This channel is all about self reliance. Started in 2012 but rebranded in 2024, this is now a completely "agenda free" channel with no paid sponsors or affiliates of any kind. The content of this channel is broad but some of the most common topics are solar power, battery energy storage, off grid living, do it yourself projects, preparedness or prepping, and homesteading. My channel name is a combination of my faith (LDS stands for Latter Day Saint as in The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and the content of the channel (self reliance).
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Thank you
I think you missed variable in your calculation (grid tied example - ceiling fan) - you are not accounting for the $0.25 electricity that I DO NOT have to buy during the daytime. All the electricity that I consume (that is, before it is sold to the grid for $0.06) is saving me $0.25. So for example, if I ran my sitting room fan for 8 hours during the day - on solar - then I will have saved $0.25x8 (or what I would have spent the night before). Night time usage is not only offset by exporting, but also from NOT importing.
Thx it worked!
You are welcome! thanks for watching
I've taken apart at least 5 lithium-ion portable batteries for charging cell phones and USB devices, and EVERY ONE lied on the packaging about their capacity. Upon opening up the cases and checking the actual battery capacities, most were less than 2/3 of their advertised capacity.
Yep. This is so common that it is basically just standard practice.
Having the land space, ground mounted solar is the way to go. My only concern is the wind load. I hope it works out ok.
Yes, that is my concern as well. The good news is I am surrounded by virgin forest/heavy vegetation. That won't block all the wind but it helps a lot.
I’d like to offer some advice based on my own experience. The pneumatic tires you have will not hold up for long being exposed to the sun, heat and cold. I know you intend to replace them with larger ones and I highly recommend you find either solid rubber tires or plastic ones that don’t have air. They will last longer as I have yet to need to replace the solid rubber ones that I switched to. The solar rack looks great, BTW.
They are not pneumatic tires. They are solid rubber "never flat" or whatever. Thanks! I think it turned out pretty well myself.
There's nothing more permanent than a temporary solution.... 😀
Haha, well feel free to rip me a new one if you see this still in use in two years!
I have a similar mount, but it stays vertical year-round, my new mount design vid explains it, 3 weeks I will have new version video. It works good with bifacial panels with snow or white rock around the array. Designed to hold 2 600w panels per frame, easily made wider to hold 4 or 5 smaller panels, they are mobile with wheels or a forklift in case of extreme weather put them in the barn. Vertical 465W panel in heavy rain 76w, overcast 125w, snow and sun 569w. Dec, I go overrated and summer no white rock 300w. 12kw array in summer can make 50+kw a day, winter 6 hours of clouds 17kw. If you go static mount winter angle it should be fine in summer with all that sun over 16 hours a day. Vertical mount clean once a year, snow never sticks. Just adding the snow part for anyone else who may see this. Your mount is great for smaller arrays that need max #s all year.
If I get bifacial panels then I will absolutely do a fixed angle rack for the permanent ground mount setup. But right now I'm bootstrapping with what I have and all I have are mix match old school panels of various sizes from 100-190W.
@6:10 - Tosot was in thawing mode - air intake at 20.5c is too low especially in a humid room ( basement?)
How often do you anticipate it needing to be moved? If the wheels don't last or work well perhaps some skids made of wood and pull it with your truck.
I expect to have to move it in the fall/winter when I get a tractor. I'm going to clear and level some more area. Then I'll have to move it again when actual construction starts (hopefully in about 12 months from now).
Did you do the trig to work out the difference between a fixed angle and a tilting one? 23.5 degrees?
The rough rule of thumb for good all year round production is to mount them at an angle that matches your latitude. So for me that is about 38 degrees. But that is not optimal for summer or for winter. It is just the best angle that can still produce a decent amount in both seasons. There are some calculators out there that will tell you optimal angle for solar for different cities and locations. I certainly can't do the math myself!
@@LDSreliance The question is "Is it worth the bother of making the panels steerable in Longitude? or just put up with lesser output depending on Season. In practice you would optimize them for the season when it rains and mount them fixed. With the extra cash saved on all the messing about just add a few more panels. .. The Maths is pretty easy. Jim Pytel has a You Tube channel with lots about electronics but there is a few presentations on Slaor power.
