Dank je wel Maarten, erg leerzaam ik ga me hier zeker verder in verdiepen. Ik loop al enkele jaren met het idee rond om zoiets te doen maar het leek altijd veel te duur, dit blijkt dus mee te vallen Groeten Jacques.
A bit stunned by that quote from PEA when you have the lines right out the front of the property.......probably the majority was giving themselves a "bonus" paycheck, so glad you wasted their time by deciding to go solar! What a great solar build you have made, congratulations. Particularly like the walkway addition for cleaning & maintenance. Also, the system is easily expandable should you want more power. Last month I added up my power bills since moving into our new house in April 2006......over ฿600K....so I have decided to start doing solar. I will start by doing an off grid system for the outdoor kitchen and laundry. And then each year take one or two of the main house's circuits off grid, with an Automatic transfer switch for back up grid power. I like the idea of using the grid as a back up solution!!!!!
Yes, the quote from PEA was absurd. And they never saw my face so it was not a "farang price". Good luck on your solar project. Sounds like a solid plan. By the way, a hybrid inverter (like I have) can be hooked up to the grid and it will automaticly use power from the grid if solar and batteries are not sufficient.
@@Living-off-grid Yep, the extra hoops and cost to do a PEA approved grid tied system are why I am probably not going that route (although still considering every option), but also, by doing the outside kitchen and laundry first, it will give me a good idea whether or not to do the same at my inlaws place .They are in their early 80's and I would be thrilled for them to receive an elec bill that is next to nothing. They are 250 k's away, so the ability to transfer back to grid in event of whatever will be peace of mind for them and us!
Remember my struggle with PEA…..similar like you but initial quote was 800000 thb and eventually got it for 300000……..note i needed transportcables and poles put in place over 400 mtr so the 300000 was fair but the initial 800000 was just ridiculous
Great work ! as usual I see at your on going house project...I guess your house are really on a high level with such many details nobody think about, as you doing, in all the planing and on going and doing by yourself...absolutely stunning your result ...jealous he he 😄👌👌👌👌👌..soon time to enjoy a beautiful home close be finish 👌💜
I started studying solar to do a small project on my Camper Van. If enough people go this route PEA will have to change its tune. Certainly looking at this for the future. This is one of the best videos I've seen on the subject. Thank you for a great video.
Very interesting and impressive system you designed. We are looking down the road to add some solar to our home mainly to have power during the blackouts our village encounters, or when PEA decides to shut off your power for hours to do some work in the area, and of course you are never given any warning.
Most of it came from Lazada. (PV-panels, Charger/inverter, Battery-cells, Battery BMS) The mounting materials and cabling from the local hardware-shop.
Nice Video, I had several Solar Systems (in the US) 2 - I configured and installed myself and the last one was a "professional" because I wanted to be connected to the Utility Grid. If I do something like this here in Thailand... I probably use Micro-Inverters (installed on each Panel on the back)
Hi Maarten Great video as usual very polished and informative . My wife and I move to thailand 2024 october for half the year ie winter from the Uk I am looking forward to building our house your videos have been very inspiring This video about solar was great Our home which is a barge in the Uk has solar system with lithion too and back up generator for when not enough sun Oct-Feb I am glad you not a slave to power companys i intend on doing the same for our home and my wife family are near Korat Please could you supply me and maybe others where you purchased the above items from for your system , because as you are aware people will copy your ideas. Once again enjoy your videos keep them coming Gary
Thanks for the video, we dont have electricity anywhere near our farm but it has been said that it maybe coming as so many are building and living on their farms now, but if that is going to be the cost I may just have to bite the bullet and go solar I think, as we do have a problem neighbour who I know will try and use our posts for their supply. So if I may in future can I pick your brain a little on some of the finer points, the system looks amazing, we would probably use ground installation as we have the room and we are much more rustic.
Looking at doing the same me'self, probably do a solar pv course here in London b4 hand. Still unsure how I'm going to wire our property yet, but definitely won't be using pvc conduit, I hate it with a passion, don't like installing it even when I'm being paid to 😂 but thanx for these videos, invaluable to people like myself. Keep up the good work.
You could use vinyl-mantle-vinyl-cable. That does not need a conduit. But think about the sunlight outside. It is best to protect your cables against uv or make sure they are always in the shade.
Hello sorry to bother you Maarten great Video. did you Install the solar panel system yourself or did you arrange a company to Install? I am an electrical engineer but don't have the time to install if you employed a company can you provide the details we are currently building a house near Khon Kaen for my mother in law and are looking at Solar power as an alternative to PEA supply. And could you provide an approximate cost for materials.
Hi, very interesting thks for sharing. Did you learn everything by yourself from scratch?, I'd love to do a similar project for a house we are planning to build in a couple of years but I'm not sure where to start and whether it would be better to use a company..
Letting a company install it will double the cost, but it will be less effort on your side. I did have some knowledge of solar systems, but mainly small 12 volt motorhome stuff. I watched many youtube videos about battery building and solar set-up and then used my own ideas in combination. We now live in the new house, and I am still busy fidgeting with the settings to find the sweet spot.
Love the videos, an this on especially. Out of interest where did you source the batteries and what is your total KW of storage as looking to do something similar myself. Batteries seem really expensive in Thailand compared to other places especially on Lazada etc. Cheers
I bought the battery-cells, copper bars and BMS all on lazada. The battery is 15 KwH, but due to the lack of a propper LFP-charger it only gets charged to approximately 80% This is more than enough for my house.
@@Living-off-grid Outstanding, sorry be to be asking so much but if you happen to still have links to the products you bought that would be great. I will hopefully set something like this up when I get home (Pattaya) in 3 weeks and will use it to power all my IT equipment and 9,000 BTU AC - should save me about 4K per month with the PEA and it gives me something to "tinker with"
These are the links for lfp cells and bms. I could not find the copper strips, but just search Lazada for "busbar" or related keywords. The inverter is no longer there, but newer models are. Search Y&H. But don't believe "lithium support" as this just means "user defined" where you can set the charging voltage, but not eliminate float-charging nor set up "battery full voltage", so it will only charge to 80% safely Battery. s.lazada.co.th/s.QNxsm BMS. s.lazada.co.th/s.QNxv6
@@Living-off-grid Excellent Thanks, I am guessing you used 16 batteries to make a 48V battery of 280 AmpH - connected all the batteries in series. I will keep on reading and planning - thanks for the assist. Not related to this video, but the AAC blocks you used on the external walls - what size / thickness were they?
