My $10/Month Electric Bill with DIY Solar
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- Опубликовано: 30 май 2024
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I got my electric bill down from $150/month to about $10/month by installing my own DIY Battery Solar system. Yes, it costs a lot up front but you're looking at an ROI of 8-10 years instead of a typical 20 years for a roof mounted solar system that is stalled for you.
The system is completely off grid so you do not have to mess with any compliance with the city but you still should follow any kind of precautions and safety standards such as proper wiring sizes, fuses, etc.
#diysolar #lowerelectriccosts #solarbatterysystem
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Хобби
Even if you never recover the investment cost, knowing you don't rely on the electric company is priceless. Never a brownout.
I am over myself daily that the computer and monitor I am responding to you on is all solar powered. It's just amazing.
Until the equipment fails..
@@D2O2and that's why I have a back up solar charge controller, and an extra combiner box.
@@BeatTheBush Same here, i'm 90% solar, there is no better feeling. Greetings from Jamaica.
@@BeatTheBush do u think u will be .more, less, same with how frugal your if u have kids . This seems like it could cause a lot of stress .
Glad u are saving money tho.
You forgot one ROI item. Peace of mind which is priceless. No worries about brown outs etc.. Great build!!
solar is pretty easy, don't need a profesionnal for this
What’s a brownout?
my ass at taco bell.
@@money1star When the electric company turns your lights off to cut back voltage on the grid.
except for battery fires
This man is the pioneer in America, many Americans will start installing solar like you soon
Nice setup. We have Tesla solar and batteries in NorCal and love it. We have no net power bill for the year since we also sell power back during the Alerts. The best things are knowing that even if the grid goes down you have power and not really caring about PG&E rate changes. We had someone in the area crash their car into the main power pole line and take out power to over 500 homes for 2 days. We never even noticed the power was gone.
We are happy with the results, but sort of wish we would have DYI-ed like you.
DIY is fun! You learn a lot and you can expand the system at the component level. I can easily double the capacity of the batteries, or add another inverter for 240V or go from 5kW to 10kW capable.
What did it COST YOU??? A Huge factor you didn't seem to include???? The cyber trucks quality SHOWS....
This is so cool. For me, it's not really about paying a lower electricity rate and the ROI but the ability to have a redundant power system.
This is a really cool setup. I'd love to see more videos on this.
Same... 3.6 kW off grid system we originally built to charge our Ford lightning, but we added a mini-Split to the garage, and opening the door to the house, has cut 20kW of usage per day off the house electric. Didn't think the garage was that well insulated, and didn't think we'd get 20kW of benefit from only 10-15kW of usage from the garage mini-Split. That system is now likely to pay for itself in 3-4 years. All the whole, adding a cooled workout and workshop with 400sq/ft. We've found that we don't need more than 10kW in batteries, as we're using all the juice, and the 10kW is enough to get through the night.
I'm adding this in my pile of DIY solar playlist. I love your idea with basically using the solar panels as a roof for a shed/sunshade. I can see myself using that as an outdoor workshop. Definitely needs some reinforcements.
Just the fact that you are not dependent on the electric company to run your world, has to be a relief!! Hats off to you!! I like that you have separate systems running different areas. I think that is the best way to go.
Good vid . Appreciate you showing the simpler side and benefits of solar.
Nice set up, thanks for sharing.
Awesome set up. Attached appliances to solar to lower power bill.
Awesome and simple DIY setup. Thanks for sharing as this is achievable in steps.
Mad Scientist, Adults Only Zone, Ha Ha, you need some Lightning Bolt High Voltage Signage
You are correct. Some yellow and black warning tape and danger signs.
Can we get a step by step tutorial on how you figured out/did this!?
I’m amazed at how little electricity you use
Great video and would enjoy hearing more about your system. Love your strategy of doing solar, identifying devices to use on battery power with PG&E as a backup. It must make you feel really good every month you receive your PG&E bill 😊 I have PG&E too and this month (May/2024) tier 1 price is 43 cents per kW and tier 2 is 53 cents. Every time the rates go up your pay back period gets shorter. Secure your panels, medium to high winds will lift them right off. Wonderful job.
You can put one diagonal piece going horizontally at the top of your support structure between opposite corners and that will make the structure much stronger. You can also use small corner braces at each corner that perform a similar job.
Well done mate! Very simple and effective. Definition of good engineering.
Very nice, enjoyed learning about your set up.
