Thank you, I liked how you set goals and gave us real life data on battery power and battery with gas generator charging. I look forward to seeing how well the solar panels charged your batteries. I’m curious what do you use to power lights and radio / tv during a blackouts. I’m going to check out your other videos. Dave in PA
You gave me an interesting idea. Have a decent battery bank and powerful inverter. You can use a small generator to charge the battery, that powers a large inverter. How long did it take to charge, and could you use a bigger/faster charger? It’s a lot to think about, lol
There weren't "good/cheap" bigger chargers available when I made the video. Definitely would use a bigger one now. Matching your generator size to the combination of energy use and charger size is a worthy goal. The generator can charge the batteries and partially power your house while it is on
Excellent video, and I know it’s a lot of work to film, but a little more video along the way would be extra helpful. I’ll take what I can get. I need to build one of these, just keep trying to narrow down what parts to use. I bought a really heavy duty 3,000 watt-9000 watt peak inverter/charger from Redodo, but that sucker weighs about 50 pounds. I could roll my box, but couldn’t lift that sucker with a battery bank too. I’ll figure it out eventually, thanks
The weight can really start to add up. At some point the box with 2 wheels isn't practical. But a set of four 4" wheels with good bearings can easily move a lot of weight. Just don't get it started rolling down an incline!
Anyone watching in 2024 or beyond : component prices keep getting lower. So please take potential pricing with a grain of salt. True benefit of a DIY solar generator is you get to build it your way. How many usb-c outputs did you want? Solar inputs? What? Anderson out? Sure, have it your way. Second benefit of a DIY is serviceability. You build it. You can replace each component because its build like that. Con: no one else to blame if it goes up in flames.
If this video is still monitored by the creator, I have a question: Does this unit still work? There are many units that are built that run well to begin with but for a variety of reasons, they often fail in a very short amount of time. This build looks like one of the more accurate versions of this concept out there so I wanted to pose the question. If this unit is still running after this 4 years then it should be very stable. Please advise.
Yes, it is still a great build. The batteries are not cheap, though the price has been coming down. I have had to use it during power outages. I know I can rely on it. I would use a larger inverter if I were to suggest any changes.
As of today (1/19/24) - 24V SYSTEM (as shown in the video): $1,400 just the major components..... AIMS LifePO4 Battery, 12V 200 Ah (2) - $700 Giandel 24V Inverter 2000W - $350 EPEVER 40A MPPT Solar Charge Controller - $160 Victron Smart Blue Charger, 24V/12A - $125 DC to DC Converter, 24V to 12V - $34 Single Pole Circuit Breaker, 25A - $17
Great video... but i went the other route. I have the 3.7kw eco flo pro power station. I bought the eco flo gas/, propane generator as well. I paid 2850 for both. The eco flow pro has a 30 amp output. I can connect that directly to my panel in my breaker box. The gas generator can charge the Eco Flo at 1400 Watts. I can use my eco flow pro at the same time it's being charged by my gas generator. I can set it to so the gas generator will start up and charge the eco flow pro whenever it falls below a certain point from my phone. I can also take my EcoFlow pro to a EV charger and fast charge it in 12 minutes.
Great video on home backup! For outdoor enthusiasts like us, having a reliable power source is essential. I highly recommend Segway's Portable PowerStation Cube Series. With its massive capacity, fast recharging, and waterproof design, it's perfect for camping trips or ensuring uninterrupted family time at home. Check it out! #Segway #HomeBackup
Looks like a guy could go back and trim about a 1/4 mile of superfluous wire in that box and make it look neat and thought out and assembled with craftsmanship.
God, I wish I could afford to go over to lithium batteries. I built something similar using 16x deep cycle AGM server UPS batteries (Scrounged from work when I was an IT tech). Because I wanted it to at least be semi portable I had to make it modular, so it consists of 3 stackable Stanley toolboxes. These UPS batteries weighs in at about 10lbs each, so I've got two boxes with 8 batteries in each (At something like 85 to 90lbs each !), and one box that holds a 20A mains charger, two 600w rma inverters (1500 surge), and a cheap solar charge controller. I already had the pair of reasonable quality inverters, so I ended up deciding to stick with these, and that dictated the system having to be 12V. As it stands, the boxes have a combined potential output of about 2.3kWh, but due to lead acid based systems being what they are, I can only really use about half that if I want to get the maximum lifespan out of my batteries. On the plus side, The batteries were free, I already had the inverters, the toolboxes were on offer at 33% off at my local DIY store, and from my RC aircraft building days, I still had boxes and boxes of XT60's and XT90's, heavy gauge silicone wire, connectors, heat shrink, and nylon overbrading, so the whole setup probably cost me less that 150 GBP (About 185 USD) to put together, and being modular, if I don't strictly NEED it's full quota of Ah to run something for however long I want it to be running, then I don't have to humph both of these damn heavy battery boxes to it. :D At the end of the day though, I can't help thinking that a single 100Ah lithium battery would still do what I want, would weigh a hell of a lot less, and take up a lot less space...... Maybe one day. :)
Interesting build. I am thinking about building a similar system. It would be helpful to have the costs listed along with the components, as well as a total for the whole build.
