Building a 58kWh Battery with 12kW Solar Array - Home Solar EV Charging Station DIY

[@brianparker9924]

This was probably the best video I've seen on the subject. Most people talk as if you're an expert in solar. I'm an electrician and they confuse me half the time. And i built a solar power field big enough for infrastructure use. This video was truly instructive.

[@scottsoward]

Pencil method is brilliant!

[@randomvideosn0where]

Very brave to short out the terminals on that capacitor. I was working on an audio amplifier and was told to short the capacitors to make sure they are safe to work near, and welded my flathead to the terminals with the spark! Also, for the price of those batteries you almost would be better off buying a second car and just alternating which you drive, charging directly off the solar.

[@EelingStudios]

Excellent poin re buing a secong car instead of all those batteries!

[@mannymota3442]

A truly informative video. Having watched countless other videos this was one of the clearest and most informative. Thanks!

[@MattLesak]

100%!

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I believe this was your longest video I’ve watched so far. But one of my favorites. The amount of information you cover in just this video helped me a lot.

[@MichealG]

The time flew and wished the video had not ended. Thanks a lot.

[@r.b.l.5841]

Thanks Ian appreciate the time this took to put up on YT. I am set up like the vid with twin 6048's and 53kW of ESS running my shop and home. Wired in my 14-50 plug for EV charging, can't wait to get my first EV, and stop paying the oil-overlords $5,000/yr for dino-juice. If I changed my job to Night Shift, I could have saved a lot on batteries!.

[@racingtogreen2023]

We have a Ford lighting, which we're building a single axis tracking, 3.6kw array, with 10kw of batteries to charge it(and a mini-split cooling/heating our garage). We're only going to run the charger at 12amps, as we work from home, and only average around 7-800 miles per month. We have a grid powered backup charger that charges at 40amps, so if we need some quicker charging we have it. The panel system was/is a proof of concept for a future move to an off grid central american location, and should pay for itself in around 3-4 years, so it seems like a no-brainer. We'll essentially have free fuel from then on. Still surprised that more people don't do this. I think we're going to end up somewhere around $5.5k in costs. Our 10kw of LiFePo4 batts only cost $2300 direct from powerqueen, and we picked up used panels from SanTan solar, and a refurbished hybrid inverter from Signature Solar.

[@JM-yx1lm]

I know you already know this but for others, the reason it got hot was it needs to be vertical instead of horizontal so the heat more efficiently escapes. I have both the 6000t and the 12000t.

[@williamoikle2457]

The quality of this video has improved 1000%

[@fauxque5057]

Having a sizable investment in batteries I feared freezing temperatures since I'm cheap, none of my batteries have low temperature protection. Also not wanting to live with all of the fire risks inside the house the batteries have to live outside on the porch. I ended up building a small 3 sided enclosure out of 2x4's and plywood. I lined the inside with 2" Styrofoam insulation board cut to fit and sealed with aluminum tape. I covered the outside with a denser 3/4" foil backed panel also from Lowe's. The heat put off from the LV6548 keeps the inside 25° warmer than the outside temperature. I used 4 temperature probes to show me top middle and bottom of the inside of the enclosure. There was a 30° temperature from top to bottom inside the box. Not good. Hung up a 60w bulb and it got hot at the top and still cold at the bottom. So next up was a simple fan. I have a few cheap 8" desktop fans that run on 5v USB wall adapters. Again $10. at Lowe's. Set it on the concrete slab blowing straight up. Got rid of the light bulb. The inverter keeps it 25° above the outside temperature. I didn't try the bulb with the fan but that would most likely get you 35° above the outside temperature. I have my batteries in totes so I put probes in with them and they stayed warm. Trapping the heat in the insulated box solved all of my issues. When it warms up I pull the enclosure away from the wall and let the fans breathe. If we go to anything close to 40 I shove it against the wall in preparation. Simple solution for the $ I have invested in batteries.

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

HOWdy I-S-P, Thank YOU for the DEMONSTRATION COOP ...

