Installing New Diy Solar Combiner Box! - Diy Powerwall 2.OH Ep7

Getting rid of the Cringe Temp Solar Combiner box and Installing a New One. Follow the Journey!!
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[@lnxpro]

BOOM. For my OCD I would do: | Breaker - + | - + - + | | - + - + | Breaker - + |

[@AveRage_Joe]

💥💥I for some reason like the breaker on the right but your way looks nice!🤘

[@AdamDeLay07]

Thanks for sharing the progress! Love seeing how other people set up their systems. Kinda gives me some ideas... 😁 You asked about the order of the fuses. I would probably keep the positive and negatives together. That way if you need to work on a specific string, you don't have to count fuzes to make sure you disconnect the positive and negative for the same string.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks for watching! Oh yeah, always gotta see how others set up there systems for ideas!!!💥🤘

[@mstrickk1]

Holesaw bit in reverse works perfect on plastic, in case you have to do something like this again.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks for that! I actually forget this all the time. Even on the sliding compound mitre saw🤦‍♂️

[@mstrickk1]

@@AveRage_Joe Ya know.. out of probably 40+ times this would have come in handy for me, I think I remembered it twice. One of those times I was too lazy to go get it out of the house. 😆

[@dougiee6589]

Berry nice seeing these simple steps on your video it's does wonders for us noobz especially when most other youtubers skimp on it

[@MrJacquesvheerden]

Hi Sir Joe, Nice video, like always! Please can you make a short video regarding the Ground wiring please. From the solar to the combiner box and were ever it ends. This will be highly appreciated. Peace out Sir

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks! Yeah I could probly make a vid showing all that!!

[@MrJacquesvheerden]

@@AveRage_Joe Thank you Sir. Appriciate your efforts. ✌

[@DanBurgaud]

1:16 I love this MCB box; spacious up/below and there is even space at the back of each MCBs (to pass wires through).

[@AveRage_Joe]

Yeah 100% agree. These boxes are way better then the other plastic one I had!

[@butchwilliams7637]

I like it. Looking real good. I think I would put positive and negative next to each other. 😊😊

[@phizicks]

up to you on being organised with the fuses, + - + - is good if you want to keep them paired. + + - - could be for safety if you want to keep them separate. But I reckon +- +- paired so you know they are together.

[@kevroodenman3283]

2.OOOOOO…. Andy’s building a frickin death-Star😮

[@AveRage_Joe]

OMG He totally IS LOL!!!💥💥💥😆

[@offgridwanabe]

I liked that smash button for ya lol. looks good

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks Mate!!! Appreciate you!!!💥🤘

[@SHUB_MetalZone]

😉👍 looks clean now... 17:37 the site manager watch over 😸

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks Man!!!! Yeah hes ALWAYS breathing down my neck(on my leg) to make sure there are no💥💥or 🔥🔥HA😂🐈

[@SHUB_MetalZone]

@@AveRage_Joe 😅😉

[@Self.reliant]

Hay I used the same boxes fory tiny house. They worked good but do not pass inspection in MN due to no ul listing on the box

[@AveRage_Joe]

NICE! Yeah these boxes seem to be better then what I was using. I think it depends on inspector talking to an electrician friend of mine. Things dont have to be UL listed or even UL certified as long as the "item" is doing its job in a safe manner. I guess maybe also for location as well. He has the same boxes (smaller ones) and has had his system inspected and permitted.

[@Self.reliant]

@@AveRage_Joe awesome my inspector hates solar

[@chuxxsss]

Morning from sunny Australia. Really very sunny. Love you work mate, very clean. Wish where not covering solar 🙄 😕 😪.

[@danfitzpatrick4112]

Nice!

[@AveRage_Joe]

💥🤘

[@yankey4]

Looks good man. Thanks again for sharing. God bless

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks and Thanks for watching!💥🤘

[@RJ-cc1fz]

Nicely done. I am using the exact same combiner box. It’s a little chinsie but did the job. I have 10awg pv wire coming in from each string which made things a good bit more difficult.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Nice! These boxes are better then what I first ordered lol. Terrrrrrible. How long are your runs?

