Walk Through Of Our 600 Watt Off-GRID Solar Power System. Running For TWO (2) YEARS ZERO ISSUES!
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- This is our 600 Watt Off Grid solar power system it produces over 2kW daily. It has been running for almost 2 years nonstop!
Make sure you use the proper size wire and fuses if you don't know what you are doing call a professional!
Amazon Link:
Solar Power System
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LiFePO4 Batteries:
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amzn.to/3LtFIx0
Class T Fuse and Holder:
amzn.to/446qdCr
Pure sinewave inverter:
amzn.to/40ERUzf
#solarenergy
#freeenergy
#offgrid
#homestead
#homesolar
#diysolar
#backuppower
#lifepo4battery
#lithium
#emergencypower
@RenogySolar
Enjoyed the tour of your setup.
Thank You!
Excellent small but powerful setup at a great budget . Keep up with the very best in solar . May the solar be with you .😊😉
Thank you!
Great job, you created a system that meets your needs for Food/Tools/Cell Phones...etc.
Thank you yes it's small but does perform very well
Looks Great 👍👍
Thanks
Just add eight more panels, eight more batteries, and a wind generator, and you have my system. The wind turbine is making a little over 1 kwH per day, and the solar panels made 3.06 kwH today. Showing 25.5 v at 8 p.m.
Nice! We are going to add a couple hundred more watts soon
What brand of wind generator please? Do you like the performance?
The ground mount looks great
Thank you!
Looks good guys! In general unless you live in an HOA or you hooking in to the grid you can install a ground mount off grid system just about anywhere. I would probably put those piers at 3-4 feet and you may want some hurricane ties from the corners in high wind locations.
Renogy is good equipment and I have two 400 watt off grid systems that powers everything for my cabin for full time living 20+ years now. As long as the LIFEPO4 are same amp hour and have same output amps and close in age you can link them. Usually in pairs is best.
If you don't want to deal with individual components you can get a power station with at least 200Ah of capacity and eliminate all the wires and extra parts.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks! Yes we always stay away fro HOA areas they make no sense LOL cause the neighborhoods are always crap…..agreed we definitely need to go deeper on mounting as we seen very slight movement.
We will be reviewing a off the shelf power station and a DIY one we built
My Bluetti went bad, so do not rely entirely on a power station, have a backup battery somewhere. Yes, HOAs are bad news.
@@gsp49 we got the all powers r600 and it seems to be very well built we got a vid on it
Texas Property Code Section 202.010 forbids HOAs and property owners associations from prohibiting outright a property owner from installing a solar energy device as defined by Texas Tax Code Section 171.107. …. At least in Texas the Hoa can’t say anything !!! Funny part I’m the deed restrictions president and I’m about to put up 2 solar trackers 2400watt worth of panels 😊
@@dieseldawg7132 Thank God we live far from HOAs LOL
Nice review and video on the setup! Great job bud! I love how clean this looks. Clean means safe and organized :) the unstrut was done nicely!
Thank you! yes with the family in the house we wanted to be safe as possible and not lose sleep at night. Yes the Unistrut allows full angle adjustments
Very nice. We have been running a 12v 400w solar set up with 2 100ah power queen batteries (was 4 115ah AGM batteries) for almost a year now running our bedroom. Seeing someone else with a set up like mine that uses it every day helps me understand more of what we can do. We just run a digital alarm clock 24/7, charging phones, tablets, watches, 32in TV with a sound bar. 2 sets of 16 ft led strips. We have run our heating blanket. We are looking to max out our 2 30a mppt charge controllers and add 2 more batteries. It's nice to see I'm on the right track for our usage. I'm looking at the 3000w Renogy inverter and a transfer switch as well. Not a for sure thing yet. Still pouring over options and crunching numbers. Lol
Nice! Yea numbers crunching is a must lol….the 3000w inverter does very well I have never heard the fans run under normal conditions never gets hot or anything just a mild electrical buzz when loaded more than 50% or so
Love the channel btw. Good information on here. Watched a lot of your videos and Will Prowse before I started building this project. I had the 100w harbor freight solar kit and a 100ah AGM battery with the harbor freight 750w Inverter. That was used for testing and camping. Worked well enough to get me to build what we have now. And this one here has me thinking about doubling our system now. I might go with the 3000w renogy inverter charger. Reviews for that are mixed. Figure by now they have it all worked out. Lol
@@acuratltypes6694 🙏 thanks we appreciate you! Any questions just comment whenever and we will get back to you stay safe
Thank you. Very much appreciated. Keep up with the videos.