If you are talking about solar trackers, which cost hundreds and thousands of dollars and introduce multiple points of failure to the system then I would agree with you. However, I literally spent no additional money to gain the ability to adjust the angle. I would have constructed a very similar mount structure to this if I was going to build a fixed angle ground mount. I can go out with a cordless drill and adjust the angle of the entire system in less than 5 minutes with one hand. That beats any fixed angle ground mount of any kind.
You could add another 2x4 at the top and bottom going left to right to strengthen it up too.
If you look closely toward the end of the video I did just that. One 13' 2x4 going left to right on either side of the post. It definitely helped lateral movement but I also placed them up toward the pivot point to act as "stops" to prevent the whole thing from freely spinning in a 360 if I remove the attachments at the bottom of the array. Not sure if that makes sense. I thought about putting a 2x6 from front to back in the middle of the frame at the bottom near the ground and then tying the posts in at 45 degree angles with braces to that center point and that would stop all lateral movement. But I don't want to keep making this heavier if I don't have to.
Jason my friend you are making headway on your land.
Yes, I am! Thanks for all your ideas and support.
No need to defend your design choice so much. What panels are you planning to put on it? Brand new 400w bi-facial panels are dirt cheap right now.
Well I never know which videos will go "viral" (not really, but just get more attention than others) and get a ton of random drive by commenters taking shots at things. I don't have money to invest right now (my money is tied up in my old house, which is for sale) so I am going to start with the 2,000ish Watts I have of various panels I have collected over the years.
Looking good. Anchor that to the ground big time!
Will do! Thanks
That looks like it should work well. Looking forward to the next video. Now you need some chickens. 😉 I wish you the best of luck. - Danny
Haha, I'm away from my property for 3-4 days at a time when I have custody of my kids so I'll have to work out how to feed animals before I bring any out there.
@@LDSreliance high capacity feeders and waters. 🤔😉 Trash can with feed ports. Chickens are the gateway animal
Yeah I'll have to look into all of that stuff. Next year, hopefully!
OK
It will only handle 48 volts?
Yes. If you are going higher than that you have a large system and you wouldn't be using hacks like this.
Hello Can You Please Suggest One App Which Can Support All Solar Inverter Any Universal Monitoring App
False advertising is as old as human existence but in this case, the cheap fake grade B batteries might still offer the best value. For an RV or adventure van usage, 1000 cycles of trouble free use might be 10 years, or longer than anyone will own the vehicle. Faster charge rates, zero maintenance, light weight, and a 10 year life out of a 300Ah LFP battery @ $600?? Yes please. In 10 years the battery tech will have improved exponentially so the fake B cell battery offers a best-value-right-now for most of us.
True. But since this video was uploaded there have really emerged a new range of bargain basement offerings on Amazon and Ebay in the range of $0.15 per Wh range ($200 for a 12V 100Ah battery, for example) that have no chance at reaching 1000 cycles. These are made with the cheapest of the cheap cells, sometimes even used cells or Grade C cells, combined with an ultra cheap BMS and average to poor internal construction. These are being peddled by brands that are 1-2 years old, at most, and have no American support or business presence of any kind. They simply ship containers full by sea to Amazon warehouses and offload all the support to Amazon. Thus, you will not get any assistance or warranty support beyond the 30 day Amazon window. So if you like to play Russian Roulette with your money, buy those.
any idea how many connectors are there that looks lik a mc 4 connector but are not so i asume the chines have mad a copy from a connector but yep the patent so we make it a litle different and cal it mc4, like i always say it looks like it but it is not a sun clix.
cheap connectors yes if you do not calculate the tools you need for 6 connectors.
Word !! Thank you for the video
You are welcome. Thanks for watching!
this is something I have been imagining for quite some time but didn't know it was a real thing. could not find anything like it on amazon so figured it didn't exist. the price is a little steep but I think I will use this quite a bit. I camp frequently and am in construction as profession, so I will try this out in both scenarios.Just purchased ! I will follow up after some testing .
