Our 2.4Kw DIY OFF GRID Solar System
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- čas přidán 4. 05. 2024
- #offgrid #solarpower #solar #bulgaria
This is our DIY Off Grid Solar Special, showing you our solar setup and how we power our Off Grid home in Bulgaria.
We're Phil and Kayleigh, a husband and wife living in rural Bulgaria with our two children, Alex and Ember. It's always been our dream to live a more self-sustainable life off grid. So, we've sold all our belongings, escaped the rental rat race and bought a plot of land. Complete with a derelict house and 3 barns, we hope to create our new life mortgage free. We've faced lots of hurdles already, so hang on tight as we show you highs and lows of moving abroad and starting again.
Ние сме Фил и Кейли, съпруг и съпруга, живеещи в провинциална България с нашите две деца, Алекс и Ембър. Нашата мечта винаги е била да живеем по-самоустойчив живот извън мрежата. И така, продадохме всичките си вещи, избягахме от надпреварата с плъхове под наем и купихме парцел земя. В комплект с изоставена къща и 3 хамбара се надяваме да създадем нашия нов живот без ипотека. Вече се сблъскахме с много препятствия, така че изчакайте, докато ви показваме върховете и недостатъците на преместването в чужбина и започването отново.
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Instagram / offgridwiththeudens
Facebook / offgridwiththeudens
Kofi ko-fi.com/offgridwiththeudens
Links:
Fogstar Server Rack Battery and Cabinet: www.fogstar.co.uk/collections...
Work With Us:
offgridwiththeudens@gmail.com
Music from Epidemic Sounds
Huge thank you to the Fogstar team (and our mate Ian B back in England) for all your help. Hours of research has paid off and we really couldn't be happier with our setup. Looking forward to catching you all next week when we go LIVE! ❤
This is such a fantastic video! 🙌 Thank you so much for sharing!
Well you're so clever teaching yourself all that. You'll be teaching your children aswell I bet. The plants are going great. ❤
Been very grateful for all those who have shared their knowledge online - it means that you have an endless stream of learning material and another new skill under my belt 🙂👍
Very nice job describing the system. Always nice to have extra battery storage for those crummy weather days. I knew the patio party lights would show up! Have a great, safe week.
Thanks very much - hope you have a good week too and hope you can join us on our live next week👍
Not boring at all, I think your set up is very intelligent, giving you options for power but still being off grid. Very informative and it will always be there for anyone wanting to go back and have a look for their installs. Nice work, have a great week.
Thanks ever so much, really appreciate it. Hope you have a good week too and can join us on our Q&A on Sunday 👍🙂
I take my hat off,I bought a place in Bulgaria, did not need to do anything as I bought in sunnybeach , Iam to old to do what yous have done , It takes a big heart to do it,Well done
Thank you very much. Yes these places are not for the faint hearted 😆🫣
Greetings from Bulgaria, I don't understand a word in this part of the series, but I enjoy that it is obvious that there is nothing in the world that you cannot or are not able to learn. I wish you Luck👍!!
Благодаря ти много 👍
awwwwwwww love the lights! My mum would always say blackpool illuminations haha! camera is fricking cool too
🤣🫣 I couldn't resist it - it's a very mum thing to say! X
Thank you for the great video. I wish you all the best!
Thanks very much 😊
Great videos.
I just took delivery of the Fogstar 15KWh huuuuge battery for my garage. Great product. Integrated easily with my Victron inverter\charger.
Well done guys
That's great to hear! Glad you like the Fogstar kit and thanks for watching 🙂👍
I worked with solar power way back in the late 70's in college and have always thought it to be the best way
to go for electricity. I like how you described every aspect of a solar power system.
I have two at my house. They are simpler then your's. They just use a bank of 100 watt
panels running into MPPT charge controllers feeding a bank of batteries.
Then I use inverters to convert to AC voltage. I use the VMax glass mat batteries
which are still working well after ten years of use. It is a much simpler setup then your's but
the one in the house can power a 12000 BTU air conditioner and a TV at the same time without issue.
In fact, I am running this computer and it's sound system via solar power.
Being that we are in Florida, I also have a big back up generator with a transfer switch
in the event of the obligatory power outage every time a sparrow farts.
Since my panels are in series / parallel my maximum DC voltage is around 80 volts.
The 12 volt batteries are also in series / parallel and are set up to deliver 24 volts to the inverters.
My system shows that you can have an effective solar power system without using
a huge amount of technology, cost and complexity.
Thanks for the comment. Yes solar power doesn't have to be expensive or complex, to be honest I don't think ours is. But of course we are totally reliant on It without any grid connection. I think putting in an old fashioned system would be counter productive when we are planning on using this setup for many decades to come.. especially as tech gets outdated so quickly. Our system allows us to add on inverters, batteries and panels as our needs expand. 👍
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Simple does not mean old fashioned. A lot of the
new electronics is really not needed and actually uses up power. Just check the
amount of power the average inverter pulls while turned on from a battery pack.
