Homeowner has powered home since 2016 with old laptop batteries and solar panels

[Chock Full o Nuts]

“I Began Collecting Them Years Ago, and Now I Have Over 650”: Since 2016, This Man Has Powered His Home Off-Grid With Only Laptops

A New York homeowner has found a surprising way to power his entire house using discarded laptop batteries. With nothing but old tech and solar panels, he's been running his home off the grid for nearly a decade.

dailygalaxy.com

...instead of using the batteries in their entirety, he chose to dismantle them. By extracting individual lithium-ion cells from the old batteries, he was able to assemble them into custom-made battery packs that could store significant amounts of energy.

Each battery pack, designed for maximum efficiency, is rated at about 100 amp-hours.

That's some hefty amp-hours. Don't feel like getting into all the math of his set up, but wonder if that AC can roll along as need be? Dryer, range, furnace and water heater all gas?

What kind of inverter setup you got?

While the project’s concept was ambitious, the homeowner faced several challenges in ensuring that the system would operate smoothly. One of the primary obstacles was the uneven discharge rates across the different batteries. To overcome this, he carefully balanced the battery packs, and where necessary, added extra cells to optimize the power flow. This meticulous approach to balancing helped to maintain a steady and reliable energy output.

Despite the inherent risks involved with DIY energy projects, particularly those dealing with lithium-ion batteries, the system has been remarkably safe. The homeowner has reported no incidents of fire, battery swelling, or other safety concerns, which are common in poorly constructed battery systems.

Definitely a lot of work, dedication, and knowing exactly WTF you're doing. I'm too lazy. I'll just keep paying the outrageous bill.

What makes this project even more impressive is the longevity of the system. Nearly a decade into operation, the energy setup has shown no signs of failure. The homeowner has not needed to replace any of the batteries, which speaks to the durability of lithium-ion cells when repurposed correctly. The system has been running continuously since 2016, providing a steady, reliable energy supply without any major issues.

That one is hard to swallow. Already cycled-however-many-times batteries are all still strong? Gotta be some weak ones. But I guess balanced just right, you'll get every last drop.

 

[Bok Tuklo]

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

View attachment 67577606

But a nerd with no electric bill, leaving more money for more nerd stuff! It's a cycle. The nerdom mutiplies!

 

[ttwtt78640]

“I Began Collecting Them Years Ago, and Now I Have Over 650”: Since 2016, This Man Has Powered His Home Off-Grid With Only Laptops

A New York homeowner has found a surprising way to power his entire house using discarded laptop batteries. With nothing but old tech and solar panels, he's been running his home off the grid for nearly a decade.

dailygalaxy.com

That's some hefty amp-hours. Don't feel like getting into all the math of his set up, but wonder if that AC can roll along as need be? Dryer, range, furnace and water heater all gas?

What kind of inverter setup you got?



Definitely a lot of work, dedication, and knowing exactly WTF you're doing. I'm too lazy. I'll just keep paying the outrageous bill.


That one is hard to swallow. Already cycled-however-many-times batteries are all still strong? Gotta be some weak ones. But I guess balanced just right, you'll get every last drop.

With being somewhat careful about when major home electrical appliances are in use (at the same time), 100 amp service should be plenty.

 

[Cosmo]

But a nerd with no electric bill, leaving more money for more nerd stuff! It's a cycle. The nerdom mutiplies!

It only says amp hour ratings, not actual watt hours. So we have no idea how much power he actually has. He could be living "off grid" with just enough power for lights and his soldering iron, and you can get that kind of battery capacity from a few car batteries for the wage of working at McDonald's for a few days. What does he do for A/C during the summer? Probably nothing given the wall behind his desk looks to be mold-covered.

 

[Cosmo]

With being somewhat careful about when major home electrical appliances are in use (at the same time), 100 amp service should be plenty.

I see no mention of voltage or wattage, so who knows.

 

[BirdinHand]

I love nerds.

Someone needs to get this man talking to engineers and scientists and trying to figure out how to scale this sort of thing.

Think of how many batteries are simply thrown out when they still could be useful.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

With being somewhat careful about when major home electrical appliances are in use (at the same time), 100 amp service should be plenty.

But were not talking about ampacity of a service. Talking about amp-hour drain on the system.

