You deserve an award for such a clear, thorough explanation. Love that generator...

I Love the Sol-Ark . My 8k has not failed me. Never complained about the cost until I found they are manufactured and assembled in china. Then to add insult to injury the software for the monitoring is in China also...

@stvbird

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I definitely hear ya on that one.

I got my Sol-Ark and panels from Scott as well. Great people to work with. 1.5 years no problems. 5K of panels, almost 8 megawatts generated in northern Minnesota. Fantastic support from Sol-Ark as well.

@firebird9232

3 жыл бұрын

I pickup my sol ark 12kw in mn too. from tess electric for $6500

@Idahoprepper71

2 жыл бұрын

Megawatts? 8 million watts out of 5k panels Is pretty impressive!

Best explanation of the product that I've seen! Thank you!

You did a great job explaining your system. Thanks for taking the time to make the video.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I appreciate it.

That was very well explained. Thanks a lot.

Very nice explanation. You answered questions I had. My wife and I are about to install a smaller unit, we also are getting it from Scott. That’s an awesome set up you got there sir!

Hello Steve: Thanks for taking the time and effort making this video! You've given a comprehensive analysis of a complete off-grid system that can take a pounding (EMP hardened). Your system is nearly the exact design I need but for a couple of small changes. Again, thank you. Robert Chambers.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Best of luck with your project.

Excellent vid: lots of what and I greatly appreciate the why's

Steve, this was a quite educational video, and I learned a lot. Thank you!

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Thank you for sharing. Wonderful presentation

Cool video! We just got everything dialed in with our sol-ark, just need to get the PV moved over from our outback flexmax controllers. We also made some videos on our channel and have learned a lot since we started!

Thank you, great presentation.

I’m looking to do a very similar system. Thank you for putting in the time to make such an informative video! This helped me out tremendously! BTW, I live in Texas as well!!!! God Bless....

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I'm in Tennessee, but I appreciate Texas.

Great content. Fantastic video and setup

LOVE the Generator and Muffler :)

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I shoulda uses a Flowmaster :-)

Thank you for sharing, it’s a wonderful system. I especially like your generator choice. I went with an air cooled and I regret it due to having to change the oil every 100 hours.

excellent setup and explanation

Great video. I'm buying the solar as well. Most informative video out there! Thanks man!

Thank you for making the video! Really great breakdown and kind of similar to what I wanna do at my house. Only difference is I would be grid tied but not backfeeding anything to the grid.

Bravo! Best solar explanation video I’ve seen in a while. Not too technical but you really covered all the bases for me. Hear nothing but rave reviews about solark. You and @engineer775 should do a guided tour of Solark head office.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure I'm high enough on the importance scale to rate guided tours of their facility, but that would sure be fun. Scott, on the other hand, knows them well. And thanks for the kind words!

That generator set up is so cool

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Great video!

Thanks, Steve. Interesting video and lots of information. Going to be checking into something like this as well.

So happy to see you DIY. The largest costs of and ESS is 1) $$$$$ batteries (if lithium) 2) $$$$ installation 3/4/5) $$$panels/inverter/financing. So you saved a lot.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I appreciate the support you guys have provided as well. Between Scott and you guys we were able to get everything up and running perfectly, and keep it that way.

@Sol-Ark

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird In a few weeks, we are coming out with a fantastic (super simple and meaningful) design tool for homeowners, DIY, and Installers. It will tell you exactly how much PV, batt, and inverter sizes your situation needs (usually budget constrained). Most of all, it can also tell you how to reduce those costs (which has been our corporate mission for 7 years). Please keep spreading the word.

@justicelee26

3 жыл бұрын

I live in Texas and I’m looking to go solar next year. Sol-Ark is at the top of my list. I wish the inverter could squeeze out a little more power off grid but I think I can make it work.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

@@justicelee26 In my case, building from scratch with no building codes, I plan on building our main house in a non-standard way with solar and multi-levels of redundancy in mind. Our current system powers three refrigerators, two microwaves, washer and dryer, three TV's, two AC units, an electric fireplace, electric water heater, etc. However, for air conditioning in the main house, we plan to use AC/DC mini-splits on their own panels, a water heater on it's own panels, and so fourth. Our Sol-Ark that we have now will be the core system for everything else. That gives us several layers of redundancy, as well as spreading the electrical load over multiple systems rather than putting it all on one. Converting an existing, built-for-the-grid house, would be much more challenging.