I’m in the same boat. NorCal energy cost is insane. Literally just got my two Vatrer server rack units in today. I’ve got 20kwh of chins. I say it’s all worth it even if you break even. Its educational, fun, and adds the freedom to use you power when and however you want. I’ve got neighbors with 9kw Tesla systems on their roof who I had to feed a cord over the fence to when we had a power outage for a day. Again for me it’s not just the dollar to dollar I really have fun doing all this. Please make a video about series parallel solar panel connection. I need to get more out of my victron mppts.
The one connect to this system is 8 panels in series. No parallel for now unless I can add 8 more.
In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan our electrical supplier is a co-op - Cloverland Electrical Cooperative, their minimum charge is $26 ~ $27 per month with me using zero electricity. I use to leave the refrigerator plugged in but I don't do that anymore out of spite for their recent rate increases.
"This is PG&E, we found your lack of electricity usage very suspicious and subversive. We have no choice but to sue you because we need YOUR money to pay for every town we burn down. Kind Regards, PG&E ".
They charge somewhere around $20 as a minimum fee.
@@BeatTheBush It's supposed to go up to $34 / month. They were trying to get a $120 / month service charge under their income based scheme. So far......the CPUC hasn't approved it.
I like how you sized and built your system to fit your situation. Nice job
I need more solar... to charge the car. =D
We had a giant winter storm in Texas back in 2020-2021. A lot of people didn’t have power for about 5 days.
Last month we also had a bunch of rain storms and many people didn’t have power for 4 days.
This system would give me peace of mind knowing that even if an apocalypse happened, I would still have electricity.
Combine this with the Tesla starlink satellite internet and you are golden. You can pause the starlink indefinitely and only pay whenever you need it.
Thanks for the great video.
Sizing it properly, you can run 'almost' indefinitely unless you get 3-4 days of rainy days in a row.
Good system lol
I wish I was as good as BTB to do this myself. I generally don't mess with electrical systems lol
Everybody can do this. Start small. Build yourself a small system and once you get comfortable, your system will become more and more advance. We all started small and then worked ourselves up. I started with just trying to power my backup fridge. Now, I have 2 separate systems that almost as big as his.
Nice video ! Thanks !
You can link the two pergolas together and make both steardier I believe.
Very cool, love the updates
This was so interesting. Would love more solar videos!
Nice job man, don't forget, if the power does go out you never know who's going to notice your power and come over.
Lol... seal the windows to keep light form going out?
Dude, can you believe it takes a whole ten years for these solar panel things to pay off? That's like a lifetime in tech! With all the cool stuff happening in renewable energy, you'd expect them to start kicking in sooner, right? Feels like we're missing some trick here. Maybe there's some newfangled tech or smarter ways to set these babies up that we're totally overlooking. It's just mind-boggling, considering how far we've come in making solar power cheaper and better. We're living in the future, man, so why's it still taking so long for solar to show us the money?
You can get the ROI to be around 3 years if you do a battery less system. I have already done so in a 400W panel system with a 500W grid tie inverter. Meaning, I have made my money back and it is still operating 2+ years on top of ROI and going.
My DIY 2000 watt solar panels with 10kwh batteries generate enough to power all of my 120v circuits.
I avoid using any high consumption energy appliances.
My electric bill every month averages 5 to 6 dollars.
That doesn't include the service fees and taxes.
Great job on solar power system
I live off grid your info is great keep it up.
On day... it will be completely off grid. =D
Great video! When sodium ion arrives everything will change. Hard to know what the payback time will be but probably shorter since the utility rate will likely go up.
Zip tie your panel cabeling up so it doesn't rub on anything, go with a midnight solar SPD, where is your ground from inverter to house ground? You will need this for not only safety but also for the SPD to function
omg ive been waiting for this video for a long time btb lol. i can tell you didnt want to release it until it was perfect and you were offsetting basically all of your electricity.
I still supplement some of it with other systems. The goal is to get rid of all those extension cables and have it all in the garage. However, it's hot in there so it requires insulation. The wiring is also a bit difficult to get the solar cables in there. Stay tuned for the next update.
@@BeatTheBush ah sweet! thanks for uploading.
The one thing that I would like to see is what your actualy monthly e-bill is, vs the calculated amount, since, as we all know, there are additional fees (such as distribution fees, etc.) that come with being connected to the grid.
This will likely also depend on where you live but could be a decision factor.
The actual is around $20 last month. When I calculate kWh rates, I includes all the distribution fees and such. Example: Final bill is divided by kWh used to arrive at around $0.43/kWh.
One of the biggest step that could be taken to reduce electrity use is to eliminate base charges and force everything into the per KWH charge. It would change the repayment calculations for solar and for many efficency changes. And yes, the math could be worked out to make it work.
