Great video, thanks. I'm always amazed how people up north will do solar and where I live, in the desert, open sky, flat, nothing but year round sun people are ignorant, skeptical and leery to do it.
I came to see how well your system works for residential use. As soon as I saw you were attempting to run house and two EV's I got depressed. I can't imagine attempting the residential + (2) EV's...
Im over in Tioga County (only 30 min from Ithaca). Getting a manufactured home this year, and finally moving out of my off-grid camper I have lived in for several years. I plan to keep my home off-grid. I found you through Now You Know Supercharger Reviews. Really inspiring what you have done here and cool to see what a ground mount system might look like (I plan to install it myself, 20x 340w panels for 6.8KW). I hope my building inspector will let me do a ground mount system like yours!!! I don’t want to have to do something crazy over-built when yours seems to work fine!!! (I’m doing ground mount because of the reasons you mentioned about issues w roof-mount for an off-grid situation). Again, I’m so excited to find your channel. Can’t wait to check out more vids. And super cool you are living close to me!!
This answers questions for me. I was planning on putting up a 30kW system for three houses with about triple the battery capacity. This was a plan for Ohio when we eventually build. Maybe I'll go to 50kW.
I also live up here in upstate NY. I was wondering where you got the panels from? I've got 8 100w HQST panels but i've spent a lot on them already. I've seen used 250W panels for sale around $58 but shipping is quite expensive. Thank you and great job!
You can contact this guy. Rafael 518-892-3353 buildinggreensolutionsllc@gmail.com Phenomenal deals! He is out of Albany. He will deliver for a fee. Tell him Jim sent you.
At 0.12 a KW, this system will make $2000 of electricity per year. It will pay itself back in 3 years and then he will have free energy from there on out. Totally worth it
Great video. I live just down the road from you in Waverly, New York. My wife and I have been looking into putting in a solar system. You confirmed one of our biggest questions and concerns about solar and winter in this part of the country. I am debating whether to show my wife this video because she is not fully into spending the money on a system and your video would confirm her fears.
1:38 That is not hard to find. 3:29 you cannot overload the inverter. You can “overpanel” a solar charge controller by 10% or whatever the manufacturer says is ok.
How is it working? Thank you so much for this vid! Can't wait to live off grid with emp proof pipes and insulation around wires with galvanized steel, those in steel pipes and tin foil and a outer ruber layer or something which is tested to be emp proof. For the power station room, it'd have to be emp proof as well which would cost a bit and take a lot of work but be worth it.
are those panels set in concrete at all? I'm very interested as to how you did this.... I need to setup around a 20kw system and will probably try to do a ground mount system similar to yours except I want to set them in concrete as we get a lot of high winds and need to make sure that it stays there and doesn't blow away.
I have a very similar 100% DIY 8 kilowatt system.. was your sunny boy used? I also have 2 used inverters the helps keep the cops down... my main question is how big of a trencher did you use I'm about ready to leave my conduit underground you probably going to rent one
It was a small trencher. I needed a trailer for it. it went really fast! Worked great! My sunny boy was new in the box. I found a great deal on craigslist.
That's an amazing system for an amazing price! I'm thinking of buying a 78kWh Model 3 LR battery pack and using it as a power wall, haha. Maybe solar later as Canada isn't the sunniest.
Can you possibly do a video on the Rav4 Prime cabin heating time from cold to comfortable? And how warm/hot the heat blow? How long it take to start blowing warm, etc.? I can not find any videos on this topic and am very curious on the subject, thank you! Enjoy the content!
2:17 I have the same color shutters on my house and they were fading bad.. I washed them and appied 303 Protectant and it made them look new again and it lasted like 8 months. Now once, sometimes twice a year (start of summer and end of summer) I reapply and it looks great. Its a little excessively glossy/wet looking for a day, but after that it just looks new.
1. The biggest barrier to off-grid is -- the grid. 😂 2. Roof solar is only popular because everyone has a roof! If you have sunny acreage ground is the way to go. Nice project!
