I built my system after finding out i had stage 4 cancer and wanted my wife and me to still have electric if i get more sick. In remission at the moment and this solar stuff i e gotten into has been a great hobby to keep my mind off of things while working towards something that will help my family for a long time. Im back to driving a semi truck and finding time for working on my solar stuff is difficult but i still really enjoy it. Congratulations on saving money and becoming more independent from the grid. I replaced our air-conditioning with a 38 seer minisplit and thats helped alot with going off grid
The one thing I have learned from being on solar. You live around the solar, it doesn’t live around you :-). So when the sun shines you; wash/dry cloths, cook, use electrical appliances “that you can’t use at night or cloudy days. Vacuum the garage, get a electric mower/chainsaw/wood-splitter ect…. well you get the point :-). I wouldn’t even consider a dumb load :-(.
For the broken panels you can buy bulk windshield crack repair to fill in the cracks and seal the moisture out and still use the panels. some people also use lacquer to reseal the cracks.
the best thing you can do for the back of the array is keep it cool. that increases your power. as for the shattered one. get a piece of glass cut for it, put it over what is shattered seal it and put that sucker outside making Volts have lots of those
Awesome videos! You'll should do a 1year video update on the system. I really like your ground mount system and really appreciated seeing the teamwork you and your wife Martha have. Also got a good kick out of her comment "Oh I feel like I'm on the starship Enterprise. It's going to blow Cap" when ya'll first powered it on.
Thanks for the comment. Good idea. In fact I have an old irrigation pump already in place. Haven't used it in years, but should be able to resurrect it.
I've read that regular resistive hot water heaters, with extra insulation, make great dump loads. Turn the thermostat up to 150F (if no children in the house), and a 60+gal tank should soak up any extra capacity. A timer or relay can make sure it's only used when appropriate. I'm not sure if the heat pump hot water heater will be as good at soaking the load, I've heard they are almost too efficient for the task. If you only have a 120v leg available, I've read that the elements can be undervolted safely, they just have a lower current draw.
I have installed a 300L heatpump hot watwr cylinder and it is very efficient , but intend to use the 3kw element that it also has to increace the temperature to soak up the excess avalible energy as the vidieo sugested. we have a tempering valve on the outlet set at 55deg C and that fixes the risk of burning at the outlet. i have insteed my air inlet to suck heated air from the roof cavity and this dramaticly increases the heat up time on the water in cold days.
Congrats George on having a DIY home solar system operational. I recall seeing your original video, sometime ago, installing the solar array and trenching to lay the electrical cable conduits to your house from the solar array. Just finished watching this video on 5/2/23 and the question I have is what is your total costs of all materials into your system and what is your estimated labor hours to date (roughly 1 year ?). To be honest, I am amazed at your capabilities, being a retired former IT guy myself, able to do so much construction and electrical work yourself. I guess living on a large property that you are by choice able and willing to do a lot by yourself. Congrats again on your amazing accomplishment to date of a simply amazing personal journey !!!
Kenneth, thanks for the comments and kind words. So far, I have invested $17,513 USD in material for the solar power system. (That number does include delivery of equipment and lumber, and rental for post hole drill) For labor, I probable sunk 200 hours in constructing it.
I love this & think that even today, just a few years later, your setup is awesome. This is definitely something that I am interested in building myself.
(Missouri wind and solar) has a recycling program for used solar panels where they have the panels cleaned up, checked, and refitted with connectors and diodes if needed, then resold at a discount as a "remanufactured panel". you can let them know what you have, if it's something they take, they might pay a small amount. don't expect a big payday, but it's a nice option to give new life to used panels
There is a device that can heat water with the excess solar. It detects if there is no load and if the battery is full and will start to heat water for use in your home. You can also buy electric car and charge its battery with the free energy with same device. Its connected both to the PV input and inverter output I think and gathers the info from there to turn on the additional load.
I was thinking you could use an air conditioner in the summer or a dehumidifier for a dump load. And an electric space heater in the winter. Find a way for it to automatically turn on and off is the hard part.
On the damaged panels. I would donate to someone interested in solar. Hopefully someone young that can't afford much teaching them how solar works. the damaged panels have a chance of being less safe tho. That is definitely the biggest bummer. Be safe thanks for sharing
Those solar panels if they still have any out put you could reseal them they will have it reduced output but if they still have output they'll still generate power and it might be a fun little side project to play with him or you might be able to give them to somebody else for the cost of resealing them
Very nice system, you remind me of our neighbor, when I was 9 or 10 he mentored me about building camping vans out of plain old vans. He was a great guy I looked up to.
@@RokDAWG1 Been working on a aquaponic wall powered by solar with the wall N facing & trying to reflect sunlight on the S side of the wall to get produce on the shaded side. I hope reflecting tech with solar and light could be used one day to help grow food and power humanity more efficiently.
I have twelve 445 watt bifacial panels, 5340 total rated, that have produced 6400 watts. I also have a ground mount with light colored limestone for reflection. It works really great!
Great job, George! I fired off an email to the Solar Assistant developers to see if the would do a software update to use an available gpio pin on the raspberry pi to drive a Solid State relay. Just an additional function button in the program with adjustable levels for the excess solar to be diverted to the hotwater system, or an EV charger. Mienergi controllers in England does the same thing. Here's hoping. !
