I would like a similar set up for my would gasification boiler for back up power in the winter.I was wondering about the cost of all that cool stuff was.Great vid Thanks.
No offence to what youve done, but it seems to me that if the house was designed to begin with to take advantage of free energy by way of thermal mass and light tubes etc, you would not need to waste thousands and thousands of dollars turning sunlight into electricity back into light again.
@sexycodyboy No offense taken, but what your saying doesn't make any sense... because lighting is typically needed when there is NO sunlight (aka its dark outside)... and harnessing the energy from the sun to store into a battery bank for when power is needed makes alot of sense...
@offthegridsurvival What I am trying to say is that a home designed to work with nature will provide you with light, and heat, and natural cooling. Solar and battery are good to have but should be reserved for things like emergency communication etc.
Very nice setup. I uploaded my vid and watched yours when it came up as a related topic. Our rigs are very similar but I really like the switches you have for various power locations. I might do something similar later on. Good vid.
Great Videos, Im going to install my H/F solar system in a couple of weeks. Is there anything you would have done different on your system. If you get a chance check out my channel and let me know what you think.
@usfreedom22 The H/F system has done a fine job keeping 2 large deep cycle batteries charged up. If i would have done anything different? hmmm, I should of used 6 volt batteries and series them up to 12 volts so I could get more amp hours.. but this setup works fine.. I subbed to you, great channel!
@offthegridsurvival I am about to start my system with 2 of the HF sets. A question. . everyone says 12 volt batts, please explain the 6 volt battsand how you series them up to 12, if you will! I am waiting for the kits to come in, so I am ready to start buying my other needed items while waiting.. thank you very much.. good video
@doctroprint to series up two 6 volts to make 12 volts (For simplicity, we'll call them battery 1 and battery 2). You attach a thick wire to the positive (+) of battery 1, and connect the other end of the wire to the negative of the battery 2. By doing this, you combined the voltage from 6v to 12v. Now the battery clips that come from your charge controller connects to the empty postive and negative terminals between the two batteries.
Actually most homes are wired with 14 awg. If you examine the lighting circuits you will find a 15 amp breaker. So if all your branch circuits that control lighting/outlets are 14 that is OK. Home runs also should be short as possible using 14 awg wiring.
Appliance circuits such as your counter top kitchen recept are run off a 20 amp breakert that would require a 12 awg size. Kitchens per the NEC require 2 20 amp circuits.
Nice setup, what the person said below is true, but he left out one thing. Your house might be a target that's true but if you really got ready that should of included guns and the target would be them cause, if it got that bad, I would shoot first and not ask anything ever.
Nice technology for emergency situations. However, thinking in terms of if and when our government economy melts down, and people must live "off the grid" for an extended period of time, the solar panels plus lights being on in your house at night will only alert the unprepared that this is a house that has prepared, and you will become a target for them to attack you to loot food & water. For night, light confine light to 2 rooms and duct tape tin foil to the windows to block out light.
That is not a charge controller. Read the label on it, it tells you that you need a charge controller in addition to it. HF sells one, a 7 ampere to go with it.
@MegaSkunkie Sorry to tell you this, but your wrong... It comes with a 3 Amp charge controller... The kit does not come with a AC Inverter and 12 volt battery...
@gorgeousdzastr I never really figured it up, but if i am using about 50 watts for 8 hours every night, I'm probably saving maybe $3 to $5 dollars every month... This setup doesn't tie into the grid, and runs completely off the grid... So when the power is out, I still have lights and can run some small appliances without any problems for at least 24 hours without any sunlight to recharge the batteries...
@offthegridsurvival That's fine, I was just wondering. My thought I would tie something similar into my breaker box, just the lights, and maybe a few outlets for fridge or something like that.
I was thinking of doing this same setup on my truck camper (using only 1 12v battery). What has been your opinion of the panels after using them for a while?