[@Upliftyourbrothers]

Very cool! Another benefit of the wall solar panels is reduced heat load. It’s shading the walls from summer heat.

[@LarryRichelli]

Even though it might reduce heat load on the wall a small bit. The power he is throwing away by not having the panels actually face the sun is substantial!

[@r.b.l.5841]

@@LarryRichelli -Solution: wall mounted tilt frame. In the snow belt, vertical panels have a distinct advantage southerners may not appreciate.

[@matthewtaylor3351]

I’m impressed. Thanks for putting this video together.

[@unionse7en]

for those that park all day near their array.. less batteries! another thought, buy a 2nd ev instead of more batteries and alternate charging days. excellent video thanks!

[@TheJjyoung333]

I can't afford one EV

[@styleauto1025]

Great you a King very well explained

[@hoffmantnt]

Ian really knows his stuff!

[@blainecelestaine4543]

Pencil resistor . Priceless

[@peterbradley4916]

Brilliant! Didnt know these batteries existed.

[@savadious]

great vid - will definitely get me re-started

[@skoto.power.systems]

Great video thanks for your help 👍

[@erikslagter3231]

The pencil method is cool. I normally use an old fashioned lightbulb, but it can take a bit longer to get the system up to 48v.

[@user-dr2pg8fk2i]

Really need to see a DC EVSE solution come to market. What a waste going from DC high voltage-to-DC low voltage-to-AC-to-DC.

[@matthewtaylor3351]

Maybe. Controlling dc output from panels to ev dc charging doesn’t seem to be a retail product yet. Technically difficult

[@runinguy]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@127069]

I enjoyed the video but kept jumping when you was touch the capacitor electrodes 😂

[@jarpen3]

Brilliant 👏 video detailing

[@georgeramirez7525]

this is brilliant, thank you very much

[@pip5461]

Thanks... I'm trying to decide on what type of "off-grid" setup to buy/make for the house and (future) EV... It looks somewhat bewildering...

[@hiltonholder7407]

This is so helpful thx...

[@ningaloo]

Well done great to hear about silicate salt battery, but they are not in Australia? The video was great, well done.

[@r.b.l.5841]

I checked them out, they are another type of Lead based battery, good for cold (no wonder you don't see them!) but poor if you expect deep depth of discharge daily IMO. at twice the weight of other options, they cost more to ship also.

[@rogereverett9095]

wiring in the uk somewhat easier and have the luxury of 240vac. run my paralleled 6kva inverters at 32amp daily to charge ev. Our system is 12kva 10kw solar 48v 500ah storage, works wel

[@hendersonsobers396]

Really enjoy your videos Ian. They are always very educational. For the MPP LV6548s configured in split phase, can 3 be configured in split phase or does it have to be in multiples of 2?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Has to be 2 each for split phase.

[@hendersonsobers396]

@@GavinStoneDIY ok thanks.

[@fernandoguimaraes5694]

"Hello! I was very excited about your video, very enlightening. Would it be possible to configure a 3P+N+T socket in this same inverter?"

[@lennieadi]

Informative video thank you. I'm sure in years to come when I retire to rural place, I'll need solar and will likely have an EV. I'm non technical so will need a consultant to assist a local electrician and electronic engineer. Will you be providing this service via video call? Awesome stuff Ian.

[@lakefiftyseven]

Could you make a small system (4 solar panels or so) for 120 volt slow charging directly to my car....Just a couple batteries i'm thinking. Wall Box makes a charger that will blend solar power with grid power. I'm retired and can slow charge during the day. I can also use my cars V2L to dump my car battery to "house use" occasionally if I want using a generator interlock for my house electric panel.....Very nice video for someone like me that doesn't know how a solar system works. Thanks!

[@kswis]

Interesting. Enjoyed the vid. I still believe the lifepo4 is a better, longer lasting way to go. Just my opinion though

[@gjsxnobody7534]

Ok wow…. You are proving something that I was thinking about…. May I ask…. Why did you put them in the wall? Instead of on your roof? Where are you located?

