My $10/Month Electric Bill with DIY Solar

I got my electric bill down from $150/month to about $10/month by installing my own DIY Battery Solar system. Yes, it costs a lot up front but you're looking at an ROI of 8-10 years instead of a typical 20 years for a roof mounted solar system that is stalled for you.

The system is completely off grid so you do not have to mess with any compliance with the city but you still should follow any kind of precautions and safety standards such as proper wiring sizes, fuses, etc.

#diysolar #lowerelectriccosts #solarbatterysystem

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[DrivingPhilippines]

Even if you never recover the investment cost, knowing you don't rely on the electric company is priceless. Never a brownout.

[johnmal]

You forgot one ROI item. Peace of mind which is priceless. No worries about brown outs etc.. Great build!!

[DuyPham-xdlp]

This man is the pioneer in America, many Americans will start installing solar like you soon

[JBoya]

Nice setup. We have Tesla solar and batteries in NorCal and love it. We have no net power bill for the year since we also sell power back during the Alerts. The best things are knowing that even if the grid goes down you have power and not really caring about PG&E rate changes. We had someone in the area crash their car into the main power pole line and take out power to over 500 homes for 2 days. We never even noticed the power was gone.

We are happy with the results, but sort of wish we would have DYI-ed like you.

[racingtogreen]

Same... 3.6 kW off grid system we originally built to charge our Ford lightning, but we added a mini-Split to the garage, and opening the door to the house, has cut 20kW of usage per day off the house electric. Didn't think the garage was that well insulated, and didn't think we'd get 20kW of benefit from only 10-15kW of usage from the garage mini-Split. That system is now likely to pay for itself in 3-4 years. All the whole, adding a cooled workout and workshop with 400sq/ft. We've found that we don't need more than 10kW in batteries, as we're using all the juice, and the 10kW is enough to get through the night.

[tomdecuca]

Just the fact that you are not dependent on the electric company to run your world, has to be a relief!! Hats off to you!! I like that you have separate systems running different areas. I think that is the best way to go.

[OP-fdlh]

This is so cool. For me, it's not really about paying a lower electricity rate and the ROI but the ability to have a redundant power system.

[dragonhero]

This is a really cool setup. I'd love to see more videos on this.

[nahidhkurdi]

Excellent content. From a structural engineer, at 10:56: you only need diagonal bracing bars to make this frame much sturdier. Provided, of course, that those do not interfere with wiring or other utilities I cannot see.

[wt]

My DIY 2000 watt solar panels with 10kwh batteries generate enough to power all of my 120v circuits.
I avoid using any high consumption energy appliances.
My electric bill every month averages 5 to 6 dollars.
That doesn't include the service fees and taxes.

[bumpmodeiitch]

Nice job man, don't forget, if the power does go out you never know who's going to notice your power and come over.

[todamnbad]

Zip tie your panel cabeling up so it doesn't rub on anything, go with a midnight solar SPD, where is your ground from inverter to house ground? You will need this for not only safety but also for the SPD to function

[nikitaluger]

I'm adding this in my pile of DIY solar playlist. I love your idea with basically using the solar panels as a roof for a shed/sunshade. I can see myself using that as an outdoor workshop. Definitely needs some reinforcements.

[person]

You can put one diagonal piece going horizontally at the top of your support structure between opposite corners and that will make the structure much stronger. You can also use small corner braces at each corner that perform a similar job.

[jcallesano]

I just ordered this system today with 2 of the 100ah batteries to start off with. Going to hook it up to my sub panel and see how it does. Hope its easy to set up.

I was reading and saw that only when the battery is fully charged can you reset the bms to 100%. Read it on the diy solar forum I believe.

[imnguyen]

Very nice setup overall, but I wonder why you didn’t do a 48v battery setup using the Vatrers which would have made the rack much neater.

[dave]

Interesting stuff. Isn't it safer to use a breaker box instead of mounting it to the wall, I guess this is only temporary before moving it to the garage? Wouldn't it be easier to connect it to the main circuits and sockets already in the house than use long extension cables?

[unsafer]

I’m in the same boat. NorCal energy cost is insane. Literally just got my two Vatrer server rack units in today. I’ve got 20kwh of chins. I say it’s all worth it even if you break even. Its educational, fun, and adds the freedom to use you power when and however you want. I’ve got neighbors with 9kw Tesla systems on their roof who I had to feed a cord over the fence to when we had a power outage for a day. Again for me it’s not just the dollar to dollar I really have fun doing all this. Please make a video about series parallel solar panel connection. I need to get more out of my victron mppts.

[lcmattern]

The one thing that I would like to see is what your actualy monthly e-bill is, vs the calculated amount, since, as we all know, there are additional fees (such as distribution fees, etc.) that come with being connected to the grid.

This will likely also depend on where you live but could be a decision factor.

[FakeName]

definitely want to do this, im in so california desert areas.. sun is 99% of the time. Would love to see how you do the sub panel -- need to figure out how all this actually works