Use what you got, I love it. Right now I have zero budget for solar but it can also be disheartening when you see folks with apparently bottomless budgets building up massive systems that could power a small city. Seeing a tidy little DIY system is truly heartwarming.

@boblatkey7160

11 ай бұрын

Totally understand, however I make my living on doing huge battery based systems and have done numbers of them in the Santa Barbara area where they cost the homeowner in excess of $100,000! Nothing Green about it but it sure does pay my bills!

David, been a long time fan of your channel. I am an Electrical Engineer and have learned so much about solar from you and Will. You have contributed greatly to my building my own system and am now living off grid for 1 1/2 yrs. I have a Dual MPPT, 2KW solar panels, 5KW battery, 4KW inverter running a fridge, big screen computer, A/C, plus a microwave or air compressor. I also have a twinge of OCD - so in the interest of accuracy, It looks like his batteries are in parallel. Daisy chaining is a serial method of connection, like when 4 -12v batteries make a 48V battery. Great Vid and interesting backstory.

@jimthvac100

Ай бұрын

That is interesting that your 2kw of solar is powering all of that. I have 2Kw worth of solar but have not hooked them up yet. You must be using Gas for your water heating.

Has anyone else noticed how friendly most people with a solar system are? It’s nice to run your home on solar and watch the battery bank get charged by around noon.

@lunatik9696

Жыл бұрын

Made me want more batteries - lol

@davefroman4700

Жыл бұрын

Lot of times I wake up to a full one, but I added a 2kw wind turbine. And statistically the wind blows stronger at night, during poor weather, and in the winter as well.

@johnfitbyfaithnet

Жыл бұрын

@@davefroman4700 what is the brand of turbine, if you don't mind. Are you pleased with it?

@GREGGRCO

Жыл бұрын

@@johnfitbyfaithnet yes please, what brand did you choose and anything posted on the net about it ?? Maybe have David visit ??

I like how you made good use of what he already had. Nice job!

David 'Jeremiah Johnson' Poz... where I like to optimize DIY Mountain solar👍

Great to see the accidental meeting turns into teaching moment and get better usage. This is awesome!

Solar powered chickens! Great little system ideal for backup critical stuff - and most importantly, off grid! Thank you, Richard and you too David!

So you found some “trail magic”! I hiked right thru where you are in 1995. Crossed Fontana Dam ;-) into the Smokies. Ran across people who just helped those out hiking. Surprised you with beer and pizza. It is weird but just shows the inherent good in people. And you showed your gratitude too.

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. I didn't use the term trail magic in the video because I assumed most wouldn't know what that was. I go out to the trail 2-3 times a year with trail magic in Massachusetts.

@peoplesperpetualpowerpod1605

Жыл бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy good guy

Among backtrippers, someone like Richard is called a "trail angel" fwiw.

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely.

This is a Great video with a real-life story. Content like this really inspires people that are on the fence. To start doing their own solar project. These products are getting better all the time for DIY systems.

Hay Dave old goat here we met at above the clouds hostel in Georgia!!! Glad to see your Chanel and great info again. Was a fan before I met you and even more so now

When you through hike the Appalachian trail; we call it trail magic✨🥰 water, snacks, whole tent cities with camaraderie (almost festival like) in some places!! God Bless you Richard!! Thanks for sharing David!!

We are off grid right now. We have a 60 watt solar panel and 2 200 watt dr prepare solar generators. Its not near enough. We are very broke but doing what we can. Some days we dont have a fan. When its very bad weather my sister or mother will let me charge my banks at their houses. I stay at my sisters during heatwaves with the kids. I wish I could afford a lot more. We have to build very slow due to lack of funds. I was wondering about the lead acid batteries. I am not good with electrical. My brain cannot seem to grasp the difference in watts, amps and volts. Trying not to burn my home down so I have started trying to watch as many videos as possible about solar.I subscribed and I am glad to see this channel. I think the kids would love a full time fan and TV everyday. Maybe an actual refrigerator and freezer! 😮

Set up a fund raiser for him. I’ll definitely put some money to a nice 48v system. Good thing happens to good people.

Wonderful and insightful content David I like how you optimised the system. I installed a small 24v system here in Kenya , I too went through much issues and resources wastage and have slowly learnt to be very efficient for better performance. Great presentation too kudos .

Seems like a really nice guy. Lucky that he/you ran into each other while hiking. What are the odds? Now you have another satisfied youtube viewer to add to the list.