I just looked them up and no Goodwe or BYD suport as would love to be able to monitor everything in the same way have spare can and RS485 Modbus ports to conect to, but they are not suported
Hi George! Thanks for the updated video, I really enjoying this series. If are a reasonable distance to Baltimore, I would love to be able to take those damaged panels off your hands ( I will pick them up); assuming they still output something. Please let me know by responding to this message. - Alex
Hello Mustard Mining, thank you for the comment. We are located about 20miles west of Baltimore just off of I70. I've never even put a meter on the damaged panels, but you are welcome to come and take a look, and take them if
Great video, thanks. For the dump load, I’d recommend a automatic plug timer to come on at 2pm to turn on an electric water heater. Use the water for showers. Automatic plug timer thing can be used for anything else to dump loads.
Nice video. I have a box of X-10 aka home assistant switches/receivers etc.. that I was always too busy to put to use. I don't have a list of what's in there but the box is about 18"x15"x 12" so a good cubic foot of X-10 stuff if you're interested I can check what all is in the box. Just thought I would throw it out there since you mentioned giving home assistant a try. The house I'm in now is all LED so I doubt I will ever use it all. I have thought about listing it all on eBay but I never seem to get around to it.
I already replied once but apparently it didn't take. That's ok. I know exactly what you mean. I'm constantly trying to downsize my collection of gadgets but I keep getting more instead🤔
For my off grid system i plan on using moes brand transfer switch. They have several models to choose from, they turn things on & off based upon the battery voltage that you can adjust. I want my transfer switch to turn on an electrical heater (in winter) when my battery bank is 95% full and off at 60% or so just i do have leftover battery capacity incase of a power outage. In the summer I will have my transfer switch turn on a dehumidifier. I haven't completed my off grid system yet, and i hope it will work as good as i am thinking. Thank you for another great video.
We have a ~45 gallon Rheem heat pump + resistive water tank. It keeps the basement dry in the summer. We use oil in the coldest months. It only uses about 2 Kwh per day in the summer. I think it might increase 50-100% in the winter here in CT if I left it on.
Hey George great video I have jinko or junko 460 watt panels they look similar to yours.. I have a different inverter mpp 5000 watt something and batteries are different brand as well.. my inverter or charge controller maxes out at 220 volts I think.. So you have a decent one.. I put 3 panels in series but I'm going to try to do 4 cause I'm expanding the system... Later in the spring.. But love the videos.. Thanks for taking the time to make them look forward to the next one! Rob from Ontario Canada..
I have pretty much the same system. We did the pv install ourselves, up to having an electrician come in for the rest. We bought another set of 6 eg4 batteries for a total of 12 to our bank. Over 60kw storage. We have same pv panels too. Put into 2 rows of 12. I know you used a combiner box, but could you make up 2 strings and set one string of 12 pv panels to each inverter? Our inverters are the eg4 6500ex they are to be set up for dual phase in our basement. Each one says it has a capacity of 8000kw input. We are also retired. I'm 65 and husband is 72. Loved your first video. Viewing this one today!! Thank you so much for your expertise and videos!! God Bless.
Thank you for the comment. Sounds like you two have a very substantial solar power system. That's great. Our system is smaller and I still have the HVAC system and the kitchen stovetop connected to grid power. But everything else is running on solar power. Note: I didn't use a combiner box, instead I joined the two strings of six panels in the repurposed junction box mounted to the north array.
@gmhomemovies2023 wow! Thanks! Deliberating on using a combiner box or not. 24 pv panels total. Blue sun 465 with 575 gain. Two rows of 3 racks, each rack holding 4 pv panels. Was thinking of connecting one row, in series, of 3 racks 12 pv panels total. Can both of these rows be combined in a junction box, instead of a combiner box then fed to the house? One row going to one inverter and the other going to the second inverter. Our 2- eg4 6500ex inverters can have up to an 8000kw input.
@gmhomemovies2023 we use propane for our gas stove/oven and our 11gpm, on demand, water heater. We have a fireplace insert for heat in winter but also a mr cool hvac split system. 1200 sq ft home with unfinished basement. We anticipate fully using all heavy loads, washing, ac, well pump, microwave, etc....during solar collection hours in day. The combiner box use was stumping me. Thank you so very much.
@@lindaferguson593 regarding your question about a combiner box, I don't feel comfortable advising you on your system. In my case, I chose not to use a combiner. But your system is different. Consider looking to the good folks on the DIY Solar Forum.
Good solar panel system you have there, you can make a shelter :). My mum and dad have an electric water heater but it is not connected to 240v instead it is heated with oil, but I was thinking of putting up two 370w solar panels and let the power go into 240v without an inverter. my idea is that the hot water lasts longer before the oil burner starts up and then save a little oil.
Very nice. I wonder if that inverter would power your entire house? If not, it may be worth buying another one because they are only $1500 and you can power your entire house... and you can have your loads powered from the grid IF ever the batteries go dead and the sun isn't coming out.
Home Assistant Automations combined with smart sockets / Shelly Relays or similar would provide a lot of flexibility in switching on dump loads e.g. Immersion heaters when SoC > 95% etc... DIY solar diverter.
Im planning the dump load also. Ive bought the solid state relays, wire, all components to do it bit i just have a hard time finding the time to get it done.
This video has inspired me to start designing my own Solar PV system. I was delighted to see that your doing all this in my neck of the woods,I am in Anne Arundel county, so right next door. My question is how did you start the whole process, I have built large extensions to my home, but always left the electrical work up to the pros. Where did you learn how to do everything from soup to nuts?
