Hello Everyone I am new here,
I have been lurking in the shadows for some time and reading posts, watching videos, and taking as much information in as I can. This group seems to be very knowledgeable and I am excited to join the community. I especially like "HB powerwalls" on youtube, I bought one ofhis shirts to support him and have seen all of his videos I will donate more when I have some extra funds as I really enjoy his stuff.
My goals simply put: To stop paying for electricity entirely, and send small amounts back to my utility company (utility connection is .35 cents (US) per day regardless of usage) to zero out my bill. I would also like to convert my car to electric power (I am a master mechanic for my profession) and install electric vehicle charging station into my home. These are my long term goals. With these3 main goals in mind, I would also like to do this project with as many cheap if not free materials as possible, I will get more into this later.
That being said I already have 15x 315W Longi Mono solar panels, 15x p320 SolarEdge optimizers, 1x SolarEdge storedge Se-3800A inverter, and an LG Chem 9.8Kwh battery. This system is about3 months old and I love the system, but after watching the company install the system I realized I could have installed it myself. Also, after 3 months of monitoring and watching I am still paying a power bill. So I installed an "Emporia Vue" smart energy monitor andI am nowwatching my power consumption in real time through my utility companies meter. Although I realize this may not be entirely accurate, it is reporting to me the numbers the power company will use to determine my bill, thus this is the number I am interested in. I attached a rough drawing of my average daily power usage.
So far I have decided to build an 18650 based powerwall. I have started by going on batteryhookup and ordered 900 cells to start. I also ordered 2x 8 cell charger / capacity testers based off some recommendations on here. The chargers are to arrive today and cells next week,I will begin tear down and cell processing immediately, however I do not plan on having a fully working powerwall for several months if not closer to beginning of 2021.
In addition to ordering the 18650 cells to begin processing, I have also decided I want to place my powerwall in some type of enclosure. I am unsure of my local regulations, so I purchased a copy of NFPA-111 which is my local fire code and regulations pertaining specifically to energy storage, photovoltaic power sources, and electric vehicle charging. I also need to check and see if I need to acquire permits for my area (most likely as I am in southern California US) for the energy storage, I know I will need new / additional permits to install any more solar panels.
I was able to up-cycle several old cabinets that I am hoping to store the powerwall inside of, they are "UL" listed meaning it is rated for electrical components. After determining if they will work (reading the NFPA-111) I plan on rubberizing the inside of the cabinets, mounting them to the back side of my garage, and painting the outside the color of the house (of course leaving warning labels visible).
Looking around, I also found that I have a large surplus of metal clotheshangars. They are 2mm squared steel wire which is the same as a 12 awg wire.It seems to be this would be good for 25amps per strand? I tried twisting some together and found that I can twist a pair together pretty easily, 3 or 4 is rather difficult especially without kinking. The other issue I have with this is that some of them break while twisting, leading me to believe I could have some porous sections of this conductor which would create a hot spot and possible an open circuit. So, if I continue through with this idea, I plan on testing each individual bus barby actually flowingamperage for extended time (like 10 minutes or more at 150% of the amps I plan to run through it) and then check for hot spots using thermal imaging. Due to the materials, I would need to test each individual bus bar prior to service, meaning this would be extremely time consuming but would cost nearly nothing and leave me with peace of mind.
I have yet to make any decisions as to battery pack configuration with 2 exceptions, I like the fuse wire to each individual cell, and I want to run a 48v system.
I am posting this to log my progress, as well as receive any input. I appreciate any and all help. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my post!
Grizwald
I have been lurking in the shadows for some time and reading posts, watching videos, and taking as much information in as I can. This group seems to be very knowledgeable and I am excited to join the community. I especially like "HB powerwalls" on youtube, I bought one ofhis shirts to support him and have seen all of his videos I will donate more when I have some extra funds as I really enjoy his stuff.
My goals simply put: To stop paying for electricity entirely, and send small amounts back to my utility company (utility connection is .35 cents (US) per day regardless of usage) to zero out my bill. I would also like to convert my car to electric power (I am a master mechanic for my profession) and install electric vehicle charging station into my home. These are my long term goals. With these3 main goals in mind, I would also like to do this project with as many cheap if not free materials as possible, I will get more into this later.
That being said I already have 15x 315W Longi Mono solar panels, 15x p320 SolarEdge optimizers, 1x SolarEdge storedge Se-3800A inverter, and an LG Chem 9.8Kwh battery. This system is about3 months old and I love the system, but after watching the company install the system I realized I could have installed it myself. Also, after 3 months of monitoring and watching I am still paying a power bill. So I installed an "Emporia Vue" smart energy monitor andI am nowwatching my power consumption in real time through my utility companies meter. Although I realize this may not be entirely accurate, it is reporting to me the numbers the power company will use to determine my bill, thus this is the number I am interested in. I attached a rough drawing of my average daily power usage.
So far I have decided to build an 18650 based powerwall. I have started by going on batteryhookup and ordered 900 cells to start. I also ordered 2x 8 cell charger / capacity testers based off some recommendations on here. The chargers are to arrive today and cells next week,I will begin tear down and cell processing immediately, however I do not plan on having a fully working powerwall for several months if not closer to beginning of 2021.
In addition to ordering the 18650 cells to begin processing, I have also decided I want to place my powerwall in some type of enclosure. I am unsure of my local regulations, so I purchased a copy of NFPA-111 which is my local fire code and regulations pertaining specifically to energy storage, photovoltaic power sources, and electric vehicle charging. I also need to check and see if I need to acquire permits for my area (most likely as I am in southern California US) for the energy storage, I know I will need new / additional permits to install any more solar panels.
I was able to up-cycle several old cabinets that I am hoping to store the powerwall inside of, they are "UL" listed meaning it is rated for electrical components. After determining if they will work (reading the NFPA-111) I plan on rubberizing the inside of the cabinets, mounting them to the back side of my garage, and painting the outside the color of the house (of course leaving warning labels visible).
Looking around, I also found that I have a large surplus of metal clotheshangars. They are 2mm squared steel wire which is the same as a 12 awg wire.It seems to be this would be good for 25amps per strand? I tried twisting some together and found that I can twist a pair together pretty easily, 3 or 4 is rather difficult especially without kinking. The other issue I have with this is that some of them break while twisting, leading me to believe I could have some porous sections of this conductor which would create a hot spot and possible an open circuit. So, if I continue through with this idea, I plan on testing each individual bus barby actually flowingamperage for extended time (like 10 minutes or more at 150% of the amps I plan to run through it) and then check for hot spots using thermal imaging. Due to the materials, I would need to test each individual bus bar prior to service, meaning this would be extremely time consuming but would cost nearly nothing and leave me with peace of mind.
I have yet to make any decisions as to battery pack configuration with 2 exceptions, I like the fuse wire to each individual cell, and I want to run a 48v system.
I am posting this to log my progress, as well as receive any input. I appreciate any and all help. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my post!
Grizwald