[@RJ-cc1fz]

@@AveRage_Joe 50ft, panels on roof. 140v coming into charge controller. Each string is roughly 18amps

[@AveRage_Joe]

Sweet! Originally I had mine at 150v also then wired to 6 in series for moar volts and less strings.

[@RJ-cc1fz]

Yeah once you got the growatt 12k you went to 250v. Maybe one day I will grow up and get a higher voltage inverter. I did have a 500v grid tie inverter wired up for a month, but that’s a whole nother story..

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

HOWdy A-V-J, ... DIY Combiner-Box Thanks COOP the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA ...

[@AveRage_Joe]

Yes Sirrrr!💥🤘

[@YarLeo]

Thanks for new episode! Very nice done - looks fantastic. However, let me share my concerns: between inverter and panels you have 2 overcurrent/short circuit protection devices, CB + Fuse, even thought the panels are not able to generate that current, even by short circuit, which would be able to trip them, and these devices are mainly needed as disconnectors. But, you haven't installed SPDs... which could save your electronic in case of a lightning strike in the neighborhood. Have thought about installing an SPD on the PV side?

[@DavidHalko]

Can you talk more about the ground??? - ground for combined box - ground for inverter - ground for racking - ground for panels

[@AveRage_Joe]

They all connect and go back to the ground that the house is grounded with!🤘

[@DavidHalko]

@@AveRage_Joe - even Solar racking???

[@AveRage_Joe]

Yup even solar racking! Thats what I forgot to connect lol but did later. I connected it to the inverter frame which connects back at main panel which connects to ground rod. I should probly run a wire from solar racking straight to the house ground but this was closer for the moment😄

[@Shep5847]

On my RV, instead of using that stiff 6awg THHN, I actually used 6awg welding wire. It is way more flexible, and is rated to handle the load. Just a thought.

[@AveRage_Joe]

For sure, Ive used 6awg welding cable. Used it in the last powerwall build coming off the MPP PCM60X charge controllers!

[@Shep5847]

@@AveRage_Joe I used it on my AC lines to/from my inverter. Beats the heck out of that stiff wire. But I don’t know if it’s to code or not.

[@MrJacquesvheerden]

YoYo Joe, what is up Sir!!! I can't find that "like that smash button' you are talkimg about. Hahaha. Love your videos from day one!!! Peace ✌ out Sir 🇿🇦

[@AveRage_Joe]

YOYO, I havent seen that button either 😆 Thanks Mate Appreciate it!!!💥🤘

[@col8981]

Good video man, just wonderin though why do you need the pos and neg fused? in fact why fuse at all? even if the panels are shorted, they will only supply a limited amount of current, they can't blow a 15A fuse! it's not like there is a low impedance supply that can deliver some serious current like a normal domestic supply, so if the wires can handle the SC current what is the point? just fit a DC isolator and don't waste your money, BOOM

[@gvmiketodd]

++-- versus +_+_ doesn't matter with your excellent labeling. I would label the breakers so that is visible with the front part of the case one. Great job!

[@AveRage_Joe]

True that! Yeah 100% will label the front side. Just ordered a label maker😬😆

[@evil17]

Good vid. Looks nice & clean job. I would have gone pos neg pos neg on fuses, so each string comes in together. What size Growatt u got there? Cheers

[@njfulwider5]

Holy shit, your looking good there. Nice and neat. I was able to go through all the videos I missed on KZbin tv. Hit me up if you have those batteries we chatted about, since it looks like you might be going in a new up to date version. Me. I always need batteries for my bluetooth speaker builds. And I have a ton of them coming up. I unfortunately had to purchase 100 ncr18650b new in the box, but I'm not sure how long those will last. I also needs to build my 1000watt bench power supply, so I can build my kweld and kcaps. Man I'm soooo behind. BtW, I just realized, the shirt I'm wearing is average Joe. You have no idea the compliments I get in this bad boy. I still need to send you that package. I purchased you something almost 4 years ago! Is your PO box the same?