Hello, and thanks for the comment. Here are some answers: Q: This video has inspired me to start designing my own Solar PV system. A: Yay, go for it. Q: I was delighted to see that your doing all this in my neck of the woods, I am in Anne Arundel county, so right next door. A: You want to come see my DIY solar electric system for yourself? Q: My question is how did you start the whole process A: I started with a spreadsheet to compare all the available panels, inverters, batteries, etc. Also read some books and a lot of posts on diysolarforum.com. Q: Where did you learn how to do everything from soup to nuts? A: School of hard knocks. I started DIY as a kid, out of necessity. Growing up poor in a single-parent household, I had to learn how to do things myself. Started tinkering with appliances, radios, then repairing cars (not often successfully). At about age 16 I ran my own business installing music systems in homes, stores, beauty solons, and cars. I read a lot of “how to” books and learned from observation. Then out of high school and some college, I stumbled my way into the IT business and benefited from a whole lot of technical training. Now a days, we can learn anything from many RUclips videos. --- George
Two comments. First, your system is large enough that you should start using the term kilowatts for describing its output. Secondly, consider installing a spa/Jacuzzi for soaking you tired bones. You and Martha deserve it. We're not as flexible and nimble as we once were. I saw you laying down on the job when you were passing conductor into the basement! (LOL, as the kids say). But seriously, a hot tub really would be useful as a convenient load dump for excess energy. Blessings
I enjoyed your video. Trying to make this comment with my phone and I suck at using my phone. I'm dictating this that's why there's mistakes & no punctuation. I just wanted to say you're an IT guy and you have more power than you can use, set up some asic miners. Even if your grid would buy your electrons they would only pay you the wholesale rate. Mining crypto makes excess heat so you could mint some BTC, and enjoy free heat while your system paid for itself even faster. My plan is to do a DIY off-grid to charge my electric car but if I ever make excess power, you know what I'd do with it. Thanks,
Good Video George , Like your system . Hope your next project , will use much of your excess power . If Mustard Mining does not take the 2 damaged panels , I would be interested in buying them as well . Just let me know if you want to sell them ? Thanks
Is that high pitched noise coming from the inverter when the well pump kicks on? In the original video, I thought the inverter was alarming from overload at first. Nice job on everything.
Hello, and thanks for the comment. Good question. Let me explain the noise you heard. The inverter does make a 60hz groaning sound when a big load kicks in. But the high-pitch noise is from an alarm buzzer I have connected to the well pump controller. About a decade ago, the well pressure switch failed in the closed position and the pump began running continuously, over pressuring all the plumbing and burning out the pump. The well is about 60 feet from the house and the pump is down at 160ft deep, so we couldn't hear it was running. After replacing the pump and repairing everything, I installed the alarm buzzer so that now we can hear when the well pump is running.
Thanks for the question, but I haven't done anything yet for a dump load I considered using my old water heater, unfortunately I found that it was too far gone with rusty leaks.
HOWdy G&M-H-M, ... Thanks ... My 36 antique 60 cell panels 208 Watt ( with MC3 connectors vs more modern MC4 Connectors - LOL ) ... set up in a 6S / 6P configuration on a wooden GROUND MOUNT ... at a FIXED sun Angle of 45 degrees ( because my FRAMING-SQUARE had the angle Built-In 🙂 ) ... produce up to 4.2 kW of electricity on a Sunny Day ... and took me from purchasing 400 kWh from my GRID supplier ... down to this month ( March 2024 = 78 kWh of purchased electricity ... my panels were ALL very Very VERY USED & OLD - cost about $ 65.00 each from WATTS-24/7 & SanTan Solar ... thanks again ... COOP ... the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA ... ...
Your electric water boiler is a nice dump load and will act as another battery. You are ready for an electric vehicle as well - EV or PHEV - another giant battery.
At the very end you mentioned the heat pump water heater for the dumb plug also consider a small stand-alone electric water heater in line with an on-demand water heater I think that's As Good As It Gets good luck
They also make a grid interactive grid tie inverter that have a amp clamp that monitor your household use coming in and can push power into your household power automatically. I would be curious if your battery voltage is in the rate range for them to be used in your case to offset your power usage inside your house without having to backfeed into the grid
I don't remember what they're called but they are blue inverter that goes onto one side of your incoming feed and they have to buy a second inverter to get the other side of the 110 v and it does is just plugs in to 110 volt plug that is on that side of your panel
Great video I was wondering if you would add a review to your first video I found of you doing the the whole install. I used to live in hagerstwon about 17 yrs ago now in maine. Tryi g to plan a budget solr setup myself , our electric is 2xs more and we get supplied from canada and there using and charging for solar supply. Im tired of being screwed so I want to have electric free like the big supplier..
@@gmhomemovies2023 that's good of you to help others like that. It will get him started with a project that will grow into something that helps him and his family for years. I got started with a 20 watt panel and now power our whole home and life from solar. The batteries was my biggest challenge but now I have about 30 kw of lifepo4 and 7 kw of nmc cells. I'm wanting to get some by facial panels in the next few days so hopefully I can make it all winter without ever plugging into my generator for a charge. I've met so many good people on here talking about our systems and bounce ideas off eachother is another great resource this youtube stuff does for us
Are the cracked panels no longer able to work? I dropped and cracked one of my 400w panels, and it still produces power like nothing happened. It just looks ugly.
Thanks for the comment. I wish I did have the option to sell power back to the grid, but unfortunately my inverter is not certified to do so in the USA.