Its pretty cheap compared to what DeWalt or Milwaukee would charge for such a device. Probably 1/3 the price. All of their inverters are modified sine wave, too. And that is fine for construction but not if you want to use it for anything else, like in an emergency situation to power electronics or a CPAP or something.
Will a Duracell 2430 3v work as well ?
As long as it is the same size coin cell.
Hello friend, that brand is for fans, it has been stagnant for many years, at this point it has not developed a monitoring app or integration with other devices such as raspberry and it is also extremely expensive for what it offers.
They aren't innovating at the same pace as the lower end of the market, true. But their products are bulletproof and built in USA/America so there is still a market segment for them. I would say they are better for whole home and commercial projects and much less desirable for smaller projects or for hobbyists/solar nerds. I'm not a fanboy by any means but I would trust that inverter charger over any other single piece of equipment that I own. It is an absolute monster.
Good video.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Tired with the tec1-12703 was able to get from 71-65 deg with the same amount of power and at 80 degrees ambient temperature it makes the module almost twice as efficient.
Move. One for one “Net Metering” does exist. Grid tied systems have the electrical system as its battery. Over generate when it’s sunny, draw down your credited surplus when it is less so. Consumers need a lobby, because net metering is good for everyone in a relative way.
Your answer is to move? To the 10% of the country that still has 1:1 net metering? (And not for long)
@@LDSreliance grand dad can be your friend of last resort.Do not tarry to long
They don't honor grandfathered agreements. There is not a single IOU in the country that still does 1:1 net metering. The only places you can still find it are small, independent coops and rural electric districts. There are a handful of IOU's that still have semi-favorable net metering terms but all of those are in talks and have plans to continue to move along the trend that California and other states have set that are decidedly NOT in favor of the homeowner/cogenerator.
Very helpful information.
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching.
If you are running an inverter on a lead acid battery it will cut out at 50%. where as Lithium iron will still run the inverter all the way down to only 10% remaining
No, it won't. Find me a 12V inverter that has a low voltage cutoff of 12.05V. They don't exist. The highest I have ever seen is 11.5V but most are 10.5-11V, which is why you always want to use a charge controller or other device with a configurable low voltage cutoff to protect your lead acid batteries.
@@LDSreliance OK .5% lower than 50 % what my experience has been the lead acid battery's have the voltage drop off and around 50% of the charge the battery is no longer useful to run an inverter where as the Li battery's will still continue to put out 12 volts much deeper in the charge
The phenomenon you are describing is true. Lithium batteries have a more stable voltage for longer as they discharge. Lead acid is more linear where the voltage slowly and steadily drops as it discharges in a predictable manner. However, the low voltage cutoff point for inverters is nowhere near 12.05V, which is 50% state of charge. What you may be confusing is under a high load a lead acid battery will ALSO exhibit voltage sag. So a battery at 50% (12.05V) that is then put under a high load (1C or so) could possibly drop down to that danger range of 10.5-11V where you may trip the cutoff point for the inverter. But those are two different issues and we should not confuse or conflate them.
The biggest issue that I have with Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries is that the are way *_OVERPRICED!!!_* As are *_ALL BATTERIES!!!_*
OK, do you think that every battery seller in the world is colluding to inflate the prices really high to make a ton of money? Do you want them to sell their products to you at a loss?
@@LDSreliance No I do not want them to sell their products at a loss, but I don't want them make it all off one sale. Yes I do think battery seller are inflating prices.
I can assure you that is not the case. I have sold batteries since 2017 and it is a highly competitive market with very small profit margins. All it would take is one company to do what you are saying and undercut all the other businesses so that they can sell greater volume with a lower profit to break any collusion that could be happening.
Just purchased a battery for 118.00 dollars. Works fabulously and better than one I paid over 400.00 for. So if they're lying to me about it's grade which by the way is not stated on any battery that I've seen,so be it. If my cheap battery runs for 2 to 4 years I've more than gotten my value out of it. Times are changing and sometimes it's good.