@justicelee26

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird I’m planning to use gas only for cooking. I’ll have a heat pump water heater, heat pump dryer and a heat pump HVAC. 8 Kw should be more than enough most of the time but for peak demand like washing several loads of laundry in a row and using the dishwasher it may be to much for the Sol-Ark. I am still trying to work everything out. My wife want the solar to be like living on grid she doesn’t want to worry about how many things she is running at the same time and I promised her I’d built it big enough that she can use whatever she wants, whenever she wants.

Great stuff thanks for sharing!

😩😩 we need that !! Very nice 👍🏼

That deserved a like, comment and subscribe if I’ve ever seen it guys! I know it did. Thoroughly executed! 👏

Nice set up. A bit rich for my blood but, if the capital is there, do it! Thank you for sharing.

Great presentation. Thanks :*}

Hi Steve, could you provide more information about the size of your home, appliances you're using, size of battery bank, etc. I'm building a new home off grid and I'm interested to know if you've had any issues with your system. What have been some of the biggest problems/obstacles you've experienced?

That is an excellent setup. You picked really excellent components. I do prefer lithium batteries but I understand your reasoning for going with FLA. I hope it works great for you long term. Let up know if you have any problems so we can all learn.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I've been on this system for almost a year now. There were a couple glitches in the beginning. One of which was an air conditioning motor that needed a bit too much power to spool up, causing a fault. Check out my RV AC video in that regard as the hard start capacitor I used is actually a home unit, and isn't specifically for RV AC units. Still, it solves the problem that one may see with high draw startup load appliances.

I love that you have a shed detached from the living area. Any issues it’s far away from the living quarters.

Great video. I did want to 'hear' you start up that genset. Maybe another video just on it?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Good idea! Thanks.

Very concise

I have a couple of questions. I live in Billings Montana and am planning on doing a new build of a home or if I can, find a home that I can add pannels to. How much would a estimated cost of a single level, 1200 to 1500 sq ft home be to run on solar?? Can it go in tandum with electric so that I could switch my power back and forth if I chose to do so? Does every build need a solar shack and is the solar shack protected from EMP?? I want my home to be fairly efficient and am also looking to add a wind turbine as well. Would you be able to work with a local home builder here in Billings if I can find one who works with efficiency builds? I am a Prepper and would like to be as self sufficient as possible. Also, if the pannels are on the roof, do you have to climb up during the winter to remove the snow or do the pannels stay warm to melt snow?? I would probably use the system that has the pannels set up behind the house rather than on the roof so they can be adjusted for maximum sun and easier to clean off in the winter. The SolarArk has caught my interest.

Awesome explanation of your system. Do you have any optimizers behind each solar panel? Are the optimizers needed if your panels don’t get any shade? I am still learning about all this. Thanks!

Great video and very educational. Thanks for sharing. Have you had any issues with the Sol-Ark not being in a climate controlled space? Especially during the summer when the humidity is high.

You got a subscribe! We are debating if getting the 12k or new 15k. Would you recommend going as big as the 15k? We only have 100amp service but want to go off grid fully. Already partial. Just debating if the 12k will be enough, or if 15k is worth the extra? Thanks. And again great video thx

Very Well Done Sir, Brilliant Piece of Work, i just wanna ask about the distilled water tank and tubes and the procedure about top-up the batteries all the time

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I'm actually going to do an in depth video on that very soon. And thanks!

Hi, I see the green grounding wire in the Sol-Ark but is it just connected at the PV on the array frame?

Best sol-arc video I found yet! Have you had any issues with any high inductive 120v loads causing a line imbalance. I heard this was an issue/ one thing they don’t like being a transformer less inverter.

Great setup and an impressive system. Question on the battery bank. Commercial power backups check the internal resistance is the individual cells periodically. Cells age at different speeds and you want to replace a faulty cell before it brings down your whole battery bank. In addition to checking the fluid levels do you do any other periodic maintenance on you batteries?

