries and given the costs I thought this was a way better option, with more flexibility, and if I got to the point where the EGO stuff wasn't my choice going forward, I could easily pivot to a different brand etc. Anyway, because I haven't needed them, I haven't bought a second set of EGO batteries for now.
@@solarpunkstevedid you claim the solar tax credit on that?
@@LawIV Unfortunately no. I talked with my CPA and they said because it's not attached to a structure (business or home) there's nothing I can claim. It's possible this isn't the case and I would love to hear if I could, but for now I'm claiming it as an asset for the business so it will be written off over time, like any other piece of equipment. Would love it if I could claim 30% though, would make this even more affordable.
This is largely an experiment to solve the electric lawn care problem which is running out of battery and not wanting to spend a whole bunch on more batteries that lock you into one manufacturer. I think it actually makes more sense to install solar at your house or business and do net-metering if your provider/state offers it. You get more bang for your buck and there's no wasted energy when the trailer is full and the solar can't output to anything.
First time viewer here although i think ive seen references to your channel before. I'm sure you get endless naysayers but at the end of the day, its basically math and people can not believe it all they want but numbers don't lie and everything you said totally checks out (my house is 100% off grid). That's a really unique and probably a mentally rewarding way to run a lawn care business. At some point when this becomes more common people will think back to you as the first one they ever saw doing it, and realize the dichotomy from how incredulous they were with it initially vs how they eventually came to accept it as totally normal. Just a matter of time.
Also, you may have already seen it but one of my favorite youtube moments EVER was when Jason Cammisa drag raced an Alfa 4C against a Tesla towing an Alfa 4c on a car trailer, back in 2016 when he worked for Motor Trend. Your little stoplight tow pig acceleration clip reminded me of that. Great moment in electric vehicle history...
Hehe I remember that top gear moment too! I’ve got some fun stuff planned for the towing video once I get to it ;)
Love this setup. Would be cool to see a build part list for the trailer.
Very cool setup 👏👏
Soon™️
A lot of views already for your two videos in less than a month. Just shows there’s a big audience for this kind of content. Your positive personality and presentation also helps in viewing. Keep it up and good luck with everything. I’m also a YLR owner and pull a similar size trailer as yours. In my experience, the range is cut to less than 50% with mostly highway trips. I’m hoping the Cybertruck will remedy the short trailer pulling range.
This is great, add solar wings to triple your solar panel area, and add more eg4 batteries.
Now we’re talking! You think if I can get my trailer to fly it will increase my towing range? Haha just kidding. But I have considered some type of foldout/deployable system, although it’s probably a better idea to go with more batteries, and install a solar array at home where it’s not so space-constrained. Still though, might do deployable just for the giggles.
Great job on the wire management inside the trailer 👍🏼 looks super clean
Definitely nice job!! Next step would be to convert mower to run off EG3 battery instead of the OEM ones. You already know all the reasons why.😎👍💪
Super cool setup man!!!
Thanks so much Will! You helped me settle on an inverter and battery, thanks for all you do!
@@solarpunksteve oh no way!! Sweet 😁😁
Incredible set up! Seriously cool!
Thanks Vin! I like building cool things and sharing that, more to come!
I’m not gonna start a landscaping company but this is very cool to see. Solar has some nutty benefits people sleep on. I’m in NYC and still generate enough to over produce while charging my car and tools (landscaping to snow blowers)… so I guess it’s all solar powered as well lol. Best part is all the incentives, the panels were actually cheaper than local electricity. Add on rebates for charging my car off peak and I essentially get paid to fuel my car!
Having a whole business run off it is just next level. I’d assume a lot less maintenance is required for a large electric mower.
I was wondering why someone was not Marketing a system like yours to the yard care profession. (I had already figured that always having a set of tool batteries 'on charge' was a way to go, capturing every possible Watt of solar.
Many communities already have bans on gas powered yard tools (Noise and fumes). You just proved that the solution for charging does not limit your choice of yard tools to a brand.
Love it Steve!! Keep it coming brother!!!
Challenge accepted!
Great video! Love the 1) innovation and 2) production quality. Subscribed!
Thanks Wrylee! Means a lot.
Had this idea years ago. Glad to see someone playing it out! 👊🏻
Thats such a clean and neat setup. I am actually in the process of finishing up something similar. 4 100AH 12v liPoFe4 batteries, 3KW inverter/charger. No actual solar panels (this is just in a station wagon) but just the convenience of charging powertool batteries and that on the go and not getting home with a bag full of dead batteries is worth it for me. (Not to mention forgetting to grab the charged ones the next morning. Been there done that it sucks!!) Just plug 1 extension lead in when i get home to charge it all back up.
I have been for a while just using one of those 2KWh solar generator type systems but often find it runs short by the end of the day. Especially if i run my microwave or air frier i keep in the car too. Got sick of paying for take out every day for lunch so just bring it with me now.
One day i will get a van and chuck couple of solar panels on the roof to go with it too.
Great job Steve.