Very nice, I have been looking at the HF kit for a long time, could kick myself for not getting one last month when the price went down to 159.00. Thanks for the video, good work!
you can get a power inverter that is 1000 watts and it has plugs so it is better then this set up, but good job, as well you can use a ulternator hooked up to a fan for wind power connexted to a power inverter as well and then connect it to a few batteries so you can have a better power source
Awesome setup! I am waiting on my 80watt panel to be shipped. I almost bought the 45 watt system from HF but went to ebay and found a 80W mono crystalline panel for exactly the same price! My friends and I are planning a campout soon and I could really use some suggestions to deep battery sizing to run my 200w inverter powering about 4 - 13W 120vAC CFL bulbs ALL night?
@loismustdietonight Walmart has some pretty cheap deep cycle batteries... Get a battery with the biggest Amp Hour rating you can afford... Say you get a battery that is rated at 120 amp hours, using 52 watts in compact florescent lights... That would last about 12 hours.
I'm no electrician, so take what I say with a rather large grain of salt, but isn't it possible to also hook you panels up to the grid and sell the energy back to the grid? A nice little source of money once your battery is full and you're not using the excess at the time.
@gatedude07 Yes, you could... I looked into it awhile back, with a small 45 watt setup, you would need a grid tie inverter which cost about $300 and it wouldn't be that cost effective for what you would get back. If you had 200 watts of solar panels or more, grid tied system would be the way to go...
@gatedude07: Yes you can. our utility did just that, (PSE&G) by hooking up 200,000 solar panels to the electric poles and back feeding them directly into the secondaries (after the transformer) to absorb the load and help shed the power producing jet engines and fossil units. Specs for panel output are: 200Watt output at 1.6Amps 120/240 VAC. They have an addressable micro-inverter attached underneath them with a rubber ducky antenna. Search "petrasolar" for more information.
@offthegridsurvival honestly, if i lived in a house i'd have this also, as iam a prepared individual such as yourself, multi-tool, knives, flashlights, ect..ect.. no firearm yet as i need to get my CCP and am going to and my point is that its a great set-up and for $400 or so, that isn't bad considering you can keep running lights and stuff like that in a black-out or SHTF, its GREAT...
@rblain4780 Yes, its setup for 12 volts... I can run my drill, circular saw, jig saw, and other small tools with no difficulty... as well as charging my batteries for my cordless drills..
I like this set up - hate to be a pain, but I'd like to see a more in depth vid on this. I have no experience with setting up back up power so any more info you can give on doing this would be great.
I'll try to work on that in the near future... There are alot of videos showing setup of this kit. Check out user GREENPOWERSCIENCE... Thats where I learned how to set this up..
@homeismn At Walmart, and were about $70 each... Just make sure you get marine deep cycle batteries, if you get a regular car battery it will just go bad after awhile..
awesome video, would like to try making this in the future
jkgoet01 2 months ago
I would like a similar set up for my would gasification boiler for back up power in the winter.I was wondering about the cost of all that cool stuff was.Great vid Thanks.
honeybees1 5 months ago
No offence to what youve done, but it seems to me that if the house was designed to begin with to take advantage of free energy by way of thermal mass and light tubes etc, you would not need to waste thousands and thousands of dollars turning sunlight into electricity back into light again.
sexycodyboy 6 months ago
@sexycodyboy No offense taken, but what your saying doesn't make any sense... because lighting is typically needed when there is NO sunlight (aka its dark outside)... and harnessing the energy from the sun to store into a battery bank for when power is needed makes alot of sense...
offthegridsurvival 6 months ago 14
@offthegridsurvival What I am trying to say is that a home designed to work with nature will provide you with light, and heat, and natural cooling. Solar and battery are good to have but should be reserved for things like emergency communication etc.
sexycodyboy 6 months ago
Nice setup, using standard plugs with the wire, way cool. *****
pgm98387 8 months ago
Very nice setup. I uploaded my vid and watched yours when it came up as a related topic. Our rigs are very similar but I really like the switches you have for various power locations. I might do something similar later on. Good vid.
PlanktoniusRex 11 months ago
i was going to get it is it easy to set up? thx
huntz2471 11 months ago
Great Videos, Im going to install my H/F solar system in a couple of weeks. Is there anything you would have done different on your system. If you get a chance check out my channel and let me know what you think.
usfreedom22 1 year ago
@usfreedom22 The H/F system has done a fine job keeping 2 large deep cycle batteries charged up. If i would have done anything different? hmmm, I should of used 6 volt batteries and series them up to 12 volts so I could get more amp hours.. but this setup works fine.. I subbed to you, great channel!