I don’t know where you live but if it snows there should you insulate the shed for the batteries?

Excellent presentation. Thanks. One question. At 24:15 you said that when the battery bank reached 60% the generator would auto-start. How is that 60% determined? By battery bank voltage, or by measuring amps used from the batteries? Determining % of battery remaining based on the voltage is not as accurate as measuring amps flowing from the battery.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

The Sol-Ark is much smarter than me in that regard. All of the manufacturer's specs for the batteries are loaded into the Sol-Ark via the settings menu. It also has a temp sensor on the batts, so it adds temp comp into the equation, and it even "learns" your batteries. That's above my paygrade, though. I'd imagine the folks at @sol-ark or @engineer775 could answer that one much better than me. As far as why 60%, that's a user-programmed setting.

@stephen5147

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird Thanks again for the presentation. I hope to do the same thing, so this was very helpful.

Yes sistema! 🌞 ⚡👍

Easiest way to find true south is to find out what time solar noon is at your location (easy to look up) and put a stick in the ground vertically. The shadow is true North.

Steve, I bought some land in TN and need an off grid system. Would you happen to have a parts list and sources for everything you show in your video? It's exactly what I am looking for. By the way, thanks for your Navy Service! I am finishing up my one year mobilization with a Navy helicopter squadron in Japan.

@stvbird

2 жыл бұрын

Scott Hunt, Engineer775 here on KZread, and owner of Practical Preppers LLC (Practicalpreppersllc.com) is my supplier. He's an installer, too, but has branched out into supporting DIY guys. He can spec out your entire system and get you everything you need. He's a real life friend, so tell him I sent you.

I would have installed the secondary LP regulator on the outside of the shed or at least pipe the vent outside through 1” pvc. If the diaphragm blows, you’ll blow your shed up.

@graydonhill1113

2 жыл бұрын

I agree. Quick easy fix to vent it outside.

Excellent video and information - What is the generator (Kholer?) and where did you get it?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

It's a Kohler, but has a GM engine and gen, put together by Advanced Power Systems, and marketed through Kohler. I got this one from a business who bought it with government grant money then never used it.

Curious where your from Steve, I am looking into going off grid at our family farm. Looking to see what the best panels would be for North Dakota. Please advise. Thanks.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

We're on the Cumberland Plateau of TN. As far as "best panels" for a specific area would be, I don't think there is really an answer to that, unless of course you ask a salesman with inventory to move ;-) There may be differing levels of quality and price, but the fundamentals are all the same. It's more about how many panels you have than who made them. Check out the DIY solar page at Practical Preppers LLC (where I obtained my components) at: practicalpreppers.com/diy-solar-systems/

If I were to change one thing it would be to put your air intake on the top side of the door to help with the heat that rises from the genset.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I can see your point based on the view you get from the video. And, if it was an air-cooled generator, producing and emitting tons of heat, that would be even more of an issue. However, being liquid-cooled with a reverse-flow radiator, the heat from the engine is evacuated out of the building and never builds up inside. Add to that the huge fresh air intake grate behind the unit, that, when the radiator is blowing the heat out at the front of the engine, creates a huge breeze of fresh air that flows over the entire unit and right through the air intake area. It's installed via the manufacturer's specs, and the airflow you get from the suction of the outflow radiator across the unit is surprising. To be honest, I had concerns about putting a generator indoors at all, but now that I've been living with it for a year, I'm confident it's the way to go, at least for one designed and engineered for such an install. Thanks for watching and engaging! Have a great one!

What generator are you using? Model? Thx!

what about lifep04 ?

So other than when it's cloudy what you have right now powers your entire house? And that's running your house as if you were on grid? I know on one of your videos you put a auto transformer which kind of levels out the loads. Is that still working out good for you? And on a different video I saw you got a new 12K. Are you completely satisfied with the sol-ark? I'm going to be building a house in New Mexico that is completely off grid and I'm just trying to figure out what I need. Well not so much what I need I've been watching your videos engineer 775 videos and several other peoples for well over a year. I just wanted to ask a regular guy not someone that's selling something what they think about that system. Any input would be appreciated.