@@DanInPattaya 15 cm. From the outside in : fiber-cement (sierawood) siding, 5 cm airgap, radiation barrier, 1cm foam insulation, 15cm AAC block, AAC render.
It is a pretty simple system. I thermometer-controlled-relais (when temp out is lower than temp in it connects) controls a few fans that have a grill in the ceiling of each room. But, to be honest, I am not satisfied with the results, so I am considering more or larger fans. It's a bit of an experiment.
Fantastic work you make it look so simple just wondering how you connected your earth rod and connection to the breaker box did you join the N and E on earth bar
No. I did not join earth and neutral. I did connect the inverter to earth with a copper rod. That should take care of it. I always learned that you should only ground the installation in one spot to prevent the creation of a difference in potential (I do not know the english word for it and this is what google-translate made of it 🤔)
@@stephenainsworth629 The electrical system in the house does not have earth. Only a select number of groups such as aircons and boiler. All apliances have so called "euro plugs", a plug without earth for double insulated appliances.
@@stephenainsworth629 You could incorporate earth in the entire system. The inverter provides (usually) an earth-point. You can connect the consumer earth to that point and then incorporate it in the entire system. I just did not do this as I have no appliances that require earth (except for aircons and boiler, but each has its own group with earth.) Important is that you have a single earth-point. If you would touch two appliances that "leak current" and they have different resistance in their earth, the difference will travel through you. (The potential difference I mentioned earlier. )
Who makes that Inverter? That price seems low. maybe its via Lazada? Would like to see an annual update so you can report on how everything worked and the upsides/downsides of it. And if yo would make any improvements.
The inverter is in the "battery room", which is a small (2x2) room at the far end of the carpark. It is not close to the house. Not for "radiation", which is bullocks, but for noise from cooling fans.
Hello Maarten. I am also building a house in Thailand. Your videos are very helpful. Locating building materials is difficult. Can you provide me with information on: 1. Your 2-wire 3-way switch 2. Your ventilation switch in every room 3. Your ventilation fans Thanks for your videos and assistance.
Hi Larry, Yes, it is not easy to find decent quality stuff. I get a lot from Lazada. The switches are RF controlled. (Lazada) They normally work on a battery, but I connected them to a fixed 12 volt system. The fan-switches are in fact small 12volt motor-controlers. (Lazada) They control 12 volt computer cooling fans that I installed in 4" pvc pipes. I hope this helps you.
Hello Maarten. I am amazed how you design and build your systems. I like how you built your solar battery system from basic components. Now you tell me you designed and built your ventilation fans from basic components. I want each bedroom and the living room to have a separate ventilation fan and separate controller. I was planning to use commercial off-the-shelf fans. Now I will consider building my own fans.
Hi Maarten. Thank you very much for a very good video. Exactly what I was looking for, I am building a house and have been trying to find information on solar installation solutions and costs. Do you have any idea how much this solution can handle in terms of fridge/freezer, lights, air con etc.? Best regards. Mathias
Well, I hope it can handle a regular household, but only time can tell how things work out when we have a few weeks of heavy rain and little sun. But even on a cloudy day the PV panels put out at least 1 Kwh and that is enough to "survive". I will make a follow-up after the rain-season.
@@Living-off-grid Thank you for your answer. We are connected to the regular electricity grid but intend to try to have as large a proportion of the electricity consumption as possible through solar cells. Best regards
@@Living-off-grid Hi Maarten Hope all is well. Wanted to hear how the outcome has been with your solar park now after 5 months? Are you producing enough, too much or too little energy from the solar cells? Our house is largely finished but will only move down in a year and then the idea is that we will install solar cells to cover most of the need, but I have a hard time calculating how much you need for it to work. Best regards Mathias
@@mathiasgrahn4440 Hi Mathias. So far, so good. We ran out of juice one time and had to use the generator for about two hours. It had been very cloudy for two or three days and I did a lot of welding and used other heavy tools. For the rest, we run two aircos all night and one during the day. The battery does not get below 50 to 60%, so that is good. We are energy conscious, so when it is very cloudy, we don't switch on the airco during the day and when we are not inside we switch it off. The aircos are also running at a very low level as the house is well insulated. But, up till now the system has performed perfectly.
Hi marten, I always look forward to a new video of yours popping up. I was looking for a larger lifepo4 on Lazada but could only find the lower capacity ones like 100-200Ah not the 380Ah like you have used. Would it be possible for you to give the Lazada links to the products you have used in the video please? Very much looking forward to if you make a video on the water heater you commented on above. Thanks, Andy
Hi Andy. Sorry, it's 280 A. Here is a link: www.lazada.co.th/products/lithium-iron-phosphate-lifepo4-32v-280ah-32v280a-i4203131832-s16543031634.html?clickTrackInfo=query%253Alifepo4%252B280ah%253Bnid%253A4203131832%253Bsrc%253ALazadaMainSrp%253Brn%253A902d08193d13106d5dd106f3ef3979db%253Bregion%253Ath%253Bsku%253A4203131832_TH%253Bprice%253A17062%253Bclient%253Adesktop%253Bsupplier_id%253A100191120278%253Basc_category_id%253A12092%253Bitem_id%253A4203131832%253Bsku_id%253A16543031634%253Bshop_id%253A2143764&fastshipping=0&freeshipping=&fs_ab=1&fuse_fs=&lang=th&location=%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A3&price=17062&priceCompare=&ratingscore=4.5&request_id=902d08193d13106d5dd106f3ef3979db&review=2&sale=4&search=1&source=search&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.i40.1ae55a64RdOlaf&stock=1
We have a 15Kw battery and can use aircos all evening and night and have power left in the morning. Aircos draw more or less the power that equals their BTUs. Our 12.000 BTU unit draws between 1.1 and 1.2 Kwh. The 9.000 BTU draws about 0.9 Kwh. So, based on this a 10 Kw battery should be able to power a 9.000 BTU airco for the night comfortably (as it does not draw max power all the time). But... keep in mind any other consumers such as fridge, freezer, lights, tv (on standby). Also keep in mind that you need enough solar panels to recharge the battery the next day... also if it is cloudy.
