I think it will vary widely on location, and terrain.

I also guess that sticking them on the sides of tall buildings is a 'thing' too.

Tue Aug 20 2024 13:09:36 EDT from darknetuser

That sounds very inefficient, and very prone to problems. Where I live, I would get a lot of shade from far obstacles on the terrain during very early or late hours when the sun is very low on the East or on the West.

So that battery box i made last year from scratch that i complained about where i really didn't save anything of any amount by doing it myself.   It did have the advantage i can remove batteries and such.

Amazon had lithium batteries on sale, picked up 4. Swapped out the 3 lead acid that were in there. its about 1/3 the weight + an extra battery.. its amazing how much lighter.  Going to wire up the lead acid ones and stick them on a wire rack out in my 'server closet'. Add a plug to this box so it can charge/use the lead too, but still be portable, and be expandable if i wanted to add more batteries to the shelving. Could even add car batteries if i had to in a pinch if things really fell apart.

Still not saved any money, but its a bit more useful now as a 'portable controller' than being a huge concrete block with a handle. 

some systems are 24 v, but same principle, wire them in parallel so you always get some current. I am running 4 in parallel since my stuff is 12v

in theory the higher voltage would experience less of a current drop than a lower voltage system

Lol. Trying to find the name of an old local tool store like Harbor Freight for a friend of mine, as far as where i got my mill and lathe ( but was better, and had larger stuff ).   

No luck, but ran across a random 'review' of a battery brand " they suck because there are so many counterfeits that are unsafe".   How the hell is it their fault?

Well, that is disappointing. ( continuing the solar thread )

Couple of years go i bought 2 more panels to store away for emergencies, instead of mounting them. What i got last time was out of stock, so got a different style. Same brand, but different shape, which should mean nothing if the same number of cells.  ( more of a rectangle than a square )

Set them outside where i had the one i have been dragging around the yard testing. While i don't expect any of them to be 100% rated value, as nothing is 'perfect' they should at least pull what the other did in the same spot. But it was less than 1/2 the wattage. Even with both running, was just slightly less than the other on its own. getting 75 out of the single, 59 out of the pair.  Grrrr.   Tomorrow afternoon will test each one separate, see if its just one that is bad and causing an issue to the other. But i suspect its just crap.

I really think i should have bought that ZPM out on aliexpress when i had the chance a few years ago.

Ya, the way most people do if you have more than 4 batteries...

Fri Sep 13 2024 14:22:07 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

 bus bars

and my solar saga continues, but with some answers today.

As mentioned above... been struggling getting more than 60 watts to charge these batteries i bought a couple of years ago. Seems that no matter what i do, it hits 59 or 60 or so and that it. ( or lower, in shade, which is expected )

Switch things around, new wires, bla bla and just didn't work out.  

And as i ran into as well.. i had the 2 other panels out that were barely 1/2, but when i covered one up, it didnt drop.. cover the other...also no change  'wtf'.  Really confused now, so i put 2 of the 'good' ones back. Same process same results, but 60 instead of 30.  At least its a pattern. Its not the cable, its now 10 gage, its not the splitter or id have lost power when i was covering them up.   Only common thread now are the batteries.

So i took the one i built, looked at it. "if i put a 120 watt load on here, kill the batteries then plug it in, its running off only solar .. add a watt meter for extra measure ( no pun intended ) and we will see what the hell is going on here.

Ok. soooo what do i use for a load? Portable heater.. no, too much. that inverter is 150 watt and its like 1kw..  Dig around the garage more.... Oooo an old xeon shop lite, 300 watt.. Figured it wont be bright at 150 but still a load.  Plug it in, poof inverter shuts off. Grrr its got a safety valve.. so back to the drawing board.  If our freaking government had not banned light bulbs.. grab a 120 from the store and be done.  Dug out my drop cords. yay 2 still have real bulbs, wonder if they work.. check first.. 200watt...arrrg... 2nd 70.. well, not quite what i wanted but it still will push it past 60.. Plug it in.. yay light.. and pulls 70 watt...

So go out, plug in the 'commercial batteries'... 60 watt, as expected.  Plug mine in. Poof 70 watts + its charging the battery..  And after about 20 mins the plug is warm.. so closer to 200 watts, at a guess, short of breaking the connectors open and digging out my multi meter..   Going to try the 30 watt ones this weekend i bet they are actually putting out more, or at least can.

Grrr these things are rated for 100 watt charging. it almost seems like its trying to throttle for some strange reason, or they just lied....    While i know what is up, im still not pleased.

For reasons not worth getting into, my AC unit is 'in' the house in a cubbyhole in the hallway, not out in a util room or basement or something. ( this is common in this area, some move them when they tear out the back of the house for additions. I have thought about it but means relocating lines for both AC and gas ( power too, but that is easy ).. adding air ducts in the ceiling. bla bla, just to regain what is basically space for a tiny closet.. )

Now that its freaking hot it runs a lot.  Its amazing how quiet the house is when its off.  Its on so much, its easy to forget. Last house i owned it was out in the util room. Never heard it other than the wind in the vents.

