Just a quick note. As a subscriber, I offer my admiration and respect. You've chosen a tough road to independence and I applaud you. The things you put up with (no running water?) for months are far more than this old boy could handle. Your can-do attitude is genuinely appreciated and I do enjoy your matter-of-fact videos. Any gal who loves fishing and has mastered a bait-casting reel is tops in my book. Please continue your excellent videos.
Ramsay’s snaggletooth lip is one of my favourite things. 😻 I don’t live off the grid but I live with chronic illness and fairly alienated, and my orange cat is such a companion to me, he is why I start almost every day with a smile, and I wonder if your two babies do the same for you with the type of living you do, as well. I enjoy your videos and vlogs so much, Jenna. I’m glad the algorithm suggested your channel to me. Love from Manitoba. ✌️
If someone were to tell me that a solar panel pulled in clouds from 100 miles away, I might believe them! Good find on that 400 watt panel! Have a good day! Thank you for sharing!
Good post Jenna, thank you. With battery power tools I always seem to pick the battery with the lowest charge first. I think you have the right idea to test things out before making more permanent installations. Take care.
Love your videos. I live in a trailer also.from Sept.till.now at the most this winter .mines 38.but still not cold inside warm one heater from home hardware.love from newfie keep always a fan .love u.
You Are A One of a KIND GEM. ❤❤❤ I think of You and Your living style, I wish you Strength when you need it, Encouragement when you are down, and His Protection ALWAYS !!!
I look forward each week to something new you have to tackle, you remind me of what I was like in my younger days before I was married love to try anything myself first before I asked for help look forward to your next video
I'm loving it down here in the south also - Ive been opening the windows all day for about three weeks now - I still cool off the old way instead of using the AC I open the windows - I grew up surrounded by swamps in the deep South so the heat and 90% humidity does bother me by much - But I don't care for the cold at all -
...you need help with the big solar panel Jenna?....are you kidding?....where does the line start?....if I wasn't over 1000 miles from you (Houston, TX) I would be there in a heartbeat!....I have a small solar system myself and really enjoy your videos!....thanks for posting and keep 'em coming!... 🙂
Hi Jenna, That's a big panel and bifacial too. It's neat that you have 3 solar systems at the same time going. Sorry, it's so cold there and you are pretty much out of wood. Let's just hope the diesel heater keeps on chugging along. Just make sure you do indeed get help when you take that big panel to the roof. It's heavy and you could lose your balance. Just be safe and enjoy the solar that you are getting. Take care , Steve.
hey jenna another good video but you got to watch out and not going to hurt your self i know it hard to bug someone for a hand but better to be safe then sorry but watch what you are doing and you take care till the next one jenna be good
OMG!!! It got dark then the light came back it rained yesterday and today too . I miss the sun ! Great video !!! Give Rory and Ramsey a big hug. My cat Scarlett Rose gave birth to her baby kittys She hide her fur babies . Her first fur babies I named Luie Lu second Maggie Max . She came into my life last year hungry needed a place to call home .Blessed !!
Good work kid. Your doing good. Suggestion: see if you can remove some of the trees in the path of your solar panels.. only a few will do and you need the firewood too.
Jenna, I love your videos. I think you could have been a great stand up comedian. You see the humor in everything, what a blessing to have that quality. I’m partial to your channel because I’m a cat person too. You keep living your life, doing your thing, we’ll enjoy it with you. Tell your cats, Uncle Jerry said hi, lol, 😆
Jenna, so glad you posted this video, and especially about solar. I have been watching you for a long while now,and you may or may not remember some of my previous comments. We live a very very similar life,the only difference is I live in a building.We run the same diesel heater, the same water heater, amongst many others. We also run a few 12 volt shitty solar setups. I would like to challenge you to go 24 or 48 volt as I will be doing, enough of this 12 volt stuff. You can get a converter for your 12 volt needs. water pump etc. With my research, buying a 24 or 48 volt hybrid all in one inverter (mppt charge controller/ battery charger/inverter) for under $1000.00 and a few batteries, they will not be cheap. will finally rid us of our power problems. I would also like to find a way to contact you on progress, wins/losses on the new system. other than on here. Either way keep up the good work!!
I strongly recommend skipping the 24v option and going directly for a 48v setup for your stationary home system. Many people on solar forums have shared their experiences of getting 24v but later regretting it, and the ones that don't are usually in mobile setups. The primary reason for 48v is its ability to accommodate a sizable solar panel array and handle high amperage draw from batteries. With a 12v system, unless you have multiple batteries to distribute the load, you're constrained to a 100 amp limit, restricting your total load to 1200 watts. On a 48v system, you get 4800 watts, which is capable of powering a home with a single inverter. Also, I tend to avoid hybrid inverters because if one component malfunctions, such as the MPPT side, the entire system goes offline because you'll have to warranty out the whole package. I prefer separate components that can be individually replaced at a lower cost. Currently, I'm helping a friend set up a system that uses an existing generator. He's opting for a $1200 48v server rack from Amazon. It has a SOC gauge and app, along with two 1500W DC Switching Power Supplies for charging the battery pack.