At 100 amp-hour, you could draw 1 amp for 100 hours, 100 amps for 1 hour, or whatever divided in between.
And then a whole lot more math between individual packs/number of/electrical demand...
Eh, **** it; don't feel like thinking about it.

 

[Allan]

“I Began Collecting Them Years Ago, and Now I Have Over 650”: Since 2016, This Man Has Powered His Home Off-Grid With Only Laptops

A New York homeowner has found a surprising way to power his entire house using discarded laptop batteries. With nothing but old tech and solar panels, he's been running his home off the grid for nearly a decade.

dailygalaxy.com

That's some hefty amp-hours. Don't feel like getting into all the math of his set up, but wonder if that AC can roll along as need be? Dryer, range, furnace and water heater all gas?

What kind of inverter setup you got?



Definitely a lot of work, dedication, and knowing exactly WTF you're doing. I'm too lazy. I'll just keep paying the outrageous bill.


That one is hard to swallow. Already cycled-however-many-times batteries are all still strong? Gotta be some weak ones. But I guess balanced just right, you'll get every last drop.

Very cool. Tesla sells a home battery pack that people seem to like.

The Actual Cost of a Tesla Powerwall: Is it Worth it? (2025 Data)

The Tesla Powerwall 3 costs $16,500 to install. Is Tesla’s home battery worth the upfront cost?

www.solarreviews.com

 

[ttwtt78640]

I see no mention of voltage or wattage, so who knows.

I suppose he has an inverter capable of supplying 240 VAC to his home’s main panel.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

I see no mention of voltage or wattage, so who knows.

Well he has to have an inverter delivering ~120 volts AC per phase. That's a no brainer.

It's his watt usage vs what the system can reliably cover is the question.

 

[BirdinHand]

Very cool. Tesla sells a home battery pack that people seem to like.

The Actual Cost of a Tesla Powerwall: Is it Worth it? (2025 Data)

The Tesla Powerwall 3 costs $16,500 to install. Is Tesla’s home battery worth the upfront cost?

www.solarreviews.com

I’d install a million hamster wheels and have an army of hamsters powering my house before I’d install a Tesla anything at this juncture.

 

[Allan]

I’d install a million hamster wheels and have an army of hamsters powering my house before I’d install a Tesla anything at this juncture.

Don't knock it. Hamsters power this forum.

 

[ttwtt78640]

But were not talking about ampacity of a service. Talking about amp-hour drain on the system.

At 100 amp-hour, you could draw 1 amp for 100 hours, 100 amps for 1 hour, or whatever divided in between.
And then a whole lot more math between individual packs/number of/electrical demand...
Eh, **** it; don't feel like thinking about it.

During the day, his solar panels are recharging the battery packs. As long as the battery packs can meet the (total) demand placed on the inverter then all should be OK.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

I’d install a million hamster wheels and have an army of hamsters powering my house before I’d install a Tesla anything at this juncture.

That's a lot of hamster droppings. You may be better off just going with the Elon battery.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

During the day, his solar panels are recharging the battery packs. As long as the battery packs can meet the (total) demand placed on the inverter then all should be OK.

Of course. But spoke of '100 amp service', assuming speaking of being able to draw 100 amps from utility before main trips.

But apparently all is well with his system, and more power to him.(pun intended)

And yes, 100 amp service will reliably cover more than some would think.

"Well you need a 400 amp service!" No, you dont...(presently dealing with a homeowner that got sold on going from already 300 to 400. You didn't need it...)

Homeowner a couple days ago questioning her husband while he was away, and I was there at panel.

'But all these numbers! 20, 20, 15, 20, 30/30, 20, 15....."

Yeah, it doesn't work like that. Adding numbers is not your friend here.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Of course. But spoke of '100 amp service', assuming speaking of being able to draw 100 amps from utility before main trips.

But apparently all is well with his system, and more power to him.(pun intended)

And yes, 100 amp service will reliably cover more than some would think.

"Well you need a 400 amp service!" No, you dont...(presently dealing with a homeowner that got sold on going from already 300 to 400. You didn't need it...)

Homeowner a couple days ago questioning her husband while he was away, and I was there at panel.

'But all these numbers! 20, 20, 15, 20, 30/30, 20, 15....."

Yeah, it doesn't work like that. Adding numbers is not your friend here.