@@gmhomemovies2023 That is a shame. We are in Canada. My neighbor has a system on his roof and has two meters on his house. He sells what he doesn't use back to the grid.
If you can't use all that power, mine some BTC with it ;). Other than that, could you not change the inverter and have a professional install and check out the entire install and then approve it? Surely if an electrician approves the install for a fee and you have a compatible inverter, you could export it?
Got a reply back from Solar Assistant group, and their team is currently working on improved scheduling and control tools to make it easier to control your inverter and how it prioritizes sources. They will also review the possibilities available for GPIO control. Looking forward to what they may come up with.
Nice system and rare to see a tidy DIY. But! it's not practical to not be grid tied. Maybe consider expanding and getting rid of the grid. The credits I get have been getting are covering 100% of my power bill. And over the last year the government of Alberta has been giving us small gas rebates, with that and my extra solar credits 100% of my gas bill was covered over the last 13 months. I paid a grand total of $10.46 for both utilities. (Ten dollars and fourty six cents) I just retired last Jan. I did mine DIY in 2015 with permits. Where I live we can do our own wiring legally with an inspection. Fortis power installed my bi-directional meter for free.
Thanks for the comment. Yes, our well pump is 3-wire using 240VAC at 8amps. In my county we're supposed to hire a licensed electrician for 240V wiring but I did it myself.
Thanks for the question. The well pump draws 1900 watts, but during startup it probably draws 2x or 3x as much. I have attached a buzzer noise maker so that I can hear when the pump is running, because the pump itself is at the bottom of a 160ft well.
@@gmhomemovies2023 Thanks George! We have a 1 HP Flint & Walling well pump sitting in 300ft deep so I guess it may draw more surge current than yours. I learned that EG4 released a brand new efficient new high frequency inverter called 6000 XP and it has 12k surge capacity so I probably get that inverter. This new inverter seems to be much better than EG4 6048 that you have in terms of idle current and has to MPPT. Nick
Mining crypto currency with your excess power could become your paying dummy load. It's how I use my excess power and it's backed to paying a premium. Should be a breeze for an IT guy. Great video!
@gmhomemovies2023 I just bought a skid of panels from signature, had to go pick up from terminal. There was damage on one of the panels but not to the point the panel isn't still operational. I've had other things delivered by R&L and my experience has been pretty mixed. I've had a number if things damaged and other things not. I made a comment on one of your video about mini splits, might be a really good investment and way to effectively use your left iver solar for heat or cooling. I have a number of them installed and have saved a SIGNIFICANT amount of money over propane and even over wood pellet. I use them as primary heat source now, savings is too great. For me, each unit pay off was under 12 months over traditional heating methods.
If you're making more power than you can use, whydo you still have a electric bill?? Seems that you're looking for places to dump excess, I suggest dumping it into your electrical needs...
Thank you for your comment. To use the excess power for my remaining electrical power needs requires purchasing more a few addition expensive batteries which is not in my near-term budget. Since publishing that video I've moved the kitchen oven to solar power and now the supply and load are fairly well balanced, and the system is only producing excess power on sunny afternoons.
![[DOKKAN BATTLE] Worldwide Campaign Announcement Video Part 2!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JpT5Voak6WA/mqdefault.jpg)
I built my system after finding out i had stage 4 cancer and wanted my wife and me to still have electric if i get more sick. In remission at the moment and this solar stuff i e gotten into has been a great hobby to keep my mind off of things while working towards something that will help my family for a long time. Im back to driving a semi truck and finding time for working on my solar stuff is difficult but i still really enjoy it. Congratulations on saving money and becoming more independent from the grid. I replaced our air-conditioning with a 38 seer minisplit and thats helped alot with going off grid
Change the time you dry clothes to the time your system is making power you can't use. 👍
The one thing I have learned from being on solar. You live around the solar, it doesn’t live around you :-). So when the sun shines you; wash/dry cloths, cook, use electrical appliances “that you can’t use at night or cloudy days. Vacuum the garage, get a electric mower/chainsaw/wood-splitter ect…. well you get the point :-). I wouldn’t even consider a dumb load :-(.
Hi George, I love my heat pump water heater. Nice system and greetings from Howard county, MD. Bill
For the broken panels you can buy bulk windshield crack repair to fill in the cracks and seal the moisture out and still use the panels. some people also use lacquer to reseal the cracks.
If the cells are cracked, they won’t work.
Nice video and fixed mount build. Please get a wind cover for your mic when outside. thanks for the tour of your system.
get a softstarter for your well pump
the best thing you can do for the back of the array is keep it cool. that increases your power. as for the shattered one. get a piece of glass cut for it, put it over what is shattered seal it and put that sucker outside making Volts have lots of those
Really? Wow! Do you have pics? Thanks!
Awesome videos! You'll should do a 1year video update on the system. I really like your ground mount system and really appreciated seeing the teamwork you and your wife Martha have. Also got a good kick out of her comment "Oh I feel like I'm on the starship Enterprise. It's going to blow Cap" when ya'll first powered it on.
You could build a nice big water feature in your garden and use the excess power to run a water pump.
Thanks for the comment. Good idea. In fact I have an old irrigation pump already in place. Haven't used it in years, but should be able to resurrect it.
I am planning a fixed mount like yours and for the same reasons. Simplicity is paramount.
I've read that regular resistive hot water heaters, with extra insulation, make great dump loads. Turn the thermostat up to 150F (if no children in the house), and a 60+gal tank should soak up any extra capacity. A timer or relay can make sure it's only used when appropriate. I'm not sure if the heat pump hot water heater will be as good at soaking the load, I've heard they are almost too efficient for the task. If you only have a 120v leg available, I've read that the elements can be undervolted safely, they just have a lower current draw.