If your not using more. than 500 watts continuesly the 12 volt system is more than suitable - even if your constant draw is 600 watts a 12 volt system can work fine - with a 12 volt system everything is inexpensive compared with higher voltage devices also a 12 volt system is very redundant compared to most other voltages - If your not going to use an inverter for 120 or 240 volts AC and your going to have all DC appliances in a home then because of voltage drop 24 volts is a better choice - also if inverter loads are constantly higher than 600 watts the 24 volts is a better choice - With a 12 volt system if you have 4 battery's paralleled and one fails you lost 25% of your capacity - with a 48 volt system you lost 100% of your capacity - 1/3 of the world does not have grid power the power is often hybrid power - the most common voltage is 12 or 24 volts - so appliances, inverters and other devices are mass produced in the 12 and 24 volts range - If your going to have a 5 kw constant draw then a 110 volt DC system is a better choice - that was all learned when farm homes ran on 32 volts DC - from 1890 till the late 1950s in the US
@@able880 Id only suggest using 12V appliances if youre in a car/rv/van, but even then, it's a tough sell. With a pure sine wave inverter, you lose about 10W of power so the additional load for your blender (300W-1200W), TV (30W-200W), or toaster (500W-1200W) is just 10W, negligible compared to the hassle of running thick, short wires(voltage drop) for 12V/24V. Backfeeding an inverter with 120vAC/240vAC is much better and avoids dealing with expensive 12/24vDC appliances. Another issue with 12/24V is the solar wattage limit, typically 600W (12V) or 1200W (24V) on most MPPTs. Let's say you use 200W at most, you're only getting 400W of charge to your batteries for 12V, and 24V doubles your available charging power. I can grant you the solution that you can just use multiple MPPTs but honestly 48v devices are typically in the same ballpark if not cheaper than multiple 12v solutions with the addition of taking up less space. In my area, there isnt a solar shop where i can go and buy an mppt off the shelf so that whole "easer to come" by deal doesnt work for me, inverters as well are typically modified sine wave and not pure.
As far as I know we're both right - my family was in the communications business so at times I had worked on micro wave repeaters that were supported by 48 v systems - Of course those are hardened industrial systems -the older equipment was 48 volts and the upgrades were fed by 120 v inverters - Also on the PLCs that I programed in the oilfields were always supported with 24. Volts - Platforms and refinery's often have 480 volt battery banks and a variety of different voltage inverters - they might range from 24 DC to 4160 volts AC 60 Hz I've seen some that were 13800 volts in refinery's - I had started in the early 70s working on square wave inverters with the banks of power transistors for switchers - I've also worked on motor inverters that were pure sign wave 120 volts 400 Hz also smaller vibrator inverters - Over my 50 + yrs of handling power production in the offshore and remote mountain oilfields I saw variations of all kinds - In my case I don't ever draw much more than 300 watts @120 volts continues - I use a trace PV2000FC 2 step modified sign wave inverter for my electric wood splitter and a 1/2 HP well pump - those are intermittent loads not continues - there is a window fan that uses 200 watts continues - the battery to inverter leads are 4/0 welding leads about 3 ft from the battery bank - The inverter will put out 4000 watts surge and 3000 watts for 1 hr and 2000 watts continues - When it's drawing 3000 watts the 12 volts might drop to 11 volts but it's an interment load not continues - all 4 of my inverters are FCC class A Part 15 - I also have 2 true sign wave 60 step inverters - that feed the receptical' in the house - those put out grid synchro sign wave AC there phased in to the grid - 20 yrs ago I went from a rotary class A sign wave inverter 120 volts DC in and 120/240 volts AC out 5 kw - I've had my grid power knocked out for 9 months at times - I have found that my 12 volts battery bank is totally sufficient for lite loads and intermediate higher loads of up to 7 kw - For what she is doing she just as well stay with 12 volts - it works fine in her case and in my case - She can series her solar panels for higher input voltage into here MPPT controllers if needed - but again it might not be nessasary - If she goes to using air-condition then it's time to go to 48 volts or higher -
Today there are complete lines of 12 volt pure and true sign wave inverters - Most use the FCC class B inverters - in my case I like listening to SW broad cast so I use the FCC class A inverters - Amazon has some really good 3000 watt class B sign wave inverters at around $250 more or less - I can see your thoughts on voltage drops ect but the fact remains there is a much higher demand for 12 volt inverters and solar panels along with MPPT controllers - for a low power system 12 volts is practical -
Oh Jenna: 2 wooden blocks/firewood and a moving blanket. Place the wood on the ground wider than the hand truck and slide the panel on it ease the hand truck under it with a blanket protecting it from hitting the handle to hard. And it’s called a torpedo level
Hi Jenna, I also love solar. I camp in my van and run a Jackery 1000 and a Jackery 150. I have read the longer the lines are from the panel to the battery’s you loose the energy. Love your channel . Great job!!
We took down a large willow tree that was shading 12 of our solar panels. it is imperative to do what is needed to supply electricity to our off-grid homestead.
That's a great shot of your little "cabin in the woods" with all those solar panels displayed. It's a neat, tidy, comfortable looking home that has had a lot of work and thought put into it by you, sort of a modern day Hobbit house! :)
Testing, testing, testing. It’s the best way to gather information for your particular setup. In the future, if you happen to buy more mppt charge controllers, try and spend the extra money on a Bluetooth model. That lets you check everything from the convenience of your phone/home.