Adding (or even using) the numbers (on the breakers) is misleading. A typical electrical kitchen range (oven and stovetop elements) is rated at 50 amps, yet is unlikely to use that much power even if the oven and all of its stovetop elements were set on high at the same time. Our home’s 2.5 ton central AC is wired to a 40 amp circuit, but uses less than 25 amps. Rest assured that using the kitchen range while the AC is running won’t be drawing 75 to 90 amps.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

Adding (or even using) the numbers (on the breakers) is misleading. A typical electrical kitchen range (oven and stovetop elements) is rated at 50 amps, yet is unlikely to use that much power even if the oven and all of its stovetop elements were set on high at the same time. Our home’s 2.5 ton central AC is wired to a 40 amp circuit, but uses less than 25 amps. Rest assured that using the kitchen range while the AC is running won’t be drawing 75 to 90 amps.

Yes, it's the people that never paid attention in science class to Ohms law. Amps is not a push, but a pull.

That breaker just protects the wiring from being able to take more than it can.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Yes, it's the people that never paid attention in science class to Ohms law. Amps is not a push, but a pull.

That breaker just protects the wiring from being able to take more than it can.

Yep, even properly working circuit breakers allow some ‘slop’.

A circuit breaker will trip when the current exceeds its rated capacity by a certain amount, which varies depending on the type of breaker and the severity of the overcurrent. Typically, a breaker will trip at 125% of its rated current or more, but it may take some time for a thermal breaker to trip at that level. A magnetic trip, triggered by short circuits, occurs much faster, often at 10 times the rated current or higher.

*above quote is from Google’s AI Overview*

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

Yep, even properly working circuit breakers allow some ‘slop’.



*above quote is from Google’s AI Overview*

And wire gauge can to handle 125% of its rating. But you dial it back for obvious reasons.

The "125% rule" in electrical engineering, particularly within the National Electrical Code (NEC), dictates that conductors and overcurrent protection devices (OCPDs) for continuous loads must be sized to at least 125% of the continuous load. This rule ensures a safety margin to prevent overheating and nuisance tripping of breakers due to heat buildup from continuous current flow.

Side note: On a fire rebuild at the moment. Finishing wiring today and the friggin Fire Marshall walked in.

"How's it going? Last time I was here, it was on fire!" (Just passing through)

"So what caused the fire?"

"A smoker plug into an outlet right over there..."

Loose wiring, bad outlet; too much on wiring with oversized breaker?

 

[ttwtt78640]

And wire gauge can to handle 125% of its rating. But you dial it back for obvious reasons.



Side note: On a fire rebuild at the moment. Finishing wiring today and the friggin Fire Marshall walked in.

"How's it going? Last time I was here, it was on fire!" (Just passing through)

"So what caused the fire?"

"A smoker plug into an outlet right over there..."

Loose wiring, bad outlet; too much on wiring with oversized breaker?

It’s (unfortunately) common for folks to ‘upgrade’ 15 amp breakers (or fuses) to 20 amps (usually to accommodate more window AC units), while not understanding that 14 AWG wiring (typically found in older mobile homes) can’t (safely) handle that much current.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

It’s (unfortunately) common for folks to ‘upgrade’ 15 amp breakers (or fuses) to 20 amps (usually to accommodate more window AC units), while not understanding that 14 AWG wiring (typically found in older mobile homes) can’t (safely) handle that much current.

I've found 30 amp fuses covering multiple branches out of a panel of 14-12 gauge wire.
The fire is likely to start in that panel with the little peice of 14 gauge you have pigtailed feeding two space heaters in different rooms.

 

[Cosmo]

Well he has to have an inverter delivering ~120 volts AC per phase. That's a no brainer.

It's his watt usage vs what the system can reliably cover is the question.

I suppose he has an inverter capable of supplying 240 VAC to his home’s main panel.

That's all possible, but those inverters introduce significant efficiency losses, so who knows what sort of system this guy uses. Could be using 12vdc for all we know.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

That's all possible, but those inverters introduce significant efficiency losses, so who knows what sort of system this guy uses. Could be using 12vdc for all we know.

Well yes there is loss when using an inverter. But I suppose this nerd has that shit figured out for his needs.

 

[Cosmo]

Well yes there is loss when using an inverter. But I suppose this nerd has that shit figured out for his needs.

I assure you he has no infinite energy machine figured out. He's either got a lot of every storage, or he lives very conservatively and possibly gets by with 12vdc items which means no big appliances like AC.