New member introductions (READ THIS FIRST)

Started by Halfcrazy, November 24, 2010, 07:09:37 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

tecnodave

grweldon,

welcome to the forum,

From my best research the best deal on solar suitable batteries are the L-16 floor sweeper batteries marketed by Interstate battery, for several reasons......there are Interstate battery dealers all over.....they will order battery's and deliver them locally to their shop at no charge! for your pickup.
These are high quality units built by U.S. Battery and are identical to the " Solar Batteries" except for the price......$225 USD for the sweepers and $356 USD for the ones with the solar labels.  Just check the shipping price for batteries purchased on the Internet!   

My 480 ah 24 volt sets cost $900 with tax vs.  $1800 for Trojan (semi-local) $2400 for Rolls -Surette (east coast)and $2000 for penn's (east coast) delivered here on the "left coast".....

Batteries are going to be a major part of any true off grid system and will probably be the first thing to fail, the biggest problem in the system......so learn all you can about that part of the system....I get 12 years average from my battery systems......a result of much study on battery systems.

David
#1 Classic 150 12 x Sharp NE-170, 2S6P, 24volt L-16 Rolls-Surette S-530, MS4024 & Cotek ,  C-40 dirv.cont. for hot water
#2 Classic 150 12 x Sharp NE-170, 2S6P, 24 volt L-16 Interstate,Brutus Inv.
#3 Kid/WBjr 4/6 Sanyo 200 watt multilayer 4/6 P
#4 Kid/WBjr 4/6 Sanyo 200 watt multilayer 2S 2/3 P

5 Minutes 2 Midnite

#226
Well I've made a few posts now, and had some fee time today to browse around the forum, and found this introduction thread. So why not?

Since around the turn of the century I've been devoting brain cycles to thinking about the future, and wanting to protect my family from it. I actually see it as planning for any of a variety of possible/likely futures that look markedly different from the current world (which admittedly has been holding up better than expected since the 21st century arrived nearly 20 years ago now. Some people see people like me as a "prepper", to use the more current vernacular (the spell checker wants to change 'prepper' to 'pepper', so maybe that's what I am. There should be jingle for that somewhere).

At some point in the long list of things to prepare for was the act of going to the gas station and finding out there was not enough gasoline to go around. When Tesla Motors announced they were going to produce an 'affordable' pure electric car I instantly signed up. I already had been researching a solar based renewable energy system, so the decision to buy an electric car, that could be charged at home, for 'free', from a clean energy source, was appealing. Overwhelmingly appealing.

What actually got me off the dime though to install solar was kind of a fluke. I started to game my credit score to be as high as possible, in order to qualify for the best possible terms on a new car (I never buy cars new any more), and it turned out that one leg of the strategy was to open an installment loan. Credit cards are considered revolving credit. Most people have plenty of that. But installment credit is a rarer species... car loans (not yet), home loans (no mortgage), and, as it turned out, solar equipment lease loans (termed 'lease to own'). I fired up a 'Bakers Dozen" $3,000 lease to own deal and made 13 monthly payments.  A pile of solar equipment made its way into the back storeroom and my credit rating went up.

I won't list all the equipment here, but I did buy a Magnum inverter and a Midnite charge controller. What swayed me was the historical write-up on Midnite's site. When I was a young man in my 20s Phase Linear had this almost mystic reputation in the stereo amplifier world (yes, I'm an old fart too but I'm not going to tell you if I smell or not). The fact that Midnite is a PRIVATELY OWNED company was the deal clincher. Public companies are beholden to the shareholders, private companies are beholden to their customers. It's not rocket science.

A year and a half later seemed to time to finally fire the system up, so I dropped the additional dime on a pile of Lithium-ion batteries, a few sticks of unistrut, and just recently got the system online.

The solar install as a whole has been challenging, confusing, frustrating, time intensive (mostly researching on the computer), and far more complex an endeavor than I could have dreamed of. It took longer to set up than expected as I had to redesign the system a countless number of times while building it, so much time was spent taking-it-apart-and-putting-it-back-together.

I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

And now I have THE BEST SOLAR SYSTEM IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, better than any before, right in my own back yard.

It kind of feels like that doesn't it?
Qty 24 Sharp 153W poly panels, Midnite MNPV6 combiner, Midnite Classic 150 charge controller, Magnum MS-4448-PAE inverter with RC50 remote, Magnum MMP Mini panel,  QTY 2 Chinese made self-contained 200 AH wall mounted LFP power banks with built in BMS

jmccallie

I am a Civil Engineer who works for an oil company (Oh, the irony). I build pipelines and terminals all over the US.

However, my most recent hobby has been rural land development. I purchased 9 acres in the mountains of Colorado, and have been slowly adding infrastructure over the last 3 years.