I have installed a 300L heatpump hot watwr cylinder and it is very efficient , but intend to use the 3kw element that it also has to increace the temperature to soak up the excess avalible energy as the vidieo sugested. we have a tempering valve on the outlet set at 55deg C and that fixes the risk of burning at the outlet.
i have insteed my air inlet to suck heated air from the roof cavity and this dramaticly increases the heat up time on the water in cold days.
Congrats George on having a DIY home solar system operational. I recall seeing your original video, sometime ago, installing the solar array and trenching to lay the electrical cable conduits to your house from the solar array. Just finished watching this video on 5/2/23 and the question I have is what is your total costs of all materials into your system and what is your estimated labor hours to date (roughly 1 year ?). To be honest, I am amazed at your capabilities, being a retired former IT guy myself, able to do so much construction and electrical work yourself. I guess living on a large property that you are by choice able and willing to do a lot by yourself. Congrats again on your amazing accomplishment to date of a simply amazing personal journey !!!
Kenneth, thanks for the comments and kind words. So far, I have invested $17,513 USD in material for the solar power system. (That number does include delivery of equipment and lumber, and rental for post hole drill) For labor, I probable sunk 200 hours in constructing it.
This is very good info for a guy trying to learn all this. Thank you.
I love this & think that even today, just a few years later, your setup is awesome. This is definitely something that I am interested in building myself.
(Missouri wind and solar) has a recycling program for used solar panels where they have the panels cleaned up, checked, and refitted with connectors and diodes if needed, then resold at a discount as a "remanufactured panel". you can let them know what you have, if it's something they take, they might pay a small amount. don't expect a big payday, but it's a nice option to give new life to used panels
Thanks for the comment. I donated the damaged panels to a young man who is getting into solar.
There is a device that can heat water with the excess solar. It detects if there is no load and if the battery is full and will start to heat water for use in your home. You can also buy electric car and charge its battery with the free energy with same device. Its connected both to the PV input and inverter output I think and gathers the info from there to turn on the additional load.
I was thinking you could use an air conditioner in the summer or a dehumidifier for a dump load. And an electric space heater in the winter. Find a way for it to automatically turn on and off is the hard part.
Very nice video and thanks for sharing your process. Your video was very helpful, Ted in Sebastian,Fl
On the damaged panels. I would donate to someone interested in solar. Hopefully someone young that can't afford much teaching them how solar works. the damaged panels have a chance of being less safe tho. That is definitely the biggest bummer. Be safe thanks for sharing
Those solar panels if they still have any out put you could reseal them they will have it reduced output but if they still have output they'll still generate power and it might be a fun little side project to play with him or you might be able to give them to somebody else for the cost of resealing them
Very nice system, you remind me of our neighbor, when I was 9 or 10 he mentored me about building camping vans out of plain old vans. He was a great guy I looked up to.
If you used reflective mirrors on the bottom instead of white gravel, you may get more power, thanks for the update!
Yup, I’ve seen a couple of videos where reflective surfaces were used but it doesn’t matter when you can’t get rid of all the extra power.
@@RokDAWG1 Been working on a aquaponic wall powered by solar with the wall N facing & trying to reflect sunlight on the S side of the wall to get produce on the shaded side. I hope reflecting tech with solar and light could be used one day to help grow food and power humanity more efficiently.
I have twelve 445 watt bifacial panels, 5340 total rated, that have produced 6400 watts. I also have a ground mount with light colored limestone for reflection. It works really great!
Excellent thank you for sharing this important information
@@johnfitbyfaithnet, certainly, you're welcome!
I always waiting for this project update good job Sir.
Great job, George! I fired off an email to the Solar Assistant developers to see if the would do a software update to use an available gpio pin on the raspberry pi to drive a Solid State relay. Just an additional function button in the program with adjustable levels for the excess solar to be diverted to the hotwater system, or an EV charger. Mienergi controllers in England does the same thing. Here's hoping.
!
I just looked them up and no Goodwe or BYD suport as would love to be able to monitor everything in the same way have spare can and RS485 Modbus ports to conect to, but they are not suported
You could try pulling sheets of black poly under the tarps on a sunny day and watch to see how it changes your output.
Hi George! Thanks for the updated video, I really enjoying this series. If are a reasonable distance to Baltimore, I would love to be able to take those damaged panels off your hands ( I will pick them up); assuming they still output something. Please let me know by responding to this message. - Alex
Hello Mustard Mining, thank you for the comment. We are located about 20miles west of Baltimore just off of I70. I've never even put a meter on the damaged panels, but you are welcome to come and take a look, and take them if
Great video, thanks. For the dump load, I’d recommend a automatic plug timer to come on at 2pm to turn on an electric water heater. Use the water for showers. Automatic plug timer thing can be used for anything else to dump loads.
Thank you for sharing, this is all extremely helpful to me
Thanks for the update...nice job. I'll look forward to seeing more in the coming months 👍
Nice video. I have a box of X-10 aka home assistant switches/receivers etc.. that I was always too busy to put to use. I don't have a list of what's in there but the box is about 18"x15"x 12" so a good cubic foot of X-10 stuff if you're interested I can check what all is in the box. Just thought I would throw it out there since you mentioned giving home assistant a try. The house I'm in now is all LED so I doubt I will ever use it all. I have thought about listing it all on eBay but I never seem to get around to it.
