Can 3 Solar Panels Really Power Anything?
Here’s the Honest Answer Introduction This week I’m installing a small 3 x 500 watt panel solar system. Not long ago, I also installed a 16 x 500 watt panel system. Two very different setups, but both will work exactly as they were designed to. That’s where a lot of the confusion comes in. Can…
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Thinking of Buying New Batteries?
Understanding Usable Energy in Lead-Acid and Lithium Batteries Introduction I know I explain this quite often, but I still end up going over it with most new customers. I remember when I first started, and even now, when explaining this to people who don’t deal with batteries or solar at all, it’s easy to forget…
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Mixing Voltages Made Simple
How DC-to-DC converters make it easy to power 12V, 24V, and 48V devices in the same solar system Introduction One concern I often hear from customers when designing a solar system is about equipment that runs on a different voltage than the main battery bank. For example, they might be upgrading their system to a…
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The End of Legacy Off-Grid Inverters
Why classic platforms are fading, and why hybrid all-in-one systems are taking over Introduction After installing a new set of lithium batteries this week on an older system, a neighbour, who had taken the customer’s old batteries, asked me to look at his system as well. He was missing a display unit, and without it…
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Off-Grid vs Grid-Tied Solar
Understanding the Real Return on Investment Introduction When people first start looking into solar, one of the most common questions you’ll hear is: “What’s my return on investment?” That question comes up a lot in grid-tied conversations. But in my day-to-day work, especially with off-grid systems, I never hear those words. Instead, the question is…
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Victron Virtual Switch
Using the Victron Virtual Switch to Automatically Control a Generator Introduction One of the biggest challenges with off-grid power isn’t making electricity, it’s knowing when to make it. After recently setting up a Virtual Switch in a Victron MultiPlus, it quickly became clear that this is an excellent way to automatically control a generator while…
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The Evolution of Solar Voltage
From 12 Volts to 48 and Beyond Introduction For a long time, 12-volt solar systems were the standard. If you had a small cabin, RV, or boat, 12 V made sense. As systems grew, 24-volt setups became more common. Sure, 48-volt systems have existed for a long time, but their use was mostly in specialized,…
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The Power of a Simple Reboot
Why Turning It Off and On Still Works Introduction I’ve had a few calls lately from customers saying their inverter isn’t charging the batteries, even though the generator is running fine. Often, the generator just needs a quick check for a tripped breaker, especially with smaller units paired with big inverter/chargers. More often than not,…
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Open-Loop vs Closed-Loop Batteries
What Solar Owners Actually Need to Know Introduction Recently, a customer wanted to add lithium batteries to their Schneider system. During our discussion, we discovered that this particular model of inverter couldn’t communicate with these newer rack-mount batteries via CAN bus or a closed-loop system. However, the good news is that the system can still…
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Inverter Sizing
The Difference Between “Basic Power” and “Feels Like Home” Introduction When you see an inverter labeled as 1000W, 2000W, 3000W, 6000W, or 8000W, that number is not about how much power you make. It’s about how much power you can use at one time. Think of the inverter like a doorway. A small doorway only…
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