/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1172965
The biggest expense is the battery array. It is one reason why you shouldn't skimp on cost. You want batteries that have the most charge cycles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechargeable_battery#Lifespan_and_cycle_stability

You can see in those stats which batteries are best for solar use. You'll need to juggle the cost of cheap batteries that last a short amount of time (5 years or less) and expensive batteries that last a long time (20 years or less). Most people who have a solar system with battery array can only tell you about the cheap batteries. The people with the expensive batteries normally have not had the batteries long enough to need to replace them and can't really comment on battery life since they've not reached the 20 year mark. In fact, most online charts for battery life are pretty spot on. So long as they are not abused they should last as long as advertised. The best info you can get is about manufacturing defects in certain lines of batteries, thus read a lot of reviews about the battery model number you are looking to buy.

As for solar panels, the efficiency charts are very good. It all really comes down to ease of installment really. That has to do with their frames. Remember, you'll need to clean them pretty much every month for optimal service.

Charge controllers and protection circuits are a whole different matter. Those you will need to research the reviews on them with great care. Their failure rates and quality vary a great deal. It is very easy to buy the wrong thing for your array as well as end up buying something that is defective in the long run. Do not skimp on cost and don't buy cheaply. Don't buy brand new models, only buy models that have a proven track record for many years. Exploding batteries aren't a good time at all.

>Live in Alabama in an area that the sun exposure is pretty decent.

Doesn't matter. People use solar at the poles with good effect. You'd just need a bit more solar space that is all.

I do solar shit for work. Don't fall for the solar edge meme.

>>1172965
Solar works well for low-current devices like your wifi repeater and cameras.
>pic related

Solar sites I typically deal with have solar arrays to augment shitty utility service. Single-phase 120v feed from the bottom to the top of a mountain where the repeaters live typically yields ~90vac at the outlet... and it's usually not very reliable (works for a while, out for a few days kind of thing).

Solar helps augment the power loss, but the sites don't run 100% solar. Impossible to maintain that shit, even with just a router/controller/100w radio.

It has its place in remote applications, but for regular use, it just doesn't make sense. You only get so much w/m^2, at 100% efficiency that's all you're going to get (and typical solar is only ~25% efficient at best).

Panels need to be kept clean, and ideally aligned with & tracking the sun. Their output drops fast with anything other than full and direct sunlight.

Then there's the issue of storing that energy. If you've got 12h of sun, but you're running equipment 24h/day, you need twice the solar and storage capacity just to keep the lights on all day. Batteries aren't free, nor are they "clean" if that's what you're after.

Spend the money on a good charger (or inverter if you need AC power).
Remote monitoring and low-volt cutoffs are helpful. Start shedding loads when the batteries go low.

>>1173904
>>1173920
>•hey guys I'm getting solar and want to diy it myself, what should i get?

>don't get solar!!!!!

Some help you buyfags are.

>>1173998
You obviously have not looked too far into this. String is a cheap and shit way to go that is what I'm telling you.

>>1174006
No, I'm >>1173084 I have my own system and I think you are a moron. SolarEdge is fine, but this is /diy/ so you are an idiot from the start.

>>1172965
Dude be careful with solar in alabama. I had a friend who built a solar set up in alabama and the fucking rednecks stoned and shot the solar panels.

>>1174126
So, what you are saying is that you don't want to live in a fucking shit hole.

>>1174038
Solaredge is cheap garbage. Weekend warrior pls go

>>1173920
I'm pretty well aware of what my power needs will be for different things, that's pretty easy math.

WiFi repeaters and cameras and such, monitoring equipment, as well as some LED lighting for when I'm on-site is currently my 'starting' goal.

I do intend to see how big I can grow my system, even maybe having enough to run my air conditioning (~450 watt window unit) off of it, but not constantly.

I do have a backup generator of course, for cloudy / rainy days, etc.

>>1175087

Hitting 250 watts in strong sunlight is not hard, there's rooftop format panels out there up to 250 watts each. Aircon is actually an ideal application for solar since you only really need it when it's sunny and hot af out.

>>1175142
Yea, you need it most when the sun is out and shining. (Except for days when it's somehow 95 with no breeze and cloudy... fuck Alabama. :/ Fire up the generator!)
So I think running the air conditioning is probably feasible, considering that while it's a high-ish load, it's not constant. It runs for a bit, the area is cool, it turns off.


450 watts, for say 6 hours a day, is 2700 Watt/Hours.
That's what... two 12-volt golf cart batteries worth of power?
(Average battery capacity ~120 amp hours at 12 volts = 1440 Watt/Hours per battery. 2 batteries = 2880 Watt/Hours)

And if the sun is actually shining... I'm already at 200 watts of panel capacity. If I get up to 900 watts, I could charge those batteries while running the AC in my ~6 hours of peak sun exposure, and still have some power for my off-peak hours and lights at night.


Did I screw up anywhere in my math?
>>1173920
One of the things I was considering was separating my cameras, monitoring systems, WiFi repeater and such from my main power system, so that if the power ran low, they would continue on their own batteries that wouldn't be drawn upon for anything else, and the system would cut out things in order of load of course if it started getting low:

A/C first to cut off.
Then dehumidifier shortly afterwards.
Then a desktop PC if I happen to add one there would shut down.
Then it'd cut off the small fans I have.
Then finally if the voltage got to the cutoff point, you couldn't use the LED lighting system and the only thing that would still work would be the cameras and WiFi repeater and such, until their batteries died.
>>1174126
Sucks, hope your friend had insurance on his property, sometimes it'll cover vandalism of things like that.
Rednecks love to fuck with shit... but they also really don't like being filmed while they do it. I have quite a bit of surveillance around the place there now to make sure they get caught with their pants down if they try and do something like that.

