Having pure west facing panels helps for evening production and prolong the batteries massively. Anyone going offgrid I would recommend r30 or r40 walls and thermal bridge insulation. No point cooling and not keeping the heat or cold out.
It`s just me in my camper so I use a 600w immersion bucket water heater to bathe. In summer I use the hose outside in the late evening after mowing when I`m near heat stroke level. The people who sold me the camper lied about several things...like the "electric" hot water heater and the "working" large refrigerator and only 4 months after moving into it we got the worst freeze I`ve ever seen which ruined the water lines because I couldn`t figure out how to drain them. But I needed a roof over my head and I got one. I would have paid ten times as much to get away from my insane sister or live in a ditch.
My situation is almost the exact same. 2 homes, well, 5 mini splits for cooling in east Texas, 4 freezers on timer, etc… Problem is I have 15k PV input into 4 6000xp inverters and 12 eg4 lipo batteries. I can make it through night just fine (30%) but the inverters cannot recharge back to 100% even on a full sun day, so on day 2 I’m pulling from grid to recharge the battery bank. My settings are maxed out to get all I can according to SS. Next move I got 13k more PV and trackers in the barn for a fall install. Wish me luck, SOLAR is addictive 😊
That’s a lot of capacity! I would think that you could get by during a low sun period just by minor lifestyle changes during that time. Clothes drying can wait and daily showers is a fairly recent fad. When you get over 70 years old you won’t remember when you showered last and I blame poor smelling on COVID.
Awesome information. SolArk is an amazing product. I am personal friends with Tom Brennan. The gentleman who founded that company top-notch guy, top-notch people excellent all the way around.
I have a free-at-night plan in Texas so,for the present,my 20KWH in my house only has to cover 5 pm - 8pm then 6am to approximately 10 am when the solar begins to carry the house load and starts charging the battery. I’ve separated the other house on the property and use 3 EG4 server rack batteries for it. After getting the nights free plan we try to run the dryers of both houses on grid after 8pm and also put the electric ranges back on grid power . So mainly our grid consumption is daytime cooking. That is ,paid grid consumption. I have another 25KWH of battery that I’m currently not using but plan to put it in an RV with a EG4 6000XP inverter for a portable power supply. I have a conventional central air conditioner but it’s much easier to use the mini splits and window units on solar. It sure feels good to have free air conditioning in Texas!
We did similarly. Our new stove has a (ir fry option in the oven with induction cook top. Our washer is a combo condensing LG model, very efficient, and we too went for a hybrid water heater. We are in a small lot subdivision (6 lots per acre approx), and only use ground mount, not well oriented solar. We also have 2 ev's (no gas cars) that we charge from solar. Our heat pump is pretty new, but not as efficient as we like. We are just supplementing grid, but we have been effectively off grid since March 2024, so still learning. Also if building or remodeling, too much insulation is never enough for you home. Oh yes, we just had our roof replaced (no solar on it) but ridge vents help us a lot (previously we had other non-powered vents). Oh we have 11KW solar, that maxes out about 5.6kw during the day (poor panel orientation but that is what was available), and 3 Tesla Powerwall's (40KWh rated, currently acting as 45KWh since they are still so new.).
Enjoy your videos. I think you do a solid job. The southern exposure at my site causes my system to transition from mostly solar array to 100% battery as the source much sooner than a 12/12 split. My system starts producing a small trickle (1% of my array size) between first light and sunrise. By 9:30am I am able to power my 4 Ton Heat Pump from the array with batteries only backing things up when clouds roll by. extremely cloudy days, I've seen my 10kw array get choked down to less than 500w at solar noon. Shade to the west starts to encroach around 5pm in winter 6pm in summer. I'm seeing an average of 7 hours of sunlight. Assuming no clouds that's closer to 17 rather than the 12/12 split most people envision. My 30 KW battery (24kw usable) can only output about 1.4kw/per hour through the night. Thankfully that's enough to run my air conditioning but not much else. Seems an additional 10kw of batteries will get me where I need to be to buffer against cloudy days and remain off-grid.
Thank you so much for ALL the info you provide! It has helped me understand my current system a lot more how to go forward with back up systems. I also have the Sol-Ark 15kV inverter.
Have you considered using thermal mass to supplement your heating and cooling? Running your AC pulls the heat from the mass, reducing and delaying the temperature spike at the end of the day (or in the morning when heating).
You can put a water heater on a timer so that it only runs when you need it I have mindset from 7:00 in the morning to about 3:00 in the afternoon The water still stays hot for many hours after that or you can do it in blocks say from 7:00 to 9:00 and then while you were at work it can stay off and come back on and you know a hour before you get home if you like and then have it shut off when you go to bed
I've watched a few of your videos, this one is by far the craziest if you're actually manually changing all that stuff everyday. You desperately need home assistant and some ESP32 / Arduino knowledge to control as many of these things as possible. You can setup automations on your Mr Cool's for like 20 dollars of hardware. Or you could get some sensibo thermostats to automatically control the ac stuff.
@@unpluggedtexan in all fairness. Utility companies have invested billions of dollars in the grid. It has already become a financial race between the solar haves and the have nots folks who's power bills continue to rise as people abandon the grid. Utility regulatory commissions are almost worthless.
I am 540 ft down the hole and a 1.5 hp 240 only draws 2.6kW. Your well pump seems not very efficient. 2hp booster pump into 2 85 gallon pressure tanks set 40/60 psi means booster pump doesn’t run non stop. 7,500 gallons on the ground in tanks. Pull ~ 1,200 gallons out before hitting the well pump every 7-10 days. 12.96kWp solar, 29.6kWh of Discover AES batteries. Closed loop SOC with Schneider XWPros M&S and 2 600/100 MPPT. 4 Zone Daikin ducted air source. Leave my house at 70F all day and still produce more AC power than needed. If your house gets that hot after turning off AC after freezing the house all day I would suggest better windows and some insulation. CA is just as hot as central TX.
My well pump at the bottom of my well is 2hp, when running it uses about 2,000 watts. It will run for 3-4 hrs topping off my tanks this time of year. Doesn’t have great flow though, only about 5 gallons per minute. My 240v variable speed above ground water pump to pressurize the water system is the one that can run anywhere between 1,000 - 6,000 watts.
Nope. The Sol-Ark 15k starts them with no problem. But soft starts are still a good idea to take some of the load off your system. It will help extend your inverters life.
I`m trying very hard to get my 300ah LiFeP04 to fully charge in only 5 hours of direct sun. I can get 1.5 kwh with my current charge controller using two 190w and two 100w panels. I just got another controller, two 100w bifacial panels, cables, tools, parts, breakers....man it`s expensive trying to run a tiny air conditioner. Sooner or later Louisiana will get slammed by another hurricane. And my used Victron controller (Tried to save money like an idiot on Amaz*n) smells like badly burnt wires. I`m scared to connect it to my battery. Do they stink this way new? It`s a sickening stench.
I barely have time to release videos since I have a real job also 😢. So unfortunately I don’t consult. But I try to answer questions via email to those who are on my email list. You can get in my email list by downloading the pdf I mentioned in the video.
Lol yep. I’m contemplating getting a cheap used EV and charging it with excess solar. The thought of having a giant car payment and astronomical insurance costs though isn’t appealing.
@@powerguymark most states charge an extra plate fee for road taxes, but usually less than a 10th of that. If the other states adopt the CA model, I'll be switching back to an ICE junker.