[@opennrgdotcom]

Thanks for the video. How's the Growatt 12k working out?

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks! Loving the 12k! I wish the fan was quieter but all good. I may try to change them out sometime but we C!!💥🤘

[@opennrgdotcom]

@@AveRage_Joe Haven't got my GW 12K yet but plan on installing a temp controller on the fans. Should be able to wire it to just plug in. Would be a good video for you to make. thanks kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHPGdHmPj82IlZI

[@UnkyjoesPlayhouse]

So I have a question, you run all your panels in series I assume and then bring them in to the combiner box where you can then put them in parallel strings? Why not use an outdoor combiner box and then bring in one set of wires, just curious as to your methodology. Also what type of wire did you run from your panels to the combiner box? Thanks in advance, it looks great.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Yeah they are run in a 6s2p, 24 panels total at the moment. A combiner near the panels would be optimal but panels are on roof and I didnt want a box up there. I just wanted easy access to be honest. By code I still need a disconnect outside tho. I could move combiner there once installed but we see. Wires are 12awg THHN stranded from panels and 6awg after circuit breakers to inverter!

[@AveRage_Joe]

@@Floridaoff-grid 😆 Future AveRage Joe also installed breakers inside so he could shut them off when needed!💥🤘

[@MoaningGit]

What's the benefit of putting breakers on + and -?

[@AveRage_Joe]

Allows you to shut everything down quickly.

[@clarencewiles963]

Getting cleaner with each posting. How big are you planning to setup your battery bank to get you through to a sunny day for a full recharge? To day for me I’m looking at 6 days of clouds ⛅️ and rain ☔️. And maybe one of sun ☀️. East coast Chesaeake Virginia. It’s like I need to max out what I can get from sun to sun 🌞

[@AveRage_Joe]

Yes Sirrrr it sure isssss!!!! For starters, I am aiming to be able to run fully off-grid during the summer which will include running the AC, stove and dryer and of course recharge at the same time. I should be good to do that once the 32 cells are connected up. Ill also be adding the Rhino and Husky battery as well. Will be a little under 50kwh! Winter time is a completely different animal at least here at my house due to trees and my poor solar panel angle. Ill for sure need to add more solar lol. Right now we have about the same weather, if I run on battery all day and night, the next day I have to go back on grid and let the batteries charge for 2-3days depending on weather.....😬😆

[@clarencewiles963]

@@AveRage_Joe I need to buy a solar farm? Moving out of the city, even a subdivision is too small for the numbers of panels needed. The guy with the 2.0 in Australia is testing his new panel’s and it’s looking good. For the size. Thanks again for your work. I’m looking forward to seeing your next post.

[@Self.reliant]

Put the extra clamp on you need one within 12 inches of each box

[@AveRage_Joe]

Ill be addin the clampys for sure!!!😃💪

[@Self.reliant]

@@AveRage_Joe how many watts of solar panels do you have coming in or do u have a video on it that I missed

[@timcat1004]

I missed the last couple of years. YT unsubscribed me for some reason. Is your solar grid tied?

[@AveRage_Joe]

Whoally crap welcome back! No, solar is not grid tied. How ya been?

[@randylenart9674]

Looks good. How many watts of solar do you have

[@AveRage_Joe]

Thanks! On the roof I have a little over 5kw of used panels. I usually see 4.5kw when I get full sun. Also just installed a 2kw ground mount. Vid on that soon!💥🤘

[@vbdaniel4]

Why do you have North1 and south1 on one mppt... ? Wouldn't it be better to combine both North and both south areas? though I have no clue how your roof is actually covered with those panels... Greeting from Germany 👍

[@tiloalo]

I would also assume that makes more sense, now which ever orientation is producing less is limiting the other... except if they all face the same direction and are place north/south

