Day #8 come and gone!

Man, I’ve been busy trying to finish this upgrade…but the little details and finish work are killing me.

First thing I did was “load balance” the main breaker panel. Yeah, that means I did load testing on my baseboard heaters and kitchen counter outlets that handle the heavy hitters such as the microwave, Instapot, toast, and air fryer. Moved those 6 circuits around to draw equally off of L1 & L2 to evenly distribute the current draw between each inverter. That way I don’t overload either inverter with too much load.

Then came figuring out how to monitor my battery bank accurately. The inverters’ battery monitors are very unreliable/inaccurate. So I will be reintegrating my Victron BMV-712 battery monitor with shunt. But that made me one VE.Direct port short on the Color Control GX (central computer). But I figured that out and had to order an adapter cable to use one of the spare USB ports on the GX unit. That cable will be here on Monday.

While I wait on that cable I decided to start installing wire ducts (a.k.a. raceways). That will protect the wiring and make everything look much neater. But, while I was doing that I noticed that my array grouping was wrong. So I am redoing some wiring and group arrays #1 & #3 together and #2 will be stand-alone to get better charging from the two controllers. But it snowed this morning and it’s cold and windy this afternoon…so I will delay that work. But I did get some of the ductwork in.

And then of course as I was about to close up the inverter/genset transfer switch I realized I should have different circuit breakers doing the work inside the transfer switch. So I had to order two of those…they should be in shortly. The appropriate circuit breakers will be better overall…correct protection for the wiring.

And finally, I am looking into a top-of-the-line, best-in-class surge protector that is supposed to be about as close to the best EMP/CME protection as you can possibly get at this point in time. I am waiting on them to give me a price on an evaluation unit. I will keep you posted on how that goes.

Well, that is about it…this is what I am doing in my spare time.

At the start of Day #8 –

At the end of Day #8 –

Related Articles –

• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #1
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #2
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #3
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #4
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #5
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #6

So late last week I actually began the “Great Solar Upgrade” here at the glamstead. I began labeling electrical boxes, installing wire tension lugs, and some other pre-work tasks. Yesterday was Day #1 of actually digging into the system itself.

Here is what the changes are:

• • Solar generation increase from 3.8kw to 6kw, 58% increase in PV power.
  • Power output increase from 5kw @120v to 10kw @120/240v, 100% increase.
  • Power storage increase from 12kwh to 32.3kwh, 63% increase in power storage.

So a non-solar person that means I can generate more power from my solar panels, run twice the electrical loads in my house from my inverters, and store a 3 days of regular power in my batteries. In a conservation situation, that means I can go about 6 -7 days without sun and still have electricity.

So I am trying something new I will post a video of what is happening with the system, and also a before and after picture each day with a brief narrative. But, later I will produce a much more detailed story of what happened each day and why…for you solar nerds like me.

So here is the start of Day #1 (the before) –

Here is the end of Day #1 (the after) –

Related Articles –

• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #1
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #2
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #3
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #4
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #5
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #6
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #7 – IT WORKS ! !
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #8

Day #6 come and gone!

Whew!!!!!

2:45pm and there is quiet at the Glamstead! Yup, the generator turned off.

Oh, the generator is not running because I turned it off 🙂

The system is back up and running!!!!!!

I still have to program the inverters to run in split phase but I am going to put that off to next week…I am just too worn out.

At the beginning of Day #6 –

At the end of Day #6 –

Yeah, yeah…I know…I still have to install the wire ducts too…that cleans up the wiring mess. But hey, it works! And that big ‘ole third battery adds more than 50% more storage 🙂

Oh…and my neighbor’s dog came back home just before lunch. So it was a good day here at the glamstead.

Related Articles –

• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #1
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #2
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #3
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #4
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #5
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #6
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #7 – IT WORKS ! !
• Great Solar Upgrade – Day #8

As you probably know, it is harmful to a lithium battery to charge it when it is at freezing temperature or below. That means 32F for us normal people…and 0 centigrade for those folks who don’t understand regular science and measurements.

Ok, ok…yes, I know that was pretty much rude and arrogant on the part of this American…typical…right!? But kinda funny from my perspective 😉

Back to lithium batteries…you can safely discharge lithium batteries slightly below 32F but you are not doing the batteries any favors. Charging lithium batteries at or below 32F can actually damage them. The lower the temp at which you try to charge it, the more damage is done…until you destroy it beyond recovery. So simply don’t do it.

