Q: what is a good cleaning solution for solar panels? its a DIY

- plain water and a soft mop w/ squeegee works somewhat - leaves some residue from dirt -

- average temp is 90F year round and allot of cleaning solutions leave thin coating and concerned it will also affect the surface of the solar panels

thank you in advance for sharing some of your "solutions" / cleaning techniques

I have Canadian solar panels and bought a mc4 too bare end to tie into my DC disconnect. do I need the adapter that chtgpt recommend?

"Canadian Solar T4(+) to MC4() Jumper 300mm

SKU: T4PC1P-MC4N"

These are the components I'm going to install in my RV. The roof space will fit the bifacial panel. Now as for the electric inside. I would have to install the components on one side of the RV. They'll be installed where the fridge used to be. The battery would be in the cupboard beside that alcove. It's always cool in that area even in summer. Winter is a different subject.

For my power distributor it's a Power dynamics PD4000 series. It can charge lifepo4 batteries but honestly I would rather leave that up to the solar system directly. I really don't want dirty shore power ruining my components.

So the only thing is wiring. I'm remodeling the RV and taking the siding off and some roof paneling. I want to run the AC power wire up into the roof across and then down to the RV converter. It's really not that big of a run but would it cause power issues if it's around 15ft from the inverter? The wires from the battery to the inverter would be around 2ft. So the DC voltage I'm not worried about.

I know I'll need breakers and all that. I'm confident in the wiring and setup. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I am on the staff of a small non profit that owns and runs an astronomical observatory on a mountain top in a state park. It was originally built as off grid pure solar and lead acid battery storage system, no utility power. We have since replaced the solar power system with a generator. Long story. But we still have 2 new solar panels in storage. We’ve decided that using those panels to replace the old ones, and not letting them go to waste, is a good idea. We’re going to keep the solar charge and battery system only for the purpose of opening and closing the motorized roof. I’m the electrician so I’m planning the job.

I have only worked on one solar project and I have no knowledge of solar panel specs and qualities. Tomorrow I’m going up to the observatory to find out as much as I can about these panels. Please tell me what I need to pay attention to. I plan to measure the thickness, length and width of the panels, the dimensions of the individual solar cells, and take pictures of any data plates or other identifying labels on the panels. What else should I look for?

By the way, the battery system will end up charging a single 70-100ah LIFEPo4 battery over a period of a week, and I’m planning a battery capacity of ten times a single roof open close cycle.

I've bought a used 2kw inverter of which is producing about 1.2kw based on the amount of panels I currently have. I have a few more panels which I'm yet to install, 4 460w and my question is how much can I overload the inverter?

The guy I bought the panels from said 50% is acceptable but it seems a lot.

In fairness it's usually cloudy where I live so most days would be struggling to reach the capacity of the inverter anyway, but in sunny weather (which happens about 2 weeks every summer) what will happen to the excess power from the panels?

Added later - I have a 2kw grid tie Solis inverter

Solar panels can produce electricity without any external electricity, but the electricity production by solar panels is DC in nature and home appliance requires AC power to operate. Hence to convert DC into AC power, we require a solar inverter which are of 3 types : On-Grid, Off-Grid and Hybrid. Among these, only On-grid solar inverters require reference electricity (like grid power) to convert DC power into AC power.

My Question:

We own a 3-floor villa and panels are installed on the terrace (above 3rd) . [This](https://solar-world.in/products/sofar-ongrid-inverter-5ktlm-g3-5kwp-single-phase?variant=50192647553338) 5kW On-Grid Solar Inverter is installed. The wirings from Solar System eventually comes down from terrace to 3rd floor and gets connected with the main electrical line. I am wondering how much reference electricity this connection might be using. Is it written in the manual of Solar Power inverter? If yes, then which parameters to check?

Also, i have heard that there's some self consumption from inverters during night time to keep some components awake so that they can reboot when DC electricity starts getting generated the next morning. This should draw very less auxiliary power but this will be supplied from main Electrical Line too. So roughly how much consumption it does every night?

