Received My Permission to Operate from Duke Energy for my 18Kpv 

Thank you, Yes I figured this out. I have it covered in a couple of other videos.

@@Gary_Pauls_DIY Good job. I was puzzled that such well-designed equipment wouldn't document this obvious assembly sequence. A couple lines in the manual with a small sketch is all that is needed. Even a removable sticker on the plate might cover it.

Many thanks

Thanks!

14 is pretty good if you load manage in a power outage. It way better than not having back up at all.

PowerPro manual says "Do NOT mix EG4 WallMount 280Ah batteries with any non-280Ah lithium batteries. This will void your warranty." So he'd have to sell off the PowerPro and convert completely to rack mount batteries.

@joetripp123 why? Resistance difference in cells? As in, lower Resistance in the power wall...under a hard discharge they would discharge faster then a huge transfer of energy from the other rack into it?

@@wadebrewer7212 not sure. Resistance is a good guess.

Components were TUV certified which is one of the certifying bodies NC recognizes.

This battery weighs 300 lbs. I am way too chicken to try and hang it up that high on the wall.

Sorry, the only things I had installed by an electrician were the two switches. I had them install the lugs so I would be able to connect the inverter, so I am not certain where they got them or what the part number is. I'm just guessing that an electric supply would have them, since it was something the electrician had handy.

The disconnect was required, but the transfer switch is something I wanted so I could bypass the inverter if I needed to work on it or if it failed. It was in my plan I submitted to Duke from the beginning, so I don't know if they would have approved it without the transfer switch.

You are correct. The disconnect will kill grid power to everything. It was required by my city inspectors to be set up this way. This is because I don't have any other main service disconnect/breaker before the inverter. If the inverter is not working properly, I can still bypass it and send grid power directly to my main circuit breaker panel through the transfer switch. I cannot kill grid input AC to the inverter without killing everything. I would have needed to replace the meter base with one that has a 200 Amp breaker or install an additional disconnect to get it to work like you are stating, and I really didn't have the space on the wall to do it. The placement of the switches was critical to getting it to line up with where the inverter needed to be placed inside the garage. (between studs and not blocking the main panel)

Thanks for the heads up. This house is over 20 years old and all the gas lines are copper. I may need to upgrade all of it so I don't blow up the house at some point.

If you buy it as a package it comes with the battery cables. Yes they have the connectors attached to connect to the battery and the end which connects to the inverter does not have any lugs (not needed for the 18Kpv)

Can't move it since I have the conduit coming in the back side of the conduit box for input grid power and output inverter power. My switches on the outside of the house kinda set where the inverter had to be installed.

I thought of that, but there is no easy way to connect conduit to the Powerpro battery. The cables would just be out in the open.

It seemed so easy😂. Great job on the installation and explanation. I’m thinking of doing a similar project. Thanks for your videos.

There many be a requirement for space in front and around the main breaker panel that would limit permanently mounting anything under it.

@@joetripp123 Yes, by code anything under the panel cannot stick out more than 6 inches.

Yes, other folks have mentioned this as well.

The door still opens about 80% of the way. Still usable. I plan to place the battery on the right side of the distribution panel. Just waiting on some connectors.

I think I will end up just ordering the connectors and cable and building longer cables. Good cable is expensive, but it is a good clean way of doing it.

@Gary_Pauls_DIY I would be concerned over how long yhe cables are and an uneven distribution of power between the two packs. Only a concern, if you are not running a full DOD on batteries, may not really be an issue, but know that the long cables could cause a balance problem between the two packs.

@Gary_Pauls_DIY shoot...I know one of your concerns is the door...is there a way to re-hang and have it open the other way?

@@wadebrewer7212 The manual has you connect one 2/0 positive cable and one 2/0 negative with a length of 56 inches. I plan to run two 2/0 positive and two 2/0 negative cables around 65 inches. I believe running two of each will more than make up for the added distance.

@@wadebrewer7212 It would be even worse if it opened the other way. It would hit the single battery currently installed. I would have to make it open out instead of into the garage and that creates security issues unless you spend the money on the correct door and hardware.