>>1174459
>>1174006
>>1173904
>tripfag gonna tripfag

You've added nothing at all to the conversation, unlike the rest of us. You should stop posting on /diy/ it isn't the board for you. You should try >>>/b/ instead.

>>1173904
So, just realized that SolarEdge is a company that is pushing solar stuff to consumers, complete with retarded 'cloud based' monitoring stuff.

That sounds truly awful.

>>1175214
Thanks I'll get on that
>>1175258
It has too much that can go wrong and optimizers fry like no tommorow. Cheap way to go yeah but it will cost you in repairs down the line. Do it YOURSELF or only by *certified* technicians. You would not imagine the things people do at some of these PPA companies. I'm talking thousands in damage.

>>1175437
Also inverters once a week (old style) have all sorts of issues from DC leakage to covers that don't seal and everything in between. While I can't speak for the wave I'd stick with micros even if they have their own problems.

Wear fall protection

>>1175437
So SolarEdge doesn't hire certified people? That sounds ... illegal in some areas?

>>1175437
>optimizers

Those are all rubbish. They are the latest typical Jew-centric, made up add-on with negligible improvements over cost, maintenance, and arbitrary system complication. They are just one more link in the chain to make things slightly more complex and require "professionals" to install shit for you.

>>1175440
Inverters are much the same in the regard to my above rant. Which is why you should always match your appliances to your system, not the other way around. If your system needs an inverter, it means you are patching a problem instead of designing a proper system. The simplest example is to buy an appliance that matches the DC output voltage instead of using an inverter to go from lower DC to higher AC just to accommodate the appliance. Now you can buy 12vdc, 24vdc, and 48vdc fridges for instance negating the need for an inverter.

Remember, most of this stuff was invented specifically to make someone else money, not to help you out. After all, most of those 110v AC appliances have an stepdown transformer inside them, causing further inefficiencies in your overall system.

>>1175829
In some places, it is illegal. However, most places only require the company to be "certified" or there's no requirement at all (like where I live.)

>>1175862
>jew centric
I'm saying. My company has guidelines on what can be used so I can't do much without getting in trouble. I have to work with their products so this was my disclaimer. I don't want Solar on my house. My girl would cry.

Oh and invest in critter guard and snow guards if you're up in New England

Has anyone tried refurbishing batteries before?

I've been trying to read up on it but it seems to be a combination of (equally loud and annoying) people arguing if it works or not.

Newfag here w lot of questions

What is a good shop to order diy solar panels? I live in eastern europe and everywhere the shipping costs look insane. Local shops only sell overpriced panel-controller-batterypack-installation-gridconnect combos. Smth in range 20-100W would be great.

Is this controller ok (pic)? Chink shit, but still MPPT by design.

Using ordinary car battery is a good practice or do i need some specialized one?

Thanks if u bother answering!

>>1177183
While car batteries are generally poor choices for solar stuff, as they aren't designed for sustained output, you CAN use most any lead acid battery.

The battery will probably die quite quickly if it's not designed to be 'deep cycle' at least.
If you can't get true deep cycle batteries that are designed for extended discharge / charge cycles, try the 'marine deep cycle' batteries. Those are fairly common things in most areas and they will work a hell of a lot better than a cheap car battery.

If you have an old car battery though and just wanna test everything out and see if it fires up... go ahead and try the old car battery.
Generally cheap charge controllers are okay, but you'll want to test them out and make sure they're doing what they say they are.
Some of them do nothing at all, and it's a straight connection to the battery. D:
Just read reviews, make sure what you're getting isn't a knockoff of a knockoff, etc.

Where did you find the controller in your pic?

>>1177320
Thank you for an answer! I'll try for starters my old car battery, nothing to lose.

Controller pic is from aliexpress, $19. Reviews there dont tell much, only praising quick delivery. I'm not commited to buy it yet.

Do you have solar energy taxes there? There is a tax in my country for it.

>>1177438
I don't know of any such taxes in the USA.

Wow... your country is a bunch of jews... they tax you for using 'their sun'? XD

Sorry to hear that mate. How do they even do that?
Tax the equipment?

>>1177431
If you're looking to put together a sizeable system, you may want to look into getting a more hefty charge controller to start with, so you don't have to replace it down the line.


I'm considering buying pic related from Amazon to replace my PWM charge controller for my 200 Watt setup.

>>1177183
i doubt that is actually MPPT

i have one thats almost the same and all it does it slam the panel output into the battery and then back off until the battery hits some voltage level

So, collected some old batteries (free of course) and have been messing around trying to restore them a bit.

I had heard about some 'additives' that some people had said were helpful for both reversing and preventing battery sulphation.

Anyone here have any luck with that kind of thing?
Is it snake oil or real?

>>1177438
Nigga they pay us.


Op, if you oversize your system and hook it to the grid, Souther Company buys power.

>>1177753
That's true, I have to contact the utility company around here to make sure, but I know a lot of areas in the USA do that.

Some people out west with wind turbines have said that they literally get a check from the utility company every month because they generate more power than they could ever use.

>>1177445
>>1177753
I live in Spain, almost the entire country has really good sun activity the whole year, obviously people want to play less for electricity(as far as i know in Spain electricity costs more than in other countries)

I didnt know much about the tax so i checked it and basically every year you have to pay 9€ per Kw. I will look again later for more details

>>1177758
>That's true, I have to contact the utility company around here to make sure, but I know a lot of areas in the USA do that.
Unless you live in a TVA area or in Cullman County, you're a Southern Company customer (by way of Alabama Power), and I can tell you for 100% fact that they will pay you for surplus electricity that you produce.

>>1177896
I think we're in the TVA area... is Huntsville TVA?

>>1178071
Probably. I never lived up there so I can't say for sure.