Love how yall used what he had. NICE WORK both of y'all!! Thanks for sharing. God Bless

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Bobby. He had almost all the parts waiting.

Trail magic is a wonderful thing. Trail angels are a very special breed of person. I didn’t realize you were walking the trail. Good for you

There’s a new look you’d not get away with in the UK! Reminds me of that boat film with the guy from Liar liar!

One of the best vids I've seen you do, even though you weren't there filming, helping. Real world dude, just like most of us watching, scratching our heads wondering if our systems are set-up efficiently, hoping we bump into someone like yourself along a hiking trail some day. I can imagine you doing one of those TV shows, where specialists go to a property to resolve renovation issues, help solve pet behaviour, etc. Food for thought.

@DavidPozEnergy

8 ай бұрын

I enjoyed this quite a bit. If someone was up in New England, I'd be willing to do this again.

I think that it was great that you were able to have him use what he had on hand to make his system better without having to spend a huge amount of money to convert it over to a different system. I have expended hundreds of unnecessary dollars getting my own system to where it is now. Had I known, in the beginning how limited my 24V system would be, I would never have started building it. I would have started out with a 48V system from the start and then added on.

Nice little system! Richard, FYI, your flag is backward The Canton should be top left for the viewer.

Nicely done video David . Like the interaction with your guest. Maybe you can do more of that 😀. Keep up the good work- John in AZ.

It is best to use what you have first. Make sure you have a plan so you don't spend on things that can't be reused later. Also, when running bus bars, make sure to keep each lead equal length to the battery to have proper current sharing. I ordered some copper for bus bars, but they are back ordered until 2 months so I am daisy chained on small wires for now. Fine for my loads, but it will melt my wires if I pull what the inverter is capable. I just have a couple panels in my drive way charging my 48v system until I spring for a new roof before mounting panels. Work with what you have and develop a plan to reach your longer term goal.

Great video I can't imagine running into you unexpectedly like that solar genius out in the woods good one I hope you show the audience sometime how to build a small system like this first class seems like a good start thanks again I love your solar videos

Good job Richard, and thanks for sharing your system with us

Inspiring video of practical use of solar. Love it!👍

David that was a real good thing, thanks for showing us.

Good of you to help him out David! 😜🤙

Excellent video thank you very much David and Richard

Thanks David, Great setup

Nice one. Your videos are inspiring

I love this video....super informative and really easy to understand and follow.👍

Wonderful job Richard, am happy for you!!..have a wonderful solar journey😎

Great episode David. On the West coast, specifically the Pacific Coast Trail, they have a group of what are known as Trail Angels. My wife and I wound up RV camping next to one of their trail stops this past Spring and enjoyed talking with a couple of them and several hikers that stopped by. A great service indeed!

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

That's great. We call them Trail Angels on the Appalachian Trail too. I just refrained from using those terms in the video since the majority of viewers wouldn't know it.

Nice happenstance. Great video. Just hiking thru the woods! Wow! What fun to help each other out. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Richard and David !! This was Very Helpful to me !!! And really nice to hear the farm life again in the back ground !! Miss that. Really nice area you're in.

Amazing who you meet in the middle of the bush.

Nice upgrade!!!

Richard has a nice setup he done very well

Enjoying your videos David and learning lots. I have a small rooftop solar system 6.5kw but it feeds back to grid. So looking into getting a hybrid inverter and battery bank to get at least some way to less reliance on the grid. I thought you new friends set up was also really good. I've been dabling with solar for our small caravan which is going well but now for the house 👍. Have great weekend.

You have a very nice manner with your explaining , makes it a great help to watch your videos , thanks mate

Great video! We need more like this.

@darrenbenson2606

Жыл бұрын

Yes sir, I enjoy looking at others systems. I never say anything bad about someone’s system unless I see something dangerous. But looking at others will give me ideas to try.

HOWdy D-P, Thanks for HOSTING this VIDEO I appreciate the IMPROVEMENTS & the OWNER's (Richard's) take on them Thanks Again Dave ...

Great job 'Passing-it-forward'.

Nice system, great advice, thanks for sharing!

I have a similar set up here in NC living off grid in my RV 24v though It’s so nice not having a power bill each month especially nowadays Good job Richard keep it up

Thanks David

sweet work richard

happy to watch this, not yet installed solar to go off grid but in future i would. happy follower from Kenya

Nice video on a small & real example DIY!