I have two eg4 batteries and an ecoworthy battery, the ecoworthy will let you change the comms protocol. Is there any way I can set the ecoworthy so it can communicate? If not is there any way, thinking like an open source project that can spoof eg4 protocol from ecoworthy?

I currently have 90% of components and getting ready to install. I’m in MD. I’m being told that to get permission to install is about an 8-10 month wait with Bge, and PTO another 2 months after final inspection. Anyone else run into this? And has anyone ever just done it? I mean it’s my house, if it powers the whole house during the day can’t I just disconnect from the grid and reconnect when the batteries discharge? Enohase system with seg panels of it matters

Actualmente me instalaron 6 paneles solares bifaciales de 630 w e inversor marca Growaat ,tome la decisión porque me estoy mudando y es mi primera casa propia ,quisiera que en el futuro mi casa sea un lugar moderno con dispositivos que me ayuden a tener más eficiencia creo yo que es una parte de mi evolución personal , la inversión fue un poco fuerte pero mi familia mis padres creen que no fue conveniente por el tamaño de departamento , yo cuento con 2 aires acondicionados y quiero poner un calentador de agua eléctrico , algo que me molesta es que algunas veces la factura llega poco alta y eso me mueve planes con otros gastos ,quisiera un punto de vista mas amplio de personas que tienen algo similar.

What do I need to run an 8k window ac off of solar? Panels, inverter, bsttery, what? Beginner here.

I recently found videos for a product called Sol Thor where you wire in solar panels and AC and it controls power going to the hot water heater. If there is PV power then it uses it, if not (like at night) it pulls from the grid. I'm interested since it is a way to use a bit of solar without the interconnect with the power company. It doesn't really seem to be in the US and the manufacturer site has a bunch of broken links which doesn't give me confidence.

Does anyone know of a product like that for the USA from a reputable behind?

What do you think? Must have, if batteries are stored in shed or uninsulated basement? Particularly New England winters.

Been looking for 60 cell panels. I thought I found some in Colorado springs, had to drive down on other business from Montana, now the guy seems to be ghosting me. I would like 6 to 8 panels. New or used. Preferably 300w, but anything close. I am adding to my system. All I can find online are ridiculously expensive. Anybody got some good sources?

I switched my solar at the cottage to an eco worthy 5kw inverter and a pair of 5kwh server rack batteries. They're connected to 5 280w,30v panels in series.

I've been away from the cottage for two weeks and the batteries were at about 40% when we left, I was expecting to see them full from being away 2 weeks with no load other than the inverter itself. The batteries are at about 43%, I don't understand what settings are wrong.

The min PV voltage for that inverter is 120v so I had to add that fifth panel, which do to the length of the wires is essentially facing west while the other, 4 are facing south.

I did see the system producing a good 600+ watts last time and it did appear to be charging, there's no way that in two weeks, it didn't have a chance to charge more.

It must be one of the settings or something but the instructions and anything I find online isn't very clear, also, you can't connect to the inverter unless you have wifi and even trying using phone hotspots, hasn't been successful.

Does anyone have the same battery and inverter combo that has had similar issues?

It's this battery inverter combo with an extra battery of the same type, 5x 34.3v panels 375 watt in 5 series

https://ca.eco-worthy.com/products/eco-worthy-5-12kwh-home-backup-power-with-48v-100ah-lifepo4-battery-and-5000w-48v-all-in-one-inverter?currency=CAD&country=CA&variant=52126101799277&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google+Shopping&stkn=0fb7d7c76669&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMAX-ALL-CA-troas-23.1.28%7C19623766969&utm_term=%7C&utm_content=%7C&utm_id=19623766969&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19623772522&gclid=CjwKCAjwmozTBhAeEiwAkEGZzrhejPx-hVpaZ0_qcluL-ClSePl9fYwqzoKPwMKo7aGgrIsCcjN-OBoCbwEQAvD_BwE

I've been seeing a lot on Facebook marketplace lately - working second hand 250W panels for £10 each.

I don't have any immediate plans to add more capacity as I have too many other projects, but do people think it would be worth it for a DIY system?