Thanks for the comment, but no thanks for the X-10 items. I'm trying to downsize my collection of gadgets.
I already replied once but apparently it didn't take.
That's ok. I know exactly what you mean. I'm constantly trying to downsize my collection of gadgets but I keep getting more instead🤔
For my off grid system i plan on using moes brand transfer switch. They have several models to choose from, they turn things on & off based upon the battery voltage that you can adjust. I want my transfer switch to turn on an electrical heater (in winter) when my battery bank is 95% full and off at 60% or so just i do have leftover battery capacity incase of a power outage. In the summer I will have my transfer switch turn on a dehumidifier.
I haven't completed my off grid system yet, and i hope it will work as good as i am thinking.
Thank you for another great video.
We have a ~45 gallon Rheem heat pump + resistive water tank. It keeps the basement dry in the summer. We use oil in the coldest months. It only uses about 2 Kwh per day in the summer. I think it might increase 50-100% in the winter here in CT if I left it on.
Very nice video, it's heartwarming seeing some good work done and keep working
Maybe get another battery or two and move more of the grid circuits to the off grid panel?
love it keep it up
put the dump load to a water heater
Nice system.
Agree with the fixed mounting, I have a fixed mount and it’s working good for 3 years. Thanks ( am expanding and moving the array this summer )
Hey George great video I have jinko or junko 460 watt panels they look similar to yours.. I have a different inverter mpp 5000 watt something and batteries are different brand as well.. my inverter or charge controller maxes out at 220 volts I think.. So you have a decent one.. I put 3 panels in series but I'm going to try to do 4 cause I'm expanding the system... Later in the spring.. But love the videos.. Thanks for taking the time to make them look forward to the next one! Rob from Ontario Canada..
Great job! Very professional finish.
Sell them, ill take them. Love your videos.. Thanks
I have pretty much the same system. We did the pv install ourselves, up to having an electrician come in for the rest. We bought another set of 6 eg4 batteries for a total of 12 to our bank. Over 60kw storage. We have same pv panels too. Put into 2 rows of 12. I know you used a combiner box, but could you make up 2 strings and set one string of 12 pv panels to each inverter? Our inverters are the eg4 6500ex they are to be set up for dual phase in our basement. Each one says it has a capacity of 8000kw input. We are also retired. I'm 65 and husband is 72. Loved your first video. Viewing this one today!! Thank you so much for your expertise and videos!! God Bless.
Thank you for the comment. Sounds like you two have a very substantial solar power system. That's great. Our system is smaller and I still have the HVAC system and the kitchen stovetop connected to grid power. But everything else is running on solar power. Note: I didn't use a combiner box, instead I joined the two strings of six panels in the repurposed junction box mounted to the north array.
@gmhomemovies2023 wow! Thanks! Deliberating on using a combiner box or not. 24 pv panels total. Blue sun 465 with 575 gain. Two rows of 3 racks, each rack holding 4 pv panels. Was thinking of connecting one row, in series, of 3 racks 12 pv panels total. Can both of these rows be combined in a junction box, instead of a combiner box then fed to the house? One row going to one inverter and the other going to the second inverter. Our 2- eg4 6500ex inverters can have up to an 8000kw input.
@gmhomemovies2023 we use propane for our gas stove/oven and our 11gpm, on demand, water heater. We have a fireplace insert for heat in winter but also a mr cool hvac split system. 1200 sq ft home with unfinished basement. We anticipate fully using all heavy loads, washing, ac, well pump, microwave, etc....during solar collection hours in day. The combiner box use was stumping me. Thank you so very much.
@@lindaferguson593 regarding your question about a combiner box, I don't feel comfortable advising you on your system. In my case, I chose not to use a combiner. But your system is different. Consider looking to the good folks on the DIY Solar Forum.
Great Video, If your looking for something that monitor and turn on a relay I saw a video from the UK, guy using the victron BMV-712 .
Good solar panel system you have there, you can make a shelter :). My mum and dad have an electric water heater but it is not connected to 240v instead it is heated with oil, but I was thinking of putting up two 370w solar panels and let the power go into 240v without an inverter. my idea is that the hot water lasts longer before the oil burner starts up and then save a little oil.
Great job, are you trying to do more usage during solar hours. Ie dishwasher, laundry during solar hours.
Very nice. I wonder if that inverter would power your entire house? If not, it may be worth buying another one because they are only $1500 and you can power your entire house... and you can have your loads powered from the grid IF ever the batteries go dead and the sun isn't coming out.
Your grid power could come into the AC input on your EG4 and your electrical panel could be supplied from your to EG4.. do you think that would work?.
Nice System
Home Assistant Automations combined with smart sockets / Shelly Relays or similar would provide a lot of flexibility in switching on dump loads e.g. Immersion heaters when SoC > 95% etc... DIY solar diverter.
Im planning the dump load also. Ive bought the solid state relays, wire, all components to do it bit i just have a hard time finding the time to get it done.
This video has inspired me to start designing my own Solar PV system. I was delighted to see that your doing all this in my neck of the woods,I am in Anne Arundel county, so right next door. My question is how did you start the whole process, I have built large extensions to my home, but always left the electrical work up to the pros. Where did you learn how to do everything from soup to nuts?
Hello, and thanks for the comment. Here are some answers:
Q: This video has inspired me to start designing my own Solar PV system.
A: Yay, go for it.
