I thought about it, but I do use it out in the rain and snow, so would rather have it mostly sealed. I left it closed for a 650' wire pull the other day and the internal temp didn't go up by much. Usually I just leave the lid ajar if it's not raining.

Thanks! I was trying to build this with parts I had laying around, but would have used a circuit breaker otherwise. Definitely want to make sure it's completely off when not in use.

I don't have a link for the batteries as they're unfortunately not available right now. Here's a link to the inverter. www.ebay.com/itm/272998194866

I'll take that as a compliment! 😆 Bare minimum and totally expandable is the issue. Do you start out with 1 small inverter that can be paralleled? Or one larger inverter that will handle everything you need it to, but may be way more than you need right now. I would personally use a larger inverter to start and keep adding battery capacity. I set up my battery combiner so I could more than double my current capacity by just adding breakers. I like using EV packs because they're a lot less work than tiny 18650s and are usually in good shape.

@@benssolarandbattery Absolutely a compliment sir! Your work looks clean and orderly! So on to the business! Okay let's say my end goal is a 100 amp service panel is that too lofty of a goal right away? As mentioned I would like to be able to run my furnace and refrigerator and soon a deep freeze in the dead of Ohio winters. Of course I have a very power hungry computer and all sorta of peripherals with it. It's your typical lighting scene and I only expect 2 lights in the same room as the PC as it's really the actual room we spend most of our time in, as it's the media room. I would like a minimum of a half dozen lights throughout the remainder of the home. So with that "off the cuff" outline.. I'm being lazy and haven't done the math, but it really doesn't seem like it would require that much of a service panel to start with? I'm just thinking ahead and trying to leave a little wiggle room for anything I have not thought of like perhaps needing to make a few cuts with my Dewalt saw and of course being the nice guy that I am if power goes out I try and run an "Edison" box over to my neighbors house(In the past I was the guy with the generator and indeed I supplied my neighbor with enough juice to at least save there food and have a television and a single light. Yep that genny was revved to the max for hours on end jugging gasoline lol! So anyway I'm thinking that 100amp service as I started with so knowing that....What would you do if you had no solar gear at all yet? I look forward to your answer that would actually make for a great video just food for thought! Thanks in advance!

@@martybowling948 I'm going to give different advice. Start small and experiment with it, and grow as you learn.

It shuts off power from the battery to the inverter to prevent any idle losses when it's not being used.

They're galvanized schedule 40.

@@benssolarandbattery do you just source them from a plumbing supplier or did you have them manufactured by someone?

@@TravisKepler they come from Sunmodo, but we have sourced them from the local Ironworks in a pinch and they're exactly the same.