We have used the ru-vid.comUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for probably 30 hours with our camper and it’s been great! The noise level is really only noticeable when running the AC and other appliances like the microwave, hair dryer, or coffee pot. It’s not huge like other ones and it has wheels so even at 90lbs, I can move it!
I built a genny on a 600lb dolly with plywood. It's a 12v system. Two 12.8vdc 100ah lifepo batts. I use a 3k x 6k inverter, Renogy controler 40amp. I decided to rebuild my system like you have done. Still collecting parts. Parts is parts. Your video was a huge motivator, thankyou.
I saw a solar generator mounted onto a hand cart, the builder had considered several designs but as it was designed for mainly home use and occasionally he would wheel it into his van to go camping. Could you consider this design.
Electrical Engineer? Sure! Sound Engineer? No. Great build, tho. My 82 year old parents in Venice FL needed this for Ian as their power was out for a week. They rode it out 12 mi North of Ft Meyers Beach. Maybe I'll build them one.
Hi, I connected a 3000w Renogy inverter (SKU: R-INVT-PUH1-301235-UK) and a 12V 100AH Renogy battery (SKU: RBT100LFP12-BT-UK). The system works fine for my TV (Sony TV KD 75XD9405: 352W / Standard 202W and 220-240V/50Hz) however whenever I connect this setup to my Washing machine (Beko WMI71641: 2200w and 230 V / 50 Hz) or with my inverter (Samsung MS23F301EAK: 230V / 50 Hz and 800w) the sytem trips with a long beep. Please could you help me understand what should be the cause of the problem and how could this be fixed? At the time of test, the battery is 45.4% charges with Present capacity of 45.4 Ah and present voltage of 12.9v.
Hi Sanchit, I took a quick look at the Renogy product page and didn't see it mention anything but 120v. not sure how you connected the washer and microwave to it but if the voltage isn't compatible you could burn something up...There are inverters that output the higher voltage but they can be pricey.
The inverter would need to have a higher capacity. I'm actually doing that with a smaller generator I built. It still doesn't power the AC or the hot water but will power everything else fine for several days.
Great video and thanks for the relevant links to all componenets. A circuit diagram explaining all connections and components would have been really helpful
Good job. Interesting solution. 48Hrs is a good time target. The shortcoming for me is my outages are usually accompanied by bad weather and are caused by the bad weather so no sun. I'd still have to drag out the portable charger to charge the batteries at some point. I hope it works out well for you.
I bought a Champion duel fuel generator for that reason. I can charge up my batteries on cloudy days, and still have enough electricity to run appliances until all my batteries are charge up. I use only propane so far, easier and safer to store with no expiration date. Gasoline as an option makes them very handy.
20:10 "... it will hold point three liters or point eight gallons..." Something is off here. A liter is roughly a quart. .3L would be roughly .3qt not 3+qt or .8 gallon.
TIP Solar. You can gradually dim down an under-table bulge and all other hungry electricity consumers with a 5000W dimmer (7, EUR). I run 5 dimmers in parallel on an 850W inverter. Kettle 2.2KW at 150W runs for 12 hours at a time, so the water is always hot. The room is also nicely heated. 2.5KW washing machine runs in parallel with dimmed to 200...400W. Iron, dishwasher, oven, electric heater, coffee machine, all internal heating are throttled with me. Videos on my channel ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eC2olbCBhh0.html The inverter stays cool, quiet and the MOSFETs remain intact because no extreme current peaks arrive at the inverter... A small, cheap mini solar inverter is now sufficient for everything.
The gas powered westinghouse inverter is just part of the gas generator. I supposed you could disassemble it and take the inverter out but what's the point of that!
great work and layout.The only thing I would add would be a label maker to create labels for everything in and out, solar, on, off, etcetc. Under all the connections and switches so someone else would know what they are for.
Will you sell one to me just like the one you’ve creatively mastered? I love the clever design that’s Solar and portable too! Congratulations on the build