Bookmark this post and come back to it in 2 years and tell us how it is doing.
You may need to update this video as lithium battery prices have fallen off a cliff since this video was made.
No they haven't. Grade A prices have dropped about 15-20%. The prices you are no doubt referring to are the Grade B trash on Amazon.
Sadly shipping containers aren't allowed in many places.
Yes, that is a shame. They are the perfect storage shed or small garage for ATV's and small equipment. Some people may find them ugly, but that is subjective. I personally find electric cars ugly but that doesn't mean I'm going to try to pass legislation to prohibit them.
@@LDSreliance They are great for lots of uses.
great video!
Thanks, Jason!
Looks like I'm catching up again because KZread didn't notify me.
That is frustrating! Reason #176 why my channel and other smaller channels are suffering because KZread doesn't care about us.
If it's kicking on and off all the time the air conditioner is probably too big. A smaller AC that runs constantly would be much better. My parents are doing the RV life but they have the option of following good weather and are probably only off grid about 10-15% of the time. They use one of those floor drying fans to stay cool when the heat isn't ridiculous. That type of fan moves a ton of air but it's small so it fits into "RV life" a little better. The bathroom vent fan is great for pulling cool air in when it cools down at night too. They have a comforter to block off the cab area which helps because that's not isulated well at all. You might get some of those windshield reflectors too so you can reduce the heat up there. The big problem with heating and cooling an RV is the thermal mass. There's not much you can do about that though.
I agree. That bedroom is about 65-75 square feet so there aren't too many options that are sized appropriately for that area. I also don't have the funds to buy something else. I think I am actually going to build a platform underneath the window that will support a small 5,000 BTU window unit air conditioner. That will save my a bunch of space inside the room that is taken up by the air conditioner and hoses, also.
@@SystemsPlanet I think you misunderstand. You want MORE thermal mass. It reduces temperature swings.
@@LDSreliance To be honest I wondered why you used that air conditioner. They tend to be less efficient and more expensive then a standard "window shaker". I assume you probably just already had it. My family did a building using a portable saw mill with lumber sourced from my parents property. They were lucky enough to know someone that owns one. That saved them quite a bit on lumber. I don't know if that's an option for you but maybe worth looking into at some point. There are usually building requirements involved. For instance uninspected lumber can't be structural. There are people that will come out and inspect it for a fee though. Possibly a future project for you?
Possibly. But the timber on my property probably isn't ideal for construction. Not many tall and straight trees. Lots of Juniper, mesquite, live oak, pecan, and eastern red cedar. I could probably get some nice live edge boards for siding and roof tiles but probably not much structural. Someday I do want to buy an Alaskan sawmill (just a sawmill that uses a chain saw as the cutting mechanism) and build a cabin somewhere. I think that would be super fun.
@@LDSreliance Alaskan sawmill are cool! My project now is to propagate my fruit trees and berry bushes. I would like a "food forest". I plan to find some other locals to trade and diversify my fruit trees. I really want to try a paw paw fruit this fall and possibly add some paw paw trees if I like them. Good luck!
Can you not connect to a bus bar or a 12v fuse panel?
Yes, you can.
I put insulation on my hoses and it helped us out very well.
On the exhaust or intake or both?
