Nice little system. One suggestion though. When you are running two batteries in parallel like that you should have the positive going to the inverter on one battery, and the negative coming off the other battery. That way you will drain and fill the batteries evenly. As you have it right now you will be draining the one battery faster than the other.
Thank you. I changed it the day after the video was made. But I do appreciate it. You’re right. Just something I overlooked at first. Thanks for watching
Have you considered a sun tracker controller for your solar panels? From what I understand the controller and the actuator is not too expensive to purchase separately. Since the mount you built will only tilt up and down you could mount a couple of actuators that would tilt the panel up or down to maximize your solar production. That would keep you from needing to manually tilt the panel. Of course without enough batteries to store your excess energy I don't know if it would be worth the slightly extra cost.
We are hoping to have at least six batteries when we’re finished and even then we have more power coming in than we will need. Our batteries fully charge in less than two hours on most days. But we did consider a tracker but with twenty panels it’s above our budget. We appreciate you watching and advice. We are always looking for input. We’re kind of learning as we go
Solar panels have gotten so cheap that it’s cost effective to just add more panels to make up for inefficiencies. I have 84 panels from Santan also but the price of new panels has dropped significantly. I live close to Signature Solar,so will probably buy new ones when I need more panels.
Nice system. I just added 15 renogy 320 watt panels to my system. 2 other areays with total of 36 - 240 wat solar world panels and 15 - 300 watt panels on my roof. Totaling just under 18 kw of solar. 2 - 4400 watt magnum energy inverter/chargers, with one more that will be installed shortly to give me just over 13 kw of 240 split phase power. Which will finally allow me to charge my ford lightning truck, which requires 7200 watts per hour. I can usually make it thru the night with my 2 - 230 AH 48 volt lithium batteries. That will be the next on my list after I get my 3rd inverter installed. One more 230 AH 48 volt battery should get me thru the night regardless of what I run.
I'm glad your nearly fully powered. I hope you can fully enclose that corner for security. No system is perfect, but anything you do will slow down someone trying to b rip you off.
This is actually in the shed that we are converting to a tiny house that we plan on living in until we build our hyperadobe earthbag home. Thanks for watching. I hope you follow us on our learning/living off grid adventure.
Great set up for small off grid solar. I love the Lifepower 4 batteries 🔋. PV panel racking is really expensive so you saved a lot of 💰 doing it yourself. The long term payoff from Solar is really good and equipment costs continue to decline. Sorry to hear you got burgled! ☀️⚡️👍
Dodge and Chris - how long is your array? We are looking to mount our array on top of our 40' sea container to keep the ground squirrels from eating the wiring. We are in Northern Nevada and the little buggers eat any exposed wiring for no apparent reason (diet?!). Thank you and your wife for posting your build! It helps me to better comprehend what we are up against. We are are both 57 going on 58 years old... if we are going to do this the time is definitely now! We just need to power our 50 Amp service for the RV that we have to begin with.
@@dodget7004 Thanks for the response, Dodge! Deanna and I are excited but I am getting over a heart attack from last Feb'23 and getting my legs back under me. I have (12) 390 QCell panels (4680w potential to begin with) - close to your system. We were going to install our Conext SW4048 with Classic 150 charge controller but your system seems to be a better option. I am wondering if we could get away with using a transformer like you did for our 50Amp service to the RV but it may be on the low side. I am unsure and need to speak with an electrician beforehand.
There are a lot of options out there. Just be sure an research to find the best option for your situation. We couldn’t be happier with the way we went. Good luck to you and God bless
The transformers main purpose is splitting the phase so you can have 120 vac. It won't automatically balance your loads. If you put more loads on either of your 2 120 vac circuits your system would be unbalanced.
Right but it will always keep each 120vac. The growatt already split it into two 120vac. The transformer actually creates a neutral. Thank you for watching.
It is amazing to me how much these solar systems are making homesteads so much better these days. My one comment is that I think those LifePower4 are supposed to be flat on the floor or stacked (e.g. racked), not placed on their ends pointing straight up like that. Because the prismatic cells inside have pressure relief valves (in case there's a problem) that might not work properly in that cell orientation.