@@acuratltypes6694 yw!
Nice and easy to understand
Thank you!
Enjoyed the video, watched at least twice. I have a 6 100 panel system, not up and running yet. My charge controller only accepts up to 50v, so I am thinking of running 3P2S, if I’m right I should be getting 48v at 10A with voltage drop. I had all 6 parallel with 12AWG and was only getting 4A at 24v.
Nice job. Way more precautions than me, but I'm a half-asser. I have 2, 2000 watt systems with a total of 2800 Watts in panels charging 11 kilowatt-hours of batteries. My panels are not grounded, and my cable is not buried. I have breakers, fuses, and gigantic cable on my 12-volt homemade system, and my other system is a bluetti ac200 Max. Anyway, your setup looks great, and properly done. I appreciate the video.
Thank you!
Kilowatts is the rate at which the energy is being made or consumed and Kilowatt-hours is the cumulative total produced or consumed during a given period of time.
Yes we are aware we misspoke a few words lol
Amazing what tech can do, I have 3 420w panels and produce twice at yours with same inverter and cheaper!
nice job well done
Thank you!
Since your charger controller is a 40 amp model the maximum input wattage with a 12 volt battery is 520 watts. If the battery is 24 volts the maximum input watts is: 1040 watts.
The maximum input current is dependent on the solar panels and how they are connected with the maximum charge controller rating being 40 amps.
The panels when connected in series can have a voltage up to a maximum of 100 volts DC.
100 watt panels have an output current of about 5 amps each.
100 watts / 5 amps = 20 volts
The maximum series connection is 5 panels. Which provides the 100 volts at 5 amps.
While it appears that you can have more solar panels connected the charge controller document says the maximum watts on a 12 volt system is only 520 watts.
Placing the additional panel puts some strain on the system of the battery is only 12 volts.
For higher watt values it is better to use at least a 24 volt battery system.
The wire thickness will be thinner on a 24 volt battery system also since the current is less.
On the charge controller the wire size coming out of the charge controller should be sized to the rated current of the charge controller or 40 amps for this model. The chart says the wire needs to be at least #6 wire but if there is room for #4 wire in the connector that would be better.
That's a nice setup. I recommend the Rover 60. I'm running 3 200 w Renogy panels with wheels so I can chase but they do very well just at solar South. I'm not fused as well as you. So far so good with 2 100 ah life4 batteries thinking about a 3 rd.
Thanks! yea we should have got the 60A to begin with as 40A is right at the point of being slow when you increase your battery bank size. We have 400aH now.......we fused them for peace of mind as the system is in the house and on 24/7.
Definitely more batteries the better LOL.
Thanks for watching and good luck on your build!
@@DIYKAI oh also I used 8 gauge pv cables. During peak hours I've seen the controller at 540 watts at 37 amps
That’s AMAZING that’s what we get with 600 series parallel LOL good job!!
That fire extinguisher is not going to kill a lithium battery fire.
Definitely not lol….but it will be enough to run
@@DIYKAIand Lifepo4 is super safe, least likely to cause a problem.
@@gsp49 it’s well fused and all and the BMSs have been decent so far almost 2 years and zero problems
@@DIYKAI Agree, almost overkill with your system. Better to have too much than not enough, holds true also for money, food, ammo, and sex. LOL
@@gsp49 for sure LOL 🍻
your steel frame and mounts are a ground also
Yes but they are separated by concrete and the cardboard liner so running the ground wire is always best
When you see some guys working on a mobile phone tower for more than a couple of days, ask if they are swapping the power system or the batteries or both, they will be swapped well before end of life so 70% of cost could get for a bit over scrap price if lucky
Our battery’s are going strong 2 years now
The grounding rod could be a couple feet deeper, but a great video nonetheless!
Definitely could be 3FT plus is ideal….Thanks!
grounding rods should be 6 feet deep.
@timothygodfrey4950 we agree but it what we had at the time and has worked so far
If that fire extinguisher is there for the solar equipment, you should move it elsewhere. You don't want to have to get right next to, or even reach into the fire to get the extinguisher.