The reality aspect is why i stick around for this channel. What i can tell you from, myself, being an overly warm person to a stupid degree, is that i do most or everything i can do to stay cool myself. Maybe some of these tips will help, they are cheap and free often. I don't use socks at home, because i wanna stay cool. The easier it is for the body to shed it's heat, the better. I even use a fan unstead of AC during the summer because i never bothered to get an ac. The fan blow at my feet, why? Because the hands, feet, and head, are the end-point in the blood circuit of a human being. It's the most effective place to rapidly cool yourself down and MAN does it work super efficiently! Secondly, i use shorts. It's a no-brainer. Never use sweaters either. For sleeping, getting used to noise can be done with getting used to it with music or sorta asmr type tracks from youtube. Thunderstorms, rain, such things. Once you are accustomed to this, your brain will auto-ignore more similar sounds eventually. Like your generator/ac unit 🤔👌 Now, i listen to metal as well so my tolerance is different. You can also set sleep timers or just play the last 30 minutes and save some power when going to sleep. For sleep itself, i have for 15 years now NEVER used a duvet blanket or whatever those warm fat minstrosities are called. Honestly, thin blankets is a hard must for me because i am deadly uncomfortable with being too warm. Can't STAND it, i get sweaty and such but that is never a part of my life anymore and i LOVE it. They are also very very easy to clean, are cheap, and take no space. Sure, ot gets a bit cold in Norway during the winter. But then i just use 2 instead and i am golden. Now, i of course live indoors, but i've come to realize that it's not normal for people to have my sort od high core temperature 😅 So there's that. The efforts you've put in, are pretty good. Already using a lot more money than what i'd invest. Not that i'd make a homestead, i just really like the topic at large 👍 My last very real tip, is to have far leas body-mass if possible. It's physics really, if your mass is smaller, then a cold glass of water will greatly alter your body temperature and you cool down a lot faster. Past this tip, that's all i got for you for now. Maybe some more physical-practical solutions could be on your to-do list in the future. A ground-cellar to store stuff cooler, or to cool down things like a potato-cellar/natural fridge might be a cheeky thing to look into. The cold goes down anyways, and it'd be another more "free" way to harness more coldness. But the BEST part, is that the work it requires, net you a permanent upgrade 🫡 Cheers dude.
Thanks for the suggestions! I agree. I could stand to lose 10-15 pounds haha. I also have a few fans going inside the trailer at all times. And I never wear socks, either, unless I have to put shoes on. I do plan to do a root cellar at some point but I have to get a tractor first so I can dig out a large hole for it. I may actually just install a tornado shelter underground and kill two birds with one stone. I am on the edge of tornado alley here in the US and there are tornadoes every year in this area so having a shelter instead of a trailer would be ideal. But if buried in the ground it will also stay a fairly stable temperature year round and I could store certain food products down there.
@@LDSreliance It might be a really nice long term goal, good luck! 🫡
Maybe a pole barn to park under? Or maybe two shipping containers with shade cloth stretched between & rv parked in shade? Got to be able to sleep at night. I sold my 12 acres and moved back to the suburbs
I wanted to do the two container thing with space in between to park the RV but there isn't enough cleared land. And I don't want to cut down any more trees than I absolutely have to. That was the whole reason I bought this plot of land because it was all trees. I am hanging some tarps right now that should help. We will see how much.
Yeah, if you want to use AC and refrigeration then those little panels aren't going to cut it. We moved to CO so that we would not have to have AC. We lived in a tent for 6 weeks while we built our Sh'ouse. Running water became a luxury, then hot running water. We have re-learned appreciation for those things. We have also learned to prepare better and wait to buy stuff in town - you will too. We sometimes start a project, then come back to it after a while, if it is not critical. Usually, it's because we have to order a tool or materials and wait for them to get here, or wait to go into town. We don't like that, but stuff eventually gets done. We have a huge list of projects on our white board that we are always adding or crossing off. There just aren't enough hours in the day to complete stuff in one shot. Is there any way we can help you??
I appreciate the support! Yes, planning becomes more critical when you don't live in town. I don't mind driving but I don't want to have to buy the gas to run to the hardware store for one or two items all the time. I know it isn't practical or possible to always do projects in one shot. But I'm trying to slow myself down to focus on 2-3 at a time instead of trying to get 20 of them done halfway. There is a ton of satisfaction to permanently crossing an item off your list! That is the goal but reality doesn't always allow it.
with this small set up how long do you think it will power the fan for ?
This video was a long time ago. I don't remember without re-watching the video. Typically these kinds of box fans don't use much power, though, so even a small battery can run one for hours.
