Get Off-Grid in 30 Days with THIS Solar & Battery Setup

[@nunyabidness1972]

I've got a small workshop that is 100% solar powered. It was my first solar project, so I learned some lessons along the way. Such as buying the next size up bigger than you think you need in solar charger, inverter, battery, etc. My first mistake was estimating actual panel output. I figured out pretty quick that you'll rarely if ever see the maximum rated output from any panel. Decided to add more panels and wire them is series instead of parallel to avoid replacing all my brand new wiring from the panels into the building with more brand new, larger gauge, wiring to accommodate the increased amperage from the additional panels. Seemed straight forward. Except, putting them in series would exceed the maximum input voltage of the modestly-sized solar charger I was already running. DRATS! Upgraded the solar charger to accept the higher input voltage from the panels. Panels and charger happy now, but need to upgrade inverter to run a couple of higher amp loads next. This will involve adding more batteries and rewiring them for series connection so I don't have to run monster cables-with it pulling a huge amp load- to run the current 12v inverter I have. Would have saved a lot of $ buying a larger/higher voltage solar charger and inverter to begin with. Always a good idea to leave yourself room for future upgrades!

[@Snowstead]

Thanks for leaving your experience here, I’m sure it will help others out! I have to agree with leaving room for upgrades, we always seem to think ever if we oversize that it’s good. But things change and we want/need more. Appreciate the comment!

[@paultech9385]

This is a great starting point video. A lot of concise useful information. Anyone starting to research look at 24V or even 48V as this reduces the amperage.

[@Snowstead]

Great tip! Thank you!

[@shagsheep8832]

Yes. Higher the voltage the better. Less losses and less stress on the batteries giving longer life and higher experienced capacities.

[@SammyFender]

Wow! A full length video!!! Thanks! Great content too!

[@Snowstead]

Thanks wolf! it takes time to get back into full-length but this one was fun! 🤙🏻

[@MiddleEastMilli]

New subbie! Thanks for the great content! :)

[@erikolson5672]

Wow I enjoyed learning about this. Thanks for the video!

[@Snowstead]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@NickWindham]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@Snowstead]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Snowstead]

If this helped you understand offgrid power better than consider a Like + Subscribe! Thanks!

[@UKsystems]

Victron gx devices are so much more than a battery monitor. There are some benefits lead acid batteries particularly if they have the proper maintenance they can last a long time but they can be easily recycled and you can also get them in local places which may be important if there is a system failure. Personally, I would never go with anything that isn’t 48 V unless there is a particular reason to her only because it’s future proof and by that I mean if you want to add another inverter and upgrade a lot of the system you’re not replacing the other one as well, which can save you thousands. These devices are not rated in what they have rated in volt amps or va you have to calculate power factor otherwise that 20% you added is simply being used up by the power factor of the device point that you do not have 20% extra with some loads this system needs a lot more planning than just mentioned in the video because if you want to add another charge controller certain types of better for having two as one connect as a master and if you do not plan things out like this expansion can cost the same as replacement. Victron generally provide the minimum wire and fuse size for their products go off that not the battery manufacturers recommendation when it seems like an inverter. These points are not meant to say your video is bad. They’re simply to add some information and most of this you do not know unless you have been trained by Victron

[@Snowstead]

Absolutely, for the purposes of this video i tried to keep things as simple as possible as it’s the “basics”. But i really appreciate this info on here as it’s great for someone looking more in depth, thank you!

[@kyfeam]

lol just one of those 270Ah BB batteries is the total cost of my setup.. 4-100Ah LiPo batteries.. 800w of solar panels.. including 2000w inverter and 60amp solar controller.. All Renogy except the batteries.. (those are Eco-Worthy..) AND all the wiring.. wish i was rich.. :( still a good video.. just jealous :)

[@LoB-e1k]

Whats the lifetime of an off-grid battery setup like this? P.s. this was super helpful to understand the basics! 😊

[@Snowstead]

Lithium batteries like this Battleborn one have a long lifetime of 3k-5k cycles before their capacity reduces to 75%. The batteries we have in the van are about 4 years old and have been discharged many times and are probably still around 95% capacity. For a full-time off-grid battery setup like this your looking at a decade, if not decades before noticing a decline 👍🏻

[@UKsystems]

This is very dependent personally I always go with way bigger battery banks than needed and as long as you follow the manufacturers recommendation on how much they have to be at 100% every year you have a good bath for when it’s cloudy and you have very low depth of discharge, so the batteries last longer

[@jeffbecraft7174]

Thats like a $5k setup

[@garys6898]

Battle born so overpriced .i got 28kw eco worthy for 3500 bucks

[@Snowstead]

Good for you! (I mean that genuinely). Yes brands can cost more, but in my experience you get what you pay for in-time. I’m curious, do the eco worthy batteries come with a bms?

[@garys6898]

@Snowstead yes , very good batteries . I've seen many tests on them. Battle born is like Nike, your not actually getting anything extra for the money

[@garys6898]

@@Snowstead Bluetooth and all the safety features

[@roteldorel]

u talk to much and not abut batery leptop starlink trlalallalalalal uhh