After grading the driveway, I have my RV trailer parked up there in the summer. I needed to install a well because hauling 30 gallons of water in the bed of a pickup every weekend was not fun. Checked on getting power, and that was going to cost a fortune. Enter solar energy.

I had the well drilled, then selected a Grundfos AC/DC pump that can run direct PV or off battery. Currently, I have built a dual charge control cabinet that will manage a 48V system for the well pump and a 12V system for charging my RV batteries. The process has been so much fun that I am considering making the entire house I plan to build up there off-grid. For the $$$ the local co-op wants to supply power, I think solar will be actually be cheaper.
Array 1: Talesun 320W 3S - 960W / MidNite Kid / PowerSonic 12-750 4S (48V) / Grundfos 6SQF-3 w/CU-200

Array 2: Talesun 320W 1S - 320W / EPEVER Tracer A 30A / PowerSonic 12-750 2P (RV)

Robin

I have to comment on the last two posts. My brother, boB,  and I both worked for Bob Carver at Phase Linear. Those were good times. I learned a lot back then being in the audio industry. It was fun. What we do now we do consider fun too, but now we are old so it isn't quite as much fun.

The previous comment regarding hauling 30 gallons of water really hit home with me. My wife, Mary grew up on a farm in North Dakota. They had to drive three miles to hand pump their drinking water. The farm is still that way. Life on the farm was not easy, but Mary loved that farm. Mary was a big part of MidNite Solar doing the books from day one up until she passed away just before Christmas.
Robin Gudgel

CDN-VT

Canadian Solar 350W 37.6 VOC  30.6 VMP 8.22 ISC 7.87 IMP ,-15 c +30c max  4 strings in 2 in Series for 24v Classic 150 -1020 Ah  Freezers & fridges ~~~ Second Array same panels of 3sx3 parallel for 24 V Classic 150 -440 Ah Outback Barns & out blds.
48Vdc almost done,11Strings up of 3s11P same panels

blevac

I have been a lurker for a while and decided it's time to post an introduction since I plan to ask a couple of questions related to charging later today. I am building an Earthship in Ontario, Canada. We are building out of pocket over a number of years with the intention of moving in when our daughter finishes high school in about 3 years. Currently the ES is shelled with a portion of the solar kit installed temporarily. I have been gathering parts of the solar system over a number of years. At this point I have 24 x 230W Sharp panels,  2 x Classic 150, 1 x Classic 200, 1 x Magnum MS4024PAE inverter, MNE-240 E-Panel, 5500W remote start generator, and 12 Full River AGM batteries (830AH).  I have temporarily installed a portion of the system to run the basics like lighting, security, power tools and of course music. Currently I have 4 panels up, one of the Classic 150s, the inverter, battery bank and the generator. Remote monitoring is also online and working very well. Although I may be slowing MyMidnite down because I can't stop myself from checking it constantly during the day :)

I am Technical Systems Designer for arenas and theaters so I am very comfortable with most aspects of a solar system (I design electrical infrastructure and automation systems on a daily basis) but I have a learning curve when it comes to battery technology. I have already used the forum to successfully resolve a couple of firmware issues with my Classic 200 and hope to use the forum to strengthen my knowledge of batteries and the charging process.  I look forward to meeting some of you (virtually) online.

Bob
5.5kW Offgrid Earthship -
24 x 230W Sharp ND230, 2 x Classic 150, 1 x Classic 200, Magnum MS4024PAE 4K inverter, MNE-240 E-Panel, 6500W remote start generator, 8 Full River AGM batteries (830AH).

CDN-VT

Straight series over series / parallel for batterys is so important for the long life of lead acid style . LI-Lion Li-Lpo are different style of charging and monitoring .

So Welcome and enjoy , get a smoke retrieval balloon !!

VT 
Canadian Solar 350W 37.6 VOC  30.6 VMP 8.22 ISC 7.87 IMP ,-15 c +30c max  4 strings in 2 in Series for 24v Classic 150 -1020 Ah  Freezers & fridges ~~~ Second Array same panels of 3sx3 parallel for 24 V Classic 150 -440 Ah Outback Barns & out blds.
48Vdc almost done,11Strings up of 3s11P same panels

blevac

Quote from: CDN-VT on March 17, 2018, 09:25:51 PM
Straight series over series / parallel for batterys is so important for the long life of lead acid style . LI-Lion Li-Lpo are different style of charging and monitoring .


Yes, I would have preferred a single series string with larger capacity batteries but I was working on a show over the summer and needed a high capacity UPS to backup emergency communications. Rather than rent a UPS I purchased these batteries which were available immediately. It worked out well, I charged the production about half the cost of the batteries in rental for my system which was a huge savings for them and now I have a battery bank that should last me until some of the newer technology drops in price.

Quote from: CDN-VT on March 17, 2018, 09:25:51 PM
get a smoke retrieval balloon !!

