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Good advice..  that should help soften the blow in terms of cost. Thanks for the tips on the other components as well..  I had a feeling the controllers bundled in the kits weren't the best.

Understood..  and the others have pointed out it would be wise to wait it out as well. To be honest, I know odds are I wont be able to get this ball rolling until after the storm. Also, even IF my area was hit, we shouldn't be without power for too many days or we'll re-locate.. and that's if...

My power needs should be pretty modest-to-average.  I can get by with a few led lights, a tablet, a phone and one or two 12v fans if that's doable with a 200 watt system. No fridge. No hotplate. No A/C. Regarding using the inverter..   I'm not in love with putting that kind of strain on my...

Ok.. so years of reading and trying to design and save for a dream solar rig is about to come to an end. I have a formidable hurricane *possibly* heading directly toward me and there's some talk that we might have to hit the road if it gets too close.  We're hurricane pros.. so when it catches...

Very good point. I understand your intention there and I agree 100%.  I'm sure there will be more than a few readers who stumble on this thread that might get the idea to get the cheapest cells possible..  and it was good that you pointed out that odds are, you'll get a roman candle crammed...

Define high quality?  How many of those laptops do you think were dropped down a flight of stairs?  or left in a trunk of a car over summer break at college? The brand name will tell you nothing about abuse history.

Although I agree he did buy cheap Chinese 18650's, I do not agree that they were fakes made from impostor materials like the video you posted. We've all see "fake 18650's" with a hidden lipo sleeve or other kinds of batteries crammed in the guts..  that wasn't the case with Dogman. He's one of...

I'd put it on par with the risk level for making a pack out of re-purposed laptop batteries with unknown abuse history.

Correct, unless they go out of balance and one or more cells gets overcharged...   then they turn into flame throwers.  Charging Lead Acid batteries is a lot safer than Lithium. A chemical fire that doesn't require oxygen to keep growing is a very scary sight. I'll just leave this link here in...

Or you can really go to town and make the panels/cells from scratch chemistry [video=youtube]

btw..  why stop at assembling your own batteries? Why not assemble the panels as well? Here's Rinoa Super-Genius's $15 40w panel: [video=youtube]

***   Just an FYI --- Dogman Dan from Endless Sphere (I'm sure you know who he is if you're into e-bikes) just had a major house fire from 18650 cells. (48v 20ah pack) Not RC Lipos..   18650's Be careful, stay balanced, and treat them with the same respect as you would lipo..   which should...

Trust me..  these tough guys who tell you to suck it up and bear it have no idea the temps and humidity levels some of us are dealing with. 'Round here.. old people and pets drop like flies without A/C..  you can't even get occupied homeowners insurance without functioning HVAC, as the dwelling...

Sorry bout that!  Figured.. You can delete this thread so it doesnt create clutter

I was promised as a child this wasn't physically possible: [video=youtube] I know, I've seen the other obviously fake videos as well.. but this one seems.. I don't know..  real? Anyone want to take a guess at what's going on here? Maybe holes in the table hidden by the meters so wires can...

Let's say?   If? 1 in one million?  You're picking arbitrary numbers based on nothing to prop up your argument. Complete conjecture. What if I feel it's one in a billion for the attack?  Now how do the numbers skew? Let's throw another number in there..   How about her inexperience with...

You're really equating the risk of a budget oriented solar a/c failure with an attack from the DPRK? It's almost as if we don't have actual dead dogs to serve as examples of this happening. This isn't theoretical.  This isn't a "What-if"  Your analogy is ridiculous.

^ This point still stands. All of the light switches will be easily within reach, and you can visually scan for intruders with a turn of your head. Just because you want to live in a 300 cubic foot metal box, doesn't mean the dog does. Don't expect miracles from the summa cum laude group...

No not immediatly.. and I never said "intermittently"  I said "FAILURE" Are you under the impression that in 100+ degree weather the dog will survive "a few hours" if the system fails?

^ [/URL]