However, in our area more and more folks are putting their solar equipment in CONEX containers or stand-alone, unheated sheds. And then winter rolls around, the temp inside the CONEX drops below freezing and they lose power. And then of course they are upset with someone…other than themselves. Why? Because they didn’t understand that most LifePO4 batteries, the good ones at least, have a temp sensor that will shut the battery down to prevent damage to the battery when the battery cells temp drop close to 32F.

And I have seen some real overcome projects come out of that…complex insulation boxes, propane heaters, heat lamps, etc. Ah, no need for all of that. And besides…a heat lamp uses an extraordinary amount of power…and that depletes your batteries pretty quickly during those long winter months.

So I did what many pros do…heat mats with thermostatically controlled outlets. Yup, that simple.

I looked on Amazon, and at my local hardware stone, looked for a high-quality thermostatically controlled outlet that turns on between 35F – 38F and turns of at 45F – 50F. I needed an outlet for each heating mat and a heating mat for between each set of batteries. Maybe consider a heating mat for the exposed side of each battery if they are in a block configuration.

If you are going to do this, the outlet units run from $15 – $26 or so for 1 – 3 outlets…just make sure you go for the best possible quality ones you can afford….you are protecting batteries worth thousands of dollars…you can afford quality outlets.

If you decide to do this, you can look at terrarium or seedling heating mats which run for $10 – $35. Or you can look at seedling heating mats as well which run about $12 – $18 each. Depending on how you have your batteries placed, you can place a mat between each two batteries, maybe one on the exposed side of batteries as well. Just make sure that the mat won’t overheat your battery. Batter should stay below 70F or so.

I would not place a mat over the face of a battery where there are terminals, wiring, controls, or displays.

Depending on your situation you might also need an insulated blanket over the batteries to keep the mat generated heat around the batteries. If that is the case I would suggest you move…you live in a far too cold environment 🙂

As with anytime you are working around electrical equipment, be very, very careful and follow all safety requirements and instructions. If you are hesitant or doubt your ability in any way…just call a qualified electrician or licensed solar installer. And naturally, you want to always follow recommendations and guidance from the battery manufacturer.

I am not a licensed electrician or a certified, licensed, bonded, or qualified solar system installer. The above information is not a recommendation or guidance for you to use in your system or with your equipment.

Yup, a couple folks asked me about the whole hidden “donation” thing. And they wanted to know more about what is was, and why I was doing it. They had found it tucked away hidden at the bottom of the Solar Home Page.

So here is the deal…my plan is to upgrade our solar power system here at the ‘glamstead’ to, as my wife puts it, upgrade our standard of living. Don’t get me wrong, we are doing just fine at this point, we just want to add more capability to power own “grid” that provides power to our place. Yes, meaning we are 100% off-grid when it comes to electricity…we produce and store own electricity via a solar power system.

So here is what the “donation” thing is all about…

Some folks have been very, very kind to me; they have understood the effort, time, and money that I have put into this website over the last 10+ years. A couple people wanted to directly help out financially with our solar system as kind of a way of showing appreciation. And, in their opinion, our fourth battery purchase seemed like the right place where they could help out.

The only major part of the solar power upgrade we have left to buy is the last (fourth) battery. The reason for the fourth battery is pretty simple; 1) we want to be able to store more power to last another day when it is cloudy outside (or during winter months) while we aren’t charging the batteries as fast as we are using the power, 2) we want to be able to run more/different appliances longer into the evening/night when the sun has gone down, 3) we also want to be able to power an RV or camper, or two, should folks show-up when times get tough.

The fourth battery will cost about $4,000 for the battery, shipping, and the wiring to hook it up. These very kind folks wanted to make a cash donation…and they suggested I do a “donation campaign” to raise the rest of the funds so we could get the battery sooner. They thought all the effort I have been putting into the website and the solar information was, could be, would be of value to folks who also appreciated what I do.

I was a little resistant at first, felt kinda like begging, but then I felt I should follow the encouragement of those folks. And it would be a huge blessing to my wife and I since we are now living on a fixed income and $4,000 is a whole lot of money to us. All things being equal, it would be sometime late next year till we had saved the funds to make that large of a purchase.

I want to thank everyone in advance for supporting the website and our efforts…regardless of whether you donate towards the battery purchase or not…thank you! You guys are the absolute best…and I am glad there are folks like you to help others.

Here is the button to do to the donation page…

Related Articles –

• Our Solar System Upgrade
• Solar Home Page

The Victron Lynx Distribution System is a modular busbar system that incorporates DC connections, distribution, fusing, battery monitoring and Lithium battery management.

