Lunavolt... Our latest outdoor solution! 

I add solar to my daughter's new home and get to test out our latest creation. Get a quote for the Discover lithium battery: practicalpreppers.com/product/aes-rackmount-by-discover-energy/ Get a Sol-Ark 15k: practicalpreppers.com/product/sol-ark-15k-120-240-208v-hybrid-solar-inverter-all-in-one-pre-wired-outdoor-rated/ Let's discuss your solar goals: practicalpreppers.com/consultation/ Check out our DIY kits: practicalpreppers.com/product-category/solar/diy/

Extremely well done design. Your daughter is a lucky person!

I love the peak charges! It pushed me off the grid! I had solar to supplement, when I got the peak from 4-8pm and 6-9 am,you realize you have to get by from 4pm tilll 9 am the next morning on storage, once you get that much storage and enough panels to run all your loads and guarantee a full pack at sunset, you can cut the cord.

From a security perspective, manufacturers need to start including alarm contacts - both in the inverter and the battery cabs. The Solark App could alert the install/customer about a tamper condition and let them react before it's all stripped and stolen. Failing that, installing door switches and dry contacts for an easy security integration.

Very lucky girl!! 👧🍀

Way to go dad. Good fit and system! Thumbs up 👍

I like the battery storage being away from the home.

This is a great video that shows a bunch of the benefits of our AES RACKMOUNT batteries and the LYNK II with the relays. Thanks for sharing this!

Great to see innovation on your channel as codes sometimes force change, but you are taking the initiative and doing R&D.... Great installs and I have learned a lot. Good videos all around.

I would recommend a solar split unit AC to be added to the house. I have my own sights set on the one EG4 has since I've seen reviews saying how well it performs using very little watts. This could be installed in the main living area of the house and actually just run alongside the existing unit on "normal" days which would take some pressure off the big unit and reduce consumption. Grid down, the big unit would stop but the split system would keep going, may not be enough to cool the entire house but at least the living area will be liveable (think indoor camping)! Just my 2 cents which happens to be the direction I am headed in myself with my own system.

Very professional setup. Just a tip, Micro Air doesn't recommend mounting their soft start upside down because of that gland connection. Putting it on its side or caulking the bajesus out of it might be a good idea.

Looks Fantastic! I actually LOVE the all outside system

simply love watching your projects, I've been a fan for many years now. I live in TX and have added solar and batteries to my home, wish I knew more about the programing of the system. 28 panels and 6 Enphase batteries. Thanks for the many years of prepping advice and videos.

Miss my dad so much😢😢😢. Enjoyed your video sir

Nice clean work well done lads...

Looking really good 👍

I swear the code writers never leave CA. Tossing them outside is all fine for the south, but in the north battery heaters will need to run like crazy to keep things warm.

I love to see an episode integrating existing grid tie inverters with hybrid inverters/batteries. I'm aware of two companies that do this and I love to see an installation showing this application of solar.

Thanks for the video. Love your content. I inspect large solar projects all over North America. From time to time I see Polaris taps (multi-taps) used to combine ground wires. This is not allowed per UL467. I spoke to the engineer in charge of multi-taps at Polaris and he said the taps blew off the wires when UL tested them. Also, some multi-taps are not rated for outdoor use.

Enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing

Grid Down! Solar Up!

Besides bolting the SolArch to the 3R cabinet. I noticed you didn't use Myers hubs on the conduit connections. As a result. You have multiple points where moisture can ingress... My recommendation is to install a roof with walls that envelope the top and sides to direct water away from the potential problem area.

I'm in awe of how far the industry has come in a few short years. Heated outdoor battery cabinets with tilt-adjustable solar and rugged outdoor inverters with integrated grid pass through? As frustrating as the industry can be, wow, it's come so far so fast.

Nice setup. If I had to do my 6kw grid tie system over again, this would be a setup I'd would like to put in.

LOVE This❤

Those arrays would have made a great carport or shed if the posts were a tad bit higher

Definitely a magnificent system. Still a little crazy putting the inverter and battery outside without rain protection

I have 19kw in panels and 150kw in lithium and it's not enough. Always go with a lot bigger like 2x than what you think you would need

I likely would have avoided putting your expensive items outside for a lot of different reasons. Also depending on weather you will be giving up a lot of power forcing those batteries to heat themselves. You also spent a lot of extra money and cost in trenching and running a lot of really heavy cable. Also if the weather is bad you won't have easy access to the inverter or the batteries. I understand your thoughts but also lifepo4 is super safe.

Thanks i love this channel

Awesome!

I assume you can only put the batteries outside if you are in an area that doesn't see harsh winters! I also assume the batteries have heaters in them for cold wheather. I am curious to know where the dividing line is as to whether they should be used outside or not. Something along the lines of if you have snow on the ground for more than a week each year put you batteries inside!