@@gypsyjennaI live in the deep South US down here the humidity averages 60% often it's much higher - when its 100° F it might drop to 35% on the ground - But the moisture or humidity just rise off the ground for the most part - On good days of lower humidity solar panels will put out 50% of there rated out put at noon day for possibly 2 hrs then there power sharply decreases after noon time - also there always clouds so the power is never constant - battery charge poorly when the voltage cuts in and out constantly - The humidity is just small drops of water and it defuses the sun light - The UV light is scattered and does not strike a panel directly in humid areas - so the panels never generate full output - It would be cool if they worked well down here - I live in the rural south - there are some that live the old way - But use solar panels for 1 watt led lights that's equal to a 7:watt night light - One guy I know has two 15 watt solar panels to charge his battery for his lights - down here on over cast days solar doesn't generate any power - We have many days and months that are over cast -
@@gypsyjenna you might know this already - today living off grid is a novelty - In the rural areas of the country in about 1900 or so some rural homes started fitting there homes with house battery's - My grand father was a mechanic electrician starting in the late 1800s - I had uncles that were. mechanic electricians from the 1920s and I was a mechanic SCR electrician - I worked the offshore and remote mountain oilfields for decades - Were I live at in 1900 some farm houses might have had a single cell 2 volt battery for there electric lights in there home - others had a 6, 12 or 32 volt powered home - The battery's were sized to were they only had to be charged once a week - each cell was a little larger. Than a golf cart battery - Farmers were I live agreed to only charge there house battery's on Friday all day and during the summer when they used electric fans they also charged a half day on Monday - In town, stores sold all the same appliances that were sold in city's but they were 32 volts DC instead of 110 volts AC - most farm homes that had electricity were 32 volts DC out here till the late 1950s were I live - Frigidaire sold a compete 32 V line of fridge's and freezers in the mid 1920s - The 32 volt homes had 16 individual cells hooked in series to make 32 volts - The rail road first started using 32 volts DC - From 1890 till about 1910 up right boiler steam engines ran the generator to charge the house battery's - In 1910 they started using gasoline engines - Today in a gel cell battery they use an acid strength of 1.240 were as with a regular flooded deep cycle battery the acid strength is 1.275 - A AGM uses a acid strength of 1.350 - Since the gel cell uses the weaker acid it will last far longer than a AGM will - with flooded house battery's the acid strength was gaged by the coldest out side temperatures - if the acid strength was 1.220 it would not freeze till 17° below 0° when fully charged - Most house battery's were your at, had a acid strength of 1.220 gravity if the battery's were in a basement - they have 30% less capacity than battery's with .275 acid strength - but they would last for 40 to 50 yrs or longer - cycleing them down 50% and charging them once a week - Down here an acid strength of 1.195 was commonly used - it's good down to 5° with out freezing a fully charged battery - At .195 strength acid there is a 40% loss in capacity - but the service life of the cells are 60 to 70 yrs or longer cycleing once or twice a week - I have 26 golf cart batterys and the acid is diluted from 1.275 to 1.220 - with the weaker acid there is no terminal corrosion - Ice storms and hurricanes knock my power out for several months at times - my battery bank capacity is 9 KWs - I have a old oil engine generator to charge the batterys - slow speed oil engines burn 10 times less fuel than most gas engine generators burn today - That gives you some history on off grid living -
Power to the Gypsy! POWER! That’s looking really good Jenna. I watched the total eclipse yesterday, street lights came on then 6 minutes later they were off. Hope you get some help with that panel. Climate change every two hours ha ha. Three kinds of weather. With or without clouds. What’s a Gypsy to do?
i used the tow hook in the back of my car and a long strap to pull the panel onto a roof using a ladder as a slide, still required one person to guide the panel and the other to pull the panel using the car but it was a whole lot easier.
Love the idea of three separate solar systems. You never know when you might need to borrow between them. Good goin’ Jenna, look forward to seeing the roof install. Take care.
New sub. here - I noticed the Caper tartan blanket right away. I got me one too, from my in-laws (they're Capers). Great channel, love that it's fellow Nova Scotian-made. Your off grid setup is fantastic! 👍😊
Now that is just plain crazy. One minute it is a nice sunny day, then yah got a freakin blizzard, then it goes back to a sunny day. That's some really whack weather. Hope that new panel works out for yah, more is more better!! You just can;t have too much "more". 😃 I don't know what you did to anger the gods up there, but good vibes your way as always and be safe!! 🥰🙏
Great stuff as usual always enjoy your Channel. I wanted to suggest that you could easily get that panel up there. Why don't you get two long 2x3's and attach two 'rungs' to the inside of the 2x3's - anchor one end at the side of your roof. Get some rope tied to something secured to the attachment holes on the solar panel. Next lay the back of the solar panel onto your makeshift ramp. Next, toss the unattached rope ends over the roof. Get on the other side of your house and pull the ropes to slide the solar pannel up the runners you created. When the panel is laying on the roof just secure the ropes you pulled to something to keep the panel from sliding off of the roof. Btw the runners should be long so the resulting incline will be as shallow as possible (easier to pull that way)..... anyway, just a thought
Gypsy Jenna, i am a new subsciber of yours from here in MICHIGAN, you have the prettiest eyes and smile, PLEASE keep the videos coming !! i look forward to view them
The next time you cut the ends off of extension wires use that end to wire into your charge controller. That way you have mc4 connectors to unplug instead of having to loosen the screws any time you want to make changes. You will have to put mc4 connectors on the extension wires again, but it does make changing thing easier.
