Most things in a typical solar setup can be used at different voltages except for the inverter which normally comes in just a single voltage. Fortunately for you, you have a very highly engineered and adaptable Genetry inverter that was made to be able to be changed to different voltages. It's the only high quality inverter I know of that has this capability. In order to do so you'll have to contact Sean or Sid at Genetry and have them tell you what you need to do. You're 48 volt system may just be right around the corner.
It is not quite as simple as you state so I don't want people to get the wrong idea. I would still have to switch out every other components (other than panels and I need to upgraded them soon regardless LOL) even if Sean could get a 48v upgrade kit. My charge controllers and all of my overcurrent protection would not function on a 48v setup. And I would have to completely reconfigure my batteries - new BMSs of course. I do love my Genetry inverter and wish that more people knew about them.
@@OurBlackCatCottage I stand corrected, I thought those EP ever controllers went up to 48 V but I was mistaken. Apparently only the 50 Amp and up versions go up to 48 V. FYI, I have heard that the commonly available, heavy duty, commercial, yet inexpensive squareD brand, QO version of circuit breakers are actually rated to 48 V DC. Most commonly available breakers don't have a DC rating, but these apparently do in their literature although it's not stamped on them Individually. I would suggest double checking at an electrical supply place, or even squareD before doing it though. While you're at it double check if they are polarity sensitive.
@johnwyman6126 48v breakers aren't sufficient because your Voltage will go up around 56ish when charging a 48v battery bank. At least that's my understanding. Cheers
Wow, finally a channel without a paid product review, just down to earth advice, with great instructions. New sub... I'm in the process of learning about solar as a backup system. Thanks much for this video....
Glad it was helpful. If you have any questions please let me know. And check out this channel if you haven't already. He is the best one out there. www.youtube.com/@WillProwse
Excellent video! After spending more than 25 years in the offgrid solar industry, designing, selling and repairing offgrid solar systems spanning back to the early days of Trace Engineering in Arlington, Washington, I can attest to the fact that everything you have presented in this video is 100% accurate, especially your recommendation that you use low frequency, transformer based inverter technology as opposed to the low cost, low surge, short lived, high frequency tech that's now flooding the market. I like the fact that you presented your information in a non-biased, easy to grasp format that the typical layman can understand. Please make more of these videos. You're doing a great service for the offgrid community! I will be sure to checkout your Genetry inverter recommendation. Thanks!
Thank you! And definitely check out Genetry solar. I cut out a bunch about their inverter because it was starting to sound like an ad for them. LOL. Its basically two guys working out of their basement but their inverters are rock solid. www.genetrysolar.com
I’m building my first 12 volt (oops) system for my small camp trailer. It should be functional in a day or two. I ran double conductors instead of one larger conductor to all my components ( It will work but probably not the most practical way to go about it). Once it’s up and running I will probably sell some components and go with a 24 volt system ( to halve the ampacity for smaller conductor size). We all learn as we go right? Also welding type wire is much more flexible than THHN. Nice video. TU.
I got a Genetry solar 12 kw inverter I got it in May 10, 2023 May 14 on Mother’s Day. My wife got sick June 16, 2023. She passed away, the inverter still sitting in the box on my house with a 24 V 2500 W inverter 930 ah battery and my 12 V system has 3840 ah with a 3000 W Samlex inverter. Both inverters are low frequency. It was nice finding your channel
Great info, Just purchased a off grid cabin with solar battery banks and have no idea of what's what. Appreciate your time for putting out this information.
Nice explanation of the components that go into building a system. Like you, I started small and used 24V on my first home backup system and as I expanded the capacity from 120V single phase to 240 split phase utilizing a second inverter, I was faced with starting over with 48V inverters or continuing to use additional 24V components to utilize what I already had. I wish I had started with 48V but I found myself stuck at 24V. One thing you might want to consider is to replace the circuit breakers on your PV feeds going to the charge controllers with ones that have a higher DC voltage rating. The ones you are using are typically rated for 32V and if your solar panels are connected in series those breakers do not have an adequate DC voltage rating. For example if you have 4 x 20Voc panels connected in series, you could see up to 80Voc across the terminals of the PV breaker when it is open. I'd also recommend covering up the PV breaker terminals because you could have hazardous DC voltage levels on the exposed terminals during sunlight hours.
