DIY ESS Switched Off during my summer vacation for 15 days

For the 3rd summer in a row, during my vacation, I switched Off my home Energy Storage System, this year for 2 weeks only

Since it is On all the time, day and night, with people at home or not, this year I wondered if I should have left in On for once, but since everything at home is Off, including the high energy consuming water heater, I figured for safety reasons I should turn it off as ususal

Here is the Energy graph the month of August showing this 15 days period where I dumped some surplus solar energy ...



Still over this month half of the Energy used at home comes from Solar & Storage ...

Back last saturday night, I immediatly switched it back On, and it has been performing as usual since

All these graphs are from here: http://wattson.energyhive.com/dashboard/diyesskit

DIY ESS - Already 2 Years of 24/7 Service with Solar at Home !

Yes, it's been 2 years yesterday, since I started producing & storing my Solar surplus at home for re-use whenever necessary, during the day, or in the evening when the sun goes down
http://www.myelifenow.com/2013/07/starting-first-full-day-of-solar.html



My Energy Storage System was actually working several months before that, and my Solar Panels where installed on the roof almost 9 months before too, but I was waiting for my solar contractor to complete the install with his own special inverter, which was too delayed in the end, so I asked him to installa regular one, and we agreed on an 3kW SMA unit

Once installed, I could finally generate my own solar electricity, and my ESS being ready and tested, it worked right away seamlessly :)
http://www.myelifenow.com/2013/07/uni-solar-pvl-sma-inverter-finished.html



That was two years ago, and it has been doing great over time: No breakdown, no Battery problem (I read so many things about sceptick folks on this), it has been working like a charm



With less solar generation during winter, I used the Forced Charge function to charge from low cost electricity at night, to help push low cost energy back into my home grid to help heating, lighting and cooking



As we can see on the Wattson / EnergyHive portal where my generation & usage data are collected in real time, it is saving around 250 EUR per year (over the last year), and since the price per kWh goes up all the time, it will save evne more in the future
http://wattson.energyhive.com/dashboard/diyesskit



My ESS has been registered on the DOE - Department Of Energy - Global Energy Storage Database back in July 2013, few days after, under PRojet Reference 720
http://www.energystorageexchange.org/projects/720


But wait, there's more ...

A second unit, called Mini ESS, based on 3 Nissan LEAF battery modules, installed in october, has helped store and save even more, at night during winter, and now from 11AM to 4PM, harvesting during the peak production period of sunny days



Also I am in the process of building and testing a second version of this DIY ESS, called DIY ESS V2 with Enphase, because it will use the famous Enphase Micro Inverters - M215 or M250 - for more efficiency
It's design & build should be simpler, but it is not ready yet ...



With the new Tesla PowerWall, Enphase AC Battery coming, it really shows everyone that Energy Storage is a serious business and a perfect complement to solar and/or wind installs, at the residential level !

To Celebrate this 2 years milestone, I decided tho slash the DIY ESS Kit price and remove 100 EUR from it, dropping from 249 to 149 EUR ! (Kit #2 is also reduced by the same amount of course)

Also the Kit Building Documentations are now available to anyone FOR FREE on the DIY ESS Kit website ! "All our Patents are belong to you" ;)
http://www.diyesskit.com/p/documentation.html   (look for the "=> Get the PDF File" links)



To have more info about the Kit and why not build your own, go to:

http://www.diyesskit.com
or
http://www.storeyourenergy.com


Now, you can start building your own DIY Energy Storage System for your Home !

My Mini ESS with LEAF Batteries gets an Enphase M215 Micro Inverter ! and becomes my DIY AC Battery ;)

In a way this like getting my own Enphase AC Battery ;) well, sort of ...



If you recall, I have been testing 3 LEAF Battery Modules for 6 months, then put them into a 6-bottle wine crate along with a Charger and Grid Tie Inverter to make what I called a Mini ESS - Energy Storage System -

Since November 2014, it has been running 24/7, for more than 4 months, until last weekend when a strange smell caught my attention while it was pushing power back into our grid in the morning, after its usal night low TOU rate charge cycle; It must be a vented capacitor, leaking inside .... It happened on another of the SUN-250G grid tie inverter I am using since the beginning of my Energy Storage activities

During last week I stumbled across an ad for 18 used Enphase M215 - 2 years old - Micro Inverters at 79 EUR per piece, and decided to give it a try; I already did try to use them last year but realized the US version will not work in France (split phase/single phase & 60Hz/50Hz)

I got in touch with the seller, a professional in Solar and Wind, who was nice enough to deliver 2 units for free saturday morning at home; In our email exchange I learned that they need to have a profile flashed into them before they can operate, and this is done during their first comissioning via the Enphase Engage gateway, using power line communication



So the 2 units I got have this profile already inside and he told me they should operate just fine, once they have DC through their MC4 connectors and the grid with 230V AC on the other end of the Enphase Engage cable - which I already got last year, EU version -



I quickly took my Mini ESS downstairs, unscrewed the cover, and connected the Battery pack to the  DC side using crocodile clamps and MC4 connectors, plug the AC side to a wall outlet, through a wattmeter, and turned main switch to the GTI - Grid Tie Inverter - position



After a long 2mn and 20s, and different status LED colors, it started producing 235W :) ! which is normal but I was happy to have working units now, opening my Storage experience new horizons ...