Could you also build a “shed” and add a tiny heat pump to that shed to give it some climate control? Demand charges are coming for everyone. :(

Nice. I like this type of battery cabinet setup over building a large solar shed.

Awesome system!

Broad River Electric Co-op just instigated that same rate structure. Still waiting to hear from you on the system you quoted for me. I want to avoid that time of use charge as well.

nice to see a nice package for matteries outside that cabinet work up in Minnesota

i like the idea of all the stuff not being in the house but a lot of money sitting out in your yard for someone to steal. can i get the address of the install 😁😁

You’re a good dad!

looks Good

When I'm ready, and I hope it's soon, I'll be reaching out to for a project in NC.

Yep. Up solar, down grid... :)

Won't work anywhere in the north, Montana, Michigan, Maine, etc., nor in Canada. Unless you build an underground vault or cellar, store vegetables with the batteries, and they'll stay in the charging range year round. 😃

ENGINEER 775, ONCE AGAIN WE THANK YOU FOR KEEPING US ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE GRID’S MONOPOLISTIC GREED PLANS & HOW OUR SOLAR & BATTERY 🔋 BACKUP TECHNOLOGY & CAN CIRCUMVENT THEIR PROGRAMS WHILE KEEPING US EMPOWERED & IN CONTROL OF OUR MONEY 💵! THANK YOU! 🙏

Why did you place the sol-ark and battery so close to the panels, when you convert it to 120/240 your amps go up so now you need much larger wire to run to the house raising the cost due to wire by about $500-1k. I'm not criticizing, more asking. Amazing job in the install, looks fantastic!

I'm really interested your thoughts on Sodium Ion batteries, especially now that Natron will be manufacturing in the US.

Are you not commissioned as of yet to sell to grid, or is it a purely zero-export? I'm still doing zero-export because the base connection cost ends up quadrupling for me to even be able to sell to grid while limiting your array to 8kW. It made more sense to invest that in batteries for me, then I would have a good backup power source too. The case for net-metering has only gotten worse, I almost think the power companies are trying to put themselves out of business.

Give me the unit to direct leak exposed the weather. Would you consider a Shed build. In this case, I'm talking about the square in closure that 1 side comes off. Either he understood or was scrubs or whatever around the batteries and inverter. When you need to service, take off the one side and rock off the 3 sides and top to the side. Do your service rocket back on and put the sad on. Of course, you'd have to have some stabilization. So that weather didn't push the shed around

There's an outfit called Ravolt that sells a similar set up, just not sure about keeping that high dollar equipment outside in the elements.

How about the temperature range out there? I think the Sol-Ark is good within -25 to 55 C, so that shouldn't be an issue. But, what about the batteries? EDIT: And, is that 4/0 wire running from the meter to the Sol-Ark and then back to the panel? That must have cost a bit (and been fun to run).

Interesting Video. What happens for properties without as much land? Are they not going to be allowed to install solar?

I like this setup with the battery next to the ground mount panels all outside. With the hybrid inverter also outside, it looks like your outside solar powerplant is AC coupled to the house by the inverter, and you probably have a large diameter cable to carry that current to the house. Could you share details on the cable sizing and run for that? Also, would there be any potential cost savings in using a just charge controller outside to fill the batteries and then sending high voltage DC to the house over a potentially smaller diameter cable to just an inverter to do the AC coupling at the house?

For me, it has to be a hybrid system to be truly usable.

Love your videos and thank you so much for sharing. I'd like to ask a question to get your opinion. The Sol-ark 15k manual has a 200amp disconnect (doesn't say fused so I assume just an emergency style disconnect) between the inverter's grid input and the tap at the grid. I believe in your case you are double lugged at the transfer switch where the grid comes into the transfer switch and that's your tap - it makes sense. You have the 200 amp fused disconnect that is just downstream of the meter, and that's also in the Solark's manual - makes sense again - that's the main disconnect for power to the home in case of emergency. So this extra disconnect between grid input to inverter and grid tap, is that just for ease of killing the grid connection to the inverter and/or easier to swap/isolate the inverter if needed? I don't see any other reason to have it. If you do have it, then if you need to swap the inverter, you simply throw the transfer switch to have grid power straight to your panel, turn off that disconnect and you have the whole Solark isolated from grid, do the swap or maintenance of whatever. If you don't have that disconnect then you would need to turn off the main disconnect, lose power for a moment (assuming the inverter's load output is not powering the panel because there's something wrong with the inverter - hence the need to work on it/swap it) disconnect the inverter's grid input wires and tape them up, then turn the main disconnect back on and hit the transfer switch. Did I get that right? Some other manuals for other inverters have the same disconnect, fused, and mounted outside that serves as the :PV Interactive Disconnect", and that's right next to the main disconnect. It may be now required by new codes? But honestly if you turn off the main fused disconnect (one right after the meter) then doesn't that accomplish the same thing, protecting line workers/first responders? And if there is a rapid shut down switch, that would kill power to the rest of the system (inverter would shut down power the main panel, shut down PV if equipped with RSD, and shut down batteries if they have that feature). Just curious your opinions. Thank you! Great videos!