So far, so good. We have been living in the house for a few weeks now, so not really extensive experience, but we run a 12,000 btu in the evening (until around nine) and then a 9.000 btu from nine to seven in the morning and we have some 50% battery left. Of course these are inverter aircons and we set them to 27 or 28 degrees. This is just the right temperature as a compromise between me and my wife 😉
I've got 4 AC,s (3x9000 and 1x12000 btu). These are of course inverter models. All 4 can run easily during the day, though that would not be necessary as bedrooms ar not used during the day. They can also easily run all night, but again, that won't be necessary as a.) The livingroom is not used when we use the bedrooms. b.) At night cool air from outside is pumped into the house. Putting in solar power is one part of the story. The other part is to build the house as energy-efficient as possible.
Hi Maarten. I'm pleased to see this - you are ahead of me in doing this and you've set your usual high standard bar. 🙂 I notice you don't have a separate charge controller for the batteries. Is this function incorporated in your inverter or might it be omitted for another reason?
Hi Trevor. The inverter has a build-in charger. It is really called an "inverter-charger" but that word is impossible to pronounce properly, so I shortened it. 😁. The BMS does have (limited) charge-control functions, but these are very basic (cutting off the charge when the battery is full) so it is better to let the inverter-charger handle this. Sadly it has no pre-defined LFP setting, so that has to be done manually by setting the charge voltage and lowering the float-voltage, but that is not a real problem.
Must admit this is on my list of things to do even though we have an electric pole outside I'm not paying that sort of money for it connecting they can #### off. I know a system will cope with things like LED lights no problem but what about say Western style ovens and running A/C for prolonged periods if its especially hot or you have family / friends visiting from Europe etc, also Li batteries inside not sure about given the instances of them catching fire, would probably house outside in a small separate building, like outside toilet size.
Hi Nigel. It all depends on the size of your system. We have (should have) enough to run several airconditioners and the electric boiler. The oven runs on gas. LFP batteries are not the ones that burst into flames, but just for the sound of the cooling-fans it is a good idea to put all in a separate building.
I don't think so. Mono panels do better when the sun hits the panel straight on. Poly is better at lower angles. Where I am, twice a year the sun is directly above us. So, it is a matter of deciding what is more beneficial in your situation and I decided on mono. There are also other benifits , but this is the maun reason.
@@Living-off-grid However it was just an observation as in Thailand the hours of sunlight vary slightly over the year but it is a very hot country so the yield of mono crystalline panels is 20% lower and more than poly
@@vincenzo7790 Not really sure what you mean, but you can just use what you think is best for your situation. In my case, that was mono due to the much higher efficiency per survace and the higher heat tolerance.
During a sunny day we can run all 4 without using the battery. In the evening we usually just run 1, but we can run 2 and still have battery power in the morning. Of course, at night the aircon only draws some 600 watts. During the day each aircon takes 1 to 1.3 Kw.
It is a simple gasoline (pull start) generator, rated at 6.5 Kw, but in reality it puts out less than half. It is able to charge the battery with 50 to 60 amps (at 58 volt) and keep the lights in the house on. Luckily we only needed it once... but of course, in the middle of the night. 😴
can you possibly help please. what brands you used and where did you purchase them please as i want to do the same thing for my wife but don't know where to source this stuff inThailand.
Thank you for video but slightly confused on you buy all the equipment and when you install it becomes their property , so you paying 6.5x the original quote . Is that a price they pull out of the fresh air for some strange reason.
So this setup will allow you to run AC, kitchen appliances, etc at the same time no problem? Also how many hours does that give you of running hours at night
The house should be able to run several days on just the battery. But only time will tell if this is true. Wo don't live there yet, but as soon as the rain-season (least amount of sun) has past, I will make a "conclusion video".
Awesome job. Half the price of the stupid quote from the electric company. I’m interested if you have any power constraints, can you run the AC at full power on it? Very cool video.
I tested running all (4) AC,s and the boiler at the same time. No problems. The maximum output is 5.5Kw which is 23 amps. More than enough for a modern (power saving) house I think.
@@t.q.6639 I can't say 100% yet as we don't live there yet. I did run 4 AC,s for a couple of hours during the day and no power was taken from the battery. The good thing is, you only need AC when the sun is up, and when the sun is up, the system generates lots of power.
@@t.q.6639 I think the Formula to calculate is : P(watt)= U(volt)* I(Amps) so for Example, I had a whole House Air Conditioner in the US - a 5 Ton Unit (House was over 280 SqM) the "draw" (Amps) of the AC was around 12A at 220V --- that equals 2640 Watts. Meaning 2.6Kw/hour... at 15kWh of Maartens Battery System.. it could run the AC (only the Ac running)) for 5.68 hours.... assuming the Battery is fully Charged. Measure the individual Amp Draws on each AC you want to run... use the Formula... then you can calculate.. :-)
Hallo Maarten! Ik ben Belg en leef in Non Sila (Khon Kaen). Met mijn zeskoppige familie zijn de elektriciteitsrekeningen vaak pijnlijk. Kan ik contact met je opnemen om een gelijkaardige installatie te ontwerpen voor ons huis?
Hi Allan, I am not an electrician, but I am able to learn... and so are you. Electrical wiring is actually quite simple and straightforward. Plenty of books that will make you an expert in one week. (If I get electrocuted this year, I take back what I said😂)
Hi Maarten, What was the reason for such a quote of over 1/4 million Baht when the quote was only 41,000 baht which already had labour costs of 5000 baht as a line item. ? I’m really confused as to what the other cost is. ?
I guess it was called "profit". The PEA did not tell me the actual cost of the seperate parts. I checked those with suply-companies. My guess is: They don't think people know the actual value of the parts involved.
@@8971felix Well, we have 4 of them. During the day we can run them all together. At night we usually run 2 of them. That takes our battery down from 80% to 60%, so I guess we could run them all, but I never tried.