For me there are several reasons. 1. My system is not big enough to be off grid through the night or during bad weather, so I would need a generator and it would cost more to run the generator than the cost of the grid power. 2. I make more energy than I can use/store during daylight hours. I plan to add another battery and store as much as possible, but I don't want the excess to go to waste when I can get 1 for 1 credit from Duke Energy. 3. I don't have the money it would take to be completely off grid. 4. My main goal was to have backup power for when the grid goes down and to get a return on investment from building the backup power system. With my current total costs and taking the 30% tax credit I should see around a 7% return on investment.

By participating in Net metering you also help other people by sending power and helping to stabilise the grid.@@Gary_Pauls_DIY

@@Gary_Pauls_DIY I had the same question. I think he meant off grid with grid input for when the battery gets low. 1 for 1 credit is really good and that may make the difference to be worth it. We only get wholesale rates selling back. It would be interesting to see the numbers to see a 7% return. That would be really good. How much extra was it to be selling back to the grid with all the inspections?

@@kenastl The interconnection fees were $250 and the building and electrical inspections cost $170. Rechecked my numbers it is closer to 6%. I paid $1900~ last year for power. I hope to cover around 55% with the solar. That should give me around $1000 per year return on investment (before the rate increases scheduled for the next few years) After the tax rebate and based on what I paid for the system, it should be around 6% ROI. Duke Energy recently changed there rate structure for new solar installations. I submitted my interconnect before the changes, so I am grandfathered into the old rates. No time of use and 1 for 1 credit. Their new rate schedule has a solar fee of $14 per month, time of use variable cost per KWH, and it is no longer 1 for 1 credit (not sure the exact exchange rate). Under the new system, I would not have done the interconnect. As solar has become more affordable and better equipment, the utility companies are now trying to kill it. They are like drug dealers, kill the competition so you are dependent on them.

​@@Gary_Pauls_DIYeverything gets more expensive with time so your ROI will be great. If production costs somehow stay low, they'll just increase taxes

I was thinking the same thing.

According to the manual, it has to be mounted upright. The mount that comes with it wouldn't let you mount it any other way, so you would have to build something to mount it horizontally. Also you need access to both sides of the battery.

3/0 copper

@@Gary_Pauls_DIY it is SO heavy and stiff I don’t know if I can pull it from my location. 🙁

@@jonathanlyerly8501 The other option is to feed a distribution panel instead of using the full 200 Amp grid passthrough. Look in the manual at page 32 Diagram 4.1. It takes 70 Amps from the grid and then feeds into a sub panel with 60 Amps. This way you would only need 4 AWG Copper. It will still back feed any excess power generated to the grid.

​@Gary_Pauls_DIY this exactly how I have my Sol Ark 15k. I'm feeding a sub panel with critical loads. Back feeds excess but limited to house, I am not on a sell back. So if grid is down, i lose some of the things in the house, but not the critical stuff like fridge....heat....and of course.....coffee pot. Lol.

@@wadebrewer7212 Nice. If anything goes wrong with this 18K, I will most likely swap to a Sol-Ark. So far no issues.

Yes, if i get a third it will go outside.

Yeap, that is correct... NEC Code Section 110.26 (A)(3) estipulates that for equipment installed above or below another, it can not stick out more than 6 inches from the other. So, the idea of putting another battery and cable conduit in front would not pass inspection.

@@Songomxyep I remember someone explaining it was due to the risk of leaning on something if it was too much

Thank you both for the information. I may have to build my own cables to make this work.

if you put the battery on the right side, you put a wireway, 6X6 in between the two conduit boxes underneath the panel, put the existing tube and the battery cables in @@Gary_Pauls_DIY

@@frankh7234 That's probably what I will end up doing, but I will need to make my own battery cables. The ones SS sells are only 53 inches long and to put the battery on the right side of the panel I need about 60 inch battery cables.

Yep, I figured that out and put it in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5SwnQHtwLC0.html

Either will work. For me, the fused disconnect lined up so I would be able to run grid power directly into the back of the 18Kpv cable box. I had thought about swapping the meter base to one with a 200 Amp breaker as well. Ended up going with the current setup just because everything fit the best.

@@Gary_Pauls_DIY Thank you for responding.

It might work. I can do some measurements and see how it would fit. I am trying not to block the door or access to the main breaker panel.

