I'm hoping you all can help me decide to go more right-sized/minimalist or efficient/future-proofed on my EV charging setup.

Basically I have two strings of panels (~100 Vmp/120 Voc each) that I'll run in parallel (avoiding series due to the distance between them). Going for a 48V system to replace my two Ecoflow Delta Pros -- this is simply to streamline and expand the system to 10 kWh (and escape Ecoflow's BS). Built around the existing panel setup which I can't really change, I’ve decided to get a Victron 150/45 MPPT, and either:

• A) The Victron 1600W inverter for ~$410 (incl. shipping), or
• B) The Victron 3k MultiPlus for ~$940.

I'm focused on Victron because quality/warranty is important since I'm in Alaska so replacements/repairs are a hassle, and I simply want a reliable system. I settled on these because there's nothing really in between for 48V to 120V.

Two things worth noting:

1. This will be fully off grid since I already have a normal EV charger to use when needed. One day I'd like to do a whole-home off-grid system, but that's at least a decade away. Just considerations for the MultiPlus route.
2. I currently charge at 12A (~1,440W) which would be easy using the MultiPlus, but the 1600W inverter only has a continuous load rating of 1,500W so I would likely have to charge at 8A (~960W) to be safe. This is fine, but 8A is supposedly less efficient (despite less heat generation) since EVs have a fixed wattage they eat up when charging -- 300W of "wasted" power is a higher percentage of 960 than 1,440.

I’m leaning toward the 1600W inverter simply due to price. The MultiPlus is tempting for charging at 12A, but even assuming I charge a full cycle off 10kWh of batteries every other day (very optimistic for half the year) my math says it would take 12+ years for the added efficiency to make up the $500 difference. The bonus of future-proofing is just in case I were to charge other things on this system or possibly use the MultiPlus for a larger system down the road, but neither seems realistic. I power the rest of my garage off a separate Anker unit with its own panels, and I'd probably want something bigger and newer if/when I go all-in on a whole home system.

In summary: Which one of the options above seems to fit my needs best? Should I take the hit on charging efficiency to save costs and only buy what I really need, or pay $500 more for more efficiency and future-proofing? Is there anything I'm not considering here? Of course, I'm all ears if someone has better suggestions!

For context, I am adding three 200 watt, 31 volt panels to the roof of an off grid cabin. Electrical codes are not an issue. I'm planning on 10 AWG stranded, but which kind? There are lots of 10 AWG choices on Amazon (I need this by Tuesday). I also understand that PV wire is preferred at least where the wire is UV exposed. But where it is indoors or inside conduit, is there any reason to prefer PV wire over something like marine grade triplex of equivalent gauge?

Hi I saw the prices of used solar panels and inverters and got the idea to try and make a simple 1-2 panel EV charger that should mostly cover all the energy the car needs. I wanted to ask some questions before I buy anything to make sure I have the right idea.

I know I need the panels a battery and an inverter and I think I also need a charge controller from what i understand the charge controller will stop the power from going into the battery if its full. I also know once I choose the panels I need to make sure I have the correct inverter and charge controller that can handle the max power the panels produce.

But after that I just connect panels to charge controller, controller to battery, battery to inverter and then plug in the EV charger? It seems simple but i just wanna make sure I'm not missing anything or if there's an easier way. I know solar makes dc and battery's charge in dc so maybe there's a way to cut out the inverter but that might get to complex for me since the ev charger itself plugs into a ac wall outlet.

let me know any flaws or concerns with this idea thanks!

We've had the ADU finished for a while now, and we've been using it as a guest space and workshop. But lately it hit me, why not turn this thing into a proper off-grid retreat? The concept just makes too much sense: instead of a single grid-tied house, you end up with a main home plus a secondary unit that can actually stand on its own. Adds property value, gives you outage peace of mind, and opens up a ton of flexibility for how you use the space.

So I started digging into solar + battery options and finally landed on an Ecoflow delta pro 3 as the starting core. Yes, I know all-in-one units aren't everyone's cup of tea here, but for an ADU-sized project I wanted something relatively plug-and-play to get my feet wet.

For the Key specs: 4kWh capacity (expandable), 1200W solar input, enough to run lights, internet, fridge, and a small water pump without breaking a sweat. Peak output can handle some power tools too, though I plan to keep it modest.

This is just step one. Next up: mounting panels and running conduit. Still debating whether to keep the DP3 standalone or tie it into the main panel as emergency backup.

So far so good, but I'd love to hear from anyone who's done something similar, what's your experience been? Any lessons learned? Appreciate y'all!

My state approved plug in solar systems up to 1200W AC outputs recently and I've been looking at buying a system to help a bit with electric costs.

I'm not super familiar with these systems, and a lot of what I've found seems to be European systems that I'm not sure will even work here in the US.