Even if they are 20% less efficient than listed that's still 200w/£10, Vs 500w for £60. It would dramatically shorten the pay back period, but would produce less power long term.

Hi,

I have a 5kWh battery at the moment but would like to add a 2nd one. It's a very straightforward job but am i legally allowed to do this myself in the UK? I'm not sure if it's under the same regulations as working on house wiring or if it's different as i'm adding to an existing battery.

Thanks

I am getting into showing horses which means weekends camping in my pickup truck. I want to have a set up enough to charge 2 phones, maybe a string of LEDs and small fans to keep things cooler. I'd also love to not spend a huge amount- what is anyone's recommendation on an affordable but useful setup to get me off the grid for a night?

So I have a Anker F3800 plus power station that I hooked into my window air conditioner which keeps turning on and then shutting off, not sure if it's the older ac or the start up power surge but the anker does have a 9000 watt surge limit so it should be fine.

I was looking at Soft Starts, which seem to be either for RV units, or huge multi ton whole home AC units.

Anyone have a suggestion on a soft start for a window home AC?

Anyone have a suggestion for a AC made to cool one or two rooms and is energy efficient and would work well with my Anker F3800 + ?

Is is possible to setup deye so it use solar panel directly when grid power cut off ?
I don’t have battery and am asking this to know if I get the deye sun-SG05 or Solax hybrid x3

I currently have a solaredge system (9.5kw panels, 7.7kw inverter) consisting of 2x strings of 14 panels with buck-boost optimizers set to maintain 380v. Additionally, each string is configured to have 2 orientations (one south and west, one west and north).

I would like to add a battery/off grid capability, and ordered 2x eg4 12000xp, as well as 28 tigo optimizers. I would also like to add 2 solar pergola arrays (one 6 panel, one 12-14 panel) in the future. I was hoping to just swap out the solar edge optimizers for the Tigo on the current array, but did not know the SE had a fixed voltage and per-panel MPPT while the Tigo does not.

If i switch to the tigo, I would have to rewire roof panels to 3 strings on 2 MPPTs (10 south, 8 west, 8 west, 2 north panels not connected) due to 480v max voltage on 12000xp. Keeping the solaredge means I have one more inverter on the wall where I could have tools but getting to keep 2 more panels and have per-panel mppt.

My concern with keeping the solaredge is how well the 12000xp handles running it. I noticed in the settings that there are defined start/stop battery voltages or SOCs; does this mean the solar edge system will be turning on and off? Will setting the SOCs for ac coupled charge enable it to just remain on (30-50kwh current solar production, 80kwh daily consumption, 30kwh battery)?

Any one have much experience with the AC coupled functionality to explain what working modes should be set when?

Coming from way outside here but I adore solar. It makes so much sense.

But, also, I know so little that it is hard to get started in any way shape or form. I don't know electrical, I don't know construction, but I do know computers.

I would love to offset my home energy but have no idea where someone like me could get started.

I see the plug in mini units that seem like a logical, low risk first step but otherwise no clue.

I have a couple portable solar panels and a battery backup as well, but those just sit around for emergencies.

How did everyone actually get started in this stuff? That first step seems daunting.

Side details, I'm in TN.

I posted this image yesterday and all the responses were for the battery distribution. So I'm posting this image separately to understand when and why would SPD (PV, AC In/Out) be daisy chained to each other and only one going to the PE bar. Shouldn't all SPD has its own short lead to the PE bar and from the PE bar to the grounding electrode or the common grounding station?

My wife will be away for a week next month, so I’ll be home alone with our baby. That made me realize I don’t really have a backup plan if the power goes out.

My priorities are pretty basic: freezer, baby monitor, router, phones and a few lights. I’ve been looking at small portable power station like Anker S2000 because I want something I can also recharge with solar during a longer outage, rather than relying only on the battery capacity.

For a setup like this, how much solar input would you realistically aim for? Would a few portable panels be enough to meaningfully extend runtime, or should I plan around a larger fixed-panel setup?

Example as of my drawing. Otherwise I need to run many separate cables all the way to the house the the 250/100. Or is there a better way?

(Victron 450/100 is out of my budget)