My Greenish Power Project and Updating a Few Grid Cords

[Burnin Since 1991]

Pretty much same here. The people that owned the house before me were nice folks, but they were a little over the top with security with all sorts of weird alarms systems and enough cable wire for three houses. I'm also removing the excessive cable wire from my utility room and a walk in closet that is directly above the utility room. There were at least 15. Now there are 2. One for each bedroom and downstairs there are 3, one for a bedroom, living room and family room. With the advances in wifi, the cable is still there for redundancy, but hopefully never needed again. I get much better speeds and connectivity with wifi. BBQ grill and a flat top grill for cooking. Battery powered lights. Some pretty cool ones that have magnetic bases and can be stuck anywhere. some that are motion sensors, too. And a couple of battery powered lamps that I use as well. I also have motion sensor solar lights at the important spots outside my back door and around the shed in case I'm out there at night and it helps me keep track of my dog.

I have a generator, the wood stove, several small electric plug in heaters and 3 power stations. I have a few panels for the one power station and at some point I plan to add a 51.2v 100a golf cart battery with a charger that can take generator power and clean it up and recharge the golf cart battery. I just got a small charge controller similar to the Victron 12-48v 100a though I won't go anywhere near those amps, more like 40 max. The battery will be connected to the 2kwh power station which has its own 2kw battery for a total of 9kw. I am also adding panels here and there to my shed roof. It will be able to hold about 2kw of panels. Then after that I will need to get creative with adding panels. My wife isn't crazy about ground panels. The ones on the shed roof she can't see don't bother her.

Since my solar project is temporary and experimental, I can't attach anything to permanent structures. The sheds are not considered permanent.

I'm thinking a pergola or something with a solar panel roof might be in order. You know... for my wife.

 

[woodgeek]

We've been running the house of the EV6 for the past 10 hrs. Easy peasy, it was litterally plug 'n play. I am seriously considering selling the generator.

I'm jealous that the EV6 has a inverter that connects directly to the traction battery. Not as much fuss as my 12V inverter and big jumper cable clamps. But once I trusted it, I gave my trusty little generator and Jerry can of gas away.

 

[woodgeek]

I had no idea the batteries were that large. That's should be an integral part of every EV owners emergency power plan.

Right? For the record, 1 kWh is about 1.34 horsepower-hours. So that 77 kWh battery in the car can only generate about 100 horsepower-hours (!) of energy. Good thing that cruising at highway speeds only needs <20 kW or <25 hp sustained, so you can drive for a few hours on a charge.

You can also see how tempting it is to tap into that 'free' battery is when there is an outage. My 120V house loads are about 300-400W, so I can run about 4-5 days on a single charge.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Right? For the record, 1 kWh is about 1.34 horsepower-hours. So that 77 kWh battery in the car can only generate about 100 horsepower-hours (!) of energy. Good thing that cruising at highway speeds only needs <20 kW or <25 hp sustained, so you can drive for a few hours on a charge.

You can also see how tempting it is to tap into that 'free' battery is when there is an outage. My 120V house loads are about 300-400W, so I can run about 4-5 days on a single charge.

absolutely. I think it would be down right neglectful to not at least investigate further!

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

As winter approaches and hoping to soon get back to making the solar shed warmer so that the power station doesn't get too cold. And it usually does get too cold. Last January I bought a grow mat with a thermostat. It will maintain 41 to 100 degrees based on settings. I plan to set it to 41 degrees and then add a remote so I can turn it on and off remotely so I'm not wasting energy. I have a digital thermometer that has 3 remote sensors. One is in my utility room. One is measuring the outdoor temps and the third one will be added to an enclosure that I am going to build for my power station. I have left over scraps of wood to make a frame and when I buy the rigid insulation for the shed, I will use some of that to make the enclosure. I'm thinking a 2" base of rigid insulation with a layer of 1/2" plywood and some 1x2 or whatever I have to elevate the power station so that the grow mat can slide under and not be touching the power station. Then I will make the enclosure out of more rigid insulation and include a few vents to allow the power station to pull in ventilation when it needs it. My power station has a fanned intake and exhaust on opposite sides. I have mixed feelings about venting the colder air into the power station, when my goal is to keep it warm enough

Thoughts? Or built one yourself and you want to offer some insight?

I looked into other options as well
electric mini heater... 1500w not efficient. mini splits maybe in the future.
propane... mini wood stove... kerosene and diesel heaters.

I don't need to heat the whole shed. I already have an electric heater that can be used to take the edge off when I'm out there. But I won't be out there except sporadically during the winter. I don't want to be adding more fuels than I already use and I don't want to bring in something that will require additional time for me to keep it running.

With that said, for redundancy I think it is important to have a plan b so I think it will probably be a diesel heater at least this year.

 

[gthomas785]

I was researching battery shed designs as I was considering doing one in the future. I have not reached any definitive answer. Lifepo4 batteries really would rather be kept inside since they can't charge below 32f... but the fire code is really strict on how you can have them indoors, not to mention insurance

Keeping them warm in a detached shed could be hard in a cold snap. How much energy would be wasted just keeping the batteries warm enough to function? You could build a highly insulated box... But then you have to think about how to keep it from getting too warm also.

Just my rambling thoughts ..

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

I was researching battery shed designs as I was considering doing one in the future. I have not reached any definitive answer. Lifepo4 batteries really would rather be kept inside since they can't charge below 32f... but the fire code is really strict on how you can have them indoors, not to mention insurance

Keeping them warm in a detached shed could be hard in a cold snap. How much energy would be wasted just keeping the batteries warm enough to function? You could build a highly insulated box... But then you have to think about how to keep it from getting too warm also.

Just my rambling thoughts ..

yep, pretty much what is going on in my head too. There are mitigating reasons why it is in the shed. If the keeping it warm with the heating mat doesn't work out, I will probably throw in the towel and try to figure something out in the spring.

I know on other forums I have been reading about guys with RV's in their driveways are running an AIO solar charge controller, batteries and panels on their RV (for boondocking) and then sending the excess to their home in the off-season. Not sure what climate they are in. I am watching the threads.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Type 1 Surge Protective Panel, 120/240 VAC, Split, 36kA per Phase SPD, Gray (Leviton R2120-B)
This is the one I installed. They say it needs a 20A/20A breaker. I had room, so just installed the DP breaker for it. I'm sure you could use any DP breaker even if it was already in use.

Installed a bit ago. Easy to do. Took15 minutes. My main panel is a little crowded. Wire management project in the spring. Also had a circuit misassigned to the MTS. Got that fixed up as well.
Tomorrow, Remove/ replace corroded plumbing and maybe hang a sheet or two of beadboard.

Here is the grow mat I'm going to try out.

Vivosun Grow Mat & Thermostat

Remote Control for box

On/ Off switch with Remote

Vents for the box

4" vents