Some You state the solar panels were 380 watt each. What is the VOC of each panel? (normal is around 45.5 volt) What is the Amps of each panel? (normal is around 9.2 Amp) You stated that yours producing 500 volts and you had 15 panels and I am assuming that they are therefore in series. That would make me think the panels were 33.33 volt and 11 amps based on Watts = Amps x Volts. Can you please tell me the manufacturer of the Solar Panels? With regard to the batteries, I assume the batteries are 3.2 volt each but classified as 3 volts x 16 makes the 48 volts You state that the batteries give 280 Ah. I assume that they are EVE LF280K Rechargeable Power Energy EV Car Cell LFP Prismatic Solar System Batteries 3.2V 280Ah lithium ion Lifepo4 Battery. Is that correct? What manufacturer and model number of combined controller/inverter did you use?
Hi. PV panels are NK380M-60 from Nakita. VOC: 43.25 volt, VMP: 40 volt, ISC: 10.89 A I have 13 in series (2 others are for heating water) connected to a Y&H 5.5 Kw inverter/charger. The battery is build from 16 cells of 3.2 volt, 280 Amp from CALB (LifePo4). The BMS is from Daly. 48v, 16S, 150Amp in/out. I hope this helps.
I have the same panels and 16cell 48v battery mine are 40.9 voc if you hooked them all up your at 615voc and your going to blow that inverter put 8 per string@327voc @10amp you dont need a large wire and buy 1 more panel ive never seen an odd # for a total of 16 panels don't worry about the watts being over you can over clock the inverter but you can't go over voltage and 1 other problem steel and aluminum don't mix. The system works great I have a 14000btu air conditioner, 1.5hp water pump, 75in TV, washer, large freezer, its runs everything at once I do have to turn the air off when the sun go's down.
You are right. What I did not explain (gets too complicated) is that we only use 13 of the pv panels to power the house. Two other panels are dedicated to a (in construction) heat-battery that will pre-heat the water that enters the boiler. A heat-battery is basically a large vat with water that is heated by a electric element, powered by PV-panels. Inside the vat is a copper water-pipe (15 meters, coiled up). Cold water enters, warm water exits. The vat itself contains 400 liters of water. But it is still experimental so I did not mention it. Concerning steel and aluminium, it's galvanized and should not be a problem. The bolts are inside a plastic tube.
I'm building the same thing on my channel. I'm off grid as well and looking for a solar system. Can your system power a washing machine, fan, lights etc? By the way it's a very nice house you have there. Just sub to your channel thanks
Yes, no problem. We power lights (led), aircos, fans, washing machine (every two days), electric boiler (150 ltr), power tools, tv, wifi, everything. Only when it rains the entire day we need to run the generator for one or two hours to fill the battery. (A few days a year) Even on clouded days we generate enough power .
@@Living-off-grid Thank you for the information. It's most useful as I'm getting quotes for my solar system. This will allow me to compare prices and if too expensive I might attempt it myself. Did you install it yourself ? Thanks 🙏
@@bornfreeprepperthailand We did all ourselves and this saved about half the cost. We also did not use proprietary installation materials, but made our own, which also saved a bundle.
Those are their rules. I suspect it has to do with maintenance. If there is a problem it would be hard to fix it if they'd have to ask permission from the owner first.
Dan draai je het volume toch uit? Een video zonder achtergrondmuziek is als een patatje zonder friet. Jij vind het irritant, andere kijkers vinden van niet. En ik vind het passen en dus....😊
Dank je wel Maarten, erg leerzaam ik ga me hier zeker verder in verdiepen.
Ik loop al enkele jaren met het idee rond om zoiets te doen maar het leek altijd veel te duur, dit blijkt dus mee te vallen
Groeten Jacques.
A bit stunned by that quote from PEA when you have the lines right out the front of the property.......probably the majority was giving themselves a "bonus" paycheck, so glad you wasted their time by deciding to go solar!
What a great solar build you have made, congratulations. Particularly like the walkway addition for cleaning & maintenance.
Also, the system is easily expandable should you want more power.
Last month I added up my power bills since moving into our new house in April 2006......over ฿600K....so I have decided to start doing solar. I will start by doing an off grid system for the outdoor kitchen and laundry. And then each year take one or two of the main house's circuits off grid, with an Automatic transfer switch for back up grid power. I like the idea of using the grid as a back up solution!!!!!
Yes, the quote from PEA was absurd. And they never saw my face so it was not a "farang price".
Good luck on your solar project. Sounds like a solid plan.
By the way, a hybrid inverter (like I have) can be hooked up to the grid and it will automaticly use power from the grid if solar and batteries are not sufficient.
@@Living-off-grid Yep, the extra hoops and cost to do a PEA approved grid tied system are why I am probably not going that route (although still considering every option), but also, by doing the outside kitchen and laundry first, it will give me a good idea whether or not to do the same at my inlaws place .They are in their early 80's and I would be thrilled for them to receive an elec bill that is next to nothing. They are 250 k's away, so the ability to transfer back to grid in event of whatever will be peace of mind for them and us!
Thanks a lot. I will stay in touch 1:46
Remember my struggle with PEA…..similar like you but initial quote was 800000 thb and eventually got it for 300000……..note i needed transportcables and poles put in place over 400 mtr so the 300000 was fair but the initial 800000 was just ridiculous
I think 300K is still a lot for a couple of poles (2000 baht a piece) and some wire, but it is what it is here in Thailand.
I think you could save some money by using server rack batteries. Oh! Great video!😊
Nice work! Clean and tidy!
Really good and detailed video Maarten, Thankyou this will help me and I look forward to any updates.
So well done. Power (literally) to the people
Thanks for sharing
Great work ! as usual I see at your on going house project...I guess your house are really on a high level with such many details nobody think about, as you doing, in all the planing and on going and doing by yourself...absolutely stunning your result ...jealous he he 😄👌👌👌👌👌..soon time to enjoy a beautiful home close be finish 👌💜
Excellent job Maarten
I started studying solar to do a small project on my Camper Van. If enough people go this route PEA will have to change its tune. Certainly looking at this for the future. This is one of the best videos I've seen on the subject. Thank you for a great video.
Very interesting and impressive system you designed. We are looking down the road to add some solar to our home mainly to have power during the blackouts our village encounters, or when PEA decides to shut off your power for hours to do some work in the area, and of course you are never given any warning.
Hi Maarten,
Great idea, Can I ask you where from you buy the Hardware ? In Thailand or from open market online ?