Loved your video I wonder if you could take some pressure treated 4x4 beams and put them into the ground with concrete and make a movable panel that could be a homemade solar tracker or even if you did it manually just a thought also maybe add a homemade wind turbine
I was just about to go out and remove the black tank from my trailer then I saw you were here with a video, that's all the motivation I need to put off ALL projects! lol Great informative video. I'm paying close attention to your solar stuff cuz I'm going to be getting into solar this summer (Do you make house calls?? ) :)
Just to let ya now....its 70F here Las Vegas...full sunshine and T shirt weather...👍 I don't believe we have any rain or snow forecasted for the day either...lol That panel will help out alot once on the roof. It would be nice if ya could get 2 more...especially to help out in the winter months. God Bless...stay safe
You should make sure and run your diesel heater on high for 10 minutes every other day to burn off any soot that accumulates. I have never had to clean out the burn chambers in over 3 years. I have 4 diesel heaters and I run them on #3 most of the time.
I am actually thinking of changing my system from having my batteries inside and moving everything out to where the solar panels are. I find with the length of cable from the panels up to the camp I lose a lot of juice, whereas just having the 110V line running to the camp would be a lot less. I will have to build a box and also install some kind of heater (probably just a water line heater) for the winter. I just feel like I will get so much more juice to the batteries by having them on a 5 foot lead rather than a 75 foot lead will allow things to charge quicker. It is always something!
Another of those big panels and you'd replace all the others for your house needs. But now you have a backup for your backup, lol. Yeah make sure to strap in that big panel until you get it on your roof. Wind can be a help or a hindrance, in this case the latter.
Depending on your MPPT rating, You might really benefit from acquiring one or two more identical 400W panel and putting those on your roof. Perhaps your buddy has intel on that...? Keep Us posted!
I tried having the charger close to the batteries. But I never did like Going Out in the rain. R snow to check on the voltage So I bring the charger inside where I can tell when the batteries are. Fully charged
Way too many trees in that location. The shade will decrease the efficiency of the panels by a substantial amount. It's not enough to just connect them and point them upwards. There are a lot of considerations to take into account when deploying and sizing an array.
Just a quick note. As a subscriber, I offer my admiration and respect. You've chosen a tough road to independence and I applaud you. The things you put up with (no running water?) for months are far more than this old boy could handle. Your can-do attitude is genuinely appreciated and I do enjoy your matter-of-fact videos. Any gal who loves fishing and has mastered a bait-casting reel is tops in my book. Please continue your excellent videos.
Thank you so much 🙂
@@gypsyjenna You are most certainly welcome.
Ramsay’s snaggletooth lip is one of my favourite things. 😻 I don’t live off the grid but I live with chronic illness and fairly alienated, and my orange cat is such a companion to me, he is why I start almost every day with a smile, and I wonder if your two babies do the same for you with the type of living you do, as well. I enjoy your videos and vlogs so much, Jenna. I’m glad the algorithm suggested your channel to me. Love from Manitoba. ✌️
If someone were to tell me that a solar panel pulled in clouds from 100 miles away, I might believe them! Good find on that 400 watt panel! Have a good day! Thank you for sharing!
40 watts on a rainy day
Good post Jenna, thank you. With battery power tools I always seem to pick the battery with the lowest charge first. I think you have the right idea to test things out before making more permanent installations. Take care.
Total harmony at camp Jenna’s. Getting things done so that electricity can flow properly. Enjoy :) until next time.
Love your videos. I live in a trailer also.from Sept.till.now at the most this winter .mines 38.but still not cold inside warm one heater from home hardware.love from newfie keep always a fan .love u.
It’s a beautiful day! I hope everything goes in your favor. Appreciate your hard work for us to enjoy and learn from what you do.
Thank you 😊
Love Watching Your Video, Such A Solo Camper DIYer, The Best
thanks for sharing. have a great day
Thanks, you too!
You Are A One of a KIND GEM. ❤❤❤
I think of You and Your living style, I wish you Strength when you need it, Encouragement when you are down, and His Protection ALWAYS !!!
I look forward each week to something new you have to tackle, you remind me of what I was like in my younger days before I was married love to try anything myself first before I asked for help look forward to your next video
She Takes Her Time With Everything....
Where I live in the southern part of the US I have been running my AC for two weeks. I wish I lived in a climate like yours. HATE THE HEAT!
Lovin' the heat here in Florida. Not missing Michigan at all.
I'm loving it down here in the south also - Ive been opening the windows all day for about three weeks now -
I still cool off the old way instead of using the AC I open the windows - I grew up surrounded by swamps in the deep South so the heat and 90% humidity does bother me by much -
But I don't care for the cold at all -
...you need help with the big solar panel Jenna?....are you kidding?....where does the line start?....if I wasn't over 1000 miles from you (Houston, TX) I would
be there in a heartbeat!....I have a small solar system myself and really enjoy your videos!....thanks for posting and keep 'em coming!... 🙂
thats a nice small place
Hi Jenna,
That's a big panel and bifacial too. It's neat that you have 3 solar systems at the same time going. Sorry, it's so cold there and you are pretty much out of wood. Let's just hope the diesel heater keeps on chugging along. Just make sure you do indeed get help when you take that big panel to the roof. It's heavy and you could lose your balance. Just be safe and enjoy the solar that you are getting.