Out in the yard a bit ago "hmm i should toss another round of dirt and fresh seed in this low spot since its fall.."    " Dog and i were just there getting some wood and brackets.. didn't think of it, idiot "

Check prices at local store, $2.80    "i wonder how much it might be at amazon, save me a 2nd trip this week"   $ 44.99    um...  wtf.. no.   lol.   ( same brand even.. )

High winds = no power for around 20 hours.

Earlier this morning opened up the generator to run the fridge/freezer and charge the battery i was using at night for the fridge.   I had forgot i bough a 95 watt transformer for those stupid solar batteries. ( they come with like 25 watt.. ) Would have made testing earlier easy if i had remembered that.  And ya, it topped out at 60 watts, as expected.  

At least it was not 99 like last time.. Was in the low 60s.  

Also learned at 2 am NOTHING is open around here anymore.  Power didn't come back, so went to get ice.  Nope closed.    Next town south.  Middle finger.. Next town.. same thing..  Self serve gas with a CC, but none are manned.

I really need to get that 220v suicide socket setup. No more running extension cables from the back yard.  but it means drilling holes in my wall.. so been stalling.

I already have the supplies.   I got the cord when i first bought the generator, so i could just run it thru the back door and into where the dryer was if we needed it. ( we have a gas dryer but it has an outlet on the wall )  Later after i put the generator in a permanent box out back  i decided to just go ahead and move the existing plug to the outside wall, just not quite got there yet. its rare we need it, so, lazy..  

Interlocks are for for sissies :)     Seriously tho, if you leave it unplugged until you need it, turning off the main breaker is not a huge ordeal and impossible to forget. Now, if i had some automatic remote start thing, then sure, id want an auto interlock too. But this, i have to go outside, open the box. Attach the exhaust extension i made, push the air inlet hose that i added to the filter housing, out the other side, get the cord out of a waterproof tote, fish it thru the back door, open the air filter and hose it down with carb cleaner ( i use it like starting fluid, but its safer.. had a fire ball come at me once in a car that backfired.. never again ) turn it on, pull the cord a few thousand times... bla bla.   So flipping an extra switch is really trivial.   So not a cost thing, just a 'why bother'.

Sat Sep 28 2024 13:50:47 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Why build a suicide cord when inlets and interlocks are readily available and not overly expensive?

So no power Friday night/Saturday until lunch time.  So had to fight with that all night and into the morning.. so im beat.    Oh and had to fix one side of my fence. neighbors blew away, and tore part of mine up from one of the concrete balls holding it down.  Wasn't hard to fix for now, just now i have to have a new fence put in on that side of the house so the dogs dont jump it and head out one evening. means monitoring them in the yard for a while and unplanned $$.

</rant ON>

But back to being tired.. went to bed early..   around 1130 the smoke detector started going off..  arrgh..  but it wasn't the normal screaming 'bleeeee bleeeeee bleeeeee run the hell away' it was 3 LOUD beeps.. silence. then 3 LOUD beeps..  rinse/repeat   "wtf does that mean"

Climb up tear it off the wall and look at it. Still blaring. Push the button. it stops.  Check the house. nothing. Not even smoke coming in the windows.  Furnace is off, so no CO gas either.   Sitting on my desk as im looking for fire..  starts back up.  grrrr!

OK fine, how do i get the battery out and could not figure it out..  Reading the bottom of the unit "You dont its permanently sealed". "10 year life, when it dies it starts yelling"   WTF. its barely 6 years old.   But at least i figured its just dying and not that we are going to die.     But no way to stop it short of killing the device "remove key from mount on wall, insert into unit, turn and disable device permanently..it can not be turned back on ever "  really? geeesh. 

Fine. its off. in the garbage. now for a new one.  You have any idea how hard it is now to find one around here that is NOT setup like that? I just want a damned battery to put in when it dies..  where it calmly chirps when its low..      Local hardware store, nothing. so down to the next town yet again..  they had ONE model left like that.. and only 2 in stock. 

Yet another 'technology advancement' im not fond of.  at all. 

</rant OFF>

i should have stopped at JJs when i was there about that tuna fish sandwich the other day, but was i in bad mood and didn't want to take it out on them by accident.

Yes i did consider hard wire for a moment, but really dont want to futz with it. Due to the attic issues i have mentioned before the 'correct' placement puts it on the wrong side of the "no mans land" so would be a major pain, and a battery, well, is trivial.

Id have been more ok with it if the thing actually lasted 10 years and chirped, not scream like bloody murder, when it was dying.  I'd still rather have a replaceable battery so that *I* am in control, especially since it didnt last much longer than a good lithium 9v battery.

Intent is to put the plug ( tho female in my case ) in a locked waterproof box on the wall. Just one more extra bit to prevent 'oops i wasn't paying attention'.   Plus being a regular female plug, if i wanted to run something that needed 220 out back, its 'there' already, just have to switch it on.  ( well, will be, once i get off my lazy ass and do it )

A bit of redundancy never hurts..

Mon Oct 07 2024 18:08:25 EDT from darknetuser Subject: Suicide sockets

I have something similar as a fallback plan here. I have a male plug protuding from a wall that is connected to the house's distribution/protection box. It goes through a switch in order to ensure you cannot connect the generator to the house wiring as the same time as any other power source, and also to ensure the plug does never get voltage on its own.

When we did it, it was completely worth it. We later upgraded to a full self-sufficient power supply system that made it redundant, anyway.