Man, sorry you got ripped off like that! Might consider a security cam that runs off your wifi. Wish you'd at least gotten a picture of your perps. This is the favorite system I've seen so far. What did you say your panels ran and how hard is it to find "slightly used" panels? I've also seen a video guy found those honkin expensive batteries for cheap "barely" used. Not sure if that's the way to go or not…but seems he shaved a HUGE amount off the cost of his batteries….I think he said they'd been on the shelf a bit too long or something like that. I'd love to hear if you find out anything more on things like that or if you can use that info yourself. I'm not quite there at my own place…but I just learned the electric company wants to charge me 6K to run off my nieghbors post, or else cut 20 feet of old growth trees down to fix a fubar on their part for spacing my original poles too far apart. Yep…time to look into alternatives
We got our panels from Santan in Arizona. They were used but they checked out. The rest of our system we got from Signature Solar in Texas. I’m kind of scared of used batteries but I’m sure there are some out there that are fine. I wish you luck on your power solution. I’ll be happy to answer any questions I can. Keep in mind I’m not an expert. Just make sure you do your research. Lots of different options out there. We appreciate you watching and your comments. Hope you follow a long as we fumble through this whole off grid homestead thing.
What are the size and cost for your panels? I may have missed that. I'm also curious about how you are orienting to the sun angle year round. I like the ones that follow the sun, but seems they might become unstable unless locked down in one position at a time. I have one of those old satalite dish contractions on my property from way back. I think they may have potential as a base for some sort of panels but they are not as massive as you've got there. I keep thinking if I wait long enough they will reduce the size like they did with computers, lol! The rate I get things done they just might. @@dodget7004
New subscriber. Y'all did a great job getting everything hooked up ... at an amazing price. I have huge respect for Will Prowse (DIY Solar Power on youtube) and he also loves the EG4 and Signature Solar. Your install is very similar to what he likes and recommends. You made a fantastic investment. Very happy for y'all. God bless
Thanks so much. I watch Will myself. I appreciate you watching and subscribing. We are going to be putting out more videos on a regular basis from now on. Just trying to learn everything. God bless and thank you
@@dodget7004 Look forward to the new videos. There are a lot of people that are in your position or want to be. You'll be appreciated for sure. Some of the best seem to show the good, the bad and the ugly. People really respect that. Keepin it real. Take care y'all
I’m using the Growatt 5Ks also. The transformer mitigates the surge when you start motors so you can get much more utility than you would expect from a 5K inverter. One of the Growatts is running two 18 KBTU mini splits and after observing the result,I’m planning to add a third. The mini split heat pumps run on 240v so I don’t have a transformer on that inverter. There are newer inverters I would prefer if I were buying today but am well satisfied with the Growatts.l have a EG4 6000XP that I plan to use for another project and I think for a split phase 6000 you get a lot for the money with the pv disconnect,battery breaker,two MPPTs,and AC breakers on board.Also a lot more wiring room. Congratulations on weaning off the generator!
That Growatt high frequency inverter is not designed to power that transformer. Your going to fry the MOSFETs in your inverter's H-Bridge circuit. in a your inverter if you leave that high inductance transformer connected.
Thank you for watching and your comment. Actually this transformer was design for this growatt inverter by growatt. This is an auto balancing transformer. It also provides a neutral leg that you would not have without it. The growatt spf5000 has two legs of 120v. This transformer is made by growatt for this inverter. Thank you
Great video! Signature solar has been great. Was a steep learning curve for me to learn how to hookup and operate the system and inverter, but it has been well worth the frustration and stuff learned. Look forward to your future videos!
Great video. I'm a new subscriber. Is this a European Growatt unit with 240V out? It seems like only the larger US inverters have 240V. I like the idea of splitting and balancing to get 120V.
This is the US version spf5000es We can’t use European version here because of the bonded ground. It wouldn’t have affected us either way because we are not grid tied but we still got the US version. It’s 240v but we installed a auto split transformer in order balance the system plus it gives us a neutral wire. Thanks for your comment and would be happy to answer any questions I can
Very nice setup as far as security especially in these times of economic crisis this is why I mounted my diy solar generators and chargers 🔌 all on dollys with big wheels so I can just take everything with me if am not going to be on my future offgrid future homestead for a period of time they can’t steal what’s not there my whole system beside the panels are mobile ! The other option if I had everything mounted on the wall I would build a very secure maintenance storage structure with no windows to mount all my equipment, I also buy all my panels from SanTan Solar to awesome company no need to waste a lot good money on solar panels nice setup you have
I suggest you get some fuses for your solar panel arrays. There usually between 15 A and 25 A. This is a cheap source to protect your system. These fuses go right on the positive side of your panels for your system.