Most of it came from Lazada. (PV-panels, Charger/inverter, Battery-cells, Battery BMS) The mounting materials and cabling from the local hardware-shop.
Superb as usual, thank you.
Wonderful video!!
Nice Video, I had several Solar Systems (in the US) 2 - I configured and installed myself and the last one was a "professional" because I wanted to be connected to the Utility Grid. If I do something like this here in Thailand... I probably use Micro-Inverters (installed on each Panel on the back)
Have both. Issue was that cost of micro-inverters is higher. (they didn't scale)
Very good video. I love your work. Very well thought out work you do. well done.
Hi Maarten
Great video as usual very polished and informative .
My wife and I move to thailand 2024 october for half the year ie winter from the Uk
I am looking forward to building our house your videos have been very inspiring
This video about solar was great
Our home which is a barge in the Uk has solar system with lithion too and back up generator for when not enough sun Oct-Feb
I am glad you not a slave to power companys i intend on doing the same for our home and my wife family are near Korat
Please could you supply me and maybe others where you purchased the above items from for your system , because as you are aware people will copy your ideas.
Once again enjoy your videos keep them coming
Gary
Hi Gary,
Thank you for the compliment.
I wish you good luck with the build of your house.
All major solar parts were purchased at Lazada.
HI... nice video...
Very interesting video, 👍👍👍 opened my eyes. Groeten uit Nederland 🇳🇱
Thanks for the video, we dont have electricity anywhere near our farm but it has been said that it maybe coming as so many are building and living on their farms now, but if that is going to be the cost I may just have to bite the bullet and go solar I think, as we do have a problem neighbour who I know will try and use our posts for their supply. So if I may in future can I pick your brain a little on some of the finer points, the system looks amazing, we would probably use ground installation as we have the room and we are much more rustic.
Of course. No problem, pick away 🤓
Looking at doing the same me'self, probably do a solar pv course here in London b4 hand. Still unsure how I'm going to wire our property yet, but definitely won't be using pvc conduit, I hate it with a passion, don't like installing it even when I'm being paid to 😂 but thanx for these videos, invaluable to people like myself. Keep up the good work.
You could use vinyl-mantle-vinyl-cable. That does not need a conduit.
But think about the sunlight outside. It is best to protect your cables against uv or make sure they are always in the shade.
Veel succes Maarten met je solarcell-installatie, je toegewenst door een andere solarcell gebruiker, ook in LOS.
Hello sorry to bother you Maarten great Video. did you Install the solar panel system yourself or did you arrange a company to Install? I am an electrical engineer but don't have the time to install if you employed a company can you provide the details we are currently building a house near Khon Kaen for my mother in law and are looking at Solar power as an alternative to PEA supply. And could you provide an approximate cost for materials.
Hi, very interesting thks for sharing. Did you learn everything by yourself from scratch?, I'd love to do a similar project for a house we are planning to build in a couple of years but I'm not sure where to start and whether it would be better to use a company..
Letting a company install it will double the cost, but it will be less effort on your side.
I did have some knowledge of solar systems, but mainly small 12 volt motorhome stuff.
I watched many youtube videos about battery building and solar set-up and then used my own ideas in combination.
We now live in the new house, and I am still busy fidgeting with the settings to find the sweet spot.
@@Living-off-grid great stuff and glad you seem happy with how it went. Can u pse recommend good videos to learn? Many thanks again😊
@@Chevignay sorry. That was years ago. Just search "solar" or "solar diy" on youtube
@@Living-off-grid thanks for all your quick replies and all the best 🙂
Very impressive. Wish I was as handy. What will you do for backup power, if anything?
We have a generator for backup-power.
But, hopefully we won't need it.
Mooi werk! j wonder why PEA charged so much. Did you find out why?
I guess they like to make a nice profit.
The 280K might have been farang price. Good you decided to go self sufficient.
I’m wondering how much you spent on the solar system that you installed. I understand that you did the labor. Great video and an inspiration!
The total cost was 158.000 baht. There is a cost breakdown in the description.
I should have included this info in the video. Sorry for that.
Thank you for sharing
@@Living-off-grid did you got any quots what the costs would have been if hired a company to install all the solar and, batteries and cables?
@@Scharrer23 I did, for a similar implant, more than double!
@@Scharrer23 No.
Love the videos, an this on especially. Out of interest where did you source the batteries and what is your total KW of storage as looking to do something similar myself. Batteries seem really expensive in Thailand compared to other places especially on Lazada etc.
Cheers
I bought the battery-cells, copper bars and BMS all on lazada.
The battery is 15 KwH, but due to the lack of a propper LFP-charger it only gets charged to approximately 80%
This is more than enough for my house.
@@Living-off-grid Outstanding, sorry be to be asking so much but if you happen to still have links to the products you bought that would be great. I will hopefully set something like this up when I get home (Pattaya) in 3 weeks and will use it to power all my IT equipment and 9,000 BTU AC - should save me about 4K per month with the PEA and it gives me something to "tinker with"
These are the links for lfp cells and bms.
I could not find the copper strips, but just search Lazada for "busbar" or related keywords.
The inverter is no longer there, but newer models are.
Search Y&H. But don't believe "lithium support" as this just means "user defined" where you can set the charging voltage, but not eliminate float-charging nor set up "battery full voltage", so it will only charge to 80% safely
Battery. s.lazada.co.th/s.QNxsm
BMS. s.lazada.co.th/s.QNxv6
@@Living-off-grid Excellent Thanks,
I am guessing you used 16 batteries to make a 48V battery of 280 AmpH - connected all the batteries in series. I will keep on reading and planning - thanks for the assist.
Not related to this video, but the AAC blocks you used on the external walls - what size / thickness were they?
@@DanInPattaya
15 cm. From the outside in : fiber-cement (sierawood) siding, 5 cm airgap, radiation barrier, 1cm foam insulation, 15cm AAC block, AAC render.
In reply to Kevin Rummelhart 2 months ago, you mentioned that cool air is pumped into the house at night. How is this accomplished ?
It is a pretty simple system.
I thermometer-controlled-relais (when temp out is lower than temp in it connects) controls a few fans that have a grill in the ceiling of each room.
But, to be honest, I am not satisfied with the results, so I am considering more or larger fans.