Nice setup. Electricity price will go up more, just like gas price. It is always safe to have a backup plan.
I could see it double in 5-10 years. Yikes. 80 cents a kWh?
If you're in California you better secure that battery bank because that'll tip over in an earthquake.
Lol out of staters think we have quakes here all the time and we get tossed around. We don't. At least nothing crazy. Can't feel 99.99% of them.
Really cool setup. Make sure to at least diagonally brace your solar panel structure.
Hi: a few days ago, I found your channel . I started my solar adventure in 2017 with 2 marine batteries, when the batteries died, I purchased a grid tie inverter. after watching your videos, i decided to start again, and ordered a couple of golden mate 2560wh batteries. I got an extra 15% discount through your channel. I am doing this stuff a little different with info from your channel and other youtubers. keep the great job. Thank you
You could just wire in a transfer panel to you main panel and plug that system in. Look up the goal zero panel transfer switch as it has the 110v plug in it .
Yes. Something like that is the goal however, the whole thing needs to be moved.
Id put the batteries in a metal box with wheels that can be pushed out of the house in case of fire. Id also add a fire alarm to the area.
Ok ma le lifepo4 non esplosion is vero good battery no problem von fuse 150amper
Looks good. Keep up the good work. Regarding your structure under the solar panels, you will need to put some cross bracing in to secure the structure against earthquake. Eventually you will get one up where you are. Make sure you brace in all directions. Also, I think that you will amortize your investment faster then you think. PG&E will be constantly raising your electricity rates in the coming years and you will save back your investment faster then you think.
Nice set up
"'...if you don’t open your refrigerator"' Those people are rare. I’m one of them. I will avoid opening the fridge to save energy. It’s a sickness lol. Great system you have. My solar array's a work in progress
Lol... I actually do not avoid opening the fridge. I was checking the power consumption from 2-6am time frame and seeing the usage. BUT, if you use a lot of ice, it could run for the next 12-24 hours.
@@BeatTheBush I’d add fridge/freezer thermometers helped reduce energy consumption also
You could backfeed into main panel with CT's and set export to zero. This would get your entire house on solar/batteries with no net metering or export. If power ever went out you can then manually change over to be off grid.
definitely want to do this, im in so california desert areas.. sun is 99% of the time. Would love to see how you do the sub panel -- need to figure out how all this actually works
I love the work you're doing and your channel in general! PLEASE make a video on the subpanel. My goal is to get my outlets powered from a system like yours but stay on the grid running at minimum just like you. I don't want to run extension cords.
That might take a little more time to get to. =D
@@BeatTheBush That's fair. I'll be watching your other videos and learning more in the meantime. :)
Interesting stuff. Isn't it safer to use a breaker box instead of mounting it to the wall, I guess this is only temporary before moving it to the garage? Wouldn't it be easier to connect it to the main circuits and sockets already in the house than use long extension cables?
thanks for this... I do dream of seting up some solar panels my self one day. I just have no idea how the connections work. I;m sure YT has videos on that.
Will Prowse has everything you need to learn to do it yourself. Find him here on the tube
If you move to the garage, make sure the garage is air conditioned and doesn't get super hot or you'll lower battery lifespan
I would love to try this
do more detail videos on the entire setup
Triangles dude! That solar panel structure is screaming for some triangle bracing to stiffen it up.
I'm on it! Lol.
Very cool solar and battery storage system! Thanks for the update on this. I was wondering if you are taking the 30% federal tax credit for solar when you are taking into account the costs? My rental home has a 12kW solar array that will break even for my after claiming the tax credit and taking the depreciation deduction every year. My break even to recoup my costs is also about 7.78 years
Good point on the federal tax credit, I have not taken a tax credit on it yet.
One more thing. Those batteries weigh almost 50 pounds each. You will need a stronger rack to support that much weight and be able to survive an earthquake, (a serious concern in Northern California). You will need to safely secure your batteries against earthquake to prevent damage and potential fire hazard if your storage rack fails during an earthquake. It is best to overbuild then to be on the flimsy side. Try to find a structural engineer to give you some advice on a suitable rack system for your batteries. If those lithium batteries ever short out and catch fire they will burn the house down.
I said same thing when you said "FREE MONEY". Guess your fridge will keep going if we all die tomorrow, lol.
Funny you say that. The system ran without any intervention for 6+ weeks.
You are awesome as usual!!
Very clever for diy 😊
Dude I just found ur channel after my husband called from Costco saying they either no longer sell Charmin & should he get the Kirkland brand. Very informative. Im sticking with the Charmin even if it’s 276% more. Thank you for saving my 🍑literally
Lol... you found the toilet paper comparison video. This video... is about... Solar Battery Backup haha.
