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121. Posted: 28 Sep 2015 19:23 - Off-Grid Living / No BS Assessment Required (photos)
...low so I am now only running 5 of them parallel, as my CC will only take max 500 Watts. I thought running them at 24V would allow the extra PV but didn't work. All connection made with MC4 connectors and 10awg solar rated wire. Image #2 Custom Combiner Box and Fuses All wires coming from the PV to combiner box are 10awg. Wires going from the box to the CC are 8awg. Fuses are...
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122. Posted: 24 Sep 2015 20:09 - Off-Grid Living / Lithium battery charge question
...#039;s 10 kws of power (give or take rounded up etc). so divide by 9 for months; divide by 30 for days and you're using roughly 40 watts of power per day. now don't you have 400 watts of solar panels and 2 crown 295 batteries (6 volt in series for 12v at 295 amps @ 20% dod = 750 watts of usable power per day). So from my reconin' you should have 500-...
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123. Posted: 24 Sep 2015 14:12 - Off-Grid Living / Lithium battery charge question
...e many different flavours. sort of like saying "what's the best way to brew beer?" i mean what kind of beer. pilsner? stout? lager? american? german? english? that said. a basic mppt solar system will do for most kinds of batteries. lead acid or lithium. for the tesla powerwall, who can say. buying a tesla powerwall is like buying a tesla car. it's a premium bra...
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124. Posted: 23 Sep 2015 09:27 - Off-Grid Living / Lithium battery charge question
...r to 0. That's because the batteries are now full. the float voltage of 13.2 This is one of the advantages of lithium. The ease with which they accept a charge. You get maximum amps out of your solar panels for a longer period of time. And your "absorb" period is much shorter. If you were running on a genny charging this would save a lot of gas. A lot. ...
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125. Posted: 21 Sep 2015 17:58 - General Forum / Share Your Shower Pics
Irishguy, can you please photograph the battery,pump and solar panel set up? How long will the battery keep the pump running? TY.
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126. Posted: 21 Sep 2015 17:12 - Off-Grid Living / 12V-24V Panel Change
...series panels but still to a 12v battery bank: you will see some current conversion loss. whether it's more or less than the line loss of running longer cables is hard to say. typically tho. a solar panel set up in good sun creates more power than the batteries need. that's why i have things like a dishwasher, clothes washer and air conditi...
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127. Posted: 21 Sep 2015 12:45 - General Forum / Share Your Shower Pics
...hower on one side and outdoor kitchen sink on the other side... 275 gallon tote to collect rain water, Eccotemp L5 to heat it, Shureflow pump powered by a 12 volt deep cycle battery and charged by a solar panel to pump the water... It has been working well for over a year... Unless it's super cold outside and then the Eccotemp has a hard time making the water h...
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128. Posted: 20 Sep 2015 12:17 - Off-Grid Living / 12 volt connector?
...igator clips and cigar lighter stuff, then recently instead of dragging a battery in I just jumper off my truck out front, it still starts in the morning and recharges the battery. Also have some HF solar panels I'm playing with but not much sun. Anyway I need to upgrade to something a little better. Do you guys ever use regular 110AC cords, power strips etc? ...
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129. Posted: 18 Sep 2015 20:17 - Cabin Construction / Question about framing the roof of a shed style roof cabin
...n up. Everyone wants the roof to slope up towards the sun and then they install wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows to access the light and the view. They forget that they are in effect creating a solar oven with that wall of glass, and they'll be spending most of their time opening windows and hanging blinds. If the roof slopes down towards the south you create a natural shadi...
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130. Posted: 18 Sep 2015 06:40 - General Forum / Time on the land, woohoo!!!!
Thanks, hattie! Yep, I already wrote down Toyota's points to take along with me, lol! I'm planning on having my solar panels on a rack at ground level, though. One that I can adjust some to maximize sun exposure. This way, I can keep dust, leaves, and pine needles off of them easier...
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131. Posted: 17 Sep 2015 08:57 - General Forum / Time on the land, woohoo!!!!
... good) . Give it lots of thought and when you have evaluated it all, then get 4 fiberglass markers from Home Depot and set your corners. Take into consideration afternoon sun, a flat roof section for solar panels facing that way. But you dont want snow sliding off in front of your door etc. Take pictures. Post them here.
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132. Posted: 17 Sep 2015 08:42 - Off-Grid Living / Freezer options?
I am trying to figure out the best solution for my cabin for keeping food cool and I keep going back and forth between generators and solar. I currently have just a 15 watt panel charging a deep cycle rv battery and it just runs some 12v led lights. We only get to the cabin for maybe a week in the summe...
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133. Posted: 16 Sep 2015 12:16 - Member's Projects and Photos / Southeast Georgia Cabin
Solar panels up but not connected.
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134. Posted: 14 Sep 2015 21:07 - Off-Grid Living / Water Supply Help
Quoting: lbeaudoinI need a little help with I.M.O. You are too far from the lake to run ether 12 or 110 volts down the hill .but the pump needs to be at the lake . Therefore you need a complete solar system and a pump at the lake . A 40 or 50 watt 12 volt panel with a matching charge controller [ $100 ] plus a $100 deep cycle marine battery plus a 3 gal...