It's just there we have since moved it
👍👍
have you tried 4S configuration, I have same system as you and I cannot decide on 4S or 3S1P config. The Renogy 40 amp controller can go up to 100V, at 4S I'm bringing in 86V which is under the 100max. 3S1P I bring in 62V I think, if I remember correctly. Battery charges faster at higher voltage and more efficient, but charges longer when running panels in Parallel. (charges earlier and later in the day). Have you tried different panel configurations? I'm using mine for an off grid shed.
I haven’t tried getting around 36+A from about 10AM to about 4 we have a lot of trees so didn’t want the system to suffer from shading at different times
How do you store it??? Cost per kwhour?????
What is production at night?
What if cloudy?
Be honest!!!
Hail????
No tracking system?
What is latitude?
Energy is stored in LiFePO4 batteries
No production at night
Cloudy it still produces but at a reduced rate
Has stood up to hail, snow, and hurricane winds 50 mph
No tracking system ground mount manual adjustment
South
You have built a nice solar system. I’m glad it’s been working well for you. Do you watch TV? I’m using about 150 AH each night to run two TVs off a 2200 watt 12 volt inverter.
Thank you! Not off this system this serves primary as a garage power source for the deep freezer & mini refrigerator. While keeping the cordless batteries and phones charged we only burn about 70aH a night or so
Good Day i notice your fire extinguisher it should not be so close just saying
hello, can we ask why is that?
@@DIYKAIbecause we're triggereddddddddddd. Ahhhhhhhhh!!! I need to speak to your MANAGER !
😂😂😂
@@ricardofranco4114 😂😂😂🤷♂️ what they going to do fire me
Im in the process of installing a system similar to yours, with six 100w panels. Did you go two sets of three parallel to series?Im trying to keep voltage below 40, so I can branch off to charge my solar generator once in awhile as well. It sounds like the power company my have an issue if connected to breaker box.I was looking at an inverter with built-in transfer switch,may have to reconsider.
We did series parallel 2 strings of 3 panels….with our setup we are over 40VDC so it would depend on your panels it sits around 50 or so I believe (can check in the morning if you need to know exactly)
Yes absolutely the power company will have a fit and it is illegal without a interconnection agreement (meaning they will come and install a new meter and inspect the work before restoring service)
We ended up using a inverter that has a single phase output and we made a complete separate fuse panel….power company has no issues as long as you don’t tie into the main service panel (unless you have all the proper permits and crap) basically so you don’t back feed into the mains if there was an outage and linemen are working it could kill them
very nice system and well executed. I'm wondering why you are only getting 2 kw/day. It seems to me on a good day 600 w system should produce about double that. At a minimum I would expect closer to 3 kw. My guess is shading problems? Anyway, just wondering. I really like your array mount.
Thank you! Yes we have some shading issues with a very large old tree don’t want to cut it lol but this serves as a small backup for right now.
I'm getting over 1kw day with only 200w panels everyday
@Jr_Lewis depends on location and battery bank size as well
@@DIYKAI that true I live in Caribbean mostly sunny
@@Jr_Lewis ah nice man weather is good there I bet and not tall trees or buildings blocking lol...we have all 4 season here it was just around -10C (14F) the other day here
Would you say you prefer the renogy panels or harbor freight? Im still deciding between the two
Either are fine if your looking for portability then HF is the way to go. If your mounting them you can’t beat Renogy…..just be aware HF uses SAE connections while most everyone else uses MC4 connections
harbour frt panels are 45 watts, renogy are 100 watts each
When you say two different lithium batteries, do you mean batteries with different chemistries or different brands?
Same chemistry different brands…..lithium batteries have a BMS and sometimes don’t like to play well together but it seems these two brand may be the same under the shell….
I know prices have changed since you installed this system, but what kind of investment?
It’s difficult to say……with some discounts at least 3k batteries are the most expensive of you want the best
@@DIYKAI Couldn't agree more. We use about 6kwh per day. How many watts would I need?
@@hamhocksandflipflopsfarms so right now we see around 2.2kW a day right now and 3+ mid summer if the batteries call for it (low charge)...
what is the most amps you will pull at the height of your day?
@DIYKAI I'm not sure exactly. We're building a very energy efficient 800 sqft house. We want to be totally off grid. I'd say a 110 ac start would be the highest to start.