It's a bit of an experiment.
Fantastic work you make it look so simple just wondering how you connected your earth rod and connection to the breaker box did you join the N and E on earth bar
No. I did not join earth and neutral. I did connect the inverter to earth with a copper rod. That should take care of it.
I always learned that you should only ground the installation in one spot to prevent the creation of a difference in potential (I do not know the english word for it and this is what google-translate made of it 🤔)
Do you have a connection to the earth bar in the consumer box from the inverter so you can earth your sockets outlets
@@stephenainsworth629 The electrical system in the house does not have earth.
Only a select number of groups such as aircons and boiler.
All apliances have so called "euro plugs", a plug without earth for double insulated appliances.
So if I wanted to have 3 pin sockets how would I connect the earth in consumer box with the solar system
@@stephenainsworth629 You could incorporate earth in the entire system.
The inverter provides (usually) an earth-point.
You can connect the consumer earth to that point and then incorporate it in the entire system.
I just did not do this as I have no appliances that require earth (except for aircons and boiler, but each has its own group with earth.)
Important is that you have a single earth-point.
If you would touch two appliances that "leak current" and they have different resistance in their earth, the difference will travel through you. (The potential difference I mentioned earlier. )
Who makes that Inverter? That price seems low. maybe its via Lazada? Would like to see an annual update so you can report on how everything worked and the upsides/downsides of it. And if yo would make any improvements.
I will do that. 👍
The inverter is from Y&H. Bought on Lazada.
Bluetti solar bank might be good idea in case of extended cloudy days
What is bluetti solar bank ?
Hi maarten where did you put your system to avoid radiation from the inverter ?
The inverter is in the "battery room", which is a small (2x2) room at the far end of the carpark.
It is not close to the house. Not for "radiation", which is bullocks, but for noise from cooling fans.
Hello Maarten. I am also building a house in Thailand.
Your videos are very helpful. Locating building materials is difficult.
Can you provide me with information on:
1. Your 2-wire 3-way switch
2. Your ventilation switch in every room
3. Your ventilation fans
Thanks for your videos and assistance.
Hi Larry,
Yes, it is not easy to find decent quality stuff.
I get a lot from Lazada.
The switches are RF controlled. (Lazada)
They normally work on a battery, but I connected them to a fixed 12 volt system.
The fan-switches are in fact small 12volt motor-controlers. (Lazada)
They control 12 volt computer cooling fans that I installed in 4" pvc pipes.
I hope this helps you.
Hello Maarten. I am amazed how you design and build your systems. I like how you built your solar battery system from basic components. Now you tell me you designed and built your ventilation fans from basic components. I want each bedroom and the living room to have a separate ventilation fan and separate controller. I was planning to use commercial off-the-shelf fans. Now I will consider building my own fans.
@@larryhoffsetz3533 Yes. The commercial fans are always loud and ugle.
The computer fans are very quiet and work for a long time.
Hi marten did you use 3.2v batteries from lazada giving you a 48v in series for the inverter
Yes, that is correct.
16 pieces of 3.2 volts, 280 Ah.
Fully charged it is 54 volts.
With 5% charge left it is 45 volts.
Hi Maarten.
Thank you very much for a very good video. Exactly what I was looking for, I am building a house and have been trying to find information on solar installation solutions and costs.
Do you have any idea how much this solution can handle in terms of fridge/freezer, lights, air con etc.?
Best regards.
Mathias
Well, I hope it can handle a regular household, but only time can tell how things work out when we have a few weeks of heavy rain and little sun.
But even on a cloudy day the PV panels put out at least 1 Kwh and that is enough to "survive".
I will make a follow-up after the rain-season.
@@Living-off-grid
Thank you for your answer.
We are connected to the regular electricity grid but intend to try to have as large a proportion of the electricity consumption as possible through solar cells.
Best regards
@@Living-off-grid Hi Maarten
Hope all is well.
Wanted to hear how the outcome has been with your solar park now after 5 months? Are you producing enough, too much or too little energy from the solar cells? Our house is largely finished but will only move down in a year and then the idea is that we will install solar cells to cover most of the need, but I have a hard time calculating how much you need for it to work.
Best regards
Mathias
@@mathiasgrahn4440
Hi Mathias.
So far, so good. We ran out of juice one time and had to use the generator for about two hours. It had been very cloudy for two or three days and I did a lot of welding and used other heavy tools.
For the rest, we run two aircos all night and one during the day.
The battery does not get below 50 to 60%, so that is good.
We are energy conscious, so when it is very cloudy, we don't switch on the airco during the day and when we are not inside we switch it off.
The aircos are also running at a very low level as the house is well insulated.
But, up till now the system has performed perfectly.
@@Living-off-grid Hi Maarten. Thank you for your answer, this will help us in our planning for solar cells to our house.
Best regards
Mathias
Hi marten, I always look forward to a new video of yours popping up.
I was looking for a larger lifepo4 on Lazada but could only find the lower capacity ones like 100-200Ah not the 380Ah like you have used.
Would it be possible for you to give the Lazada links to the products you have used in the video please?
Very much looking forward to if you make a video on the water heater you commented on above.
Thanks, Andy
Hi Andy. Sorry, it's 280 A. Here is a link: www.lazada.co.th/products/lithium-iron-phosphate-lifepo4-32v-280ah-32v280a-i4203131832-s16543031634.html?clickTrackInfo=query%253Alifepo4%252B280ah%253Bnid%253A4203131832%253Bsrc%253ALazadaMainSrp%253Brn%253A902d08193d13106d5dd106f3ef3979db%253Bregion%253Ath%253Bsku%253A4203131832_TH%253Bprice%253A17062%253Bclient%253Adesktop%253Bsupplier_id%253A100191120278%253Basc_category_id%253A12092%253Bitem_id%253A4203131832%253Bsku_id%253A16543031634%253Bshop_id%253A2143764&fastshipping=0&freeshipping=&fs_ab=1&fuse_fs=&lang=th&location=%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A3&price=17062&priceCompare=&ratingscore=4.5&request_id=902d08193d13106d5dd106f3ef3979db&review=2&sale=4&search=1&source=search&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.i40.1ae55a64RdOlaf&stock=1
@@Living-off-grid Thank you
Hi we recently had solar fitted (no battery) was wondering about battery capacity if your running any AC at night
We have a 15Kw battery and can use aircos all evening and night and have power left in the morning.