@@LDSreliance niiice really appreciate the response, definitely want too look into this for like a small shed experiment 🤔🙏🏼
If you have DeWalt, Milwaukee, or Makita power tools you should look at this inverter that I sell on my web store. It would be very convenient for running fans in a shed. I'll link you to the medium size one but there is a bigger and a smaller version. store.ldsreliance.com/products/millertech-18-20v-600w-edison-pure-sine-wave-power-inverter-for-power-tool-batteries-186-i
I ripped out the battery tray in my 4 cylinder converted van that has an oem 160a alternator, and fabricated a custom tray for a 150AH deep cycle AGM. That battery is charged by the alternator and the and 320 watts of solar solar on my roof. I have no house battery other than my AGM deep cycle starter. its enough power and solar to run a 12v fridge 24x7, run fans over night, watch a few hours of TV at night and recharge my phone and laptop. I have a 48v AC that consume 200w, but only turn that on when we are are in full sunlight. I would love to drop in a 300ah lithium with a 200A bms under my hood, but worry cranking and the charge profile of the alternator will damage it or itself. Being so close not, surprised lithium and aftermarket has not entered into this niche market. with 300AH of Lithium used to 80% I would have more than enough power to run the AC too when I'm in the van in Florida.
Get a Redarc controller. I have the BCDC1240D and it is perfect for your application. It manages two charging sources (solar and alternator) and is designed to be mounted in an engine bay and take the vibrations, heat and abuse of overlanding. It should be the last device you ever need for that van.
Hi. FYI. My single 320w solar panel is rated at 40.8v which exceeds the max voltage of the Redarc can handle. :( seems to be an issue with all these dual input chargers. And there units out there for 1/5 the price, but sure quality is not there.
Is there an inverter that's compatible with a 20v 5amp Bauer battery?
Technically, both the Bauer and Hercules brands from Harbor Freight use the same socket shape as the Milwaukee and DeWalt batteries. However, I am told that the locking mechanism to keep the batteries in the socket does not engage properly on the Bauer and Hercules batteries. So MillerTech does not officially support those brands. But if you slid one in and put a piece of duct tape on it then it would operate the inverter.
I am a renter, but I am also… open.
Not sure what that means.
@@LDSreliance Since I wrote this, I did end up going out to a store to check out different units. Getting an AC less about me and more about my mouldy plant soil (Yes, I used chemicals, but plants still died.), and the occasional mouldy bathroom towel (I had to stop closing the door in the bathroom altogether.) My living room is Hell🔥hot. I thought about the fact that I only have a basic sliding glass door out to my little covered patio. (My bedroom does have a window, but the room just doesn’t get as hot as the living room does.) This means that to use the allegedly more efficient, box-shaped AC unit in my living room, I would have to allot almost HALF of the patio door’s width. Not kidding(!). And, of course, being on the ground floor, I’d be concerned about security. I will do some more research re the double-duct portable ones, but, admittedly, their prices are freaking me out. I say this, though, it’s been clear to me for some time that I’ll need to bite the bullet, if I want a quality unit.
It is true work but if you connect load stopped to function
How long would the MillerTech 1000W Triple Socket Power Tool Battery Inverter last with three fully charged FlexVolt 20V/60V 9Ah batteries when connected to a 43" LCD TV and a fan?
20V×9Ah=180Whx3=540Wh
DeWalt lies, unfortunately. Their batteries are actually 18V just like Milwaukee. They have admitted this but their excuse is 18V is the nominal voltage so they prefer to use 20V because it sounds better. Anyways, 18Vx9Ah=162Whx3=486Wh. Unfortunately, I have no idea how much energy your TV and fan consume but I'll do an example. If the TV runs at 40W and the fan runs at 30W then you have a 70W load. 486/70=6.94 hours (without accounting for losses). In the real world, you will get around 6-6.5 hours from those 3 batteries in that scenario. Keep in mind that this inverter is hot swappable so you could pull out one or more of the batteries at the 5th hour mark and replace them with fresh batteries and keep going without losing power on those devices.
Now the fun begins!!
Oh man. Fun, yes. Pain, also yes! This is a huge challenge.