I have no idea what that means : )
5.5kW Offgrid Earthship -
24 x 230W Sharp ND230, 2 x Classic 150, 1 x Classic 200, Magnum MS4024PAE 4K inverter, MNE-240 E-Panel, 6500W remote start generator, 8 Full River AGM batteries (830AH).

Westbranch

    get a smoke retrieval balloon !!


I have no idea what that means : )

Don't let the magic smoke out of any of your appliances...!

Retrieval is futile!! just like the Borg...


KID FW1811 560W >C&D 24V 900Ah AGM
CL150 29032 FW V.2126-NW2097-GP2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3Px4s 140W > 24V 900Ah AGM,
2 Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr, NetGr DS104Hub
Cotek ST1500 Inv  want a 24V  ROSIE Inverter
OmniCharge3024  Eu1/2/3000iGens
West Chilcotin 1680+W to come

Westbranch

If you can plot  or view a graph of the Amps going to your shunt, you should see in ABSORB  a smooth line dropping over time....  when it flattens out, the ABSORB should be just about finished, that is your EA number..
KID FW1811 560W >C&D 24V 900Ah AGM
CL150 29032 FW V.2126-NW2097-GP2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3Px4s 140W > 24V 900Ah AGM,
2 Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr, NetGr DS104Hub
Cotek ST1500 Inv  want a 24V  ROSIE Inverter
OmniCharge3024  Eu1/2/3000iGens
West Chilcotin 1680+W to come

ScoobyMike

Hello, My name is Mike.  I just purchased an off grid cabin on a small island near Grand Lake Stream, Maine. I was born, raised and educated in Maine, I now live in Reno, NV and will spend 6 months a year in Maine.  I am pulling together a 1KW system using the Classic 150 and a Midnite combiner box, I anticipate many questions in the future.  I have limited cell service on the island and, of course, no internet so will mostly be working from my Samsung phone and I would be very interested to know if there are any forum apps that would work with this forum (like Tapatalk).
1.2KW off grid system; 2 strings of 2ea 305W 60 cell panels on a redneck ground mount;  MNPV3 combiner feeds a MN Classic 150 located 100' away;  12V 460AH FLA battery bank powers a cabin-wide 12V DC system as well as a Cotek 700W PSW inverter; Honda EU2000i  and IOTA 55A charger bridge cloudy days

CDN-VT

I'll reply , but not 1000 % know for sure .
I've been here 8= years & seeing the forum move , i'd say NO .

Now I don't do Cell phones or any "Smart Crap" "" Wise World " Catch up .

Saying that , it's an old forum software , that works well.

Hughs  Sat systems  not good in Maine ?
Can Antennas to boom style ?

VT
Canadian Solar 350W 37.6 VOC  30.6 VMP 8.22 ISC 7.87 IMP ,-15 c +30c max  4 strings in 2 in Series for 24v Classic 150 -1020 Ah  Freezers & fridges ~~~ Second Array same panels of 3sx3 parallel for 24 V Classic 150 -440 Ah Outback Barns & out blds.
48Vdc almost done,11Strings up of 3s11P same panels

Little Bit

Good Morning
We made the big move to St Croix USVI I would like to make a plan to live off grid there is no power now we live with a honda 3000 gen Great Machine !!!!!
at night I turn it off to cut it some slack the problem is the refrigerator the food is going bad can someone help me I want to start slow and cost effective I am against fierce resistance (The Boss)  I think an inverter and some batteries Im supper handy welder wires some electric gookumpucy if nothing else is working by day bright sun sum of the house 40'X 60' flat roof  during the day a nice breeze at night more wind . But first an inverter and some batteries  any recommendations would be greatly appreciated keeping in mind wind and solar in the future

                                                                                                          Island Come
                                                                                                         George&Beth
                                                                                       No More @^# freezing !!!!!!!!!     

Westbranch

best if you start a thread  on its own and not clutter the INTRO section..... though that has happened a few times...
and yes your idea is do-able but you should plan it out so it fits and not too big nor too small
KID FW1811 560W >C&D 24V 900Ah AGM
CL150 29032 FW V.2126-NW2097-GP2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3Px4s 140W > 24V 900Ah AGM,
2 Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr, NetGr DS104Hub
Cotek ST1500 Inv  want a 24V  ROSIE Inverter
OmniCharge3024  Eu1/2/3000iGens
West Chilcotin 1680+W to come

Little Bit

Hello
Im Georgie A   Welder !!!  Just do it what ever   I   (we)  moved to St Croix USVI no power( the boss needs a fridge ) I want to buy an inverter Batteries later  solar  wind generator we live with a honda generator but well you know the problem is the fridge at night looking for recommendations 3000K ?

                                                                                        Thanks
                                                                                      Little Bitt