Free power after 8 years? Oh that wooden solar array looks scary dude!!
Ha ha... I'll reinforce it soon.
@@BeatTheBush Definitely needs cross bracing for shear strength so they don't move side to side in the wind. The braces you used really are not for that purpose either and are not adequate.
@@BeatTheBush I like your video contents and presentation. Nice!!
Mine is $9.65 a month, the being connected to the grid charge basically.
Very nice setup overall, but I wonder why you didn’t do a 48v battery setup using the Vatrers which would have made the rack much neater.
I try to do things in different ways to learn from it all from experience. If you have these 12V batteries laying around to repurpose, it is possible.
On my Wish list 👍
Looks fun, nice job. How much did you pay for the panels on the roof??
There are no panels on the roof.
Hello. Nice video. Definitely reinforce the structure for solar panels. As you said- 10 year ROI for you. But after (probably sooner) 10 years you will need to replace batteries and after about 5-7 years your inverter will break so that is the biggest problem with solar systems. Batteries and inverter will break earlier than you will get your money back. So after 10 years you will need to upgrade system components. I am not against solar systems because it is great idea- but it depends on everybody personal situation.
So you’re pulling extension cables everywhere? What about the builtin lights in each of the rooms? 😂
Only the large energy items are using extension cords for now. The lights are powered by mains still. Plans are to move the setup and power everything from the panel. Hence, placing it in this room was a mistake.
i recently found a 54quart 12v dc fridge on walmart for 99bucks shipped. I got it for camping or maybe road trips but i decided to use it as a drink fridge for awhile since our main fridge is always full. I attempted to eco mod it by adding aluminum foil tape to the outside and on the adjacent side of the compressor to lower its thermal emissivity, and also added some black gorilla tape to the hot side. somehow even with opening it a couple times per day, it only uses 0.2kwh/day plugged in. I figure that if it avoids me opening the main fridge once or twice a day for a drink/water bottle, it will actually save us money. might be worth looking for a sponsored one like the metal iceco. currently building a 12v lifepo4 battery pack which will use a pwm solar charge controller to charge from a GaN 65w usb-c charger. i figure i might be able to get the efficiency a bit higher using a GaN powersupply which is kind of crazy to think about running a medium sized fridge from USB-c lol
Looks great. But if there was a fire, I doubt the insurance would cover that if it was caused by your system
The base 'delivery' fee gets me. It's $50 here no matter the usage, and well, it keeps climbing.
What about your air conditioning and heating?
Very nice setup but I am wondering if it would have been wiser to first address the inefficiencies of converting from DC to AC with appliances like PC's that again convert the higher voltages back down to 12v DC. Replacing transformers in pc's with automotive DC-DC Car PC Power Supply. Buying a 12 volt fridge etc. You may have saved up to 50% in inefficiencies. Requiring a far smaller and simpler system with a quicker pay back time.
You said the ROI is about 10 years for your setup. Do you think the batteries will last that long? Amazing setup and information btw, thank you!
You never know. Batteries are rated for a certain number of cycles but in practice, it depends on how it is used and how perfect the batteries are manufactured. The 10 year mark means you lost 20% capacity, it generally would still work but with less capacity.
@@BeatTheBush ROI should be less if you include PG&E price increases over those years. My guess is around 6-8 years. Nice work!
I got the same Eco-worthy inverter but with 5000 watts of solar panels, and only 2500 wh of batteries. Most of the house is hooked up (and I'm mining DOGE) so PVC generated daily power is 15.5 kWh.
do you have a youtube? I want to know more
@@mattschwope no RUclips yet, but might do one once I get my second inverter (10000 watts 240v) running
@@mikeyantis2382 I would be excited to see a diy solar channel cover a build out that works in Texas/Florida. Pool pumps, A/C, 4+ family members, etc... Bonus points if its on a standard 1/4acre or 1/3acre land plot.
What you may not factor in here is the fact that this ~$0.40 per kwh price is not going to stay the same over the next 10 years. It may double, triple or worse. So your payback may actually only be a few years.
It's actually up from $0.25 some 10 years ago to $0.35 now $0.43.
If you guys have not heard, pge will have increased flat fee and lower per kwh rate. Check out google on new proposed bill, they will outsmart your saving.
You live in CA, try doing that in Texas when the AC is on 20 hours per day..... I'd be interested to see how that would change the cost
I would try to balance out the solar size to the exact AC usage plus some more for when the sun is down. You can even use the hybrid inverter I have on 'batteryless' mode and it can further reduce cost.