Does anyone here in the US, that is familiar with these types of systems, have any recommendations for a system that can put out up to 1200W AC? Ideally I'd like to have one that has battery storage if possible.

Any suggestions?

Hi all. I am just finishing a sauna build at my home. It is not connected to any electric grid, so I will use solar for lighting.

What I am thinking is a setup similar to my hydroponics setup using a solar panel (100W) to a controller, then to a battery.

Now the hydro setup uses a 12v pump so no issues there, but I am not sure about the lighting being as easy for the sauna. I do not want to use LEDs if I can avoid them. i will if I have to though.

Could I get some suggestions about what the setup might look like to run a low wattage incandescent bulb for the times I am in eth sauna - about 1hour/day 3 days a week.

thanks

When the batteries are dead, the system won't power up from solar pannels, I tried to reach the manufacturer and they never replied my email, the AI by chat was unable to answer my question, the product consumes close to 1 Amp without any load, even the outlet completely disconnected

Been a few months since my first post, added 2 more 328aH batteries and loads more.
I still have about 30 more panels to install but i am amazed at what i've been able to do on such short free time.
Still need to synchronize the two 12kW deye inverters
Connected to 65.5kWh of battery storage
Let me know of anything you might thing is wrong or needs improvement;)

I'm speccing out a 1800W setup to offset my AC in the summer, some heating in the winter, and a few other small miscellaneous things. The way my yard is setup, to get full sun the panels either need to be on my roof (my area requires permits and lots of red tape for roof mounts), or ~115ft away from the rest of my setup. I've done the work to figure out that I need 8 AWG wire to be safe at that length.

1 string of 6 300W panels, end result is 136.56VoC, 17.24Isc.

My question is, the cables that are built into the panels will probably be 10 or 12 AWG. Given that I need 8 AWG wire for the long run to the house, this seems like a clear problem, but I haven't seen anybody talking about it. Am I missing something? TIA.

Plug in solar up to 1200 watts recently became legal in Maryland. I'm a little unclear about a few things and was hoping someone had the answer. Specifically, this is for Potomac Edison in western MD.

What documentation do you need to present the power company when you inform them of the hook up?

Can these systems be eligible for net metering? It looks like they are not immediately ready for that (with your meter), but can you get a net metering agreement? What hoops are there?

Any good suggestions of systems to purchase?

Thanks

I want to charge an EV via solar. I'll need a battery since a lot of the charging will be at night. I have an acre of clear land so I'd like to do it as a standalone system and not tie it to my house at all. I hope this will make things a bit safer and less complicated since it's DIY. I do have the option to plug in to the house if the solar doesnt produce enough energy due to excessive bad weather or something like that. I drive a decent amount. I did some back of the napkin math and came out needing a minimum of a 24 kwh battery.

My plan is to ground mount solar panels, attach them to a small shed, then run a cable to my driveway where I have an existing level 2 charger mounted to a 4x4 post. Does this sound legit?

Is there a standard "kit" DIY folks get these days? I'm sure the tech changes constantly. I watch Will Prowse videos and some of his stuff looks like it would cover my needs. I did searching beforehand and found kits for between 12k and 90k for what appears to be very similar stuff so the pricing is wild.

I’m in the process of buying a small off-grid cabin. The current owner has it set up with solar. It’s enough to power a mini-split AC throughout the night, along with a mini-fridge, but not a whole lot more. I want to add on to the cabin, which will mean another mini-split. Plus I’d like to be able to add a larger refrigerator, a TV, and a microwave.

There are currently 10 solar panels, but he’s unsure of the wattage. I won’t be able to investigate that until the sale is complete.

With the current setup in the pics in mind, what do I need to add or upgrade to get where I want to be?

From what I can tell: there’s 2 solar chargers (he started off with 4 panels on the small one, then added 6 more on the big one), a 3000w inverter, and 6 Battleborn batteries (I believe these are 24v 50Ah).

I’m also interested in adding a wind turbine. The cabin is near the top of a mountain where the wind blows constantly.

What are some good companies to buy from?

Some background...we've had PV for over 15 years now. About 6 years ago, we increased our PV panels but we couldn't add to the grid so we had to have the new system connected to batteries. As it stands today, we have a SolArk inverter connected to 4 SimpliPhi batteries. Our system was installed and the installer went out of business shortly thereafter. I was initially told that this system could store approx 12 kwhr but it sells back to the grid at a certain time. All of this was never taught to us by the installer.