I'm in the process of planning out my utility shed for my property. Our utility says they have no plans to switch to Time of Use billing, but..... I don't believe that.

I think the jL35z would have been a better choice for the QT#7l batch combiner so that you could keep your water/carbon content below .37nano spects. Otherwise, the FTC/NIA people are going to freak and charge you multiple fines per quantum. Of course, you could just add a smoke grinder attachment with a chyron filter of 4 microns.

Have you thought about doing a mini split on the living room area so if you need to drop load you don’t loose all your cooling capacity?

What is the actual formula for the time of use? $13/kW sounds insane.

any concerns with over heating batteries outside? any fans / cooling in the rack?

Did you make provisions to charge from grid during off-peak hours in the event you hit a cloudy stretch?

Looks great but I guess it doesnt get too cold there. Not sure if that would be good for my climate. Cheers

I know it’s code below 18”, but I would never run high voltage cables in the ground without being in conduit.

Love to know what solar mounts you used. That’s exactly what I need.

Couldn’t you put that battery cabinet under the solar array? I was looking for you about the solar for the water heater, how many panels and what wattage do I need. Looking ate a solar tracker to run it?

The question is: what will be the efficiency do the battery in winter when it’s very cold ?

Can you set up the battery cabinet to be heated during the winter? I live in a cold, high altitude area and would need that.

What is the brand/make and spec on the 28 pv panels you installed? I believe you have two 28-panel arrays. Since you're using Sol Ark, that means string inverters as opposed to micro inverters. The 18k EG4 has effectively 3 built-in string inverters. So I'm wondering how many panels you have in a string? Thanks for any details you can provide! -John.

Did you say $13/kwh for peak heat of the day? What state is this?

My concern would be theft. If ever in a SHTF situation, all that gear could be stolen. 🤷‍♀️

What does this kind of setup cost? Super interested in setup.

Scott, what happens to the batteries on a cold winter day?

How is that batterie system going to power all the house and get them recharged . I need a system that I can go off grid for months if not years

How would you EMP proof this setup?

I know the Sol-Ark is NEMA 3R/IP65 and exterior rated but practically how will the PCBs do living outside in the summer humidity? I'm debating on this very thing at the moment, build a shed or hang it on a meter pedestal outside.

We replace alot of inverters in Texas when they are in the sun. Curious if batteries work good on this . Discover expensive last time i priced them. Dang ?? Code on this one seems may need disconnect when go in house on that side also. To many rules. 4 sure..maybe ok as inverters in site and breakers on it

The batteries look like they are full really early in the day. Perhaps add more batteries?

did you say you ran 1" conduit? looked like you buried the wires directly in ground

Hi, this $13 bucks per KwH what commpany is doing this? I need to see the details of it and how they work it out. many thanks.

nice

I have the eg4-18k and outdoor rated power pro. Would you recommend putting this outside vs inside? Would like more info on the details you mentioned early in the video

Why are the relays on the battery and not on the inverter itself?

What about batteries in cold weather? Do they have heaters?

What would lightning strikes do to the batteries?

would an outdoor battery install work in a cold environment like Minnesota?

Lunavolt...so you've created lunar photovolatic? Wow, congrats!

Does this system require internet full-time in order to operate

The SolArk in the summer and the batteries in the winter, how does it handle the temps?

So how many kWh do you currently have in that cabinet?

Question @engineer775, is it technically possible to EMP harden CanadianSolar Bifacial panels on the solar panel rack using any products you sell?

I thought we paid a lot for electricity at 44 cents per kwh. This sounds like you live in California with those crazy rates

confused that you cut down those cedars.

I looked up the specs on those batteries. Kinda small in storage aren't they? Or am I missing something?

is this system put back power to the grid

How many KW does that 5 ton A/C use? it seems you have enough battery for your 3 hour "rape" charge per kwh, that "fee" is mind boggling.

NEC changes codes to many every 7 years i have been doing this for 42 years

Here they call the peak hour use rates incentivising sola which is just linguistic framing for punishing grid users for fun and profit.

Did you add the microair smart start?

good install ---- $13 a kilo watt hour ?

Hows the thermal insulation in that box? Heat no good and low temps batteries won't charge

all my life I just want to be like the guy from Engineer775.