@@hamhocksandflipflopsfarms ok so we always say more is better lol for the not so sunny days.....you could start with a 1.2kW system build it yourself.
If you are only running 110/120 single phase you can stay 12VDC nominal.
1.2kW worth of panels
at least a 60A MPPT charge controller
minimum 600aH LiFePO4 (3x200aH)
what size fuse connectors are you using for your series/parallel hybrid and how many? I'm also building the same setup as yours.
Are you asking amp rating on fuses?
@@DIYKAIyes, and how many are you using in your setup? because i also have 6 renogy solar panels that ill be connecting them in 3 series and 2 parallel. great video btw!
@@Owenimus ok so off the main positive from the panels inline 30A Renogy makes them. Mc4 style
@@Owenimus inside box is a 32A & 50A to protect the CC
Question, how big is your 6 pannel array?
I mean, physical dimension, height and width of the pannels?
So it’s on the ground mount system and it’s approximately 10Ft wide by say 4FT
@@DIYKAI i have a follow up question, if you don't mind.
Say, hypothectically, someone were to try and copy your set up to use as a small off grid cabin system.
If they wanted to upgrade the system to make it more effective, would you suggest adding more pannels for better peak generation, or more batteries for longer lull times as the first upgrade?
It would only really need to power a 3 LED lights, a small apartment sized refrigerator (smaller than that freezer you are running, but bigger than a dorm fridge), and an on-demand RV style water heater, plus things like cell phone and laptop chargers.
It would all be on a 120 volt set up.
@@DH-xw6jp so here is what we have experienced over the past year or so with the system fully running.
In the summer time this setup puts out over 2.5kW a day and that's with drawing the batteries down no more than 50% (we can pull it all down if we needed too) we just don't demand all that power all the time.
In the winter time it will draw down 75% easy a day.
We run this setup 24/7.
The max you can do with this exact setup is 600w and 600aH anymore than that and you will need to step the cc up to a 60A.
@@DH-xw6jp the question you have to ask is when is your peak usage and total daily use.....a killawatt meter will calculate that for you.
@@DH-xw6jp so in short of the cabin uses the cell and laptop charging during the day when your generating peak power and at night all you have is some LEDs and a refrigerator you will be fine with 600w and 400aH or more of storage (lipo) not lead acid if you use lead acid double that
How many watts can you run at once at 230 V? How many volts do the panels produce?
Panels don’t produce 230v you will need an inverter for that. Each panel produces around 20~22VDC
@@DIYKAI How many watts of inverted 230 VAC is there in one 100 W panel at 20 VDC? This is a hard question and I don't get it
@@teemum.9023 230VAC usually requires a 24VDC battery bank and a 24VDC to 230AC inverter you cannot make that with just panels
@@DIYKAI Yep, I know. Inverter. But not batteries. How many volts in the panels to run 230 V 3000 W appliance
@@teemum.9023 the panel voltage only matters when it comes to the charge controller the system is based off the charge controller limits…example ours can handle 60VDC and charges the batteries at 40A
You have 2 batteries of 100A each . Why are you mentioning 400A ?? What have i misunderstood ?
Each battery is 200ah for a total of 400
@@DIYKAI i clicked the links at the discription an opened 100A batteries. thanks for the clarification .
Ah sorry it should have given you other options as well…..so the “standard” that many people use is 100aH but after testing we wanted a reserve of a few days incase of bad weather and having more aH how ever you get them is always better….we just wanted a smaller battery bank because (4) 100ah batteries is double the space as 200ah they use the same cases most of the time and relabeled them
KIKS ASS!!!!!!!
Thank you!
total cost?
Hard to say we would have to go back and check but an estimate is around 1k-1.5k
This is not large enough to run AC, boiler, stove, microwave and water pump.
This system can provide up-to 3kw so it will be able to run that stuff provided you have enough battery storage
@@DIYKAI You have six 100 W panels at 120 V output. How about without a battery? How many 100 W panels do you need for 3 kW without a battery?
@@teemum.9023solar panels generally do not power devices without a battery and charge controller it would be to unstable when clouds pass
@@teemum.9023 you need a charge controller and battery or batteries. The reason is the panels cannot power devices by themselves its to unstable and only produces DC....the Battery would power the inverter to produce AC voltage
@@DIYKAI Ok, so inverter and battery required. How about asking, who long does a 400 Ah battery last at 230 V 3000 W?