Could you explain more about how the solar hybrid inverter system interacts with the grid and how it ensures continuous power supply during periods of low solar generation? Different question: have you heard of Asset Avenue? I love it because they are in Real Estate.
use cheap grid tie inverters (about $100) with cheap solar panels ($300 for 600 watt) will generate about 400 watt / hour have 5 of these setups around your property and that is 2kwh / hour about 12 kwh per day. at $0.40 per kwh from grid your making thats about $4.80 per day which makes roi less then 3 months. my rate is $0.13 per kwh so its taken about a year for roi.
Great video. Awesome
Great video.
We are so eerie familiar in term of similar FIRE concept and the love for solar. I'm guessing your central air doesn't kick in to achieve those results ? I have 2 separate 24v homemade systems. One with 7500wh and one with 8500wh. The 8500wh power 2 fridges 24/7 and both uses roughly 5-6kwh per day. The other 7500wh used to power various appliances but since we just got a Tesla, I just pump all the energy I get into the Tesla.. I live in Fla so it's hard to avoid the AC kicking in. I have 3600w of various solar and on a good sunny day, I'll get 17kwh. Here in Fla, even if I only leave the AC at 80, I'll still run up ~30kwh. Yeah this is even with my 2 fridges running off solar. When the times come for us to move out of the residential neighborhood, I will move myself up to 48v and built myself a grand system.
I live in Florida. I'm running a MPPSolar LV6548. It can output 6500w but I normally run 25% of that. Since we have a $25. minimum bill it makes no sense to parallel 2 units to make 220v. So I bought 3 different sized dual inverter window AC units. A 14,000 btu cools the main part of the house. In the master I have a 9000btu unit. And in my sons room I put an 8000btu unit.
Signature Solar has 2 hybrid mini split AC units. The one I'm looking at is 24,000btu for $1899. What is unique about them is they have a built in MPPT unit that will run right from solar panels. All you do is plug in a small array and it starts cooling. It does connect to the 220v service to run at night and cloudy days. There is a different manufacturer that will run off of 48v but it's $1000. higher. And I would need more batteries instead of running a 50' cable to my current battery bank.
I think this system is good if youre off grid. If you live in the city theres power lines so you aint gotta do all this stuff, and electricity is pretty cheap already. my cost of electricity just for myself is only $50/month.
Awesome setup.
I'm kind of curious if you know how much your batteries "offgas" when charging? OR are these the types of batteries that do that?
They are LiFePO4 batteries and they would not normally offgas unless something is very wrong.
I'm wondering about starting small and using one 48v 100ah battery with a grid tie micro inverter on a timer so it only feeds the house during peak times. Then charge the battery from the grid with a timer so it only charges during off peak (lesser charge) times. No PV to start. Pros and cons?
Charge and discharge will have about a 30% loss so factor that in when calculating ROI.
thanks great job congratulations you very rich now terrific
Can you make a video showing us how to DYI our own solar?
At what granularity? How to install the panels? How to connect them? Size them? I've covered this topic in various ways in the past.
that's a crazy expensive rate
Cool vid. What's the Aqua-net for?
3D printing.
How many years do you expect the batteries to last before needing to be replaced?
I wish for 20 years but I am prepared for it to fail at any time. It's an experiment.
the monitoring apps you have on your phone, is that specific to your inverter you are using?
SmartESS is not branded EcoWorthy so it appears it can connect to other inverters that uses the same wifi module.
How do charge your car? Do u get by with just the 30 miles of charge ever other week?
No, the 30 miles just supplements my usage.
Return on investment, looks more like a hobby, and every hobby cost money. I only mentioned this because ROI although important, is not always a driving factor in hobbies.
What is the DC input voltage to the inverter? 12v? 24v? 48v?
This inverter is a 48V system.
Im new to solar and would love to know your thoughts on a solar system designed to run my homes a.c. unit only. No batteries and a.c. unit still connected to grid.
You need an inverter than can handle the inductive load or have some kind of soft start on the AC unit.
How long will the system last?
Where did you buy the battery shelf? I need one to hold 4 batteries but could not find one can handle the weight
This shelf requires more insulation and securing in case of an earthquake. The terminals needs to be insulated from the rack in case it tips over and also the batteries needs to be secured so they wont fall out.
Battery Rack for 8 batteries: amzn.to/3uswH1p
The 1 thing you didn't discuss is one of the most Important issues, And that is the Efficient % of the Solar Panels.
Is it? Just get current gen solar panels and you're good. 22-23%.
@@BeatTheBush Not Everyone's Situation is the Same,Soo Yes it is!!.