@stvbird

2 жыл бұрын

We've been happy with it. We've been living off grid for over a year and a half now, and like you said above, except during periods of long lasting clouds and rain we don't even notice we're not on grid. As a matter of fact, when our neighbors lose power for days during winter storms, we don't even notice. If you were powering a huge house with big draws, you may need to stack two to get the amps you'd be looking for, but for our purposes, it just always works with very little input from us.

It looks like quite an investment up front. How long will it be before you have a net positive from this investment?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

In our case, we'll meet our ROI much faster than converting an existing home. We would have had to have the local power co-op run a half mile of line and poles. We'd have also had to cut trees and give up a permanent right of way through our cattle pastures to allow them to do it. Considering the cost of all that, along with the negatives of the power lines, cleared trees, and rights of way, our decision was easy. There are also other savings involved with taking regulators out of the loop regarding the electrical aspects of our build. That will allow us to skip the electrical contractors and DIY the entire process.

Hey Steve, I'm not sure if you can hear it, and I'm scrambling trying to figure out a fix. I have a Sol-Ark 12kw inverter as well, and it emits a 15kHz whine when it's on. It's about 60 decibels if you're standing in front of the inverter. Do you happen to be able to hear it? Have you been able to stop it from doing it? I'm going on three months with this and it's driving me nuts.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

I can't say I've experienced that. Sorry.

good install !!!! can sol-ark take a wind input or need another controller ?

@stvbird

2 жыл бұрын

You can run a wind turbine into one of the two MMPT ports, or you can run one straight into your batteries. I may actually add one before winter, and will be going directly into the batteries.

What size generator do you have?

14:12 Did you say EMP hardened? As in electro-magnetic-pulse? For solar flare protection?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

It’s a factory option offered by @Sol-Ark.

Great set up. Where did you get the hat? Maker doesn't have them listed on their website.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Paul is a personal friend of mine. I'd been harrasing him for quite some time for swag, so he finally made some ;-)

@justinkirk5449

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird Great company. High quality product...

Would Lifepo4 batteries work as well on a similar setup as yours ? What will be the pros and cons ?

@Saint696Anger

3 жыл бұрын

I don't see why they wouldn't? They can't get below a certain temperature

@ascensionrecordings

3 жыл бұрын

yes pros are longer life and you can discharge the batter to a much lower level with out damage. Con more up front cost.

@a4000t

2 жыл бұрын

yes, but the point of his system was it is EMP hardened.. Its fairly EMP proof. Lithiums use a BMS(battery management system) which would die instantly in a EMP event and you would be out of luck battery wise.

@shandusa

2 жыл бұрын

You can easily make the batteries bms emp hardened by placing the bms inside a metal box or a meta cage

Thanks for a very nice presentation. You mentioned an engineer/company that you consulted. I could not make out what you said. Could you post please? Tom Fisher EE Pecan Plantation, TX, 0TX1

@stvbird

2 жыл бұрын

Scott Hunt, Practical Preppers LLC. He's engineer775 here on KZread.

Had a sol ark 12 installed this past august. All was well at our off grid camp until this morning. Was watching the news and the system alarmed then the inverter went dead (so I could trouble shoot what the alarm was) and then the batteries turned off. I’m beside myself trying to figure out what happened (it’s Saturday and nobody is available it seems). I doubt my small TV used all 9000w of power over two hours time. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

@stvbird

2 жыл бұрын

Does it power on at all? If so, can you pull up the alerts page?

@jfrederick71

2 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird no power at all. I’m frustrated.

@jfrederick71

2 жыл бұрын

We have a smaller than 10kw generator that I could plug in but I’m not sure if I should since I can’t read what the error was. I’ve reached out to the installer and sol-ark. Just wondered if this was common or mine is just being weird :)

Do you think the premium you paid 771 was worth the advise you got vs sourcing the material yourself?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

You mean 775? Well, I didn't pay a premium. Everything was priced competitively. I even solicited quotes from numerous sources, and from him, I got the most for the least, and top notch service and support to boot. So, yes, it was worth every penny.

Great video, thank you for sharing your system. I’ve had some people over to quote my system. Will you give me an idea on the cost of yours? Thanks!

@stvbird

2 жыл бұрын

My initial price without the gen or solar shed, or the buried wire and conduit, was just under $20K, but that was before the world lost its mind. Since then though, we've doubled that investment, adding another array, panels, and battery bank.