Great video. I would really like to see more videos like this.

Hi David, I would just like to say thanks for your videos, being watching now for a year or so now, love the videos,you do a great job. I'm living in Ireland🇮🇪 and being thinking solar for awhile now, but the weather in Ireland most of the year would be cloudy, rainy. It would cost me the gusts of 25000e to get off grid, and was think wind turbine too combined, love to know your views, thanks👍

What a beautiful homestead. Talk about going off grid.

David is awesome. Great guy

EXCELLENT SHOWING OF A VERY TYPICAL LEAD ACID SYSTEM UPGRADED TO A SMALL , BETTER FULL FLEDGE SYSTEM WITH ADVICE AND IMPROVEMENTS WITH USES OF THE ALREADY EXTRA EQUIPMENT SAVED FOR A 48 V FUTURE SYSTEM REALLY TURNED IT TO BE A VERY EFFICIENT POWERFUL SYSTEM . THANKS DAVID POZ .

GREAT VID! Hope that everything works out!

daisy chain (the word you use) can be applied to both parallel and Series battery connection.. be specific he has them all Parallel. it matters!

Mppt is more efficient because Australia invented it. lol Love the show, my wife's watches a lot of the trail you did she enjoys the scenery and the people.

Helping people out, that's what it's about!

Nice upgrade Richard! I have a 5-year-old 900w/24v solar input to12-volt battery system with MPPT and happy. The good problem is once you start solar you want more power.

Nice video.. Gaining and sharing Wisdom changes eveything.

From my experience in the electronics and computing fields, daisy-chaining is when components are connected in a type of series (in - out) not parallel. Ie. if one component failed nothing would work, similar to a chain if one link broke. It refers to the components connected not the cabling itself.

I’m enjoyed the video and learn something from this. I have a small scale system like this.

"It's powering his critical loads" he said it!! He said it!! All my loads are critical!!😂

Thanks for sharing! I do like the bus bar arrangement for four or more batteries. I would mention two things with the bus bar arrangement - the links between each battery and the bus bar should be the same size AND length. personally, due to a penchant for safety, I would add a battery terminal mounted fuse on each battery (+) to connect the links. That does get expensive. This would be like the Blue Sea Systems MRBF.

Midnite charge controllers are awesome I was double over panel on a 12 volt system for almost a year, so 2400 watts of panels on one Midnite, then I turned the amp output down to 60 amps output, but i eventually upgraded to a 48 volt system with a 3000 watt 48 volt outback inverter, now I've got 5600 watts of panels, and I just 2 days ago I got rid of the old lead acid batteries and got 4 200ah lifepo4 batteries for 10kwh of battery storage, that's equivalent to 16 regular 100 amp hour acid batteries, now my system is very close to on grid electricity, besides running an electric heater through the night, but I can run a 1000 watt electric heater for 8 hours that's not counting the on/off cycles, but just them 4 batteries really improved the system a lot

@rp9674

Жыл бұрын

I'm surprised that acid/agm is still around, even for a budget system Lifepo4 seems far better

Looks like that might have been Iron Mountain Gap. Also beautiful view from Charlie’s bunion with the snow.

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

Yes on Charlie's Bunion, I don't remember if the other was Iron Mt. or not. I have it logged, but just don't recall off the top of my head.

Bus bars are good so long as the length of each cable run is equal. Daisy chaining can be done properly and successfully, but it requires careful consideration of the resistance of each link and the tie in points such that there is equal voltage drop between each battery and the tie in point. I would use copper strips for this purpose. Higher voltage from the solar panels is a fantastic change!

@daviddenson3324

5 ай бұрын

When daisy chaining, if the wires between each battery are all the proper size and same length then what is the issue. I'm not understanding the con of daisy chaining in this scenario

Thanks David. When I started my project I also used lead acid batteries or gell, if possible, immediately use lithium ion batteries (or LIFEPO4). The system becomes much more efficient.(With MPPT).☀

Off subject, but you were walking the Appalachians and it made me think that over the ages thy have eroded a lot. They were at one time the same elevation as the Rocky Mountains. But the good thing is that a lot of the mountains contained quartz which eroded and wound up on the beaches of the gulf of Florida. The sand is as white as sugar or snow. All I know about solar energy is that.