For for sure raise some good points. They are actually rated for 48 but still they for sure could go over that and really aren't "solar panel breakers".
I picked up the same solar panels from SanTan years ago to build a cabin but never started the build. I am know trying to build me 2 off grid systems to power stuff on remote property and thinking on a 24v and a 48v setup. Cool video.
Hey, enjoyed your video! Thanks. I’m addicted to this off-grid solar stuff now, too! I, too, have a a 24 volt system. Well, two of them actually. One for my cabin in the woods in Proctor, Ok and one for my home in Claremore. And like you, I wish I’d gone with a 48 volt system. But the 24 volt systems are doing fine for now. I was having trouble finding a 6000 watt 24 volt inverter till I saw your video. Here at my home in town I’ve got a 3000 watt WZRELB inverter, which has been a workhorse but I really do need something bigger because I plan on adding some heavier loads.
Glad you liked it. How dod you like that WZRELB inverter? Also, I am in southern OK - close to Norman. How do your panels perform here? And what do you use?
@@OurBlackCatCottage The WZRELB is a solid inverter. It has been powering my system here at the house for four years with no issues. I have eight Mission 380 watt panels here at the house in town wired in 2S 2P. Four panels per charge controller. On cooler days the highest output I’ve seen is 2.7 kilowatts. With this heat lately the highest output has been around 2.3 kilowatts. Both of my systems are off-grid only. I have manual transfer switches that allow me to toggle between grid and solar. I have been pleasantly surprised at how robust my town system has been, given that I have only eight panels. My cabin also has eight panels but they have slightly less wattage at 370 watts. Same wiring configuration. Out there I have a Schneider Conext 4024 split phase inverter; 3400 running watts; 4000 watts for thirty minutes and a 7000 watt surge for 5 seconds. I need more running watts out there though because I have a well. Most wells have one pump but mine has two: a submersible pump and a jet pump. I really need a second Schneider dedicated to the well only because I have a mini-split to power and my hot water tank is electric. It’s a small 19 gallon 1500 watt tank but it all adds up. Your 24 volt 6000 watt inverter peaked my interest because I was having trouble finding that much wattage for a 24 volt system using a single inverter.
12v and 24v have uses where you have lots of motor vehicle kit -lighting especially all car accessories are 12v! After that 24 and 48 volt systems have power at a reasonable current and are good for power at reasonable current.
I wish I would have gone 48v with my off grid setup. 24v is fine for smaller setups but once you start getting into 12k and 20wh and higher, 48v is the way to go.
Thanks for the advice about the cheap circuit breakers. Mine is cheap and keeps getting really hot at maximum charge current, around 50-60amps. I will be getting the Bussman brand you recommend shortly. Thanks for the video. Greetings from Jamaica.
@@OurBlackCatCottage I have just under 2000 watts of solar, LiTime 60amp and Rich Solar 40amp charge controllers charging two 100ah Power Queen LiFePo4 batteries. One 2000 watt LiTime pure sine wave inverter. Getting a third battery shortly and eventually a fourth, then i may upgrade to a 48v system. Thanks for asking.
Good overview, but there are a couple of things you should mention. First, when selecting circuit breakers make sure they are rated for the actual voltage in your system. This is particularly important with a 48 volt system since the "48 volt" label on a 48 volt system is just the nominal voltage, not the actual voltage. A typical 48 volt system running LiFePO4 batteries will actually have peak voltages near 58 volts. Those Bussman breakers may say 48 volts, but when you check you will find that they are indeed limited to 48 volts maximum and are not suitable between the batteries and the inverter for a 48 volt nominal system. You want circuit breakers rated at least 60 volts and preferably higher. Also, if your solar panels are in series, the open system voltage of the array is the sum of the open system voltages for all the panels connected in series. For example a typical 360 watt panel has an open system voltage of 40.6 volts. So if you have three panels in series, your array open system voltage is 121.8 volts. The circuit breaker between the solar array and the charge panels need to have a rating higher than the open system voltage of the array. In my example, I would want a breaker rated for 150 amps DC. Also make sure your breakers are DC rated. Another thing is that when you wire multiple batteries in parallel, I prefer to wire the batteries individually to the buss bar taking care to make sure the wires from all batteries to the buss bar are the same length. I believe that is a more robust way to parallel batteries and you also only need one connection at each battery terminal.