Take care , Steve.
Yay !! Cheers and hugz From The Yukon Territory and purrz from Bob-0-Lynx 😊❤😊
Hi Jenna, We really appreciate your videos, very entertaining and informative. Sending warm weather from Key Largo, Florida.......
Very enjoyable video Jenna.
Gypsy Jenna beautiful soul beautiful life awesome creativity
Hi Jenna, you never stop impressing me. So inspirational. Thank you for another great video. ❤🍁
Thank you 😊
hey jenna another good video but you got to watch out and not going to hurt your self i know it hard to bug someone for a hand but better to be safe then sorry but watch what you are doing and you take care till the next one jenna be good
Jenna, your ingenuity is amazing. 👏👍🙏
Thank you so much
OMG!!! It got dark then the light came back it rained yesterday and today too . I miss the sun ! Great video !!! Give Rory and Ramsey a big hug. My cat Scarlett Rose gave birth to her baby kittys She hide her fur babies . Her first fur babies I named Luie Lu second Maggie Max . She came into my life last year hungry needed a place to call home .Blessed !!
& that's the way I look at it also some is better than none lol good luck & god bless
Jenna another top show as always Thanks for sharing 👍 Johno Darwin NT 🍺
Good work kid. Your doing good. Suggestion: see if you can remove some of the trees in the path of your solar panels.. only a few will do and you need the firewood too.
I hope all is well with you and your sweet kitty babies ❤❤❤❤
Jenna, I love your videos. I think you could have been a great stand up comedian. You see the humor in everything, what a blessing to have that quality. I’m partial to your channel because I’m a cat person too. You keep living your life, doing your thing, we’ll enjoy it with you. Tell your cats, Uncle Jerry said hi, lol, 😆
Golly, I bet you will be so glad when warm air arrives and stays for a while in your area. Enjoy your videos.
Your place looks great all cleaned up. Congrats on your new solar panel you are my off grid girly girl for all things solar.
Jenna, so glad you posted this video, and especially about solar. I have been watching you for a long while now,and you may or may not remember some of my previous comments. We live a very very similar life,the only difference is I live in a building.We run the same diesel heater, the same water heater, amongst many others. We also run a few 12 volt shitty solar setups. I would like to challenge you to go 24 or 48 volt as I will be doing, enough of this 12 volt stuff. You can get a converter for your 12 volt needs. water pump etc. With my research, buying a 24 or 48 volt hybrid all in one inverter (mppt charge controller/ battery charger/inverter) for under $1000.00 and a few batteries, they will not be cheap. will finally rid us of our power problems. I would also like to find a way to contact you on progress, wins/losses on the new system. other than on here. Either way keep up the good work!!
I strongly recommend skipping the 24v option and going directly for a 48v setup for your stationary home system. Many people on solar forums have shared their experiences of getting 24v but later regretting it, and the ones that don't are usually in mobile setups. The primary reason for 48v is its ability to accommodate a sizable solar panel array and handle high amperage draw from batteries. With a 12v system, unless you have multiple batteries to distribute the load, you're constrained to a 100 amp limit, restricting your total load to 1200 watts. On a 48v system, you get 4800 watts, which is capable of powering a home with a single inverter. Also, I tend to avoid hybrid inverters because if one component malfunctions, such as the MPPT side, the entire system goes offline because you'll have to warranty out the whole package. I prefer separate components that can be individually replaced at a lower cost. Currently, I'm helping a friend set up a system that uses an existing generator. He's opting for a $1200 48v server rack from Amazon. It has a SOC gauge and app, along with two 1500W DC Switching Power Supplies for charging the battery pack.
If your not using more. than 500 watts continuesly the 12 volt system is more than suitable - even if your constant draw is 600 watts a 12 volt system can work fine - with a 12 volt system everything is inexpensive compared with higher voltage devices also a 12 volt system is very redundant compared to most other voltages -
If your not going to use an inverter for 120 or 240 volts AC and your going to have all DC appliances in a home then because of voltage drop 24 volts is a better choice - also if inverter loads are constantly higher than 600 watts the 24 volts is a better choice -
With a 12 volt system if you have 4 battery's paralleled and one fails you lost 25% of your capacity - with a 48 volt system you lost 100% of your capacity -
1/3 of the world does not have grid power the power is often hybrid power - the most common voltage is 12 or 24 volts - so appliances, inverters and other devices are mass produced in the 12 and 24 volts range -
If your going to have a 5 kw constant draw then a 110 volt DC system is a better choice - that was all learned when farm homes ran on 32 volts DC - from 1890 till the late 1950s in the US
@@able880
Id only suggest using 12V appliances if youre in a car/rv/van, but even then, it's a tough sell. With a pure sine wave inverter, you lose about 10W of power so the additional load for your blender (300W-1200W), TV (30W-200W), or toaster (500W-1200W) is just 10W, negligible compared to the hassle of running thick, short wires(voltage drop) for 12V/24V. Backfeeding an inverter with 120vAC/240vAC is much better and avoids dealing with expensive 12/24vDC appliances.