That's badass!! What a clean set up!
Thanks Danny!
If you continue to make vids like this, you will prob make more money on youtube than mowing. Good for you man, keep the vids coming!
It’d be interesting to see how feasible it would be to add another array as sort of an awning and add to the capacity and shade you while out on a job or something.
was thinking something similar, where the panels basically stack, and fold outwards through a hand crank or small motor, granted probably only one should be out as the other would stick out into the street, so definitely would need separate motor control... but still a neat idea if the power generated needs to be higher output.
How about it telescopes forward over his tesla, more solar and shade for the car
Great video. Love the solar trailer. Watched all your videos! Really like the coffee bus! Make sure you let us know when you are going to be the space center for a launch, and I bet you will sell a lot of coffee! I guess you are 2 for two on purchases between the solar landscape trailer and the coffee bus. Great job!
Good work young man, that setup is going to look even cooler when it's being towed by a Cybertruck.
Need to mow a lot of yards to afford a Cybertruck ;) We shall see!
You can do it, I believe it!@@solarpunksteve
Sweet setup man! Making sure you have the right parallel or series config with your solar panels or batt banks that fits your goals. Blocking/bypass diodes and proper fuse setup will help avoid disasters.
awesome setup, and great that you're testing it out. it can only get better as now you know even more than you did before! I can foresee a new business venture where you outfit other lawncare services businesses with solar trailers....
would love to see the installation process. I like.
rofl blowin' past the dinosaur coal roller @8:41
;)
that's a cool setup! Kind of blows my mind that this is even possible
This is FANTASTIC, smart move.
Really well presented and very informative.
Great idea!! ✌🏻🤟🏻👊🏻
Thanks JC!
This is awesome. I'm really into the electrical part of it all being an electrician.
Nice setup my Dewalt Flexvolt 60 9 amp batteries take 2+ hours to charge when hot so need enough to cover that as brush clearing runs through a 9 amp in 20 minutes
Cool setup! I’ve thought about doing something similar for a food truck.
Yes!!! It might not be as affordable, or practical to implement as a generator is for most food trucks, but can you imagine going to a food truck event and it being quiet? Or a food truck/coffee trailer operating *inside* a building or convention center off just batteries, how cool would that be?! By the way, this is what I will be doing when the time comes on my Mobile Coffee Bus over on my other channel @DeltaVCoffee. If everything goes as planned, I'll have one sweet solar/battery/inverter setup onboard. Will make this project seem like a warmup haha.
I like the editing style of the video.
I absolutely love your hard work and diligence. Your work has inspired me tremendously. I just had a thought about the solar panels on the roof of the cargo trailer. As an avid trailer hauler and landscaper for 20 years, I've noticed that any extra drag u place on the roof of the cargo trailer reduced mpg massively. So I would advise if possible to try to add solar to a tall cargo trailer in such a way that either doesn't add significant height and or doesn't introduce sharp edges. So would flexible solar panels that are paper thin glued with small air gaps to prevent overheating be a more repeatable solution. Let me.know what u think. It would be my guess that the extra drag from the panels you displayed here would nullify any energy savings from the 5 kwh gained daily unless of course your speeds were slow and your dialy miles were minimal. Can't wait to hear your thoughts. I'm sure if you looked into it, Your predictions and analysis would be ten times more comprehensive and thorough than my speciation. Keep up the great work. I hope to see more content!!
You are correct! Aerodynamics is key when towing, much more so than weight, especially at highway speeds. Luckily my route keeps me off the highway, but I’ve got some things coming up that might require some over the road travel and I will be making some improvements to the aerodynamics to reduce the impact they make on my range. Of course I will have to make a video about it and share!
Super slick setup. Being a solar guy myself I often wonder if anyone would start using cordless for their lawn business and here you are. My only concern is that these batteries use older type cells and their life cycles aren't that great. They're fine for the normal users but you're using your for a business so those batteries and being cycles regularly. Too bad, no one have come out with lifepo4 cordless batteries yet.
Nice! It is so practical what you have together for where you live. I really should get a 2-3kw system for my NE Ohio home to offset some rising electricity costs and outages. I wonder if you had put a tilt function to your panels something that can tilt them 10-15⁰ left or right to get a bit more energy over the day possibly even drive it with a screwdriver sun tracker system so it'll adjust while you're busy in the field.
This gives me so many good feelings. It's just so cool to see this done. I'd love some more "day in the life" type videos like your first one and also more like this video. I'm sure it's a lot of work and editing to do these! Great job
Amazing video! I had the same idea that I was going to build out next spring. Very clean build.
Thanks so much! It's one of those things that I didn't see anyone doing (at the time) so I needed to find out for myself. Happy to be able to finally share some of my experience and hopefully others can learn what works/doesn't work from my adventures and apply those to what they would like to do for their setup. I'm working on more videos as fast as I have time for, but let me know if there's anything in particular you would like to see in the future or questions you want answered. Good luck if you embark on your build!
This is amazing, can't wait to see more content.