You can get a 5k watt EG4 battery for $1,000 to $1200 in 12/24/48v configuration, then a Rich Solar or EG4 inverter/charger (3k watts) for $500-$600. Less wiring, compact, and can bus. Good to go!
Bit undersized for me. Personally I wouldn't get an inverter under 6k. Now two 6k running together for split phase 240... Now you are talking. I do like those EG4 batteries but I can still make one from 3.2v cells for half that price.
@@OurBlackCatCottage Hrmm, I'd be willing to build a batt. if it were cheaper, but apparently you have a cheaper supplier than I can find. Where did you get your cells?
Thanks building my first system.. so Lost. Lol got 2 power queen 100ah 6 195w biorganic and velor 3k inverter. What do I need now? I could use bats in RV? But was meant for system, needs to run well pump. 3/4 horse pump. Have a solor tracker as well.
I absolutely love the attention to detail and safety. I know you say that wire and fuse has to match the system built, but that is my question. Can I send a picture for your review with so far specs?
Just a point to anybody that needs the higher current capacity wire. If you have smaller gauge wire, you can parallel them to give the current capacity you need. Two 12 gauge (20 amp) will give you 40 amps, and so on. But make sure you make a good connection at all points.
@@OurBlackCatCottageOne 2/0 (THHN) is good for 195 amps, 2, #2’s are good for 260 amps (130 amps each). I don’t care to run parallel conductors either, if I can avoid it, but your analogy isn’t quite accurate.
Love the GENETRY inverter in this excellent setup .🤗Check out my solar videos, hit like , leave a comment and subscribe if you haven’t yet .We preppers are always ready when it comes to power outages , living off the grid and saving money on electricity . May the solar be with you .😉
That GENETRY inverter is just a beast. I am thinking about getting another one. Been following your channel for a while but I just subscribed with my other one.
Building my first system. Need to run a 3/4 horse well pump . ,48v are expensive? Can you add up 100amp hr battery's, to get 48 volts? Or better to save money And bye bigger amp hr 12v or just get a 48v battery
You could go diagonally ( i.e. terminal to terminal or ' daisy chain'). The main reason I use the busbar is so I can isolate each battery and add a fuse. Also, in my experience it creates a better distribution of the energy across the batteries.
@@OurBlackCatCottage I meant on the negative side, which is un fused. I have not done solar but as an electronics tech the copper screwed into OSB could be problematic as well as the extra terminals and extra cables. I did enjoy the video and hope to do a solar system. and appreciate your time and effort educating.
A good rule of thumb is Continuous Watts / Battery Voltage times 1.25. How big is your inverter? You need to find the rate of power of your system. Your 13k wh battery is just the amount of energy you have stored. For example, I have 6k inverter on 24v so I have a 250a fuse. Technically mine is a bit low but max load is really closer to 4k. 4k/24v x 1.25 would be 208 and then round up to 250 amp.
@awa2827 19 hours ago Hi thank you for your helpful videos. I have a question about my solar system. I had 12v solar system with 10-180 watts panels and 2 lead acid batteries 12v/200amp connected parallel. I have them about 5 years and last month I bought 2 lithium batteries 230 amp each. When I connected new batteries, my inverter would turn on and off automatically every few minutes when there is less or no load connected to the system. I have 5000 watts Giandel inverter. I thought my inverter had a problem so I bought another inverter. This time I bought a 24v 5000 watt inverter and switched my solar panels to series. And I still have the same problem. I searched online but could not find any helpful information. Will you please help me out with this issue? Thank you so much.
Are you mixing the Lead batteries with the Lithium ones? That could cause all sorts of issues. If you just have the two Lithium and they are either in series or 24v then I don't know what the issue could be.
Thank you for your reply, I don't use lead acid batteries when I bought lithium. I use lithium only. My system is 24v now. Batteries and solar panels are in series with new 24v inverter. But anytime batteries in full charge, my inverter starts turning on and off every few minutes
@@awa2827 I would check the maximum input voltage for your inverter. Lithium batteries run at higher voltage than lead acid. It is possible that the voltage for your fully charged Lithium batteries (14.4 volts for a 12 V system or 28.8 volts for a 24 volt system is too high for your inverter which triggers an over voltage shut down of the inverter. Try changing the charging voltage of your solar charge controllers down to 14V for a 12 volt system or 28V for a 24 volt system.