I prefer midnight solar breakers over fuses. I use 15 amp each array has 6 breaker panel located at the arrays. Then main disconnects located in my home.
I have 4 of the same batteries, replacing the lead acid ones that died after 10 years. I really like them. The rest of my system is old school, Outback and Midnite Solar. But Signature Solar has some nice inverters that I may try some day. I honestly don't think I would go with the Growatt + transformer when you seem to get more for your buck with the other ones.
After looking at most all of them out there growatt is what I felt was the best option for us. EG4 has too many issues Growatt just seems to be the most reliable. We have absolutely zero issues so far. Just turned it on and it just worked. Everyone just has to go with what works for them. Good luck on whatever you decide. Thanks for watching.
Well that looks nice, I've been wanting to increase my system . I was off-grid for 15 years til I moved to a new farm. I would like to ask you some questions if I could. Thanks
@@dodget7004 Yeah good for a back up source but expensive as hell for your primary power. It's a 3600rpm unit, they are cheaper to build and lightweight, but you are giving up a lot of efficiency. You should look into a propane kit for it. Probably under 50 bucks. Propane stores forever, and you never have to deal with a gummed up carb from sitting. Ive been using propane for my backup generator for like 15 years. It can sit for a year or more and start up no problem
Actually if you are charging your batteries and running your system when running your generator it's most efficient, because unlike normally running your home from a generator you aren't using the full potential of your generator. When I do need to utilize my generator because the grid is down and the clouds are heavy, my 11 kw generac generator is fully loaded which is the most efficient way to run a generator.
Our growatt doesn’t have cooling holes in the back. It vents and cools from the sides. That’s why the manual has a requirement for distance between the growatt and other things. Give a minute and I can tell you what those setup options are
Setting 1 is the output source priority, 5 is the type of battery you’re using and there is no setting 36 in the manual. I’m not home right now but when I get there I will go through the settings and see if 36 is available. Thanks for watching and for your comment
Make sure you have EMP Shields on your Controllers and Batteries if your are using Lithium Batteries because if you have an EMP or CME it will all be fried and useless.
Nick, if you chase down actual EMP tests and white papers, and consider the strengths that might occur, you will find that unless everything from the panels to the boxes and cables is fully secured in a metal "casket"...EMP shielding is not feasible. Better to have spares for everything, safely in a real EMP proof casket.
About to finish my off grid cabin, and I really want to go solar, but have questions. No one ever talks about ac. Can this system run a mini split, or can it run a full size hvac system? Hot water? Washer? New to all this, very interesting. Sorry about your robbery, that had to be devastating .
Ugghh... The audio on this is not good. Please put a wireless mic on him. Nice system for sure. Get rid of ANY shading like there was at the beginning of this video. The idea is to MAXIMIZE input.
We do need a mic. There’s no shade on the panels. I just had a backhoe sitting there. We have yet to use all the power that these panels can produce. Thanks so much for watching and your input. Every bit helps us as we learn on the fly
It will run a/c. Mini split would be the best way to go. This will run washer and dryer . You can add more of the growatt units up to six of them for 30kw of power. You would never even know you were off grid. We don’t feel like we are off grid.
![ARGENTINA vs. BOLIVIA [6-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 10](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C3wPtKNbAOA/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice little system. One suggestion though. When you are running two batteries in parallel like that you should have the positive going to the inverter on one battery, and the negative coming off the other battery. That way you will drain and fill the batteries evenly. As you have it right now you will be draining the one battery faster than the other.
Thank you. I changed it the day after the video was made. But I do appreciate it. You’re right. Just something I overlooked at first. Thanks for watching
Great savings for winter 🚜🌾✨
Yes it is
I'm so sorry to hear folks stole your equipment. That makes me so mad. I wish you guys good luck in your future.
Thank you so much! We appreciate it
Have you considered a sun tracker controller for your solar panels? From what I understand the controller and the actuator is not too expensive to purchase separately. Since the mount you built will only tilt up and down you could mount a couple of actuators that would tilt the panel up or down to maximize your solar production. That would keep you from needing to manually tilt the panel. Of course without enough batteries to store your excess energy I don't know if it would be worth the slightly extra cost.