[@AveRage_Joe]

Great question and I probly should have explained or shown the panels. There are 2 groups of 12 panels. In each group there are 2 strings of 6. All are facing south. I could of labeled 1,2,3,4 but for some reason🤷‍♂️ this made since when I was keeping track of the wires for pv1 and pv2👐🤣

[@vbdaniel4]

Thanks for clearing that up. As long as all the panels face the same and have the same tilt... For future Joe, when you have the whole roof covered, it might get confusing 😁😜

[@AveRage_Joe]

Lol yeah Ill have to come up with a better number system🤯🤣

[@coachttt2009]

Hello, the Growatt 12kw says 250V Max PV Voltage. You had 2 - 200 V PV inputs on 1 & 2 . Wouldn't that be 400V ? 150 about the max. Or do you only use one pv array at a time. Thanks

[@AveRage_Joe]

A 200v array goes to pv1 and the other 200v array goes to pv2. There are 2 charge controllers on the 12k growatt.🤘

[@korishan]

"Like that Smash Button" 🤣🤪

[@AveRage_Joe]

Did you ever find it????😆💥🤘

[@korishan]

@@AveRage_Joe Yup, all 42 of them 😹

[@sleonard2649]

Curious why you went with fuses as opposed to using just circuit breakers?

[@tiloalo]

Maybe it's cheaper?

[@DavidHalko]

With the system I am building, I am using fuse & circuit breaker… my rationale is that the fuse will really blow if there is a safety problem while the breaker is convenient for switching off-on & less expensive on a simple mistake

[@AveRage_Joe]

Fuses for the panels and used circuit breakers for quick shut down.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Yes 100% nailed it!💥🤘

[@DanBurgaud]

14:25 No SPD?

[@AveRage_Joe]

I have some and used them is last setup. I would like to use them in this setup. Just need a spot for them.

[@errcl65]

There an explanation on why the fuse has a side for PV in and PV out?

[@AveRage_Joe]

In all honesty, it probly doesnt matter..... Ive had them in wrong direction for a while. It does show direction on the holder. It may be because when you pull the fuse open, that end disrupts or breaks the current circuit the fastest and moves it away to "break" a potential ark if under load.

[@tm510a]

Joe, is the PV max volts to your Growatt 150v? If so how are you going to input 208 V?

[@lnxpro]

Some of those Growatt 12k have 250v PV input. Best to check the label before you hook yours up.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Mine is the 250v version. Do you have 150v? Like lnxpro said, just look at the sticker on the side of inverter and it will say.🤘

[@tm510a]

@@AveRage_Joe Mine is the 250V too. They have an older version 150V. Just checking I didn't want you to have a real BOOM!! lol

[@richardnassab1869]

Hi good day,, a bit of help help here. I have a inverter just like the one u have but lately a have been get a error code 61 do u have any solution , what is wrong,

[@AveRage_Joe]

Interesting, I havent seen that. What is your solar voltage? Could it be spiking/over volting?

[@geraldgrogan]

How are you managing the NEC requirements for Rapid Shutdown and the related RSD hub?

[@AveRage_Joe]

For now rapid shutdown will be flipping or opening a few breakers. All will be marked later as well.

[@paul.phillips]

I thought your 12Kw Growatt inverted had the 150 volt MPPT controllers, did you swap it out for the 250 volt version?

[@AveRage_Joe]

I ordered the 150v version....they accidently sent the 250v version🤭🤯💥 I actually didnt realize it until a much later date. I even read the sticker and saw that it said 250v but just assumed it was a general sticker👐🤦‍♂️

[@paul.phillips]

@@AveRage_Joe Nice! That's awesome. I have the 250v version also, but the 8Kw instead of the 12Kw. Cheers

[@AveRage_Joe]

How you liking yours?