Any experience with the bifacial panels where you are? How many watts were you getting on that grey Winter day? I'm near the 49th parallel and I'm curious about your tilt there, isn't the Sun low in the sky for you? How many volts and amps are you pushing to the inverter there from the panels, is that a six-inch low-voltage trench? Thanks, curious what I can get away with safely... ;)
The secret to living off grid with solar is to cut your electrical needs before sizing the system. You have a 17000w system now and that's still not big enough.
I’m curious about the same thing. I’m real close to James in the finger lakes area. I’m getting a home soon and plan to stay off-grid. Going to start w 6.8KW solar. The code for ground mounted solar just states that the structure the panels are mounted on must follow the building code. (Seems like they were pretty lazy when they wrote it). I’m thinking I’ll talk to my building inspector and see if I can get away with something more similar to what James has here.
Hey James, is there any chance you could let me know who your building inspector was so that I could tell my building inspector to talk to him lol. Or is it the electrical inspector who checks the ground mounts for the panels? I’m pretty sure they are gonna make me pour piers for mine, but maybe if I can get my inspector to talk to yours I can get away w something more chill like you did.
Hey relatively weird question, but we are building a system in upstate new york, our roof pitch is 33 degrees and I wanted to know how long it takes for snow to melt on the panels after a big snow storm? Like longest vs shortest times its taken to melt. our system is with an off grid cabin that we dont always go to, so we need to make sure our batteries are well charged and dont drop below freezing. We have heating pads for the battery as well. but if there is snow on the panels for weeks at a time, the heating pads would drain the battery and the temp would drop off. thanks in advance, and GO BILLS
Why no wind turbines? It looks as flat there as it does here. I have lived off grid at two locations. There were times at both locations, when we had days like you have in this video, for two WEEKS at a time, so the solar power wasnt enough... Adding a couple inexpensive wind turbines to see how much difference it made was eye opening... SO when we hit the same problem at out second place, I immediately installed an additional wind turbine.... and the problems went away.... The batteries OFTEN completely recharge overnight, and usually when the day is overcast rainy or snowy, it involves wind... I have had people tell me NOT to use wind power! Just get more panels and batteries!!!! nope.... NEVER again will I be without BOTH! Running TWO smaller turbines, means if one does have an issue you still have the second running and keeping you going. Once set up we never did have any issues with any of our turbines....
We got lots of wind there but the leaders there make turbines hard to do. Tons of regulations. They are democrats so youd think they would make it easier to do, but no.
I am looking at DIY installing a 20 kw ground mount solar system for my home to offset 100% of my electricity use including charging an EV. I am purchasing an inverter that works with my EV (F150 Lightning) to provide back up power to my house when the GRID is down. This inverter that I am purchasing is a 10 KW inverter and I am wondering how I can use this inverter with a 20 KW system? Do I have to purchase a separate inverter and do two solar systems like what you have?
A lot to unpack there but yes its possible. It sounds like the unit that we need to connect our ford Lightning to the house is also a 9.6kw solar inverter. It allows up to 4 strings of panels. If you had a parallel solar system, (2 different inverters that are grid tied, As soon as you connect the ford lightning they will see "grid power" and they should also turn on. So with the lightning your whole system should activate and power the house. That is my plan at least.
I tell everyone who asks that they should NOT install their panels on the house roof unless they have no other option. They belong just off the ground where you can quickly and easily clean and maintain them. A quarter inch of snow and the PV's are essentially dead.
Question, could you upgrade the inverter to maximize the system? Like I'm trying to find out why you chose 9kw inverter Vs different sizes?( not being scartastic and i really dont know) Also, it seems like you might need around 70kw (assuming your house is around 30kw per day and you only top up your batteries everyday) so does that mean you need an array that is 4 times bigger?
I have raised them a little. Mostly because its winter and the sun is lower in the horizon. However I may leave them this height. Its a good angle for both summer and winter. So far brushing snow off hasnt been a problem but if we get a lot of snow I can see it piling up in front of the panels which would suck. But I could go through with my tractor to move it.
Shouldn't the wiring from the inverter to the panels be deeper? Don't know what the code requirements are, but just thinking the conduit will eventually pop up to ground level and be cut by lawnmowers.
