Interesting. Can you give examples about when he's been dangerously wrong?
I can't recall particular instances but I've seen the same before. FWIW he's getting less stuff wrong over time.
> FWIW he's getting less stuff wrong over time.
That's hopeful, with that kind of following he has some serious responsibility. At the same time, I cringe when I see people working with large packs on workbenches with loose metal laying around, totally irresponsible pack geometries where balance wires cross and recross each other with abandon, recycled cells that have visible external damage and so on. Youtube is a great way to pick up some 'worst practices' thinking that if these youtube stars are doing it it must be ok.
I recently set up my own off grid solar system in a tiny cabin that I designed and had built. I used the Solar Controller+Inverter Combos recommended on this site (Growatt) but ultimately switched to ones by Renogy. The Growatt one I purchased has a wifi adapter and app - wifi requirement was a deal breaker when remote. The renogy one has a Bluetooth adapter and app, plus feels better designed (though actually I thin…
LiFePO4 batteries can be stored and used below freezing, they just shouldn't be charged. All you have to do is turn the system off when you're not there.
This is a nice resource. I am building an off grid / backup solar install for a house in rural Romania. I want it to be off grid capable, but also be able to use the grid when available. One thing I am curious about: do the all in one systems like Growatt or MPT also provide voltage stabilization? The grid here has really bad voltage stability. Sometimes the voltage drops down to 180V (should be 220V in Europe). Some…
I can't speak to all equipment but Victron inverters can handle this situation. If the voltage is outside the desired range it will augment with batteries or switch over to batteries entirely.
Sure, but the time factor wasn't present in the above comment, it was just instantaneous power.
It was about how that could heat (or not heat) a cabin, time is definitely a factor in that.
"5kW of panels don't produce 5kW in winter" -> there is no 'time' factor in there.
What you could say is that solar panels in the winter do not produce the same amount of power in an average day as they do in the summer due to the shorter day and the bigger chance of occlusion as well as the longer path the suns rays have to travel through the atmosphere.
I want to add some panels at my home to lower the monthly power bill but as I understand I have to direct the energy to something, such as fridge or AC, and when there is not enought energy from the sun either automatically switch to grid or manually.
Where can I find such information to build a hybrid energy solution?
Together with my girlfriend I’m planning a trip.
Driving from the Netherlands to South Africa and back with an EV.
We want to charge the car with solar panels we bring with us.
See our website for more details: www.4x4electric.com
Challenge for now: how to charge the car with ~60m2 of flexible solar panels.
We need a threephase offgrid solar system, but did not find a suitable solution yet.
I want to add some panels at my home to lower the monthly power bill but as I understand I have to direct the energy to something, such as fridge or AC, and when there is not enought energy from the sun either automatically switch to grid or manually. Where can I find such information to build a hybrid energy solution?
All grid-tied solar panels (i.e. what you get when you install solar panels at your home) will do that automatically. Don't don't have to do anything.
Solar will be consumed in priority. If there's too much it will be sold and if there's some missing il will be automatically (by the laws of physics) imported from the grid.
sounds a bit gate-keepy to me. People tell me that I shouldn't repair my own car for similar reasons. Instead I should go to the OEM and have it serviced there for 1000,- a pop. This assures I'm getting genuine OEM branded parts with a 800% profit margin while also reducing the time spent on diagnosing the issue because now whole modules get replaced since cost of human labor is expensive. If I would heed that advise…
He has a point, but there is a thing you can do to offset some of this: read all of the comments. Plenty of times there will be someone in the comments pointing out what's wrong in the videos. The problem with Lithium Ion installations of any size is that the batteries are inherently dangerous and mistakes can easily set you back more than you saved on the whole thing. Unlike say your car where as long as you stay aw…
very much with you and GP on this. the route I personally take is to learn with small trials and error of what comments and advise is good and what is silly or outright dangerous. Places I frequent for such advise though aren't YT videos but forums where it's easy for others to call out silly ideas (which isn't always the case on YT). YT is at best a gateway to deeper content such as explosion-charts, repair and maintenance manuals, etc. I think batteries here are not too different than breaks, steering or suspension (all components I've grown comfortable to touch although not on my very first DYI project but years into messing and learning about the same vehicle).