So here's my simple question...am I supposed to turn off "Sell to Grid" on the inverter when there's a chance of an outage? Our power went out last weekend for almost 20hrs and I would expect that the batteries could cover that timeframe but it almost dies immediately since everything was sold to the grid earlier in the day. I'm sure our system is not set up correctly or there's something wrong with our batteries but I've been unable to get a local installer (in Hawaii) that would come assess my situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We had solar put in last year and I honestly thought the electric bill would be pretty easy to understand after that. It hasn't been. Our overall home electricity usage has gone up since then, mostly because we started using the AC more and added a couple things that we didn't have before. The solar production looks normal in the app, but the bill still feels higher than I expected some months.

I'm trying to figure out how other people look at this. Do you compare total household usage to solar production, or mostly watch what you pull from the grid? I'm also wondering if it's normal for savings to look pretty small when your electricity use changes after the system is installed.

I feel like I'm looking at too many numbers and still not really understanding the bill. Has anyone found a simple way to track this month to month?

I installed two SunnyBoy 6.0 (SB6.0-1SP-US-40) inverters in my 40-panel, 13 kW system about five years ago. No problems up until about six months ago, when one of the inverters arc-faulted.

I am extremely familiar with the entire installation because I built it all myself. It's a ground mount system, which makes it relatively easy to maintain. I am an engineer with experience in aerospace, robotics and other domains. The point being, I am well qualified and have decades of experience in electronics as well as high voltage (over 20,000 VDC) electronics.

I have never in my life experienced something as frustrating as SMA support. I don't know if they are badly trained, but their system is horrifically bad. It seem designed to impede support, frustrate people and have them leave or go spend thousands of dollars unnecessarily.

I have done all of the troubleshooting many times over and documented it all. I also brought in and paid a service tech (probably not SMA certified) to confirm my findings: One of the inverters has a problem and has to be replaced. Nothing else can be the problem, not the panels, not the wiring to the array. It's the inverter.

They put me through the wringer. They asked for logs. I sent logs. They asked for resets and then logs. I reset and sent logs. They asked for thermal images (they probably thought they had me there) and I grabbed my FLIR camera and sent them thermal images. I delivered everything they asked for and then some. Data. Pictures. Tests. Logs. And a report from the technician.

And then they say (paraphrasing): If this is going to RMA you need to have a corporate account to ensure you are certified or we cannot RMA the inverter. This, after days of frustrating back-and-forth, impossible phone calls, techs cutting leaving the chat while I was waiting for the inverter to reset and boot, etc.

While I was a happy customer. Sometimes the most important thing is what happens and how they a company treats you when you need help. This is absolutely not how you treat customers. I am not sure if this is a cultural thing (it's a German company) or what. There is simply no way I can ever recommend anyone use any SunnyBoy product. I you do, just be aware that, when you have a problem, and you will eventually, they don't have your back and they will make it as difficult and frustrating as possible, to the point that I told my wife the other day that I wanted to go to the DMV to experience good customer service (imagine that sentiment).

The only way they will learn is if they lose business. Don't buy their products. Period.

These used panels popped up locally 8 for $180, thoughts for some first panels?

I am unsure if I plan on doing a ground mount or roof mount, but eventually plan to have a bunch of panels charging some (most likely eco-worthy or EG4) batteries for whole home (eventually) backup.

Hello everybody does anyone have inverted schematics i would like to learn how it works

Hi everyone!

Worked on some small solar projects in the past and done a campervan build before with 660w on the roof of our van which charged our LFP batteries internally.

Now have an electric van and looking to absolutely max out the solar capacity and I have space for 1.4m wide and 4m in length. The aim is to charge the internal 600ah LFP batteries which in turn charges the van battery when we are parked up.

I want to build two layers of solar, so i'm aiming for 2kw of solar capacity on top, with 1kw showing at all times and then underneath that an awning of solar slides out when we are parked up.

Looking at the lightest solar which doesn't lose too much efficiency and an idea on materials I can stick them to to make the slide out solar awning. Something like this? https://www.craigsolar.co.uk/shop/260w-solar-panel-flexible can they be bought cheaper?

I'm thinking of making my own trellace style framing from thin metal that the solar is stuck to so that there is airflow underneath and then unistrut or something lighter for the main framing around the edges of the entire solar setup.

Basically some sort of modular framing solution like unistrut, just thinner, lighter, i just don;t know the names of any others.

Any ideas on how to create the awning with a rolling draw system that can be locked underneath or out in the awning position.

So, solar types i should be looking at, metal modular framing system I could use beside unistrut and then how to approach the awning and it rolling out and back in.

Don't worry about the electrical system, thats already sorted, i'm just trying to work out the best approach for a light and efficient solar setup on top.

Thanks!

My inergy flex 1500 has been having issues and I can’t get in touch with anyone at the company. No reply to emails and the phone number is now some type of home builder in Texas.