After running fine for an hour or so, the external temprature is only reaching 32°C, no fan required, no noise (you have to put your ear onto it to ear something), it's just great !


It pushed a steady power for 3 hours or so ... nice !



Sunday morning: now let's swap the 2 GTIs and make this Enphase M215 fit inside the box


After trying different positions and measuring the length of DC wires, I cut them and soldered them to their MC4 connectors


Voila ! DC side is wired and fits inside the crate :)


This new layout will leave the 10A charger outside, and I decided to hang it in the back, less vibrations this way


After testing both Charging and Discharging, I put my Mini ESS back upstairs, next to its big brother in the living room, right in time before night rate kicks in ...


It charged during the night, and this morning pushed all this stored Energy back into our home grid for 4 hours in a row, helping the heat pump warm up the apartment and breakfast consumption



Notes: After realizing it takes the M215 2mn and 20s to initialize and start producing power and I was disappointed first, because it takes only few seconds for my SUN-250G to start doing the same! Thinking over this during the weekend I tried leaving the DC side ON, and it worked, now reducing the startup time to 15s, much better !
Also there might be the fact that I am not using the Envoy GAteway, and the M215 might be waiting, trying to connect to it before producing ...

Well I still have to learn about that part, but overall this is a huge step towards more Efficiency and this is key !

All about my 2 DIY ESS : http://www.myelifenow.com/search/label/DIY%20ESS 

Follow my 2 ESS units 24/7 live: http://wattson.energyhive.com/dashboard/diyesskit

SolarCity Launches Microgrid Service, Available Worldwide

GridLogic™ combines distributed solar, batteries and controllable loads to give municipalities, remote communities, military bases and hospitals cleaner, more resilient, more affordable power


Mar 16, 2015

SAN MATEO, Calif. — SolarCity® (NASDAQ: SCTY), America’s #1 solar power provider, today unveiled GridLogic, a microgrid service that combines distributed energy resources — solar, batteries and controllable load — to enable a cleaner, more resilient and more affordable way of providing power. SolarCity’s microgrid service ensures that any community anywhere in the world vulnerable to power outages and high energy costs—including remote or island communities, hospitals and military bases—can have dependable, clean power when the grid is down. GridLogic can operate either in conjunction with or independently of the utility grid.

As with all SolarCity products and services, GridLogic comes with affordable financing options, including payment programs with little to no upfront cost. GridLogic can provide electricity to communities for less than they pay for utility power with the added benefit of backup power for emergency services. SolarCity’s in-house grid engineering team will design and install each GridLogic project with a system of software-based monitoring and controls that manage the mix of distributed energy resources and utility power to maximize savings.

The first decade of the 21st century saw 3,496 natural disasters, nearly a fivefold increase over the 1970s. Severe weather events can cause prolonged power outages that cut off access to critical public resources—Hurricane Sandy alone caused more than 8.5 million power outages across 21 states. Communities around the world are seeking ways to continue to power critical resources and guarantee public safety and security in the aftermath of these events. GridLogic gives them a cleaner, more affordable way to do so.




SolarCity’s microgrid service is now available worldwide. Organizations interested in learning more about GridLogic can visit www.solarcity.com/microgrid to learn more, or contact the company directly at 877-695-7652 for a consultation.


Click here for the GridLogic Data Sheet


About SolarCity
SolarCity® (NASDAQ: SCTY) provides clean energy. The company has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. SolarCity gives customers control of their energy costs to protect them from rising rates. The company makes solar energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. SolarCity currently serves 16 states. Visit the company online at www.solarcity.com and follow the company on Facebook & Twitter.

Source: SolarCity

Half a Million Visits to MyELifeNow ! Thanks a lot to all for dropping by

Today I realized that my blog MyELifeNow, started almost 3 years ago in March 2012, cumulated Half a Million Visits !