Aircos draw more or less the power that equals their BTUs. Our 12.000 BTU unit draws between 1.1 and 1.2 Kwh.
The 9.000 BTU draws about 0.9 Kwh.
So, based on this a 10 Kw battery should be able to power a 9.000 BTU airco for the night comfortably (as it does not draw max power all the time).
But... keep in mind any other consumers such as fridge, freezer, lights, tv (on standby).
Also keep in mind that you need enough solar panels to recharge the battery the next day... also if it is cloudy.
Wonder if this 15KW is sufficient to run any air-conditioner
So far, so good.
We have been living in the house for a few weeks now, so not really extensive experience, but we run a 12,000 btu in the evening (until around nine) and then a 9.000 btu from nine to seven in the morning and we have some 50% battery left.
Of course these are inverter aircons and we set them to 27 or 28 degrees. This is just the right temperature as a compromise between me and my wife 😉
What is the air conditioner setup you have?… I assume you have a mini split or two?… Can they be run during the day?… What about thru the night?
I've got 4 AC,s (3x9000 and 1x12000 btu). These are of course inverter models.
All 4 can run easily during the day, though that would not be necessary as bedrooms ar not used during the day.
They can also easily run all night, but again, that won't be necessary as
a.) The livingroom is not used when we use the bedrooms.
b.) At night cool air from outside is pumped into the house.
Putting in solar power is one part of the story.
The other part is to build the house as energy-efficient as possible.
Hi Maarten. I'm pleased to see this - you are ahead of me in doing this and you've set your usual high standard bar. 🙂
I notice you don't have a separate charge controller for the batteries. Is this function incorporated in your inverter or might it be omitted for another reason?
Just realised that this function may be achieved by the BMS. I'd assumed it was just for monitoring, not controlling the charging, but I may be wrong.
Hi Trevor.
The inverter has a build-in charger. It is really called an "inverter-charger" but that word is impossible to pronounce properly, so I shortened it. 😁.
The BMS does have (limited) charge-control functions, but these are very basic (cutting off the charge when the battery is full) so it is better to let the inverter-charger handle this.
Sadly it has no pre-defined LFP setting, so that has to be done manually by setting the charge voltage and lowering the float-voltage, but that is not a real problem.
Must admit this is on my list of things to do even though we have an electric pole outside I'm not paying that sort of money for it connecting they can #### off. I know a system will cope with things like LED lights no problem but what about say Western style ovens and running A/C for prolonged periods if its especially hot or you have family / friends visiting from Europe etc, also Li batteries inside not sure about given the instances of them catching fire, would probably house outside in a small separate building, like outside toilet size.
Hi Nigel.
It all depends on the size of your system.
We have (should have) enough to run several airconditioners and the electric boiler.
The oven runs on gas.
LFP batteries are not the ones that burst into flames, but just for the sound of the cooling-fans it is a good idea to put all in a separate building.
Hello Maarten.. i will ask you .why use you panel mono crystalline ... in thailand don't better poly?
I don't think so.
Mono panels do better when the sun hits the panel straight on.
Poly is better at lower angles.
Where I am, twice a year the sun is directly above us.
So, it is a matter of deciding what is more beneficial in your situation and I decided on mono.
There are also other benifits , but this is the maun reason.
@@Living-off-grid However it was just an observation as in Thailand the hours of sunlight vary slightly over the year but it is a very hot country so the yield of mono crystalline panels is 20% lower and more than poly
@@vincenzo7790 Not really sure what you mean, but you can just use what you think is best for your situation.
In my case, that was mono due to the much higher efficiency per survace and the higher heat tolerance.
Hi again just wondering how many air conditioning units you get to run on this system
During a sunny day we can run all 4 without using the battery.
In the evening we usually just run 1, but we can run 2 and still have battery power in the morning.
Of course, at night the aircon only draws some 600 watts.
During the day each aircon takes 1 to 1.3 Kw.
If you don't mind -what are the specs on your generator ?
It is a simple gasoline (pull start) generator, rated at 6.5 Kw, but in reality it puts out less than half.
It is able to charge the battery with 50 to 60 amps (at 58 volt) and keep the lights in the house on.
Luckily we only needed it once... but of course, in the middle of the night. 😴
can you possibly help please. what brands you used and where did you purchase them please as i want to do the same thing for my wife but don't know where to source this stuff inThailand.
You can buy everything you need on Lazada.
I used a Y&H inverter, Nikita pv-panels, CALB LFP-cells.
Plugs and cables can also be bought on Lazada.
@@Living-off-grid thanks very much you are an inspiration. Sincerely B
Thanks, I have got the answer.
Thank you for video but slightly confused on you buy all the equipment and when you install it becomes their property , so you paying 6.5x the original quote . Is that a price they pull out of the fresh air for some strange reason.
Yes, their rules are confusing.
So this setup will allow you to run AC, kitchen appliances, etc at the same time no problem?
Also how many hours does that give you of running hours at night
The house should be able to run several days on just the battery.
But only time will tell if this is true.
Wo don't live there yet, but as soon as the rain-season (least amount of sun) has past, I will make a "conclusion video".
@@Living-off-grid looking forward to that. This is something I’m considering doing as well. Just determining the best application
How do you cope during rainy season?
I can tell you in 3 or 4 months.
Awesome job. Half the price of the stupid quote from the electric company. I’m interested if you have any power constraints, can you run the AC at full power on it? Very cool video.
I tested running all (4) AC,s and the boiler at the same time. No problems.
The maximum output is 5.5Kw which is 23 amps.
More than enough for a modern (power saving) house I think.
@@Living-off-grid Can you run one or more a/c all night? How about running a/c day and night? That would be a game changer in Thailand.
@@t.q.6639 I can't say 100% yet as we don't live there yet.
I did run 4 AC,s for a couple of hours during the day and no power was taken from the battery.
The good thing is, you only need AC when the sun is up, and when the sun is up, the system generates lots of power.