Another issue with 12/24V is the solar wattage limit, typically 600W (12V) or 1200W (24V) on most MPPTs. Let's say you use 200W at most, you're only getting 400W of charge to your batteries for 12V, and 24V doubles your available charging power. I can grant you the solution that you can just use multiple MPPTs but honestly 48v devices are typically in the same ballpark if not cheaper than multiple 12v solutions with the addition of taking up less space. In my area, there isnt a solar shop where i can go and buy an mppt off the shelf so that whole "easer to come" by deal doesnt work for me, inverters as well are typically modified sine wave and not pure.
As far as I know we're both right - my family was in the communications business so at times I had worked on micro wave repeaters that were supported by 48 v systems -
Of course those are hardened industrial systems -the older equipment was 48 volts and the upgrades were fed by 120 v inverters -
Also on the PLCs that I programed in the oilfields were always supported with 24. Volts -
Platforms and refinery's often have 480 volt battery banks and a variety of different voltage inverters - they might range from 24 DC to 4160 volts AC 60 Hz I've seen some that were 13800 volts in refinery's -
I had started in the early 70s working on square wave inverters with the banks of power transistors for switchers - I've also worked on motor inverters that were pure sign wave 120 volts 400 Hz also smaller vibrator inverters -
Over my 50 + yrs of handling power production in the offshore and remote mountain oilfields I saw variations of all kinds -
In my case I don't ever draw much more than 300 watts @120 volts continues -
I use a trace PV2000FC 2 step modified sign wave inverter for my electric wood splitter and a 1/2 HP well pump - those are intermittent loads not continues - there is a window fan that uses 200 watts continues - the battery to inverter leads are 4/0 welding leads about 3 ft from the battery bank -
The inverter will put out 4000 watts surge and 3000 watts for 1 hr and 2000 watts continues -
When it's drawing 3000 watts the 12 volts might drop to 11 volts but it's an interment load not continues - all 4 of my inverters are FCC class A Part 15 - I also have 2 true sign wave 60 step inverters - that feed the receptical' in the house - those put out grid synchro sign wave AC there phased in to the grid -
20 yrs ago I went from a rotary class A sign wave inverter 120 volts DC in and 120/240 volts AC out 5 kw -
I've had my grid power knocked out for 9 months at times - I have found that my 12 volts battery bank is totally sufficient for lite loads and intermediate higher loads of up to 7 kw -
For what she is doing she just as well stay with 12 volts - it works fine in her case and in my case -
She can series her solar panels for higher input voltage into here MPPT controllers if needed - but again it might not be nessasary -
If she goes to using air-condition then it's time to go to 48 volts or higher -
Today there are complete lines of 12 volt pure and true sign wave inverters -
Most use the FCC class B inverters - in my case I like listening to SW broad cast so I use the FCC class A inverters -
Amazon has some really good 3000 watt class B sign wave inverters at around $250 more or less -
I can see your thoughts on voltage drops ect but the fact remains there is a much higher demand for 12 volt inverters and solar panels along with MPPT controllers - for a low power system 12 volts is practical -
Good Job Jenna !! It's definitely fun chasing the sun😊
I dont quite know why, but I do enjoy watching your videos. Quite the cool cat you are!
Put it on top of the roof with a angel at 15 deg plus your latitude
Thank you, my friend for sharing, your friend in the USA Gary.
Hope the new panel works out for you.
I’m so jealous of you!😊
I would leave it on the ground and trim a tree or two... but that's just me. 😄
Very educational. The trial and error approach along with persistence works! Cheers!
Oh Jenna: 2 wooden blocks/firewood and a moving blanket. Place the wood on the ground wider than the hand truck and slide the panel on it ease the hand truck under it with a blanket protecting it from hitting the handle to hard. And it’s called a torpedo level
Hi Jenna, I also love solar. I camp in my van and run a Jackery 1000 and a Jackery 150. I have read the longer the lines are from the panel to the battery’s you loose the energy. Love your channel . Great job!!
Nice going, you can never have enough panels!
What a solar adventure!!
We took down a large willow tree that was shading 12 of our solar panels. it is imperative to do what is needed to supply electricity to our off-grid homestead.
Fun experiences
Happy mid week girl❤❤
That was some crazy ass weather just do what you do when you do it❤
That's a great shot of your little "cabin in the woods" with all those solar panels displayed. It's a neat, tidy, comfortable looking home that has had a lot of work and thought put into it by you, sort of a modern day Hobbit house! :)
Testing, testing, testing. It’s the best way to gather information for your particular setup.
In the future, if you happen to buy more mppt charge controllers, try and spend the extra money on a Bluetooth model. That lets you check everything from the convenience of your phone/home.
Thanks for the video. I'm learning a lot from you about solar panels.
