Tiny house systems - Solar power and Electrical

Hi everybody, this is Phil. Today we're making the first video of a series of videos about just the system on our tiny house. There is a lot of questions about every single detail so I didn't really explain them on the video tour about the Loggie, just because I knew that I wanted to make a video, one just on the electrical, one on the heating system and one on the ventilation system. So very quickly, I'm going to explain the best I can only the electrical system on the off-grid tiny house. This is the system we designed for our park model tiny house, which means those are kind of big tiny home with a lot of electrical needs. It's pretty much the same one we're going to install in each tiny home, off-grid tiny home. This is an insulated box. So very quick, I'm going to try to be quick. This is, there is eight batteries there. Those are six volt 400 amp hours batteries. This is a 24 volt system. One group of four is connected in series in parallel with the other group of fours, which means it equals 24 volts. And then we change it in 12 volts after this, because the system inside is on 12 volts. All the lights, pump, range hood, there is the propane, the propane radiant floor system works on 12 volts too. There is a lot of 12 volt circuit. There is in this one, there is approximately 12 circuit only on 12 volts. So how it works is there is eight solar panels on top. It's the way they are connected is a bit different. There is four group of two solar panels connected in series together, and they are all in parallel, but they are separate. I mean, there is a four panel connected to one regulator and four other connected to the second one, because there is two regulator. When it's sunny outside, all the solar panels catch this sun energy and it goes in the two regulator. And then after this, it goes in the battery system. So what we need is two kinds of electrical current. There is 12 volts and there is 110, because the 110 is still useful in this because we have a TV, we have a combo washer dryer, we have some outlets. So this house needs 110 circuits too. So we have to separate those two systems. How it works, the batteries are 24 volts. So when I need some 12 volts, it's coming out of the batteries and it goes in the 24 to 12 volts first, because it has to change in 12 volts. And then it goes in this, we call it a knife. It's pretty much an on off for the 12 volts system. So if anything's happened, if you want to close everything that's working on 12 volts, you close this knife. And then after this, it's going in the fuse box. So right there, you have all the fuse for every circuit you have. And if anything's happened, like you go first, watch if the fuse is burned, but it's there that you connect your circuit. Right now there is two more circuits available. So if the customer wants to add an exterior light, for example, or anything on working on 12 volts, you still can, because there is still some place in the fuse box. So after this, all the circuits are going inside. So the lights, the pump, everything that works on 12 volts. About the 110 power, when it comes out of the battery, 24 volts system, it goes in the inverter. This inverter is 4,000 watts and it's made to transform the 24 volts in 120, 110 power. So this inverter, by the way, this is a charger too. So when you plug the generator or when you plug a standard 30 amp plug, it serves as a charger too. So after this, when it's transformed in 110, it goes directly inside my electrical panel, that's for the 110 circuits. And there you have the main breaker. So with the main breaker, you can shut off everything that's working on the 110. And then you have five circuits working on 110. So there is one just for the combo washer dryer. There is some for the outlets and everything. Like in the Erkadipsis, there was a dishwasher, for example, too. So that's it for this system. For the explanation, I'm going to tell you about this small regulator control. There is two controllers like that. There is one inside this box and the other one is inside because there is two regulators, right? So there is one connected to one and the one inside is connected to the other regulator. So on this little controller, you can see the voltage. You can see how much sun you have, how much amp you're getting from the sun, and you can have some statistics and everything. So if you open it, you can have access to that and the same thing inside. So how this system works, like our customer, this customer wanted to know if it's possible to be plugged and to use at the same time your batteries. It's kind of impossible because when you're plugged, this inverter understands that you have to charge the batteries. So it's going to charge the batteries to full capacity. And then if you use anything inside on 110, like the TV or anything, it's not going to use the power of the battery. It's directly going to use the power of the grid. So if you really want to use the more efficiency possible, this system, you have to plug it only when you have to. So you have to make sure you check your little controller there. And when you really need some power, you plug the house. When it's cloudy outside or during the winter, it's a little harder to catch some sun. So you might have to plug the house a little more often in the winter. So it's the same thing with a generator. So you start the generator only when you have to charge the batteries. Last thing I have to say about this is the only thing you have to check if you want to know like how much energy you have in the battery, you only have to check the voltage on the small controller. Really what you have to understand is when it's 25 volts, the batteries are 100% full. And when it's 22.5 volts, it's critical. So that's where you have to plug your house. But this system, it's better if those batteries never go down under 50% charge. So when it's around 23, it's a good time to plug your batteries if it's not sunny. Also, this system is good for all weathers. So right now we're in Quebec, like it's for people who's asking like, yes, but your batteries are outside. Isn't it going to freeze or whatever? No, it is not because there is in this system, a sensor that recognize if the batteries are too cold. And if it's too cold, the inverter is going to start and it's going to re-heat automatically the batteries. So the batteries can always stay pretty much at the same temperature. And in the summer, when it's very hot, it's pretty much the same thing, but there is no sensor, but like the insulation of the box does the work. And there is two temperature sensor, one connected to each regulator that tells you what is the temperature inside the box always, like if we want to know. And after a year, we realized that it always stay, it never goes up to like something around 20 C, 20 Celsius. So it's very good. And during the winter, it never freeze too. So that's why we put it outside. So you guys, if you have any questions, it will be a pleasure for me to answer them. Have a good day. Have a good night. Goodbye.