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago 5
@offthegridsurvival I am about to start my system with 2 of the HF sets. A question. . everyone says 12 volt batts, please explain the 6 volt battsand how you series them up to 12, if you will! I am waiting for the kits to come in, so I am ready to start buying my other needed items while waiting.. thank you very much.. good video
doctroprint 8 months ago
@doctroprint to series up two 6 volts to make 12 volts (For simplicity, we'll call them battery 1 and battery 2). You attach a thick wire to the positive (+) of battery 1, and connect the other end of the wire to the negative of the battery 2. By doing this, you combined the voltage from 6v to 12v. Now the battery clips that come from your charge controller connects to the empty postive and negative terminals between the two batteries.
offthegridsurvival 8 months ago
@usfreedom22 Oh yea, I used 14 gauge romex for the house wiring, I should of used 12 gauge wire so I could run some hotter appliances if needed...
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago 3
@offthegridsurvival
Good tip,Thanks
usfreedom22 1 year ago
@offthegridsurvival
Actually most homes are wired with 14 awg. If you examine the lighting circuits you will find a 15 amp breaker. So if all your branch circuits that control lighting/outlets are 14 that is OK. Home runs also should be short as possible using 14 awg wiring.
Appliance circuits such as your counter top kitchen recept are run off a 20 amp breakert that would require a 12 awg size. Kitchens per the NEC require 2 20 amp circuits.
cbarsonfire 6 months ago
Nice setup, what the person said below is true, but he left out one thing. Your house might be a target that's true but if you really got ready that should of included guns and the target would be them cause, if it got that bad, I would shoot first and not ask anything ever.
r7mart 1 year ago 2
Nice technology for emergency situations. However, thinking in terms of if and when our government economy melts down, and people must live "off the grid" for an extended period of time, the solar panels plus lights being on in your house at night will only alert the unprepared that this is a house that has prepared, and you will become a target for them to attack you to loot food & water. For night, light confine light to 2 rooms and duct tape tin foil to the windows to block out light.
dwightinutah 1 year ago
nice setup
phantomcharger 1 year ago
That is not a charge controller. Read the label on it, it tells you that you need a charge controller in addition to it. HF sells one, a 7 ampere to go with it.
MegaSkunkie 1 year ago
@MegaSkunkie Sorry to tell you this, but your wrong... It comes with a 3 Amp charge controller... The kit does not come with a AC Inverter and 12 volt battery...
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago 2
How much money do you save on the avg per month? Can you calculate the entire year in savings as well?
gorgeousdzastr 1 year ago
@gorgeousdzastr I never really figured it up, but if i am using about 50 watts for 8 hours every night, I'm probably saving maybe $3 to $5 dollars every month... This setup doesn't tie into the grid, and runs completely off the grid... So when the power is out, I still have lights and can run some small appliances without any problems for at least 24 hours without any sunlight to recharge the batteries...
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago
@offthegridsurvival That's fine, I was just wondering. My thought I would tie something similar into my breaker box, just the lights, and maybe a few outlets for fridge or something like that.
Thanks for your posts
gorgeousdzastr 1 year ago
yuo should get led lightbulbs they are expensive but consume like no power
lordmat666 1 year ago
Great set up and video. Thanks for the info. You inspired me to get more serious about my project.
lllewe2009 1 year ago
great stuff.....
gruntaguitar 1 year ago
I was thinking of doing this same setup on my truck camper (using only 1 12v battery). What has been your opinion of the panels after using them for a while?
adventurek9 1 year ago
@adventurek9 I've had them up and running for a year now with no issues, a day of full sun and my batteries are charged up everytime...
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago
Very nice, I have been looking at the HF kit for a long time, could kick myself for not getting one last month when the price went down to 159.00. Thanks for the video, good work!