7:30 wonder that to give up the ghost is an idiom we also have in german den Geist aufgeben which means to break down. not so often that these idioms are still the same like someone is heavy on wire which means here that someone is an expert in something (even beyond the electrical connotation of wire). of cause of topic but I loved to see the same considerations to use the older pwm stuff till they break instead of instantly using the new more efficient tech and just selling the old stuff, the PWM to someone else instead of throwing it away or give it away as a gift with an old panel to a beginner. Great video and thoughts about the step by step improvements he had made.

Nice job

What a great story! It's so cool of you to help him out and not judge him, just give him some pointers.

Great suggestion. Another suggestion (that is not as good) would be to move the main connection from the last battery in the chain to the middle of the battery chain. Right now the chained connections all push current to the end where it connects to the inverter. So the last cable in the daisy chain has to take the power from ALL the previous batteries in the chain. If you move the primary connection to the middle of the chain then you split the current in each half of the chain. Thats a ZERO cost improvement. Not as good as bus bars... but better than the initial configuration. And since it appears there might be a mix of smaller and larger cables joining the batteries, having the larger cables closer to the main connection also would help, so having the main connection at the middle and the larger cables near the middle.

@jasonharrison25

10 ай бұрын

The problem with this method would cause the batteries closes to the main connection to carry more current then the batteries further away. The way it's currently wired the resistance between all the batteries through the cabling is equal so the batteries share the same load

whoa! visited after a while and he looks like a Yeti.

Isn't the shading from the overhead power lines going to reduce output with panels in series? Doubtful those panels have bypass diodes?

Excellent!

I am not sure that I like the buss bar idea for the batteries. If you disconnect any battery, the wires are still hot unless you have individual disconnect switches. I guess that the batteries would all get the same rate of charge as long as all wires were the same length. I used buss bars after the batteries and connected all the charge controllers and loads to those. Then I changed out the positive buss bar to a 12-fuse block so that each charge controller would be fused. These fuse blocks would not be heavy enough to fuse the batteries. Maybe you could set up a din rail with some 50A circuit breakers for the batteries, but that would get expensive. My system is a 24V system and I used a 30A 24/12V buck to supply 12V loads on a separate fuse block.

nice setup , how much does that solar array put out with max sunlight ?

Could you see how well a setup like your solar panel water heater would heat sand?

Omg since when do you have a beard, you look so cozy now suits you 😁

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

It was a pretty long backpacking trip, and I didn't pack a razor.

Hi David. 👋 seriously really good video. Can to u possibly go more in depth about the wires and sizes? I have same issue. All the right stuff to make power from the sun for my family and children but same cheap lead acid systems with jumper cable wire. Where do I buy the right stuff cheapl?

Nice system, still dont understand why the bus bar system is better- wires are longer but not larger while when they were in series it was thick short wires.

Is the system going to incorporate inverters in the future of different voltage input. Would love to know how to do this

Nice use what you have so many stations don't think about that they get so many donations that they don't think of cost a lot of times it seems like I'm just starting out and it's way expensive for someone on a broke budget is there any chance that some donations could be made to me love your Channel love what you do you explain everything to where we can understand it thank you

Hey David, GREAT video as always. What gear do you use for the video and photo shooting?

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

S21 cell phone, DJI wireless microphone, Cannon Rebel DSLR. I also have two "action cams" if needed and several tripods and light towers.

If he puts individual fuses or circuit breakers inline with each battery eg 15-20amp rating, this might protect the system from thermal runaway and any potential fire starter.

Is it possible to connect 2 48v mppts to charge 8x12v lead acid batteries totalling 96v? I have a 5kva inveter that requires 96v. Thanks for the gr8 vids.

When I was 19 an elderly man in my apartment building invited me over to show me his "electricity experiments", consisted of a headboard with Christmas lights wrapped around it. I exchanged pleasantry and got the f out of there, pretty sure I dodged a serial killer.

Richard the nice guy....sounds like the beginning of a dateline episode....

David, Are you going to put up a video on the Schneider BCS and Schneider System? I just found out that with the BCS that I can not have a closed loop communication with the EG4 LL batteries. Insight Home apparently does not allow for RS 485 communications with both and the Aux port on the XW Pro is used to control the PCBA in the BCS. Tech support says they are waiting for Schneider to address this.

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

I wasn't planning to test the BCS because I'm operating my solar system off grid. I am planning to make a video trying out the closed-loop communication between the insight home and the EG4 batteries.