I have a lot to learn, myself! Lol
@@gypsyjennaI live in the deep South US down here the humidity averages 60% often it's much higher - when its 100° F it might drop to 35% on the ground -
But the moisture or humidity just rise off the ground for the most part -
On good days of lower humidity solar panels will put out 50% of there rated out put at noon day for possibly 2 hrs then there power sharply decreases after noon time - also there always clouds so the power is never constant - battery charge poorly when the voltage cuts in and out constantly -
The humidity is just small drops of water and it defuses the sun light -
The UV light is scattered and does not strike a panel directly in humid areas - so the panels never generate full output -
It would be cool if they worked well down here - I live in the rural south - there are some that live the old way -
But use solar panels for 1 watt led lights that's equal to a 7:watt night light -
One guy I know has two 15 watt solar panels to charge his battery for his lights - down here on over cast days solar doesn't generate any power -
We have many days and months that are over cast -
@able880 wow, tough on the cloudy days and humid days it sounds for sure!
@@gypsyjenna you might know this already -
today living off grid is a novelty -
In the rural areas of the country in about 1900 or so some rural homes started fitting there homes with house battery's -
My grand father was a mechanic electrician starting in the late 1800s - I had uncles that were. mechanic electricians from the 1920s and I was a mechanic SCR electrician - I worked the offshore and remote mountain oilfields for decades -
Were I live at in 1900 some farm houses might have had a single cell 2 volt battery for there electric lights in there home - others had a 6, 12 or 32 volt powered home -
The battery's were sized to were they only had to be charged once a week - each cell was a little larger. Than a golf cart battery -
Farmers were I live agreed to only charge there house battery's on Friday all day and during the summer when they used electric fans they also charged a half day on Monday -
In town, stores sold all the same appliances that were sold in city's but they were 32 volts DC instead of 110 volts AC - most farm homes that had electricity were 32 volts DC out here till the late 1950s were I live -
Frigidaire sold a compete 32 V line of fridge's and freezers in the mid 1920s -
The 32 volt homes had 16 individual cells hooked in series to make 32 volts -
The rail road first started using 32 volts DC -
From 1890 till about 1910 up right boiler steam engines ran the generator to charge the house battery's -
In 1910 they started using gasoline engines -
Today in a gel cell battery they use an acid strength of 1.240 were as with a regular flooded deep cycle battery the acid strength is 1.275 -
A AGM uses a acid strength of 1.350 -
Since the gel cell uses the weaker acid it will last far longer than a AGM will - with flooded house battery's the acid strength was gaged by the coldest out side temperatures - if the acid strength was 1.220 it would not freeze till 17° below 0° when fully charged -
Most house battery's were your at, had a acid strength of 1.220 gravity if the battery's were in a basement - they have 30% less capacity than battery's with .275 acid strength - but they would last for 40 to 50 yrs or longer - cycleing them down 50% and charging them once a week -
Down here an acid strength of 1.195 was commonly used - it's good down to 5° with out freezing a fully charged battery -
At .195 strength acid there is a 40% loss in capacity -
but the service life of the cells are 60 to 70 yrs or longer cycleing once or twice a week -
I have 26 golf cart batterys and the acid is diluted from 1.275 to 1.220 - with the weaker acid there is no terminal corrosion -
Ice storms and hurricanes knock my power out for several months at times -
my battery bank capacity is 9 KWs - I have a old oil engine generator to charge the batterys - slow speed oil engines burn 10 times less fuel than most gas engine generators burn today -
That gives you some history on off grid living -
@able880 a lot of info here, thanks!
Power to the Gypsy! POWER! That’s looking really good Jenna. I watched the total eclipse yesterday, street lights came on then 6 minutes later they were off. Hope you get some help with that panel. Climate change every two hours ha ha. Three kinds of weather. With or without clouds. What’s a Gypsy to do?
i used the tow hook in the back of my car and a long strap to pull the panel onto a roof using a ladder as a slide, still required one person to guide the panel and the other to pull the panel using the car but it was a whole lot easier.
Wow, yeah they are heavy an awkward eh
U go girl!!!
Hi Jenna. Nice one stay safe 👍🫶🇬🇧
"One screw, Sally."
“Smiley Cyrus” 😂😂😂😂
Love the idea of three separate solar systems. You never know when you might need to borrow between them. Good goin’ Jenna, look forward to seeing the roof install. Take care.
That's my favorite Canadian Lady 😂😂 and happy birthday 🎈🎂 to whoever b day it is
No birthdays here? Lol
@@gypsyjenna22 young ❤❤
I wish, haha
Telling ya.... Building a battery is super easy... And your power issues are just a bad memory.
Love your videos!!
Nu met die Vele Zon wal dit wel goed Werken 🌅🌅
You rock gf 🎉
New sub. here - I noticed the Caper tartan blanket right away. I got me one too, from my in-laws (they're Capers). Great channel, love that it's fellow Nova Scotian-made. Your off grid setup is fantastic! 👍😊
Thank you 😊
Cool, when you get other panel hooked up you should be really pulling good power
Love da rubbers 😊😊
Hi Jenna 👋🏻 Thank you 😊 Hope you're doing well my friends 🐈⬛🐾👍🏻 God Bless 🙏🏻 Appreciate you 🫶🏻
geee you look like you realy enjoy allllll the projectz...............take..care.........
Now that is just plain crazy. One minute it is a nice sunny day, then yah got a freakin blizzard, then it goes back to a sunny day. That's some really whack weather. Hope that new panel works out for yah, more is more better!! You just can;t have too much "more". 😃
I don't know what you did to anger the gods up there, but good vibes your way as always and be safe!! 🥰🙏
You might want to put a screw thru the panel flange so the wind might not blow it over and break.