Thank you for the suggestion. We’re still working on getting the system we want. Eventually we’ll get there
We are hoping to have at least six batteries when we’re finished and even then we have more power coming in than we will need. Our batteries fully charge in less than two hours on most days. But we did consider a tracker but with twenty panels it’s above our budget. We appreciate you watching and advice. We are always looking for input. We’re kind of learning as we go
Yes sounds like you have plenty of power 👍
Solar panels have gotten so cheap that it’s cost effective to just add more panels to make up for inefficiencies.
I have 84 panels from Santan also but the price of new panels has dropped significantly. I live close to Signature Solar,so will probably buy new ones when I need more panels.
We live close enough also to signature Solar to just pick our stuff up and save on all the shipping.
Nice system. I just added 15 renogy 320 watt panels to my system. 2 other areays with total of 36 - 240 wat solar world panels and 15 - 300 watt panels on my roof. Totaling just under 18 kw of solar. 2 - 4400 watt magnum energy inverter/chargers, with one more that will be installed shortly to give me just over 13 kw of 240 split phase power. Which will finally allow me to charge my ford lightning truck, which requires 7200 watts per hour. I can usually make it thru the night with my 2 - 230 AH 48 volt lithium batteries. That will be the next on my list after I get my 3rd inverter installed. One more 230 AH 48 volt battery should get me thru the night regardless of what I run.
Nice. You ever Have too many batteries lol. Thanks for watching we really appreciate it
Good stuff 👍
Thank you. We appreciate it Thanks for watching
I'm glad your nearly fully powered. I hope you can fully enclose that corner for security. No system is perfect, but anything you do will slow down someone trying to b rip you off.
This is actually in the shed that we are converting to a tiny house that we plan on living in until we build our hyperadobe earthbag home. Thanks for watching. I hope you follow us on our learning/living off grid adventure.
Thank you so much for outlining what you've done and sharing that with us. So sorry to hear about the thieves...... :-(
Thank you 😊 we are tough we can survive
Thank you.
@@Hippycowyayhomesteadyes you are and yes you can.
Great starter system. Hopefully the homestead is now secured by cameras and by other means. Lots of hard work building a homestead keep it up!
thank you its a 5000 watt system so it will run everything we need, cameras are definately the future .
That's an impressive system! Gonna save a LOT of money!
it has already in one year we paid 9000.00 for fuel for the generator
I like the array. Nice job on the system breakdown. Good work.
Thank you
Thank you very much. Thank you for watching
I agree, I often wish I could tilt my big arrays for different seasons, but they are set stationary.
Great set up for small off grid solar. I love the Lifepower 4 batteries 🔋. PV panel racking is really expensive so you saved a lot of 💰 doing it yourself. The long term payoff from Solar is really good and equipment costs continue to decline. Sorry to hear you got burgled! ☀️⚡️👍
We can expand this to a 30kw system just by adding more controller/inverters to it. Thanks for watching we appreciate it
Dodge and Chris - how long is your array? We are looking to mount our array on top of our 40' sea container to keep the ground squirrels from eating the wiring. We are in Northern Nevada and the little buggers eat any exposed wiring for no apparent reason (diet?!). Thank you and your wife for posting your build! It helps me to better comprehend what we are up against. We are are both 57 going on 58 years old... if we are going to do this the time is definitely now! We just need to power our 50 Amp service for the RV that we have to begin with.
The mount is about 33’ long and about 11’ high.
You’re close to our age. I will be 59 in June.
@@dodget7004 Thanks for the response, Dodge! Deanna and I are excited but I am getting over a heart attack from last Feb'23 and getting my legs back under me. I have (12) 390 QCell panels (4680w potential to begin with) - close to your system. We were going to install our Conext SW4048 with Classic 150 charge controller but your system seems to be a better option. I am wondering if we could get away with using a transformer like you did for our 50Amp service to the RV but it may be on the low side. I am unsure and need to speak with an electrician beforehand.
There are a lot of options out there. Just be sure an research to find the best option for your situation. We couldn’t be happier with the way we went. Good luck to you and God bless
@@dodget7004 Blessings to Chris and You as well!
I appreciate the complete breakdown on your system…
Thank you for watching
Everything looks great!