[@matthewtaylor3351]

Looking at the shadows. He seems to be very northern latitude. I’m guessing Canada or Alaska. Tho voice accent isn’t combing me.

[@JonOffgrid]

man them 6548 .s are bad ass inverter s i have the 6 kw growatt

[@JohnSnow-lb6xi]

I love the Idea of solar charging our EV but when I do the ROI math it doesn't make sense in my area. You mentioned 3k per battery string so 6K in batteries alone divided by my monthly home charging rate @ .09/KWH is like 200 months for ROI just on the batteries not on the inverter/wire/panels/unistrut

[@matthewtaylor3351]

I hadn’t seen a chargers with adjustable chargers rate before. Since solar output varies during the day & I want to setup a system with minimal (or no batteries), can the car charger be setup to vary the charge rate to match available solar power??

[@davidraper9629]

When you connect batteries in series, you add up the voltage but not the ah. Parallel and up ah but not voltage. Am I right?

[@GenetrySolar]

Looks good

[@funnyautomation763]

It's ok having no gaps between those panels? I heard the expand and contract. Another one, it's not better to mount them on the floor? For maintenance and harvesting optimization?

[@RussellHogan]

I would love to learn how to do this.

[@socialcycles13]

Can you show me the mounting of the solar panels to the side of the shed.

[@ParksWithPoints]

Thoughts on installing this in your trailer, maybe a small teardrop?

[@TheDanzman1211]

can you hook it up directly to a transfer switchl on the house power panel?

[@Adam-ox6zy]

I realise that you will use this system for more than just charging the car, but what are the cons for running DC straight to the car rather than through an inverter to AC to feed the charge controller in the car that then converts that AC to DC again. Plus using DC to charge the car could you run bigger currents and charge the car quicker?

[@hendersonsobers396]

As far as I am aware, most if not all EVs can only accept AC. The car itself has a rectifier (built into the car charger) which coverts that AC to DC but that DC that the rectifier converts is several hundred volts to charge the batteries of the EV. I think current generation EVs have 400v DC batteries and the next gen is around 800.

[@evil17]

@@hendersonsobers396I’m pretty sure that most if not all EV’s do have a DC input just under the AC input with a removable plastic cover for fast charging.

[@petercobaschi3664]

Hi there, please let me know the model # and where did you buy the battery equalizer with the digital display showing each battery voltage

[@sixxian]

Subscribing because we have the same name and Im also interested in solar lol

[@dama054]

Hi I'm interested in getting the u5648 inverter can you give me your honest opinion and standby consumption please

[@antronx7]

4600W / 5109W = 90% DC > AC > DC efficiency. Not too bad actually! I expected 80 - 85%.

[@stalwart56k]

Hi Ian, I love your detailed videos and big power applications of this system and others. I'm getting faults F80 and F82 on my two LV6548 units, connecting them for split phase output. I have them further apart than the length of the included gray parallel cables allow. Since the series connections are DB15, I tried using additional 10' VGA extension cables. My hunch is the fault is due to the cables being too long and there being signal loss. I'm loath to move the inverters as it's a ton of work, but I may have to. I'm going to try VGA 12v amplifiers off Amazon first to see if that solves my problem. Do you think that will work, or should I just bite the bullet and move the inverters next to each other?

[@cristianferaru11]

After watching the entire video, I noticed that you decided to let go of the 12KW growatt inverter in exchange for the two MPPT. Well, I am capable of charging my car at 8000 watts at 220 volts from the growatt and my house runs normal with no problem! I have currently 28 solar panels 405 watts @49volts so I connected 4 in series, however, im not getting the power I was aiming for, closer to 12kw. I have 16 panels leaning towards north and only 12 facing south (disadvantage of the placement of my house.) How many panels you have and how much power are you getting out of them?