[@paul.phillips]

​@@AveRage_Joe I don't have much on it yet, but I wired an outlet for our electric washer/dryer last weekend and did a load test with it. The dryer drew just under 5Kw and it handled that with no problems on my EG4-LL batteries. I need to finish my ground mount for the panels so I can permanently mount them, and then run some more circuits from the new panel.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Nice! Hey we gotta start somewhere!🤘

[@Fritsvrolijk]

What do you thing shoot i get a Fronius gen 24 or a Growatt hybrid Thanks pro

[@AveRage_Joe]

Honestly Ive only used the growatts long term and have had great luck.

[@Fritsvrolijk]

@@AveRage_Joe Thanks pro And enjoy the Soccer game 2 day agans Holland

[@aristidesroman435]

How much solar you got total.joe?

[@AveRage_Joe]

24 used panels, little over 5.5kw in "perfect" conditions.

[@00000005547]

Out of curiosity, how many watts of panels do you have? B/C if even in those conditions you're still generating something like 400w, if you have the space it might be worth more to invest in more panels than in a huge battery bank. Just thinking out loud but around here, even on ebay every once in a while you see used panels in pretty big lots going for something like 30c/watt. And not very old panels either, I know in a lot of farms they're switching to even higher voltage strings since the inverters are even more efficient, but for home use they're excellent. Like I know it sounds ridiculous but a couple months ago there was someone selling 120kw worth of panels for $20k on ebay. They were in actually very good condition like 5 years old. Now installing 120kw worth of panels is a job and a half with significant installation costs and of course takes up a shit-ton of space lol. But I guess the idea is if you have something like 2+ acres and don't mind dedicating a corner of your land to it, I feel like it might be the better option? Because I imagine that even in such bad conditions, 100kw of solar is more than likely going to produce a significant amount of power. Hell probably even at night you could make a couple hundred watts just from moonlight lol. I just feel like being able to store enough energy for 6 days+ in those conditions will be significantly more costly than my suggestion. For example if you could use M3 battery packs (at 400vdc, hence why they're so cheap compared to S packs), with a high voltage inverter, For $15k you could get 150kwh of batteries if you shop around. This gives you like 25kwh per day, or basically 1kw average draw 24/7. Idk about you people but lfrom studies done the average U.S household uses 12kwh per person per day. So chances are you won't be able to live comfortably even with 15k worth of batteries in the winter. Unless of course you use other fuels, like wood for heating and gas dryer. But then that kind of negates the whole point of going off-grid. And of course thats not even taking into consideration that lithium batteries last significantly less than solar panels. Like even if those panels are running at 30% efficiency 100 years from now,you'll still be making a ridiculous amount of power during sunny times.

[@AveRage_Joe]

I have a little over 5kw on the roof atm. Summer time is great, winter not so much. I will be adding moar solar for sure so Ill be able to charge the big bank! The panels I got were from Santan on ebay and they are used. Ill probly get more from him when I can!

[@tubeDude48]

I would have done Positive / Negative.

[@AveRage_Joe]

I may actually change it to that cause each set will be next to each other!

[@bjconway2474]

Either disconnect the array string cable or disconnect when it's dark rather than working live.

[@AveRage_Joe]

That would be Optimal for sure!!⚡⚡

[@tiloalo]

Isn't it a mistake to combine south and north together? Their exposition won't be the same, so the mppt voltage will also never be optimised for both. I assumed south should be together, and north together.

[@AveRage_Joe]

Yes north and south facing panels should be on seperate controllers. All of my panels are facing south. It made since to me for some reason when I was keeping track of wires for pv1 and pv2 inputs 😜

[@guysgt5003]

It’s cheaper to buy a premade combiner box from Amazon!! Why would you waste money on junk!! I can’t believe you have the sponsors you have with some of the crap you do. Also it’s a way better situation than what you put together 70 bucks done

[@mathilda8925]

👏 ᑭᖇOᗰOᔕᗰ

[@AveRage_Joe]

Email me with details!

[@DiyintheGhetto]

Anyone got a electrician number on speed dial? 😂 😆 😝

[@AveRage_Joe]

SHHHHHHHH😎