Thank you. We appreciate it. Still some things to do but it’s up and running. Thanks for watching
@@dodget70040ppppl⁰no open⁰
Congrats on your system! And thank you for the video!
Thanks for watching
This looks great. Wish I knew how to do this.
Neither did we, a lot of research
The transformers main purpose is splitting the phase so you can have 120 vac. It won't automatically balance your loads. If you put more loads on either of your 2 120 vac circuits your system would be unbalanced.
Right but it will always keep each 120vac. The growatt already split it into two 120vac. The transformer actually creates a neutral. Thank you for watching.
Isn't that growatt a single phase 240v?
Looks good. I built my mount out of PT lumber 32kW of pv.
That’s awesome
It is amazing to me how much these solar systems are making homesteads so much better these days.
My one comment is that I think those LifePower4 are supposed to be flat on the floor or stacked (e.g. racked), not placed on their ends pointing straight up like that. Because the prismatic cells inside have pressure relief valves (in case there's a problem) that might not work properly in that cell orientation.
New subscriber 🤙
Welcome to the adventure
Man, sorry you got ripped off like that! Might consider a security cam that runs off your wifi. Wish you'd at least gotten a picture of your perps. This is the favorite system I've seen so far. What did you say your panels ran and how hard is it to find "slightly used" panels? I've also seen a video guy found those honkin expensive batteries for cheap "barely" used. Not sure if that's the way to go or not…but seems he shaved a HUGE amount off the cost of his batteries….I think he said they'd been on the shelf a bit too long or something like that. I'd love to hear if you find out anything more on things like that or if you can use that info yourself. I'm not quite there at my own place…but I just learned the electric company wants to charge me 6K to run off my nieghbors post, or else cut 20 feet of old growth trees down to fix a fubar on their part for spacing my original poles too far apart. Yep…time to look into alternatives
We got our panels from Santan in Arizona. They were used but they checked out. The rest of our system we got from Signature Solar in Texas. I’m kind of scared of used batteries but I’m sure there are some out there that are fine. I wish you luck on your power solution. I’ll be happy to answer any questions I can. Keep in mind I’m not an expert. Just make sure you do your research. Lots of different options out there. We appreciate you watching and your comments. Hope you follow a long as we fumble through this whole off grid homestead thing.
What are the size and cost for your panels? I may have missed that. I'm also curious about how you are orienting to the sun angle year round. I like the ones that follow the sun, but seems they might become unstable unless locked down in one position at a time. I have one of those old satalite dish contractions on my property from way back. I think they may have potential as a base for some sort of panels but they are not as massive as you've got there. I keep thinking if I wait long enough they will reduce the size like they did with computers, lol! The rate I get things done they just might. @@dodget7004
Definitely want 24/7 recording security cameras. Something you can turn over to the police to identify the thieves.
😎👍nice we have the 6000 growatt split phase They use less power at no load
Dogman sent me. Looking forward to your videos.
Awesome glad to have you ❤️
I love your system it's alot like mine.
Thank you 😊 it sure takes a lot of planning
good job!
Thank you. We appreciate you watching us learn.
New subscriber. Y'all did a great job getting everything hooked up ... at an amazing price. I have huge respect for Will Prowse (DIY Solar Power on youtube) and he also loves the EG4 and Signature Solar. Your install is very similar to what he likes and recommends. You made a fantastic investment. Very happy for y'all. God bless
Thanks so much. I watch Will myself. I appreciate you watching and subscribing. We are going to be putting out more videos on a regular basis from now on. Just trying to learn everything. God bless and thank you
@@dodget7004 Look forward to the new videos. There are a lot of people that are in your position or want to be. You'll be appreciated for sure. Some of the best seem to show the good, the bad and the ugly. People really respect that. Keepin it real. Take care y'all
I’m using the Growatt 5Ks also. The transformer mitigates the surge when you start motors so you can get much more utility than you would expect from a 5K inverter.
One of the Growatts is running two 18 KBTU mini splits and after observing the result,I’m planning to add a third. The mini split heat pumps run on 240v so I don’t have a transformer on that inverter.
There are newer inverters I would prefer if I were buying today but am well satisfied with the Growatts.l have a EG4 6000XP that I plan to use for another project and I think for a split phase 6000 you get a lot for the money with the pv disconnect,battery breaker,two MPPTs,and AC breakers on board.Also a lot more wiring room.