Just a thought.
Great stuff as usual always enjoy your Channel. I wanted to suggest that you could easily get that panel up there. Why don't you get two long 2x3's and attach two 'rungs' to the inside of the 2x3's - anchor one end at the side of your roof. Get some rope tied to something secured to the attachment holes on the solar panel. Next lay the back of the solar panel onto your makeshift ramp. Next, toss the unattached rope ends over the roof. Get on the other side of your house and pull the ropes to slide the solar pannel up the runners you created. When the panel is laying on the roof just secure the ropes you pulled to something to keep the panel from sliding off of the roof.
Btw the runners should be long so the resulting incline will be as shallow as possible (easier to pull that way)..... anyway, just a thought
Thanks for the suggestion 👍
Love the FF stuff. Keep it up. Favorite quote of the video One screw Sally 😂😂
Hey Jenna,Greetings from Cape Cod,Mass.Love ur videos with a cup(or 2)of Folgers
would you just look at that Sassy new panel
im so happy for yah luv 🤗🤗🥰😇
Gypsy Jenna, i am a new subsciber of yours from here in MICHIGAN, you have the prettiest eyes and smile, PLEASE keep the videos coming !! i look forward to view them
You need a few more extra wires from wherever lol
I just got two 100 watt solar controllers gotta have a spare Jenna 😀😎👍
The next time you cut the ends off of extension wires use that end to wire into your charge controller.
That way you have mc4 connectors to unplug instead of having to loosen the screws any time you want to make changes.
You will have to put mc4 connectors on the extension wires again, but it does make changing thing easier.
Loved your video I wonder if you could take some pressure treated 4x4 beams and put them into the ground with concrete and make a movable panel that could be a homemade solar tracker or even if you did it manually just a thought also maybe add a homemade wind turbine
Jenna be careful on the rooftop
Please try to get help. Im new
To your videos ill watch them all
Ginger L USA ALABAMA ❤😊
I was just about to go out and remove the black tank from my trailer then I saw you were here with a video, that's all the motivation I need to put off ALL projects! lol Great informative video. I'm paying close attention to your solar stuff cuz I'm going to be getting into solar this summer (Do you make house calls?? ) :)
Good luck with the black tank! Sounds like a 💩 project! 😆
Just to let ya now....its 70F here Las Vegas...full sunshine and T shirt weather...👍 I don't believe we have any rain or snow forecasted for the day either...lol That panel will help out alot once on the roof. It would be nice if ya could get 2 more...especially to help out in the winter months. God Bless...stay safe
Enjoy your warmth!
Thanks for not Flippin me off even tho I might of deserved it just a little....lmao
@@gypsyjenna 86F right now and full sunshine at 4:40 pm...NICE...makes ya wanna pop a brewski...👍
Can't say I blame ya there! 🍻
Ramseys Elvis Lip..lol so cute!!!!
You should make sure and run your diesel heater on high for 10 minutes every other day to burn off any soot that accumulates. I have never had to clean out the burn chambers in over 3 years. I have 4 diesel heaters and I run them on #3 most of the time.
Well done, no mansplaining needed. ✌
I am actually thinking of changing my system from having my batteries inside and moving everything out to where the solar panels are. I find with the length of cable from the panels up to the camp I lose a lot of juice, whereas just having the 110V line running to the camp would be a lot less. I will have to build a box and also install some kind of heater (probably just a water line heater) for the winter. I just feel like I will get so much more juice to the batteries by having them on a 5 foot lead rather than a 75 foot lead will allow things to charge quicker. It is always something!
It always is!
The one screw Sally's on a rainy day
As always miss beautiful blue eyes love your videos as always !!!
Avery would be proud of your boots
Great job girl❤
well to the Queen of Solar fun video maybe look into turbine home unit
😉
Never got much power from those renogy pwm charge controllers. I switched to victron mppt charge controllers and saw big and immediate power gains
Another of those big panels and you'd replace all the others for your house needs. But now you have a backup for your backup, lol. Yeah make sure to strap in that big panel until you get it on your roof. Wind can be a help or a hindrance, in this case the latter.
Depending on your MPPT rating, You might really benefit from acquiring one or two more identical 400W panel and putting those on your roof. Perhaps your buddy has intel on that...? Keep Us posted!
a good rule of thumb is to set the solar panels at the same degree as the latitude you live in .I'm at latitude 41 so my panels are set to 41 degrees
Cool, did not know that
Do not put the Battery box on the floor outdoors. Because if electricity from water when rain. If flood water full.
Be careful. I respect you.
🆒 Video Jenna !!!!
xome visit arizona in the usofa. ive seen it rain on a sunny day with no clouds to b seen lol
One screw Sally. 😮
I guess she lived a life of celibacy. 😢
New stronger ladder? 🙄
Thanks for the video. 😊
A new, stronger, ladder is one my list for sure!
I tried having the charger close to the batteries. But I never did like Going Out in the rain. R snow to check on the voltage So I bring the charger inside where I can tell when the batteries are.
Fully charged
Way too many trees in that location. The shade will decrease the efficiency of the panels by a substantial amount. It's not enough to just connect them and point them upwards. There are a lot of considerations to take into account when deploying and sizing an array.