[@jojoowumanmensah1733]

His growatt was not tye 12k version... was the smaller 6k version...that's why

[@ImanAcademySE]

On this setup with split phase mode if one phase is maxed does this mean that the other phase will not work , so we have to balance the load between the 2phase as mush as possible

[@quattrohead]

No each inverter is generating it's own 120v leg up to 6500w. The communication cable keeps the timing exact so that the inverters stay in sync hence the 240v split phase does not drift, as Ian showed and explained in the video.

[@EnmandsBand1]

is it possible to charge an EV with solar cells without using batteries?

[@matthewtaylor3351]

I’m asking this question also.

[@JM-yx1lm]

Why did you choose the growatt 6000t ?

[@watts247]

Its a very popular model, so just wanted to show customers the possibilities and limitations. My home runs off the 12000T

[@turtle1723]

What's the advantages/disadvantages of using the 2 6k units vs the 12000t unit. I don't see many videos on the 12000t. Any videos of your house setup using it?

[@JM-yx1lm]

@@turtle1723 both of them are freaking beasts, they have huge transformer in them and have plenty of power to turn anything on. They are also low frequency and have a very clean stable AC output compared to the high frequency versions.

[@OffGridandOutdoors]

Are the LV6548's low frequency?

[@id007rx]

They are High frequency

[@Theoppositeofchaos]

High Frequency

[@unionse7en]

are they HF combined with a modest internal transformer or caps? It seems they have a 13k for 5 sec surge capability... wondering how they achieve this?

[@scottsoward]

5.8 kilowatts, but how many jigawatts??

[@thinde88]

.0000000000000000000000000000000000058 jigawatts

[@quickquote1568]

Smart move using a low frequency, transformer based inverter instead of one of those low budget, short lived, low surge capacity high frequency, transformerless inverters that everyone seems to be using nowadays.

[@carlosguzman-md2mt]

why waste money on PV when you can drive to SHEETZ Supercharger and wheel borrow electrons to your driveway

[@fredflintstone1428]

Brilliant video....many, many thanks. Can the salt batteries truly draw all 12kW capacity? I notice you drew 7kW out of each bank would equal around 50% DOD. I recently came across a great video series on lead acid batteries: kzbin.info/www/bejne/goGzhqSCj7SkebM I'm just about to add twenty LFD230Ah lead acid batteries to my existing twelve batteries for a 92kW battery bank, that I will just draw 30% from before re-charge (30kW). This should prolong the life of the batteries to maximum. I am wondering whether to add battery balancers to each of the eight paralleled banks (48V bank) to balance each 12V battery in the bank, following your film.

[@mondotv4216]

15.6V for a LiFe is way over charged! Max voltage 3.65 x 4 = 14.6V. You should have top balanced those batteries individually first. Are they even recommended to be connected in series? A lot of those 12V LiFePO4 batteries don’t have their internal BMS MOSFETs inside rated at 48V and therefore cannot be connected in series. Alsohaving BMS inside tht communicate with each other is highly desirable. And putting a linear voltage curve battery in parallel with LiFe is just asking for trouble. The risk is when the LiFe batts do kick in they’ll start charging the silicon salt batteries at the same time as discharging. It’s just inefficient to the max.

[@cristianferaru11]

I have a very similar sysstem, 12kw growatt inverter, i have a 2020 leaf with a 41 kw battery in it, and i have 23kw LiFePo4 battery pack. Initiali i installed a 300 amps switch like the one you have (you have two of them) right there was my problem that slowed me down for 2 weeks! Every time i would connect my car i would get code 4 (if i remember correctly) Low battery charge! that switch was fried! My charging it's fluctuating between (from the battery 160 Amps-256 amps). Be aware, your 200 amps switch its a scam! take the time and take one apart you will see what's in it!

[@carlosguzman-md2mt]

My inverter accepts a minimum of 108 votes so I cannot charge for my Nissan leaf discharges

[@SaSaaVirus]

"fast charging" mmmm my smart fortwo can charge at 22kwh, 3 phase power helps allot tho. would be nice to charge from solar tho. wish i had the space to make something like this