Congratulations on weaning off the generator!
That Growatt high frequency inverter is not designed to power that transformer. Your going to fry the MOSFETs in your inverter's H-Bridge circuit. in a your inverter if you leave that high inductance transformer connected.
Thank you for watching and your comment. Actually this transformer was design for this growatt inverter by growatt. This is an auto balancing transformer. It also provides a neutral leg that you would not have without it. The growatt spf5000 has two legs of 120v. This transformer is made by growatt for this inverter. Thank you
Great video! Signature solar has been great. Was a steep learning curve for me to learn how to hookup and operate the system and inverter, but it has been well worth the frustration and stuff learned. Look forward to your future videos!
It was for me too. A lot of research. I’m glad we went this way
Thank you so much. It’s been a learning curve for us too. Thank you for watching
Great video. I'm a new subscriber.
Is this a European Growatt unit with 240V out?
It seems like only the larger US inverters have 240V.
I like the idea of splitting and balancing to get 120V.
This is the US version spf5000es
We can’t use European version here because of the bonded ground. It wouldn’t have affected us either way because we are not grid tied but we still got the US version. It’s 240v but we installed a auto split transformer in order balance the system plus it gives us a neutral wire. Thanks for your comment and would be happy to answer any questions I can
Brilliant
Wish you all the best
Thank you
Thank you we appreciate that. Thank you for watching
Let’s hope you spent a few dollars on security, as you don’t want to lose this system!
Thanks for the comment. Security will be installed again
Very nice setup as far as security especially in these times of economic crisis this is why I mounted my diy solar generators and chargers 🔌 all on dollys with big wheels so I can just take everything with me if am not going to be on my future offgrid future homestead for a period of time they can’t steal what’s not there my whole system beside the panels are mobile ! The other option if I had everything mounted on the wall I would build a very secure maintenance storage structure with no windows to mount all my equipment, I also buy all my panels from SanTan Solar to awesome company no need to waste a lot good money on solar panels nice setup you have
@@regenerativelifewayne
Yes, I like the idea of building a cage around it, with plenty of locks & Alarms! Too bad we have to waste money in this way.
I suggest you get some fuses for your solar panel arrays. There usually between 15 A and 25 A. This is a cheap source to protect your system. These fuses go right on the positive side of your panels for your system.
Picked up a dc breaker for the array today. Thank you.
@@dodget7004
These are not breakers, these are fuses that go at the solar panel, positive connections. First line of defense.
Already has the inline fuses on the positive lead out at the array where the two series are tied in parallel
@@dodget7004
🤙
I prefer midnight solar breakers over fuses. I use 15 amp each array has 6 breaker panel located at the arrays. Then main disconnects located in my home.
That brian/word freeze was so funny. Thanks for leaving that in. Great reaction from your hubbty too. Proves he loves you! ❤
Glad you enjoyed lol
Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.
Thank you and thanks for watching we appreciate you
Check the battery prices for black friday should be sone good deals coming up. I need two more as well
Thank you we will
Good work buddy! Subbed. Get you some wire management clips brother love.
Thank you. I think you’re right about the wire management. Thanks for watching me fumble through all this lol
@@dodget7004 Shoot me your address I'll ship you some
Great video! Keep it up. More subscribers to come.
Thank you 😊 we hope so
That's awesome I'm glad you got it done.
Thank you we are so excited
What measures have you taken to protect your new equipment from theft again? That would be my first concern!!!
We are completely moved into the property now with multiple dogs. We are working on a security system but very seldom is someone not there now.
I have 4 of the same batteries, replacing the lead acid ones that died after 10 years. I really like them. The rest of my system is old school, Outback and Midnite Solar. But Signature Solar has some nice inverters that I may try some day. I honestly don't think I would go with the Growatt + transformer when you seem to get more for your buck with the other ones.
After looking at most all of them out there growatt is what I felt was the best option for us. EG4 has too many issues Growatt just seems to be the most reliable. We have absolutely zero issues so far. Just turned it on and it just worked. Everyone just has to go with what works for them. Good luck on whatever you decide. Thanks for watching.
I don't own them but I believe the absolute best are made by victron.
You definitely need to better secure your system. No windows, steel door. And 24/7 security cameras.
We will be living in this shed as soon as it’s done.