The system consists of the following components:

• Lynx PowerIn
• Lynx Distributor
• Lynx Shun
• Lynx Smart BMS

Each component’s main part is its 1000amp positive and negative busbars. And each component’s primary feature is the ability to connect together via the 1000amp busbars. However, each component has a separate function, they are:

• Lynx Smart BMS – Only for use together with Victron Energy Smart Lithium batteries. If you don’t have Victron batteries, then you won’t ever need this component.
• Lynx Shunt – Operates much like a smart shunt to monitor system energy usage. It connects to a Victron GX device to display that information, and the information can also be accessed via the VictronConnect app.
• Lynx Distributor – Along with positive and negative busbars, there are 4 fused connections for batteries or DC equipment together with fuse monitoring.
• Lynx PowerIn – Is essentially a Lynx Distributor without the computer board, fuse holders, and monitoring.

And the PowerIn component is the subject of this post. Why? Because I love it and I am using it in my upgraded glamstead solar power system. And most of all…you might find it useful as well!

There are 6 connection points on the positive bus bar and 7 connection points on the negative busbar, one of which is a ground connection. And remember, the busbar is 1000amp, made from solid copper with plating…making it even better than copper only. You can connect batteries, loads, chargers, etc. to the busbar as needed/required.

Connection points…

Wiring diagram…My use of the PowerIn is two-fold; 1) using it as a busbar to connect my LifePO4 batteries in parallel, 2) using a second one as a distribution/connection point for my inverters and charge controllers. I also use a Lynx Shunt, but that is a post for another day.

Use #1 – Battery busbar system:

My batteries are “rack mount” batteries, but I do not have room for a racking system. So I am placing the batteries on a very low 3″ floor stand; batteries will be 2-high, 2-wide (when completed). If I had a rack system then I would not use a PowerIn, I would use a busbar built into a rack system mounted vertically.

With the PowerIn each battery will have equal length 2/0 cables capable of carrying at least 200amps. When complete, each battery will also have a Bluesea 175a high current MRBF Terminal Fuse mounted on the positive terminal to each battery. The MRBF fuse will isolate/protect each battery in the case of a high-current dead short. Yes, I know I am over-engineering the system. But, I am trying to give it as much redundant protection as I realistically can.

Also, connected to the external positive busbar “prong” (for lack of better description) I will attached a 400amp Class T fuse to protect the battery bank from an external high-current dead short, or, protect the system from a high-current dead short in the battery bank. Yes, I know…that means I am over-engineering again with a battery bank fuse protection and each battery fuse protected as well. But if you have ever seen a high-current dead short…well, you would want a lot of protection…a lot.

It at some point in time it might be desirable to add additional batteries to the battery bank (more than 4). If so, I will simply add another PowerIn by connecting it to the existing PowerIn and thus extending the busbar connection system. That is one of the true beauties of the Victron Lynx system…it is scalable and expandable.

The economics of a PowerIn –

First off, a PowerIn can be found on Amazon for $156.00…seems a little expensive to you? Well, let’s look at it in real terms compared to just a simple plain busbar set-up.

• Good quality busbar with cover $110.58 (this is a 600amp vs Victron 1000amp) with only 4 connections vs Victron’s 6.
• And you will need two of these, 1 for negative connections, 1 for positive connections = $221.16. And it isn’t modular.

The Victron PowerIn is $65 less expensive, more connections, more features and a very cool pretty blue cover.

But you say…I can buy two 250amp busbars for $37.99 on Amazon! Yup, you can…but look at the details…it is 250amps at 12v not the 58.4v that the solar batteries can operate at. (Oh, and other busbars are only rated at 48v maximum NOT 58.4v that the batteries can operate at.) Oh, and the busbar is plated brass NOT plated copper!

So go ahead and buy the cheap low-priced busbars and see how that works for you! If you choose this route…have plenty of fire extinguishers on hand and really good home owner’s insurance.

For those of you that want to see more of what you can do with the PowerIn…Part #2 will give details on attaching a Class T fuse to a PowerIn and how to turn the PowerIn into a fused distributor. And that info comes tomorrow!!

Let me know if you have any questions!

< click here to read Part #2 of the Victron Energy PowerIn >

Send me your thoughts, ideas, comments, questions, and concerns…

Related Articles –

• Part #2 of the Victron Energy Lynx Distribution System PowerIn
• | Solar Home Page