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michael-hess asked

Home Build Questions

I just built a simple off-grid system with a SmartSolar 100/30, 500a Shunt, 200w panel, and generic inverter. I really like the Victron gear and am now interested in using that for my house. A RPi 2 with VenusOS is monitoring it all in VRM.


Goals:

1. Add 6-?? 300-400w panels (probably on ground mount tracking systems)

2. Charge LiPofe4 batteries (not sure best capacity yet)

3. Utilize solar when available, battery next, then grid.

4. Don't bother back-feeding into grid. So system will be specced for BASELINE daily power usage, so as not to oversize the panels/batteries. Using grid is not bad for me.

5. Have some dedicated circuits to utilize batteries as UPS.


I've spent WAY too much time researching this :) but think I would want the following:

1. 2 SmartSolar chargers, half and half panels, for redundancy

2. 1 Multipass II 120v (cut out need for dedicated circuits for 240?), or 2 Multipass 1600's

3. x number of 100ah or 200ah batteries at 48volt?

4. 500a shunt for the battery bank? How do I calculate amps that the inverter can pull? Like 100ah 12 battery is 1.2kwh or power right? So add up the battery bsm max amps combined? Size the shunt accordingly?

5. Cerbo GX

6. Cables for usb and ve.direct

7. An energy meter?

All of this was based on https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ess:quick-installation-guide


Any help would be greatly appreciated. My brother is a Master Electrician with his own company, so I'm going to rely on him for the AC stuff, and supervise my DC work.


Thanks all!


system design
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1 Answer
nickdb avatar image
nickdb answered ·

Hi Michael.

Design is a nuanced process that really needs to be discussed with local professionals. The internet is good for many things but detail does not always translate, so this community, as per its guidelines, does not encourage design topics.

We would suggest you find a good supplier in your region

https://www.victronenergy.com/where-to-buy

There is also really good info, if you want to tackle larger systems yourself, by doing the online free training which can be found here:

https://professional.victronenergy.com/

Good luck with your system.

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michael-hess avatar image michael-hess commented ·
I heard Victron was good with customer service and such. Figured a forum would be even MORE helpful. I appreciate your prompt response though.


I'm not going to a distributor/contractor, none of them are ever good. NONE. I'll check out the training but that's not exactly going to validate my thoughts, or expose their faults, that's all I was asking for some opinions on.


I completely agree it's nuanced, and I'm not 100% ready to do this, so I appreciate your concern, I just wanted ideas on if I was in the right ballpark.

I'm far more than qualified. I designed and engineered fiber backhaul and data centers for 20 years. 24/48v DC distribution was a big part of that.

Design topics are discouraged? That's the point of a forum like this. If Victron believed that, they wouldn't sell via other means than just distributors/contractors, or at a minimum, wouldn't offer to keep a warranty in a DiY situation. I believe that's a very short sighted outlook on users across the world.

And then of course, there's the middle of Wyoming, which has NO "local professionals," at much of anything let alone a niche product like this. I hate that as a cop out...the whole world doesn't revolve around populated areas.

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Justin Cook avatar image Justin Cook ♦♦ michael-hess commented ·
Victron doesn't sell outside of authorized distributors, so you will definitely be talking to an authorized distributor at some point in any case. As Nick pointed out, the Community Guidelines specifically state that this forum is not really the place for advanced system design questions; instead, such questions should be discussed with your authorized Victron distributor of choice and an electrician who is familiar with your local governing electrical codes.
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