WORRO01 1 year ago
you can get a power inverter that is 1000 watts and it has plugs so it is better then this set up, but good job, as well you can use a ulternator hooked up to a fan for wind power connexted to a power inverter as well and then connect it to a few batteries so you can have a better power source
SpaceMan131326 1 year ago
Great info, just wish there were more on this video. I guess I will subscribe to your channel to see. Keep up the good work.
bxrbrfdude 1 year ago
If i want to run my house how many battery should i have and how much would this set up cost ? Oh and would a generator be better tho ? Thanks
highperformance7 1 year ago
If i want to run my house how many battery should i have and how much would this set up cost ? Oh and would a generator be better tho ? Thanks
highperformance7 1 year ago
nice setup..
VWRabbitdiesel 1 year ago
Awesome setup! I am waiting on my 80watt panel to be shipped. I almost bought the 45 watt system from HF but went to ebay and found a 80W mono crystalline panel for exactly the same price! My friends and I are planning a campout soon and I could really use some suggestions to deep battery sizing to run my 200w inverter powering about 4 - 13W 120vAC CFL bulbs ALL night?
loismustdietonight 1 year ago
@loismustdietonight Walmart has some pretty cheap deep cycle batteries... Get a battery with the biggest Amp Hour rating you can afford... Say you get a battery that is rated at 120 amp hours, using 52 watts in compact florescent lights... That would last about 12 hours.
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago
I'm no electrician, so take what I say with a rather large grain of salt, but isn't it possible to also hook you panels up to the grid and sell the energy back to the grid? A nice little source of money once your battery is full and you're not using the excess at the time.
gatedude07 1 year ago
@gatedude07 Yes, you could... I looked into it awhile back, with a small 45 watt setup, you would need a grid tie inverter which cost about $300 and it wouldn't be that cost effective for what you would get back. If you had 200 watts of solar panels or more, grid tied system would be the way to go...
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago
@gatedude07: Yes you can. our utility did just that, (PSE&G) by hooking up 200,000 solar panels to the electric poles and back feeding them directly into the secondaries (after the transformer) to absorb the load and help shed the power producing jet engines and fossil units. Specs for panel output are: 200Watt output at 1.6Amps 120/240 VAC. They have an addressable micro-inverter attached underneath them with a rubber ducky antenna. Search "petrasolar" for more information.
pivotmasterpmdx 1 year ago
nice setup , how much it cost?
BALALOCA399 1 year ago
@BALALOCA399 I got about $400 to $500 tied up in it, it works great though..
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago
@offthegridsurvival honestly, if i lived in a house i'd have this also, as iam a prepared individual such as yourself, multi-tool, knives, flashlights, ect..ect.. no firearm yet as i need to get my CCP and am going to and my point is that its a great set-up and for $400 or so, that isn't bad considering you can keep running lights and stuff like that in a black-out or SHTF, its GREAT...
callofduty60 1 year ago
Hi. You have the batteries set up in parra...so this system is 12v right? not 25 volt? Also...What can you run in your shop with a 12 v setup? Thanks
rblain4780 1 year ago
@rblain4780 Yes, its setup for 12 volts... I can run my drill, circular saw, jig saw, and other small tools with no difficulty... as well as charging my batteries for my cordless drills..
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago
I like this set up - hate to be a pain, but I'd like to see a more in depth vid on this. I have no experience with setting up back up power so any more info you can give on doing this would be great.
Thanks for the vids!
UncleBob556 1 year ago
I'll try to work on that in the near future... There are alot of videos showing setup of this kit. Check out user GREENPOWERSCIENCE... Thats where I learned how to set this up..
offthegridsurvival 1 year ago
Awesome setup. 5*'s Love your videos. Keep them coming.
ROGUEWARRIORNATION 2 years ago
Awesome... I just bought the kit
Need to install it when it gets warm.
Where did you get the batts and how much?
homeismn 2 years ago
@homeismn At Walmart, and were about $70 each... Just make sure you get marine deep cycle batteries, if you get a regular car battery it will just go bad after awhile..
offthegridsurvival 2 years ago
Sweet setup.. What is the Harbor Freight item number on that kit?
locke6206 2 years ago
@locke6206 Its ITEM 90599-1VGA on sale for $199
offthegridsurvival 2 years ago