Q: I was delighted to see that your doing all this in my neck of the woods, I am in Anne Arundel county, so right next door.
A: You want to come see my DIY solar electric system for yourself?
Q: My question is how did you start the whole process
A: I started with a spreadsheet to compare all the available panels, inverters, batteries, etc. Also read some books and a lot of posts on diysolarforum.com.
Q: Where did you learn how to do everything from soup to nuts?
A: School of hard knocks. I started DIY as a kid, out of necessity. Growing up poor in a single-parent household, I had to learn how to do things myself. Started tinkering with appliances, radios, then repairing cars (not often successfully). At about age 16 I ran my own business installing music systems in homes, stores, beauty solons, and cars. I read a lot of “how to” books and learned from observation. Then out of high school and some college, I stumbled my way into the IT business and benefited from a whole lot of technical training. Now a days, we can learn anything from many RUclips videos.
--- George
I love those panels. I have 8 235 watt panels but im looking at getting another 10 or 12 this week and id like to get the bifacial this time around
Use them on a 12v system they will be fine for that
Two comments. First, your system is large enough that you should start using the term kilowatts for describing its output.
Secondly, consider installing a spa/Jacuzzi for soaking you tired bones. You and Martha deserve it. We're not as flexible and nimble as we once were. I saw you laying down on the job when you were passing conductor into the basement! (LOL, as the kids say).
But seriously, a hot tub really would be useful as a convenient load dump for excess energy. Blessings
I enjoyed your video. Trying to make this comment with my phone and I suck at using my phone. I'm dictating this that's why there's mistakes & no punctuation. I just wanted to say you're an IT guy and you have more power than you can use, set up some asic miners. Even if your grid would buy your electrons they would only pay you the wholesale rate. Mining crypto makes excess heat so you could mint some BTC, and enjoy free heat while your system paid for itself even faster. My plan is to do a DIY off-grid to charge my electric car but if I ever make excess power, you know what I'd do with it. Thanks,
Good Video George , Like your system . Hope your next project , will use much of your excess power . If Mustard Mining does not take the 2 damaged panels , I would be interested in buying them as well . Just let me know if you want to sell them ? Thanks
Thanks again for your comment. Sorry, the 2 damaged panels are gone
Is that high pitched noise coming from the inverter when the well pump kicks on? In the original video, I thought the inverter was alarming from overload at first. Nice job on everything.
Hello, and thanks for the comment. Good question. Let me explain the noise you heard. The inverter does make a 60hz groaning sound when a big load kicks in. But the high-pitch noise is from an alarm buzzer I have connected to the well pump controller. About a decade ago, the well pressure switch failed in the closed position and the pump began running continuously, over pressuring all the plumbing and burning out the pump. The well is about 60 feet from the house and the pump is down at 160ft deep, so we couldn't hear it was running. After replacing the pump and repairing everything, I installed the alarm buzzer so that now we can hear when the well pump is running.
Any update on the dump load would be appreciated
Thanks for the question, but I haven't done anything yet for a dump load I considered using my old water heater, unfortunately I found that it was too far gone with rusty leaks.
HOWdy G&M-H-M, ...
Thanks ...
My 36 antique 60 cell panels 208 Watt ( with MC3 connectors vs more modern MC4 Connectors - LOL ) ...
set up in a 6S / 6P configuration on a wooden GROUND MOUNT ...
at a FIXED sun Angle of 45 degrees ( because my FRAMING-SQUARE had the angle Built-In 🙂 ) ...
produce up to 4.2 kW of electricity on a Sunny Day ...
and took me from purchasing 400 kWh from my GRID supplier ...
down to this month ( March 2024 = 78 kWh of purchased electricity ...
my panels were ALL very Very VERY USED & OLD - cost about $ 65.00 each from WATTS-24/7 & SanTan Solar ...
thanks again ...
COOP ...
the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA ...
...
nice build, come build one for me!
Your electric water boiler is a nice dump load and will act as another battery. You are ready for an electric vehicle as well - EV or PHEV - another giant battery.
Use a certified Victron Multiplus GX 48/3000 to feed the grid and in winter to charge the battery, if your solar panel don’t provide enough energy.
Hello and thanks for the comment. Are you suggesting that I could add the victron 48/3000 in parallel with my existing EG4 inverter?
Use the panels as a roof for a shelter for something.
Thanks for the comment. You know, that is a really good idea. I've looking for a place to park a log splitter when not in use.
Seal them! I've done it multiple times. Get 95-100% power. Not a biggie
At the very end you mentioned the heat pump water heater for the dumb plug also consider a small stand-alone electric water heater in line with an on-demand water heater I think that's As Good As It Gets good luck
Nice work
They also make a grid interactive grid tie inverter that have a amp clamp that monitor your household use coming in and can push power into your household power automatically. I would be curious if your battery voltage is in the rate range for them to be used in your case to offset your power usage inside your house without having to backfeed into the grid
I don't remember what they're called but they are blue inverter that goes onto one side of your incoming feed and they have to buy a second inverter to get the other side of the 110 v and it does is just plugs in to 110 volt plug that is on that side of your panel
Great video I was wondering if you would add a review to your first video I found of you doing the the whole install. I used to live in hagerstwon about 17 yrs ago now in maine. Tryi g to plan a budget solr setup myself , our electric is 2xs more and we get supplied from canada and there using and charging for solar supply. Im tired of being screwed so I want to have electric free like the big supplier..
