How to Add Batteries to Solar System

[@larry6736]

Good information, thank you. One subject that I find all resources are not covering very well is Vehicle to Home (V2H) instead of purchasing stand alone batteries for the home. I own two EVs with a total of 198kWh of batteries. Why should I purchase more batteries for backing up my home and adding to my existing solar? I have noticed this year many OEMs offering or soon to offer V2H solutions for their EVs. Offers available now from Ford and GM Energy. Coming soon from Kia, Lucid, and Rivian. Tesla claims will add in future. It seems having EV with 100kWh+ battery already sitting in your garage will offer the most cost effective backup solution going forward. Would love to see coverage of how to add V2H solution to existing solar or as a home backup solution.

[@mariogiron6120]

I’ve been looking for this information for some time. Clear and concise. Subscribed! Essentially it is a hybrid inverter? Is it easier or common practice to put inverter and batteries outside or inside? All the connections for grid are outside of the home. Only thing inside the house is electrical connection from inverter at the main panel

[@Electronzap]

This is fun stuff. I don't have any solar other than some I can set up during an emergency, but I've been trying to design some DIY "tricking the grid tied inverter into thinking that it is connected to the grid" by hooking them up to a battery or generator powered inverter. But I read something about that you never want the grid tied inverters providing more power than the load needs or it could damage the inverter. So, my plan is to just not use grid tied inverters unless I have a larger load being powered, and/or batteries being recharged at a higher current than the grid tied inverters can provide so that some of the power is always coming from the main inverter (artificial grid).

[@klikar1982]

Thanks for great explanation.

[@Waldoe16]

Seeing how policies are changing around net metering and the power issues in some areas, I think it is better to go offgrid with parallel capable inverters(2-5) as redundancy. Get the battery capacity you need and add a plug for a generator. This should be extremely resilient, and payback should be relatively fast. ROI is not just the money, it is also the experience and enjoyment of having a reliable power source for your needs.

[@GreaterYouConsulting]

Dope content as usual, Joe! As far as a "smart circuit control" would recommend SPAN? Lastly, I wanted to add a battery to my home and was all in with the PW- Are you no longer recommending them?

[@flyingjeff1984]

Excellent content.

[@vpbandhist]

Our house has solar on the house and detached garage. Each structure has a Fronius inverter. Does that complexity to adding batteries?

[@WattsMiner]

It's even easier, just use an offgrid inverter and transfer switches... no ac coupling at all no push back for a measly 32$ mwh. Store and use what you make. If you have a gt... force charge ac during the day

[@jasonbroom7147]

I watch stuff like this and it becomes very clear to me why a lot of folks are simply going off-grid, entirely. A well-designed off-grid system is so much simpler than this mess, with a critical loads panel obviating the need for "smart circuits". All of these proprietary "solutions" add a tremendous amount of expense, when the better option is to simplify your life, your loads, and the way you power them. I'm puzzled by the very existence of AC-coupled batteries; they only exist because of systems that are already hopelessly complex in their design. I'm going the other direction, working with DC power end-to-end, as much as I possibly can. AC is great for moving power around on a very large commercial power grid, but since DC is what PV panels create and what many loads ultimately use, why introduce AC into the equation, if you can avoid it?

[@WattsMiner]

Totally agree 👍

[@Willtellthetruth]

Okay. Enjoy the snow, because living a bootleg life like you’re describing only works in a really cold climate where you never need AC. The good news is that your family won’t want to visit.

[@lawrence_SoCal]

What a limited view of residential solar. For those of us in urban areas, who installed solar previously and when micro-inverters for good reason (including simplified install), the reason for AC-coupled battery is obvious. If you can’t understand that scenario, best to keep your tongue, instead of speaking up (and removing all doubt) In limited scenarios, DC makes sense. But retrofitting a home…especially anything not way out in the boonies? And almost all of my loads require an AC plug (even considering numerous small AC to DC adapters/plugs). Might that change? Unlikely… there are numerous holistic system reasons why grid and house use AC, so if/until that changes…. AC coupled batteries make LOTS of sense for those of us with existing AC coupled, grid-tied solar systems

[@MarianoSanchez-k4r]

So at the end you still need good old gasoline.

[@kenlee2374]

3:58 all inverter doing is to "invert" they dont care what the power needs. that is the job of the brain. so your ~2min explaination does not make sense or at least confusing.