Well that looks nice, I've been wanting to increase my system . I was off-grid for 15 years til I moved to a new farm. I would like to ask you some questions if I could. Thanks
Thank you 😊 Of course Dodge happy to answer any of your questions
I’ll try to answer your questions the best I can.
What kind of generator? KW? 1800 or 3600 RPM? What fuel? Really running generators is expensive no matter what
It’s a predator 4350/3500 from harbor freight
@@dodget7004 Yeah good for a back up source but expensive as hell for your primary power. It's a 3600rpm unit, they are cheaper to build and lightweight, but you are giving up a lot of efficiency.
You should look into a propane kit for it. Probably under 50 bucks. Propane stores forever, and you never have to deal with a gummed up carb from sitting. Ive been using propane for my backup generator for like 15 years. It can sit for a year or more and start up no problem
Actually if you are charging your batteries and running your system when running your generator it's most efficient, because unlike normally running your home from a generator you aren't using the full potential of your generator. When I do need to utilize my generator because the grid is down and the clouds are heavy, my 11 kw generac generator is fully loaded which is the most efficient way to run a generator.
think growatt should be mounted not flush but off the wall as have cooling holes on the back--- what is menu 1,5,and 36 ?
Our growatt doesn’t have cooling holes in the back. It vents and cools from the sides. That’s why the manual has a requirement for distance between the growatt and other things. Give a minute and I can tell you what those setup options are
Setting 1 is the output source priority,
5 is the type of battery you’re using and there is no setting 36 in the manual. I’m not home right now but when I get there I will go through the settings and see if 36 is available. Thanks for watching and for your comment
have done a firmware upgrade ?
No
Make sure you have EMP Shields on your Controllers and Batteries if your are using Lithium Batteries because if you have an EMP or CME it will all be fried and useless.
Thanks for the info. I’ll have to look into that. I appreciate it and thanks for watching
Nick, if you chase down actual EMP tests and white papers, and consider the strengths that might occur, you will find that unless everything from the panels to the boxes and cables is fully secured in a metal "casket"...EMP shielding is not feasible. Better to have spares for everything, safely in a real EMP proof casket.
what gauge wire from the panels to the inverter? i have half of the panels 10 of them
Its 10ga wire. I got it from signature Solar. It’s designed for use outside. Comes with MC4 connectors
need at least 10kva gennie unless setting user defined charging
Fortunately these EG4 batteries decide the charge parameters, we don’t use the gen on ours
only if menu 5 is L2 @@dodget7004
How did you ground your array?
Use an 8’ grounding rod after connecting all the panels together with the standard bare copper wire.
About to finish my off grid cabin, and I really want to go solar, but have questions. No one ever talks about ac. Can this system run a mini split, or can it run a full size hvac system? Hot water? Washer? New to all this, very interesting. Sorry about your robbery, that had to be devastating .
Electrician in East Tennessee I do solar on cabins You're going to have to get a mini split and run it off of an inverter.
Thanks devin for your answer.
Thanks for answering back. All that power, and it cant run a minisplit on its own? Isn't an inverter a generator? @@Dpknox
Ok an inverter converts 12 to 120, they have a all in one converter and charge control. First time seeing that.
I have been looking at smaller 1000w kits with 1000 inverter, charge control and panels, little different from this awesome set up.
🍻🍻👍
and if i trip and fall the cat did it!
He probably did
SBU or SUB menu 1 ?
Ours is set at SBU as we have no grid tie
Ugghh... The audio on this is not good. Please put a wireless mic on him. Nice system for sure. Get rid of ANY shading like there was at the beginning of this video. The idea is to MAXIMIZE input.
We do need a mic. There’s no shade on the panels. I just had a backhoe sitting there. We have yet to use all the power that these panels can produce. Thanks so much for watching and your input. Every bit helps us as we learn on the fly
would have got solark
price.
go victron buy once cry once !!!
Lol
Victron is definitely the best
0
I can't believe that you are running any kind of air conditioner with that system but maybe you don't use air conditioning out there.
It will run a/c. Mini split would be the best way to go. This will run washer and dryer . You can add more of the growatt units up to six of them for 30kw of power. You would never even know you were off grid. We don’t feel like we are off grid.
Dude reminds me of kevin bacon from tremors!!!
Lol
growatt spf5000es ,, growatt will be no watt sooner or later