The cool thing about a lot of MPPT charge controllers is that you can
hook several small ones in parallel as you expand the system. So, you could
start with one 60 amp charge controller and as you add more batteries
and collectors you could just add another 60 amp charge controller and run it along side the first one into the same battery bank. You can even break up the
AC load by using a small inverter for nothing but the lights while having
a couple larger ones that you fire up only when needed for stuff like
an AC unit or a washer. This would allow you to leave the big inverters off when not needed to help conserve battery power. I find I do not need a 4KW inverter running when I just have a single light on, a TV on and am charging a phone.
I can do all that with a little 600 watt inverter.
This fellow really knows solar.
That's very kind - it's one of my many passions!
Great vid, although you’re not an electrician, definitely a very competent DIY’er and in my book an expert at this stuff…. Cracking
Thanks very much. Very much appreciated 👍
Thank you for a great, simple video. Fantastically explained.
I'm busy setting up an off grid campsite near Haskovo and this really helped. Great to bump into your channel.
Sounds great, glad you found it useful. Good luck with your project 👍
Excellent video. Congrats on getting another battery!
Thanks very much - we are beyond excited and the possibilities it gives us 😍
Great vid,. 👍
Thanks very much 👍 appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment
Its awesome to scrap that electricity off the bills, ofcourse the emergency supply is wellworth.. super stuff
Yes we've never been connected to mains electricity since we've been here and it's great to know that anything we use is being powered by the Sun ☀️ 🙂
Brilliant video not long at all. Lovely idea to exploit that huge roof the lights do really add a glow of warmth to the night and the camera makes significant difference. Totally get that the usb on the Growatt inverter appears an after thought? Although if limited to range from a unit inside a shelter then the usb does allow some flexibility as to placement. The battery and those busbars I don’t know your area terms seismic activity? Perhaps better to fix unit in place one never does know if the earth shall move? Interest to know your solar pv angles summer and winter? Bravo Fogstar for the new additional battery.
Excellent point about the dongle, never thought about that. With regards to the battery and busbars we don't get enough seismic activity for that to be a concern but we will try and fix them into place now we're happy with the setup. The panels are in the next phase of our upgrades - watch this space! 👍 Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Thank you for this video so much amazing information from well done
Thanks very much. It won't be for everyone but it's great for anyone who is interested in it 😀
Nice work 😊 and very knowledgeable 😊Поздравления !
Thank you very much 👍
Perfect👏👏👏
👍 thanks 😊
Well jealous of your seedlings Kayleigh, if you've seen one of our latest videos you will understand why! The fairy lights are beautiful, we want to do that at our new place too. Thanks so much for the solar info, we're not there yet and no idea if we will have solar but it's there if we need it.
Seedlings and fairy lights - what more could a girl want?! 😍
very nice👍
Thanks very much 😊
Brilliant well done 🎉
Thanks very much 👍
Congrats on the new battery !
Very thankful as we really wouldn't have been able to do the setup or expansion at this time without their help 👍
Hi guys, you mentioned pinching out the tips of your peppers 🌶️ I'm not sure about that but if you decide to put kidney or some call them runner beans, when you reach your desired height you should pinch out the tops.
Thanks very much - great to have so many useful gardening tips! K x
Excellent. Explained like an electrician for non electricians to understand.
Thanks very much, that was exactly our intention.🙂👍
HI, when using a dvm for critical checks, test the meter with something like a pp3 battery (prooving u8nit) just before you check the battery voltages on the bus bar and just after to avoid the chance of broken test leads of meter. With ac, check live first to reduce the risk on duff kit. Just a suggestion.
Interesting. Thanks we will keep it in mind 👍
hihi you learn verry well,bulgarian village way of life,now learn,to prepare honey,from gluharche and pines and liquor,from green nuts and elderberry,and tea from other herbs,as lipa,menta and so many more hihhi.Healt and happynes
Thank you. We are learning малко по-малко 🇧🇬❤️
Hi Phil....So you couldn't find normal plywood in Bulgaria as well...lol, and I also ended up with shuttering ply for a job on our van whilst we were in Sofia...Unless you did find some plywood that is...? ;)...I am exactly like you, converted our own van, with 900 watts tiltable on the roof, and 400 amp hrs of Victron Super deep cycle AGM's. Love the humour approach to your channel. Take care, and will tune in on Sunday...Best wishes to you all. Tony and Carolyn. We are Wheely Living!... :)
No, as far as I know you can't get normal plywood out here. Glad you're enjoying the channel! 😁 See you Sunday!
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Try Jaf-Bulgaria, they sell all sorts of plywood.
Nice video.
