If I Were Buying My First Solar Setup Again, I’d Do This

Comments · 275

• FO

  @footprinthero · 1 month ago · pinned

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• DA

  @davids7550 · 1 month ago (edited)

  Lessons I learned the hard way:<br>1) You never have enough batteries.<br>2) You never have enough sun.<br>3) You never have enough panels.<br>&gt;&gt;&gt; Your panels won&apos;t output what you think they will. Your panels need direct light to output anything.<br>4) You never have the power when you need it.<br>&gt;&gt;&gt; Your system isn&apos;t the maximum output wattage of your controller; it&apos;s the maximum input wattage you can recharge in a day. That varies a whole lot. If you use 20Kw/day, you must recharge 20Kw/day<br>4a) For practicality, these will just delay a power outage. <br>That delay helps, but the longer you can delay = the more $$$ you put into it. That&apos;s directly proportional.<br>5) If you charge by wall outlet, for every $1.50 you put in, you get $1.00 out.<br>6) Don&apos;t start small and inch your way up. That&apos;s nothing but a money eater for worthless gear. &nbsp;<br>&gt;&gt;&gt; &nbsp;Rule of thumb: if it&apos;s easy to move, it&apos;s not going to do any serious work.<br>I wound up abandoning the idea of seriously powering the whole house for $10,000. I did figure out when the sun is hot and high, I can cool the house with AC &quot;for free&quot; (with a 20-year payback). $10,000 is a lot of money for &quot;free&quot; electricity. I bought an Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra kit and made an awning for my deck with solar panels - nothing wired in, no holes in the roof. The only unit I would buy smaller is the Ecoflow Delta Pro which is a more portable 3600w unit and has an outlet for a travel trailer - that would be FOR a travel trailer, not a house. Other brands of similar capability are worth considering. <br>I budgeted my system as an expense under &quot;emergency preparedness&quot;. Keeping freezers and refrigerators running is important. Running the AC is just helping pay the bill. <br>Don&apos;t consider it an investment without calculating your power rates in. More than likely it will not pay for itself. Of course, that will need to be analyzed for every project plan.<br>Note: If you are military, Home Depot has the same sale prices as everyone else, and they will apply your military discount, making their price the price to beat.<br><br>7) Keep your back-up generator.

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• FL

  @FlameSoulis · 1 month ago

  With balcony solar taking off in more states, a briefing on it would be great!

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• AB

  @absurdspeed · 1 month ago

  The fourth and also imperative puzzle piece is surge power. Anything with an electric motor or heating element will require much more power when it first starts up and, if your power station can&apos;t handle that it will immediately trip the overload protection circuit.

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• YU

  @yurinjathi5029 · 1 month ago

  At minute <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pgDRYjARLo&amp;t=294">4:54</a>, as an electrical engineer working on LFP batteries I love that you mentioned how long they last 💯

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• TE

  @TerryJLaRue · 1 month ago (edited)

  I started 2 or 3 years ago with this stuff. I live in an area of many hours-long power outages. I had a generator, but I got tired of dragging it out, hooking it up, often in the dark and rain, and then putting it away. I wanted just a generator substitute, so I got an Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra with one battery. Then I added a second, then a third battery. I wired a manual transfer switch to go between the grid and battery during an outage. That worked fine, but I thought it would be good to go to solar and take advantage of the sun. So I installed the max amount of solar panels and added 2 more batteries. I am now on battery only and use the grid to automatically charge the batteries if they go to 30%. It is a fantastic system, but very expensive. For 2/3 the price, I could have installed an EG4 or Sol-Ark with more capacity. Live and learn.

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• CO

  @ColonelSpankysLostBattalion · 1 month ago

  I have a Pecron E600 and a Pecron E1000. The 600 will not run my new* three door refrigerator. The 1000 will run it for 12 hours. I would encourage everyone to buy the biggest one you can afford. Just remember to check the weight on the one you want to buy. 2000 watt hour battery power stations weight around 50 pounds.<br>*It did run my old three door refrigerator.

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• SL

  @SlapdatHughJass · 1 month ago (edited)

  Extending Run-Time: &nbsp;If you use your power bank to run a fridge and/or freezer (daily or during power outages), you can extend run-time by putting them on timers.<br>Plug a timer that has multiple on-off cycles directly into the AC outlet port.<br>Plug the fridge or freezer into the timer (use extension cords as needed).<br>Set the timer for a fridge to run for an hour and then shut off for 2-3 hours, repeating this cycle over a 24-hr period.<br>Set the timer for a freezer to run for an hour and then shut off for 5-8 hours, repeating this cycle over a 24-hr period.<br>By cycling power in this manner, you can safely keep your food cold/frozen while extending run-time of your power bank.

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• AT

  @atonwilliams · 1 month ago

  I&apos;ve been rocking with you for a while now. I&apos;ve learned a lot from your videos. I especially love how you do the different budgets and what kinds of devices can run on each. I just wanted to reach out and say congratulations to you and your wife!!!

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• GE

  @gelan8543 · 1 month ago

  WOW, this is the best YT video I&apos;ve seen explaining the power station and solar panel combination vs. cost. Thank you!

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• TR

  @tryntoplaynice · 1 month ago

  Your comparison of power stations to printers is so helpful. Right now there are usually options for battery expansion, but I suspect that will change down the road. For now, it makes sense to &quot;buy the printer but not the ink.&quot;

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• NR

  @Nrgy1111 · 1 month ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pgDRYjARLo&amp;t=662">11:02</a> Please do add a future video on how to source cheaper parts for the expansion batteries and solar panels.

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