I dont think so. Its not a foundation or anything that needs to be below the frost line. Either way though, I plan on adding top soil to the whole area which would bury it more.
What the best angle to position a solar panel for maximum sun light? I think I had heard somewhere also the panel have to be facing a little to the south for best sunlight exposure, is that correct?
Vermont here, I feel your pain with cloudy winter days!! I have 13.6kW roof mounted (south and north) but definitely need more to go off grid. Only 30kWh of storage so far, but more coming soon!
@@JamesKlafehn I have a 60v (16s) battery out of a smart fortwo and a volvo hybrid paired with a Sol-Ark 12k with 2.6kw of DC coupled solar into that, and then a Solaredge 10kW (10.92kW DC) inverter AC coupled to that. It's an ever-changing setup, but it should do the trick eventually.
@@JamesKlafehn yes its a little bit high for most inverters. 67.2v is max charge but there's very little capacity above 63v. My last inverter (MPP Solar PIP 5048MG) went up to 64v, the Sol-Ark only does 63v. For pack longevity, I really wouldn't want to take it above that anyway, so it works out. I'd probably go with 14s (or 16s Lifepo4) if I did it all over again.
@@benssolarandbattery and you need an external charger right? I dont know much about the lower voltage systems haha Sounds like a cool set up. You have a youtube channel?
@@kellydardeen6308 you have a 48vdc inverter system. I have a 600 vdc inverter system. The Tesla power walls only have 2 modules in them. They are the same modules from a Tesla battery pack but a pack has 16 modules.
@@JamesKlafehn To Be More Clear I Have a Solar Edge HD Wave Inverter 500 VDC Max on My PV Array Going to My Tesla Gateway But To My Original Point ! You Stated That Your Inverter Was Rare Because You Can Switch From ON GRID to OFF GRID and I Stated That I Also Can Switch From ON GRID to OFF GRID With a Swipe of My Finger From My Tesla App.... So I Guess Your Point is That Your Inverter Will Handle a 100 More VDC
@@kellydardeen6308 No its rare because it does everything and uses high voltage battery packs. I bet you $100k that you cant find an inverter that does everything that this one does. On grid, off grid, hybrid of both, back up power only, complete ev battery packs.
That's pretty cool. I just paid 65k for a 17kW roof top system (39x 440w panels) through a solar installer in my area. It's unfortunate that these installers cost so much, I feel like it should have cost half that and I'm still tied to the grid. I'm hoping to add some batteries next year.
@@persona250 sure, I had it to do over again, then I would just hire a general contractor and order the parts myself. All the installers in my area wanted 60-80k for my house. Go figure.
@@persona250 400 watt panels run about $350 to $500 depending on brand. But, there are also micro-inverters, panel brackets, wiring, and pulling permits, etc. I rarely go with the cheapest stuff possible.
@@JasonTaylor-po5xc we are having a 10 kw system installed on our roof to cover our yearly electric bill (we have a natural gas furnace). 65k sounds in the ballpark for a 17 kw system, maybe a tad high. But extra costs could be due to regulations where you live. We are using the 405 KW panels from REC ( I think is the name of the Co.) and the solar installation company for us is doing the schematics our city requires and then getting all the permits. Our 10 kw system will be 35k upfront, but after the federal and Illinois tax rebates our system will be 14.5k. I live in Southern Illinois near St. Louis MO. My city is one of the strictest on home anything.
Non ho compreso molto ma ho capito che neanche con un impianto da 17kW sei in grado di essere totalmente indipendente. Hai mai pensato di trasferirti verso il meridione?
I see you selling your inverter on eBay right now with a picture of it at the same location 7 months after you uploaded this video. You're asking $6,000 for the inverter.
@@JamesKlafehn I suppose the objective of the time and money you are putting into solar, is trying to become energy independent. However, the costs involved don't appear to be economically viable.
@@dare2scheme904 I’ve never tracked the cost of my solar. I love charging at home and not going to gas stations and freezing while filling my gas tank.