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136. Posted: 1 Sep 2015 16:20 - Off-Grid Living / Off the grid motivation
...9;s not just a bonus. But it is a bonus. *** You still hear all kinds of erroneous "facts." Someone told me the other day that I would never get back the energy that went into making my solar panels. Not true. Now some panels are paying off in as little as 3 months. Mine, made 7 years ago, were still mass manufactured. 3-5 years was the p...
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137. Posted: 30 Aug 2015 19:48 - Member's Projects and Photos / Log Cabin Sauna Project
...uite well and made it quick and easy. I also installed LED lighting inside, on the porch and some under lighting rope lights. They all run off a 12v 7ah small battery that is connected to a 40 watt solar panel.
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138. Posted: 30 Aug 2015 15:36 - Member's Projects and Photos / My cabin in Nova Scotia
...provement to our outdoor kitchen. Its basically water-tight, and kept all our gear totally dry through some pretty good downpours. I'll make a replacement leg this winter. The new 150 watt solar panels set up. We got so little sun on this trip that they never had much chance to show their full potential. Still, it was nice to have the additional power. The o...
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139. Posted: 21 Aug 2015 11:06 - Off-Grid Living / battery charging with honda 2000
Your Eu2000i sips the fuel at 10 AMPs. I use a 25 AMP charger with mine and never raises off eco mode. I installed a 210 Watt solar panel to reduce my generator use, it works so well, I only use the generator for running the vacuum or power tools. Your 120 watt panel will be ok ...
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140. Posted: 19 Aug 2015 09:55 - Off-Grid Living / Charging a battery pack with Solar
you do need the solar controller. your 12v solar panel may range as high as 17v. so you need something to keep your battery voltage from going too high. however the 7amp...
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141. Posted: 19 Aug 2015 09:36 - Off-Grid Living / Charging a battery pack with Solar
While browsing the local Walmart I saw the "Battery Saver" unit that's a solar panel that can charge your car battery using the 12v accessory plug. That got me thinking, would I be able to plug this into my Auto Power Pack? It's one of tho...
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142. Posted: 17 Aug 2015 21:18 - Off-Grid Living / battery charging with honda 2000
Thanks MtnDon, Longer than I was thinking, but should still work well when I'm running a fridge ect.... Might have to splurge on a small solar panel dc set-up.
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143. Posted: 12 Aug 2015 18:36 - Off-Grid Living / Mixing dissimilar Solar Panels
Quoting: creekyman. movies. tunes. new solar panels. happy cabin days indeed. Yup, things are coming together up there for sure. My wife insists that we can no longer call if "camping", because the c...
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144. Posted: 12 Aug 2015 12:18 - Cabin Construction / 14 gauge wire for Cabin wiring
...never got around to doing any more than putting in the wire, huge breaker box, and many outlets. The cabin will have a 5500 watt generator enclosed in a small building, along with 4 rv batteries, and solar panels. My question is can the 14 gauge wire also be used to conduct 12 volt current. My wife and I have to have cell phone, and Internet access for our business. I...
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145. Posted: 11 Aug 2015 18:18 - Off-Grid Living / Mixing dissimilar Solar Panels
...al controllers is perfect. make sure that the bigger panel set on the blue sky has the correct finish voltage. that'll be the one to rely on. and probably all you need. man. movies. tunes. new solar panels. happy cabin days indeed. say. if you have a 30 just taking up space
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146. Posted: 11 Aug 2015 17:36 - Off-Grid Living / Mixing dissimilar Solar Panels
...similar setup: 30w panel feeding into a 10A Morningstar charge controller, 100w panel feeding into a 30A Blue Sky CC, both directly connected to the battery bank. I based my design on advice from the Solar Electricity Handbook - 2012 p.89-91, which states that multiple CCs can feed a battery bank, allowing you to mix and match panels o...
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147. Posted: 11 Aug 2015 15:03 - Off-Grid Living / Electronic Doohickey (inverter thingy) Questions
If the HF solar controller manual actually instructs the user to disconnect after the sun goes down, it is a piece of junk. IMO, HF solar equipment is all worth less than what th...
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148. Posted: 11 Aug 2015 13:27 - Off-Grid Living / Electronic Doohickey (inverter thingy) Questions
... wires supplied are anemic and could stand to go up in size. 60 watt incandescent bulbs are not efficient, you can do better with fluorescent or LED bulbs on either 12 Vdc or 120 volts ac. Note that the HF solar controller may be internally fused for 5 amps for its DC outputs, so do the math before plugging in much to it. The HF controller is very low end. A better controll...
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149. Posted: 11 Aug 2015 12:58 - Off-Grid Living / Mixing dissimilar Solar Panels
Hey Al, I'm glad to see you on the forum. I recently had a conversation with a solar installer person about this very setup, as I am thinking of doing something similar. The answer I got was that the smaller, less effecient panel would 'dumb dow...
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150. Posted: 11 Aug 2015 05:35 - Off-Grid Living / Electronic Doohickey (inverter thingy) Questions
...izmoidal contabulooter, but only when the centerific diozide is at its optimal fortitude' .....tend to put me into a deep coma. Let's move on; I just inherited the infamous Harbor Fright solar kit from my good friend's widow. Took me 30 minutes to dismantle the panels from their sea container roof (grab it, shake it off the stand, scurry down the ladd...
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