Might could pour clear epoxy over the panels and still use them but not sure. I hate throwing something like that away also
Thanks for the comment. I donated the damaged panels to a young guy who is getting started with solar
@@gmhomemovies2023 that's good of you to help others like that. It will get him started with a project that will grow into something that helps him and his family for years. I got started with a 20 watt panel and now power our whole home and life from solar. The batteries was my biggest challenge but now I have about 30 kw of lifepo4 and 7 kw of nmc cells. I'm wanting to get some by facial panels in the next few days so hopefully I can make it all winter without ever plugging into my generator for a charge. I've met so many good people on here talking about our systems and bounce ideas off eachother is another great resource this youtube stuff does for us
Could you use a hall-effect sensor on a battery cable to detect when the battery charging switches out of bulk charging mode?
Thanks for the comment. I've put the dump load project on hold for now, but I'll look into your hall-effect senor idea when I get back to it.
I guess you need to put in a charge station for the neighbors and yourself.
Are the cracked panels no longer able to work? I dropped and cracked one of my 400w panels, and it still produces power like nothing happened. It just looks ugly.
Thanks for the comment. The cracked solar panels still work. I donated them to a young man who is interested in getting into solar power.
Are a sunshade for dogs with solar panels
You could use a crypto miner to turn on when excess power is present. And let it run till battery goes down lets say to 60%
Have you an option of sending the extra power back to the grid? If so, you would get paid for it if it was metered.
Thanks for the comment. I wish I did have the option to sell power back to the grid, but unfortunately my inverter is not certified to do so in the USA.
@@gmhomemovies2023 That is a shame. We are in Canada. My neighbor has a system on his roof and has two meters on his house. He sells what he doesn't use back to the grid.
If you can't use all that power, mine some BTC with it ;). Other than that, could you not change the inverter and have a professional install and check out the entire install and then approve it? Surely if an electrician approves the install for a fee and you have a compatible inverter, you could export it?
Thanks for the comment. a GPIO pin, what a great idea. Thanks for firing off the email.
Got a reply back from Solar Assistant group, and their team is currently working on improved scheduling and control tools to make it easier to control your inverter and how it prioritizes sources. They will also review the possibilities available for GPIO control. Looking forward to what they may come up with.
That's so cool. Thanks for the note.
OMG this was a year ago, thanks anyway
Nice system and rare to see a tidy DIY. But! it's not practical to not be grid tied. Maybe consider expanding and getting rid of the grid. The credits I get have been getting are covering 100% of my power bill. And over the last year the government of Alberta has been giving us small gas rebates, with that and my extra solar credits 100% of my gas bill was covered over the last 13 months. I paid a grand total of $10.46 for both utilities. (Ten dollars and fourty six cents) I just retired last Jan. I did mine DIY in 2015 with permits. Where I live we can do our own wiring legally with an inspection. Fortis power installed my bi-directional meter for free.
Did your well pump run off 240v? If so, without electrician is possible? Thanks
Thanks for the comment. Yes, our well pump is 3-wire using 240VAC at 8amps. In my county we're supposed to hire a licensed electrician for 240V wiring but I did it myself.
@@gmhomemovies2023 did you wire to breaker that inverter handled? Great job, George🇺🇸👍
What is the wattage of your well pump? Why did it beep while the pump was running?
Thanks for the question. The well pump draws 1900 watts, but during startup it probably draws 2x or 3x as much. I have attached a buzzer noise maker so that I can hear when the pump is running, because the pump itself is at the bottom of a 160ft well.
@@gmhomemovies2023 Thanks George! We have a 1 HP Flint & Walling well pump sitting in 300ft deep so I guess it may draw more surge current than yours. I learned that EG4 released a brand new efficient new high frequency inverter called 6000 XP and it has 12k surge capacity so I probably get that inverter. This new inverter seems to be much better than EG4 6048 that you have in terms of idle current and has to MPPT. Nick
Any concerns about as the system ages it may cause a fire?
Thanks for your comment. I accepted a small risk of fire by putting the batteries in the basement because I don't have any other option.
Mining crypto currency with your excess power could become your paying dummy load. It's how I use my excess power and it's backed to paying a premium. Should be a breeze for an IT guy. Great video!
R&L? Is that who delivered them for you?
Yes, R&L Carrier delivered all my solar panels, batteries, everything. Shipping was arranged by my supplier, Signature Solar in Texas
@gmhomemovies2023 I just bought a skid of panels from signature, had to go pick up from terminal. There was damage on one of the panels but not to the point the panel isn't still operational.
I've had other things delivered by R&L and my experience has been pretty mixed. I've had a number if things damaged and other things not.
I made a comment on one of your video about mini splits, might be a really good investment and way to effectively use your left iver solar for heat or cooling. I have a number of them installed and have saved a SIGNIFICANT amount of money over propane and even over wood pellet. I use them as primary heat source now, savings is too great. For me, each unit pay off was under 12 months over traditional heating methods.
If you're making more power than you can use, whydo you still have a electric bill??
Seems that you're looking for places to dump excess, I suggest dumping it into your electrical needs...
Thank you for your comment. To use the excess power for my remaining electrical power needs requires purchasing more a few addition expensive batteries which is not in my near-term budget. Since publishing that video I've moved the kitchen oven to solar power and now the supply and load are fairly well balanced, and the system is only producing excess power on sunny afternoons.
Get a Tesla or over EV to dump loads on. Lol safe on gas.
Make
wind noise
Hook a crypto currency mining rig up as your dump load. Earn free money to pay for your system and future expansion.