Thats what I was thinking, On wheels. Bought the rack kit deal. Like it. I also build my own battery with 280 amp hour cell from 18650 battery store. I have $2700 in that complete. Built a wood box like with 5/8 fire board on casters. JK bms. 150amp breaker from Signature Solar. Bulk fitting from Amazon. Turn out good and feel safe with it. There is no communication with it. I have it paralleled with 11 eg4 life power battery that do Committee with my Solar-ark. Works fine.

I had to prove my homeowners policy would cover in the event of an accident.

I was just wondering I heard some talk about million dollar policy thanks@@Gary_Pauls_DIY

I agree. I think in the end I will place the battery over by the water heater. I need to build longer cables to make it work. The new battery arrives in just a couple of days. I plan to put it under the distribution panel and have the cables in the open until I can make new cables. SS states the batteries need to be within 1 Volt of each other, so I believe this is the reason there is a restriction on the length of the cables they provide. To compensate I will just run two sets of cables to drop the voltage loss in half. This would be a problem if I planned to run 3 batteries, but my plan is for only 2 batteries, so this should work.

@@Gary_Pauls_DIY I think if you're concerned about a voltage drop, you really just need to upsize the size of your battery cables to compensate for any kind of dropping voltage. It'll cost you a little bit more, but for that short of distance it'll be negligible. Too bad you can't raise the electrical panel to get it out of the way but that would cost more than it's worth

I think in the videos I always say sell back, but you are correct in thinking they only let you bank the excess. It is 1 for 1 (for me at least, rules have changed recently for new installations). They will never actually pay me anything. They just credit it against what I might use in the future. So it is basically a battery which I didn't need to purchase. If I bank a bunch of credit and I don't use it then it gets zeroed out. They zero out twice a year. Sizing the system is important. If I oversize then I am just sending them power for free. This month it looks like I will end up negative about 100 kWh. So I will get a bill of around $11.00 for the power usage. Then they will tack on the standard meter fee, tax, and storm rider which everyone is forced to pay. In my case the closest one to Zero without going over wins.

Thanks, I live south of Raleigh and Dukes info online is really hard to follow. After your video I have ordered my Eg4. Just made since.

@@robjohnson2649 I honestly can not recommend having a sell back agreement with Duke Energy under the new rules. If you didn't submit your application before 1 Oct 2023 you will be under the new regulation (Rider NMB) for three years and then forced to move to a time-of-use tariff system (Rider NSC). The time of use tariff rates are bad. Under the new rules I would still use grid passthrough, but I wouldn't have a sell back agreement and I would just run the inverter as an EPS. It would power the house when the sun was out and charge the batteries. When the sun goes down it would run the house off of the batteries. When there was not enough sun or battery charge it would switch over an run off the grid.

In this video I am using non-metallic flexible conduit. In the latest video I have installed a second battery and used EMT. Everything is grounded.

How could i make an off grid Pv installation ment to load my EV only? Can you do that with DC, or must you go to AC?

You would need the panels and an inverter to take the DC voltage from the panels to AC in order to charge the car.

The safest way to charge your EV with solar is to use a low frequency, transformer based inverter charger that provides galvanic isolation between the DC boost stage of the inverter and its AC output. You'll eventually smoke your EV's onboard charger if you use a high frequency inverter.@@harryvantrotsenburg5481

Inside the 18kpv on the input cables (L1 & L2) which is grid power coming in from the disconnect switch.

You are correct. I'm still waiting for the connectors and once I have them I will measure everything out and order the cable.

Mine has been running for 6 months now with zero issues. Grid tied with sell back and two powerpro batteries. I have only paid the basic meter charge to the power company since Feb. Knock on wood, it keeps running like this.

@@Gary_Pauls_DIY nice cnl not understand why my unit not working right what a pain to install and remove it. Bought for its 10 warranty. lol and got 10 days of headaches after dark.

Yes, I agree that would work. I make more power than I can use or store during the day. I get 1 for 1 credit sending it to the grid. So for me it is a free battery with unlimited storage. If they change the rules, then maybe I will set it up a different way.

All said and done now. The batteries are on the wall and I have full use of the door. Use it all the time to go in and out of the garage.