My upgraded system showing the two new 70W panels giving out 8 amps, running into the combiner box that I made in another video, then running to my charge controller to charge my batteries. I changed from running my inverter from the charge controller to running it directly from the batteries. I only use about 400w at a time from my 1200w inverter so nothing is at capacity and all of my wires are very cool. I upgraded my cables from the charge controller to the batteries to #10 AWG solid core wires also. Now I have 8 batteries for a total battery bank of 880 amp/hours. This runs most of my household lights and a 19″ color TV every night. With my new panels, I am charged up by about 2 pm the next day. I usually do not discharge my batteries more than 25% per day.
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June 25th, 2010 at 1:34 PM
Love the video. I have the same controller you have.During the day the SOC gets up to 100% but at night it will get down around 70%(when I’m not using the system). Is this normal?
June 25th, 2010 at 1:42 PM
Nice system
June 25th, 2010 at 2:16 PM
sweet thanks I have everything I need except the batteries , just recieved my solar panels in the mail a couple of days ago – went with skyblue charge controller w/ mppt – trimetric 20/20 – 3000 watt inverter. Have you ever pondered with purchasing a grid tie inverter ? and can they be wired in as the dump load from a charge controller after the batteries have reached a full charge ?
Thanks – your videos are great
June 25th, 2010 at 2:43 PM
@dracos78 Yes. I also sent the wires from the panel that I built into my combiner box, so I now have three panels connected in parallel and sending 9.5 amps and about 130 watts through the combiner. I also upgraded to #10 AWG stranded wire from the combiner directly to the charge controller and it works alot better.
June 25th, 2010 at 2:51 PM
did you cut the cables coming from the new panels into your combiner box ?
June 25th, 2010 at 3:15 PM
@hippyraverocker Since I made this video, I changed the wire from the panels to the charge controller to #10 AWG stranded wire. It works much better. #10 is the thickest wire that would fit in the terminals of my charge controller.
June 25th, 2010 at 3:49 PM
Nice setup.
You need to use thicker wiring from your panels to the charge controller and then to the battery.
My setup uses 8-Awg cabling which is good for about 70a @ 12v.
check my video out.
June 25th, 2010 at 4:29 PM
you need to change the solid core wire on the DC side to thicker stranded wire and you will get more amps. DC voltage doesnt travel well on solid core wire. nice little setup though.
June 25th, 2010 at 5:17 PM
i just posted my solar video,check it out.
June 25th, 2010 at 5:35 PM
great little system its amazing what we can learn from youtube.
June 25th, 2010 at 5:41 PM
would like to ask you a question what kind of cables from the solar panel using the solar pole regulator tks for posting the video helped me in my project
June 25th, 2010 at 5:53 PM
Mrbuki77
Where the batteries you got able to be charged to the full capacity and the only broblem was the way the looked.
June 25th, 2010 at 6:27 PM
I found out that you should call your local battery dealer direct. In my case Interstate Batteries. And ask to buy “Blems” or blemished batteries. They are new, but have minor cosmetic blemishes to the exterior. I got 2 6v deep cycle 225ah batteries for $94.00. This is less than the price of one batt. Just a piece of advise I got that was well worth it’s weight in gold. Later, from sunny FL
June 25th, 2010 at 7:23 PM
nice set up,i had simillar system like yours,3 -80watt pv. 1200 sine wave inverter&charge controller, batteries.cost nearly 2k. i used a FUSEBOX to connect every equipments to my battery bank. yes its hobby for me to kill time,but safety first. i will post my system soon.
June 25th, 2010 at 7:42 PM
Saving money is a plus, but I agree with you. It is kind of a hobby for me also, and it is kind of cool having the independence that comes with making my own power. I am continuing to grow this system and should be fairly energy independent in a year or two also. Thanks.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:34 PM
For me, saving money is only a plus, i am more interested in solar as a hobby so power failures dont affect me as much. But in a year or two i want to be off grid.
June 25th, 2010 at 9:26 PM
Thanks, I have at the moment 20-10 watt panels and 15-20 watt panels, total of 500 watts…I wanted to buy all 100 watt panels but if I am gonna loose lots of money selling these at cheap prices might as well just build with these..
Thanks for your help…I am going to sams tommorow to look at batteries
June 25th, 2010 at 9:42 PM
I would think that if you ran 1000 watts you would see a large difference. You could also selectively power different devices that are large power users also, like the refridge or a/c unit and make more of an impact. Remember, I really only use mine for lighting and a small TV.
June 25th, 2010 at 9:43 PM
SO if I run 1000 watts in solar panels I should see a big difference in bill….I don’t know how much power you use, but if you notice 15% drop that is cool….
I was told 200 watts would save me maybe $5 a month from some guy, calculating at 800 watts a day from solar power…
Thanks for your answer and video
June 25th, 2010 at 10:16 PM
ive got 280w pv and 400w air-x (still to go up) 144amp/hr of sla batteries ,plasmatronics pl20 controller and 1200watt true sinewave inverter .skippy3840 i didnt see any fuses????
June 25th, 2010 at 11:11 PM
When I run it consistently I see about a 15% drop in my total power bill.
June 26th, 2010 at 12:03 AM
DO you think you actually save money on electricity..
I wanted to use grid tie equipment but I think I will have problems with my light company, so I might try run all outside lights, and maybe other small stuff…
I have 400watts of panels at moment and only 6 batteries that are 42 amps each, have them wired up to 24 volts…
I will see if sames have those batteries like you for cheap,
June 26th, 2010 at 12:56 AM
The angle iron I used first was from a bed frame, I broke 3 craftsman bits, wore out 2 more new craftsman bits, hard metal and only 1.5×1.5 by 1/8 thickness…
We have a metal discount store a few block away I will see them later and see what they say
thanks
June 26th, 2010 at 1:11 AM
That is the only problem with angle, it is a little expensive. I tried wood first, but it didn’t work too well.
June 26th, 2010 at 1:59 AM
The batteries are about $70 each at Sams Club. I got them new, just going on 2 years of service right now and they are working great.