Thanks very much 😊
Awesome info on solar project, im seriously thinking of doing the same in our house in BG, but not until we actually stay there for longer periods, I have already 2 ecoflow portable power banks, and bought an EV car, just learning about this all so thanks for info. Cheers, love the fails bit at the end🤣
Glad you enjoyed it and found it useful 👍🙂
Just incase i can't attend live q&a this will be like the spanish i quisition
1')
Our house does not allow for solar panels. However , wondering if the batteries & set up could work as well with a wind turbine?
2)
If it does would you consider one for winter months.
3)we are considering a workshop at bottom of our garden. Thinking this could be an option for it's supply as there is less major cabelling to mains.
4) how in the u.k.could we feed back onto the grid? Or install
.
5) you say fan really noisey is there an alternative? Thats quiter as think even in our garage which is attached to the house could be annoying.
We will add these to our live Q&A next Sunday and do our best to answer 👍
I was completely lost on your power supply but amazed at your knowledge about all this Phil. And of course it was nice to see the rest of the family one last question how long does the 2 battery’s on a normal day last.
Thanks very much, appreciate it. The batteries (without charging) will run our place for 2 and a half days as long as we don't use the washing machine. 👍
Can you run easly a Fridge 24/7 and maybe a washing maschine and tumble dryer once a week ( runing this two over the day when sun in shining)?
On a sunny day you could run all of these no problem at all. We can do 5 loads of washing in one day if we really needed to 😁
how much would that set up cost installed x
At a rough estimate: Our panels were £115 each, inverter was £900, £700 for wiring and other accessories and the batteries are around £1000 each. No idea how much installation cost would be as we did this ourselves 👍😊
Nice job, 2 points....
You need to add a protected device.
As you add batteries your fault current Has gotten higher, you now have a 250amp fault protection, and I think you're only around 125a (can't remember what power the inverter is)
Because DC will load share, the protection is at 125amps x2 so if you have a main cable short or inverter short ... Well there won't be much left.
Just drop a keto in between the battery and isolator, keep yourself safe.
The growatt WiFi dongle is not great, I ended up building one that bit... Lot better you can have all your data, so you don't need to look at the battery screen. And some other features.
It doesn't go down with the growatt servers, and you have accurate live data.
Help when setting up panels as you can see what's happening rather than having to wait. The video is called shinex replacement.
Keep up the good work. Waiting to see this year's build project. Looking to be going over too. But not full time.
Valid point with the DC load sharing - I will look into DC protection 👍 interesting about the alternative to using the dongle. I'll look into it as having live data would be great for panel positioning.
these pots(water bottles) with peppers are see-through and the sun warms the soil, it's bad for the roots, you should cover them with some material
Thanks for the tip - it was all we had as didn't have the budget to buy pots, but don't worry they were only in there for a short time🙂👍
Is it possible for you to sell some electricity back to the electricity company through the solar panels🤔 and they can reduce what you gave in the winter time when there is not enough sun...
Great question - As we are completely off-grid with our electricity there is no way for us to feed back to the grid - because we are not connected to it. But we know that this is possible over here, just not something we are interested in doing. 👍🙂
How do you make sure they won't be stolen?
We've got numerous security systems in place 👍😊
Hi does anybody know how much these batteries cost
Would they also run an off grid water pump for a well
Are Solar panels cheaper or more expensive in Bulgaria than the UK
Thanks
Hi 👋 The rack batteries we have are about £1000 each and would easily run a water pump. Solar panels are easy to get hold of over here, prices are similar or a bit cheaper than the UK but quality does seem to vary 👍
My question is why do you think its ok to drive your landrover with out importing it and registering it in Bulgaria. That meens its not insured ... we had to do it so why do you feel you dont have too ?
As we answered previously, lots of complications going on behind the scenes about this. Importing a car over here is way more involved and complicated than buying a house. We're working on it.
@@OffGridWithTheUdens whys it complicated. You just need the v5 and matching chassis numbers visible for the Kat office and proof of the date it entered the country and a eori number for the import office we did our ford ranger and trailer when we got here it is expensive but it's the only way to be legal . And as your putting your life here for all to see dont you think you should set a good example ?
@@vincentpennington2062 Thanks for the information, we know the process and as we have already stated, have it underway 🙂👍
Sorry but the first im gonna skip as i know they aint healthy :( respect for the research tho but research into the radiation aswel ;) you would understand my point. and recycling them aint a thing either.
Sorry it's taken so long to reply! Yea no worries... We know this video wasn't going to be for everyone.
I can't find any actual scientific evidence regarding radiation. Also panel recycling is definitely a thing... Whilst it's not that common yet.. it will be as more and more come to end of life. They are full of valuable materials that can be reused. Cheers👍czcams.com/users/shortsg694X7rpctk?si=pjlTVt3bEWNLi-X3
@@OffGridWithTheUdens no problem thanks for that video didnt know they could recycle the materials so far.. anyway good job on the setup tho ;)
At the Price of Electric în Bulgaria this is the Most stupid investement i heard about 😂
It depends why you've had solar installed - we haven't done it as a financial investment so it's not a 'stupid investment' for us. 👍