@masterofnone4336

2 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird Thank you, my cost came in at just over 39k for 10.8kw ground mount array, 12k solark, 200ah 48v battery, and some other features. Obviously would be less if I did it myself but I wasn't ready to tackle that project.

Could you give us a ball park figure of the cost, just the solar. Thanks

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

22k ish not counting the generator. That's panels, ground mount, the Sol-Ark, wire, conduit, concrete, and all. It's around $20k to your door, then the other 2k in odds n ends.

I gave u a thumb up but are you serious? All that and u didnt start that biatch up? Everything else was great.. Do u think the Sol-ark can mix battery and gen in an off grid scenario?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Lol. I guess I should have cranked her up. And yes, it does mix the gen and PV power when needed. It's been crappy all week and we've gotten very little sunlight, so the gen has been running somewhere around four hours per day. It's seamless when it's on. There are no power spikes or interruptions. And when it is on during such low-light weather conditions, we run all of our high-load stuff (laundry, electric heat instead of gas, etc.) as it's got more than enough to charge the batts while powering everything else as well.

@NoName-ws9qv

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird Thanks Steve this is useful info in designing out my build

Everyone keeps talking about EMP hardening. Can someone run through a legitimate scenario in which the grid fails because of a weapons or solar based EMP, but somehow a solar array isn't fried?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

There are no electronics in a solar array. My EMP hardening is in the Sol-Ark and is installed as a factory option. But, to deal with a pulse traveling through the system, I have suppressors on each panel.

@user-dr2pg8fk2i

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird is that a joke? Solar modules are electronics. And every single module has blocking diodes.

what is the idle wattage of that inverter no load power usage

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Amber. The idle wattage fir the 12K with no load is 60 watts.

@ambersmith6517

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird that is not to high for a 12k good deal

Flooded lead acid batteries need the specific of gravity checked. Have you done that. Where is it at. It's the difference of them lasting years or failing in short order

My IPhone has a compass in it. Check your phone. You may already have what you need. If not check the App Store. Presently magnetic north is 17 degrees east of true north.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Magnetic variance isn’t consistent across the country. Unless you have a chart showing the magnetic declination at your specific location, I recommend sticking with something that shows true and not magnetic south. I’m at -3, which is vastly different from +17, which leads me to believe you’re in the PNW.

@jamespayne8781

3 жыл бұрын

I’m in the Mojave desert. Lots of iron all around. Your point is valid however the iPhone compass seems accurate. I actually didn’t use a compass when I set up my solar rack, I used Polaris.

How much did all that cost ?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

Just under twenty initially, then added $3700 more to double the batteries. Though, that doesn't count the generator, the building, and random wire and hardware.

Not sure if anybody asked but what was the cost of your system? Going off-grid is tempting but...

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

In my case, starting a build from scratch, and being nearly a half-mile from the nearest place to tie into the grid, the payoff/ROI will come much quicker than converting an existing home. I'm 30K into this. 24K for the solar-specific hardware, then the gen, building, and misc stuff. However, if I would have gone with conventional power, I'd have had to pay the power company to run a half-mile of poles and lines, cut trees, give up rights of way, and then be forced to use the state's permitting process with electrical contractors rather than being free to do anything I want. Being in control of your own life has a value you can't put into simple numbers.

@MW-qv7ph

3 жыл бұрын

@@stvbird I'm with you on that. Quite frankly I envy you the possibility. 30k for freedom is not much really.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

@@MW-qv7ph It's cheaper than buying a new car, and lasts a lot longer.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

@Jim Prpich I got the generator for a steal. I bought it from a company who bought it with government grant money, then sold it for next to nothing.

How may amp-hours are your batteries?

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

830 the way the two banks of 8x415s are joined together.

@upnorthhomesteader

3 жыл бұрын

What model Kohler? BWT Chris T. turned me onto your channel.

@stvbird

3 жыл бұрын

@@upnorthhomesteader it’s a GM engine and generator, put together by Power Systems Inc, marketed by Kohler as an RYG15.

16:30 touching AC terminals with your finger 🙈😱🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

😁for no building codes