Thanks a lot to all my visitors for dropping by from all around the World :)

For more live news on EVs, Solar, Energy Storage, make sure you also check out my Facebook Page called MyELiFeNow : www.facebook.com/myelifenow

Energy Storage at Home : Already Saved 120 EUR in 6 Months with my DIYESS :)

As I announced few weeks ago, after 6 months of logging Home Generation and Usage on the EnergyHive online platform through my Wattson unit and their Gateway, it mentions that I already saved 120 EUR :)

This online portal, free of use, is gathering my Generation from Solar Panels + Energy Storage System and Power Usage; The price per kWh purchased from the Utility company can be entered and is used to calculate the savings over time, for power not used from them, but replaced by Solar or Stored Energy

Since June 2014 I have been logging my Power (Generated & Used) every 3 seconds and being on vacation for 4 weeks during this period, my ESS turned off, it has been roughly 6 mois; So I can see that I saved almost 20 EUR per month, which is not bad with my small 1.2kWp Solar Install

Almost all the Energy produced by Solar and the ESS is used at Home, thanks to the automated ESS charging and discharging capability





As I am writing this post today, after few weeks, the total savings (of data logged, not before) is now up to nearly 137 EUR



and I recently updated the Utility price per kWh as it just increased as of January 1st

As Electricity price will continue to increase, it is a good thing to be able to save all along the way ....

More info on my DIY Energy Storage System here : http://www.diyesskit.com or http://www.storeyourenergy.com

Buidling a Mini Energy Storage System - ESS - to Store More Energy at Night during Winter

You probably followed my AESC / LEAF Battery Modules adventures since last March: Ordering them from Las Vegas, Bottom Balancing them, Wiring them in Series and Testing them for month in my bedroom with a 24V 10A LiFePO4 charger and a SUN 250G Grid Tie Inverter

Here is a link to all these previous posts on the same subject : http://www.myelifenow.com/search/label/AESC+ESS+leaf

In October I finally decided to pack of this "mess" into a compact Mini ESS - Energy Storage System - and below are the steps I went through, using a Bordeaux 6-bootle wooden crate - we are in France ;) -



This small unit is now upstairs in the living and used every day and every night, mostly to store as much Energy as we can at night when Electricity is half price during 8 hours with our TOU plan from EDF

This Mini AESC / LEAF Battery Modules ESS is storing 1.5 kWh of Energy at night and is pushing it back into our home grid during the day :)



So I started with these 3 LEAF battery modules, wired in series, and tested over 6 months



The idea was to find an enclosure that fit the modules almost perfectly and I thought about a 6-bottle wine crate to do the job


Warning: be extremely careful when using metallic tools with exposed battery connections !! a short could cause massive damage to you since the power output is HUGE !



So it fit almost but the tabs were sticking out a bit, an opening would be necessary anyways to access them to be able to check the voltage and access the connections when needed

Let's cut out this window


and pill up the 3 AESC modules


Now it is time to dismount the whole charge and discharge control system and install it inside the box, on top of the modules: it is made of a dual relay programmable voltmeter, and 2 Tyco Kilovac contactors - overkill for this system, but it's always better -



I did not want to put all these components directly on top of the modules so I added a small piece of wood, cut it to fit in length and did not cover the whole surface to let the modules breathe a little even if they do not heat up at all, they just get lukewarm towards the end of the charge around 4.1V per half modules



After came the fitment of all the rest: the 250W Grid Tie Inverter, same one used in my big DIY ESS upstairs, a 10A 24V - actually 29.2V - LiFePO4 charger and all the cables and wires
The 2 Kilovacs will face each other taking minimum space like this


Then we need to rewire the modules in series, but this time with connections using new 6mm lugs, add the main breaker in the middle of the pack for safety - and long time storage -


Soldering all the cables, using 2.5mm2 solid copper, too big for carrying 10A in both charge and discharge modes on short distances, but it is always better - and I can always double or triple the current later upgrading with other chargers and grid tie inverters -





First test after rewiring everything : it works, good !



At this point I brought the Mini ESS upstairs and put it next to the big one


I quickly protected exposed connections with a plastic cover, switched on the charger and it completed its first night charge - using half price electricity -


I forgot to talk about the main switch which simply allows, OFF in the center, Charger ON upper position, and Discharge through the Grid Tie Inverter in lower position
Bot Charge and Discharge modes are cut off automatically when the upper and lower Pack voltage limits are reached : 24.9V for full down to 21.6V for empty (6 half modules with voltage from 4.15V down to 3.6V)

The next week end I looked for a way to cover the whole unit and found a plastic box cover that fit perfectly


Tall wood screws will be perfect to hold it in place leaving some space to let the warm air from both charger and GTI get out


I screwed the small plastic box cover on the connections and this should be fine to protect - small holes will be drilled to be able to check the modules voltage, even if this is not moving at all, as I learned during the last 6 months test period -
The main DC breaker here is used to break the pack in two if unusual high current is reached in case of a short circuit for example, and to avoid any drain of the voltmeter if the Mini ESS is not used for long periods of time - holidays for example -


Now it remains here in the living room, next to the other ESS which has been running for a year and a half now with solar


Here is the UStream channel where I can watch both Generation and Net Usage at home anytime remotly (link on the upper right)




and screenshots of the Wattson Anywhere portal providing graphs (link on the upper right too)






So this little unit is helping the big one by adding an extra 1.5kWh of storage at home


and they both try to keep our NEt Usage as close to 0W as possible ;)