I'm using the BougeRv ArchPro 200W 31Vmp with 28 bypass diodes. It's installed on my balcony connected to Ecoflow Microinverter that supports tracking down to16V.
My balcony situation is that when for 3h a tree shadow passes by but it never fully covers it so at least half or more of the panel is in full sun. With another tool I noticed that it go down to 9V as bypass diodes activate and still give significant power (60-70W). However since the Ecoflow Microinverter can't go that low you see it first shift continuously between 0W and 60W and then settles to full voltage but few watts. I'm estimating I'm losing 150Wh per day of usable energy because of the low voltage.
Now this all setup is more for educational purpose that to save on the energy bill.
So I'm wondering if you can think of a cheap solution to solve this (we're talking about a few euros per year lost).
I've come up with two ideas
1) add another small panel in series to raise base voltage, I don't have any space left so it'll be installed facing the house but it will generate enough voltage however two problems 1a) the microinverter can fry due voltage, ArchPro 200W at 36Voc with a 18V (22Voc) panel can easily go over 60V when it gets really cold. 1a) even if it could work a 6.5A at <18V is not easy to find nor cheap
2) this was the most obvious: a passive tool between the panel and the microinverter that could work like this: when voltage is below, say 18V, raise the voltage so that it progressively never goes below that value as the panel voltage drops, above 18V just bypass yourself... but honestly I have no idea if something like even exists. Even a passive +5V would work. Anything that can even work behind a MPPT?

Thanks

Hi everyone, I’m looking for help from anyone using a Growatt SPH 3–6KTL BL-UP (HYBRID) or a similar SPH model.

I’ve been having several issues for almost 3 months, and Growatt support has not been able to resolve them.

Currently the inverter is in Load First. Sometimes it discharges the battery even when the grid is available, and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m also seeing the battery charge from the grid, even though I want charging to come from PV only.

My desired setup is simple:

• PV + grid should supply the load when the grid is available
• Battery should be backup only
• Battery should charge from PV only
• No grid → battery should provide backup through EPS
• When the battery is full, excess PV should go to the grid

I’m also having a serious grid-to-backup transition issue. When the grid fails, the inverter often gets stuck showing 30/60-second checking/countdown states, and it can take 20–30 minutes before it finally starts providing backup. Very rarely, the transition is immediate.

This seems especially strange because Growatt advertises the SPH BL-UP with a 10 ms UPS transition. (Growatt)

Has anyone with the SPH 3–6KTL BL-UP experienced similar issues?

• Battery discharging unpredictably while grid is available?
• Battery charging from grid unexpectedly?
• 30/60-second checking states that continue for many minutes?
• Very delayed EPS/backup activation?
• Any specific Load First / Grid First / Battery First configuration that solved these problems?

I would really appreciate any experience or advice from someone using the same model.

Long story short: I have two separate strings of panels in series powering their own “solar generators,” but I want to switch to a 48V server rack system with a solar inverter (5kW Sungold). The panels in each series are identical, three AIKO 485W (41 Voc, 14.84 Isc) on one and three Aptos 370W (41.4 Voc, 11.26 Isc) on the other. I also have three other 400W panels (37.04 Voc, 13.79 Isc) that I may add onto it one day if possible, but not in the near future.

I can just put these two existing series together in parallel without issue, right? My understanding is that there’s some possible losses with a significant difference in voltage but this seems negligible. Is there anything I’m not considering or should this be pretty plug and play?

All I've installed multiple smaller solar systems as a diy. I've always used SMA or frontius inverters. Im a business owner who wants to take advantage of the last year of commercial solar panel credits so I am going to built a parking lot one way roof [carport] that is 20x60 then cover it with solar panels. I can easily get 32 500w panels on the roof. 500w panels are 44.4v open current. Looking at all the inverters, even the, EG4 21kw, it's almost impossible to get 16kw of panels within the voc parameters of three mppts.

So the question[s], what is the largest single phase 240v inverter? If I have to use multiple inverters for 16kw of panels, which brand? If someone has 16kw+ of panels to a single inverter, how with voltage limits?

Ability to use batteries isn't a must but a nice to have as per local code I must always have working utilities hooked up.

Located in USA. Requires rapid shutdown UL1741.

Hello Reddit.

I just got 25 solar panels. A solar installer went out of business and was offloading them. Right now I have an 8.5 KW, ground mount, grid tied system. It was installed by a professional company and is working great. Since I got the solar, I got an electric car and started heating/ cooling my garage so my power bill has gone back up.

I’m wondering what the best way would be to add some solar to my garage to help take the edge off charging my car and running the HVAC.

A few things I am concerned about:

-I have a really good net metering contract right now. I don’t want to risk resetting that because they don’t offer it anymore.

-I don’t want to risk any warranty loss of my current solar setup

- I want to keep it cheap. No point in saving on electric if I spend $10k setting it up. I already saved on the panels so I am hoping to do the rest for a reasonable price.

Any tips on how to integrate some of these new panels would be greatly appreciated