@lawrencecrabb6964

Жыл бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy I will look forward to seeing the battery connections. One of my next challenges. I have the BCS installed. It was a game changer for my installation. I had two meters, one for house, one for the shop/guest apartment. All PVs, Schneider Inverters, etc. are in and on shop. With the BCS mounted 10 feet from meter base, I now have one meter, the BCS is the service disconnect as well as the combined connection for the house and shop. The allows me to still have 200 Amps when need, but the two XW Pros should power the house and shop by using the AC1s bidirectional feature to feed 2 each (2 XW Pros) 60 Amp breakers into shop 200 Amp panel, thus feeding the shop and house through the the BCS connection. Any excess power (after batteries are charged) will go back to grid.

I have a renology 3500 48vinverter charge controller with 4 lead acid 100ah battery's and 2 320 watt. Renology solar pannels

Hi David, I’m from England. Just a quick question, I have a caravan, RV trailer to you. I wanted to fit a 2000 watt inverter as we go off grid a lot when we get away. I have 200 watt panels on roof and a 50 watt panel which I plug in on site through a second charge controller. Now I took the battery out and bought two new 110amp batteries which I wired in parallel but using the ‘daisy chain’ method. After seeing this video even with just two batteries is it worth connecting all the leads onto bus bars? Thank you if you have time to reply to this.

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

I would still want a busbar. When you daisy chain any number of batteries, the final +/- post will have 2 or more ring terminals. There is a ring terminal from the inverter, and one from the second battery paralleled. Sometimes there are more ring terminals from charge controllers (sounds like you have 2), AC charger, temperature sensor, etc. Stacking any more than 1 ring terminal on a post is a bad idea. It can cause extra heat build up, and is more likely to come loose. When you have a central busbar every ring terminal has it's own connection point.

@rhinogooner

Жыл бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy Thank you. I will look into making some modifications 👍🏻

Thanks, battery Bob Ross

So, just a quick question: What voltage are most solar panels outputting? Here in NW NJ, there are a metric crap ton of solar fields, both existing, and going in. I decided to put in a "hobby" system to learn what i was doing after watching this channel, and then several months later, I found a new commercial field( on public parkland? YAY NJ!! ) and a DUMPSTER filled with cracked panels, and hundreds of dollars worth of various(aluminum extrusion, 2/4/6 gauge copper solid, some stranded, piping, SS lag bolts, OMG, on & on.) With a Honda pilot & my 16 year old son we made 3 trips to that dumpster ( on public land!), retrieved at least 8 commercial panels, all cracked but still producing voltage, 50 pounds of SS bolts, 150 pounds of various aluminum , and i don't remember what all else, recycling it all. To my house. To the question, these panels, and some others I bought, are 100V panels. What all voltage are you all running? From this video, it sounds like 12 volt panels? My MPPT charge controller can handle 100V in. My question is how do you all manage the input voltage? @DavidPoz, i'd love to see a dedicated video about the panel wiring and this issue.

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

You scored big! In this video, Richard, is using small solar panels, commonly referred to as 12V panels. However, the Voc I think is closer to 19V.

I’m in a similar situation, my solar system is not strong enough to run the house. I use about 2kw an hour but my solar is only 1.5kw. How to combine them both so the grid and solar is supplying at the same time from the same circuit breaker box? Not a seperate load box.

Hi David, if you could explain the benefit of bus bar vs daisy chsining, it would be appreciated. I have 15 deep cycle batteries I’m trying to recondition, needless to say it’s taking a long time. Any help would be great, thanks.

@DavidPozEnergy

Жыл бұрын

Sure. I have a video dedicated to that: kzread.info/dash/bejne/l4ulrMyleNK9aaQ.html

Dang grizzly Adams happened... ? Looking shagtastic.

your awsome dave most wv hillbillys are truly great people imy cuz has campground on hatfield mccoy trails she will let you stay as long as you want for free just show it in a video

@ambersmith6517

Жыл бұрын

good video by the way you should have your subs sent you videos or visit subs dave i keep your email advise to us you are a good dude and God has blessed you with a awsome family by the way my 6kGS low freq inverter idle is around under 0.50 amps and it will do any batt bank voltage 12 24 36 48 they all will every one you dont have to buy anything to do it either i think it can go up to 70 or 80 volts but you may have to ask for the higher voltage no sure GS has a 12k now also my 6kgs will do 8k i am sure the 12k will do way over the rating also so low freq is NOT always high idle loses and with GS inverters you dont have to buy a new inverter to upgrade or down grade your batt bank voltage it has all bells also like wifi see and change anything from your phone to much to write here