@@t.q.6639 I think the Formula to calculate is : P(watt)= U(volt)* I(Amps) so for Example, I had a whole House Air Conditioner in the US - a 5 Ton Unit (House was over 280 SqM) the "draw" (Amps) of the AC was around 12A at 220V --- that equals 2640 Watts. Meaning 2.6Kw/hour... at 15kWh of Maartens Battery System.. it could run the AC (only the Ac running)) for 5.68 hours.... assuming the Battery is fully Charged. Measure the individual Amp Draws on each AC you want to run... use the Formula... then you can calculate.. :-)
So what waste total cost for the complete solar installation
Sorry, was the cost
158.000 baht.
A detailed breakdown is in the description.
Hallo Maarten! Ik ben Belg en leef in Non Sila (Khon Kaen). Met mijn zeskoppige familie zijn de elektriciteitsrekeningen vaak pijnlijk. Kan ik contact met je opnemen om een gelijkaardige installatie te ontwerpen voor ons huis?
Hoi Dirk.
Maar natuurlijk. Hou alleen wel in gedachten dat ik nog erg druk ben met m'n eigen huis.
lucky you are a electrician I would have to pay people to do all this!!
Hi Allan,
I am not an electrician, but I am able to learn... and so are you.
Electrical wiring is actually quite simple and straightforward.
Plenty of books that will make you an expert in one week.
(If I get electrocuted this year, I take back what I said😂)
Hi Maarten, What was the reason for such a quote of over 1/4 million Baht when the quote was only 41,000 baht which already had labour costs of 5000 baht as a line item. ? I’m really confused as to what the other cost is. ?
I guess it was called "profit".
The PEA did not tell me the actual cost of the seperate parts. I checked those with suply-companies.
My guess is: They don't think people know the actual value of the parts involved.
@@Living-off-grid Hi Maarten, thanks for the reply. Can I ask where about’s in Thailand you are located. ? Our family is in Udon Thani.
@@nickdavies3334 We are in Renu Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom province.
What is your feedback after 9 month using your solar panels? is it worth it ?
Absolutely. We run aircons when we want without worrying about the cost.
And, when the village has a blackout (every heavy rain) we have power.
@@Living-off-gridawesome! How many AC simultaneously?
@@8971felix Well, we have 4 of them.
During the day we can run them all together.
At night we usually run 2 of them. That takes our battery down from 80% to 60%, so I guess we could run them all, but I never tried.
Cost of install please
158000. A breakdown is in the description.
Some
You state the solar panels were 380 watt each.
What is the VOC of each panel? (normal is around 45.5 volt)
What is the Amps of each panel? (normal is around 9.2 Amp)
You stated that yours producing 500 volts and you had 15 panels and I am assuming that they are therefore in series.
That would make me think the panels were 33.33 volt and 11 amps based on Watts = Amps x Volts.
Can you please tell me the manufacturer of the Solar Panels?
With regard to the batteries, I assume the batteries are 3.2 volt each but classified as 3 volts x 16 makes the 48 volts
You state that the batteries give 280 Ah.
I assume that they are EVE LF280K Rechargeable Power Energy EV Car Cell LFP Prismatic Solar System Batteries 3.2V 280Ah lithium ion Lifepo4 Battery. Is that correct?
What manufacturer and model number of combined controller/inverter did you use?
Hi.
PV panels are NK380M-60 from Nakita. VOC: 43.25 volt, VMP: 40 volt, ISC: 10.89 A
I have 13 in series (2 others are for heating water) connected to a Y&H 5.5 Kw inverter/charger.
The battery is build from 16 cells of 3.2 volt, 280 Amp from CALB (LifePo4).
The BMS is from Daly. 48v, 16S, 150Amp in/out.
I hope this helps.
@@Living-off-grid Thank you very much for your fast response.
I have the same panels and 16cell 48v battery mine are 40.9 voc if you hooked them all up your at 615voc and your going to blow that inverter put 8 per string@327voc @10amp you dont need a large wire and buy 1 more panel ive never seen an odd # for a total of 16 panels don't worry about the watts being over you can over clock the inverter but you can't go over voltage and 1 other problem steel and aluminum don't mix. The system works great I have a 14000btu air conditioner, 1.5hp water pump, 75in TV, washer, large freezer, its runs everything at once I do have to turn the air off when the sun go's down.
You are right. What I did not explain (gets too complicated) is that we only use 13 of the pv panels to power the house.
Two other panels are dedicated to a (in construction) heat-battery that will pre-heat the water that enters the boiler.
A heat-battery is basically a large vat with water that is heated by a electric element, powered by PV-panels.
Inside the vat is a copper water-pipe (15 meters, coiled up). Cold water enters, warm water exits.
The vat itself contains 400 liters of water.
But it is still experimental so I did not mention it.
Concerning steel and aluminium, it's galvanized and should not be a problem. The bolts are inside a plastic tube.
I'm building the same thing on my channel. I'm off grid as well and looking for a solar system. Can your system power a washing machine, fan, lights etc? By the way it's a very nice house you have there. Just sub to your channel thanks
Yes, no problem. We power lights (led), aircos, fans, washing machine (every two days), electric boiler (150 ltr), power tools, tv, wifi, everything.
Only when it rains the entire day we need to run the generator for one or two hours to fill the battery. (A few days a year)
Even on clouded days we generate enough power .
@@Living-off-grid Thank you for the information. It's most useful as I'm getting quotes for my solar system. This will allow me to compare prices and if too expensive I might attempt it myself. Did you install it yourself ? Thanks 🙏
@@bornfreeprepperthailand
We did all ourselves and this saved about half the cost.
We also did not use proprietary installation materials, but made our own, which also saved a bundle.
@@Living-off-grid You done a good job. Thanks for the information you've got a nice solar system with good batteries. Thanks again 🙏
I still don't know why you have to pay for the electrical materials and PAE or PEA says" once finished all materials are theirs."
Those are their rules. I suspect it has to do with maintenance. If there is a problem it would be hard to fix it if they'd have to ask permission from the owner first.
I really like your videos but the background music is horrible. Why do people do that?
Because different people have different taste.
Geen muziek volgende keer aub.
Irritant.❤
Dan draai je het volume toch uit?
Een video zonder achtergrondmuziek is als een patatje zonder friet.
Jij vind het irritant, andere kijkers vinden van niet.
En ik vind het passen en dus....😊