Every number in this article comes from one source video — Projects With Everyday Dave's SAVE Thousands - Build your own home solar battery backup!, watched more than 1.2 million times. The channel documents real DIY solar and battery builds with the actual costs and actual test results, and in this video the host assembles a 15.2kWh LiFePO4 home backup from a BassenGreen kit — sixteen EVE 304Ah cells in a metal rack with a JK BMS — and a 6,000W all-in-one hybrid inverter, all for roughly $2,000. If you would rather watch the build before reading the breakdown, the video is right here:
The host's framing matters before any of the hardware: a turnkey home battery from a major brand runs $800 to $1,200 per kilowatt-hour, while this build lands around 14.5 cents per watt-hour — roughly $145 per kilowatt-hour once the rack, BMS and wiring are counted. That gap is why DIY solar storage keeps growing even as inverter prices fall. The video is not a promo for one brand; it is a walkthrough of what a careful home builder can achieve with current cell prices. Where the video's data ends, our engineers' experience assembling LiFePO4 packs fills in the context — the same cells and the same discipline go into our wall-mounted home storage systems.
The host is explicit that this is a kit build, not a from-scratch build, and the distinction matters. A complete DIY from raw cells plus a custom enclosure, bus bars, BMS and breaker means engineering every interface yourself — more cost in tools, more risk of a subtle mistake, and no consistent compression unless you design it. A store-bought system removes the work but keeps the markup, and locks you into proprietary expansion. The kit route — cells, rack, BMS and bus bars that are designed to fit each other — removes the worst of both: the assembly is mechanical, the safety parts are specified, and the price stays close to raw cell cost. For a first-time builder, that is the difference between a weekend project and a three-week engineering project.
The other half of the argument is repairability. Every component in this build — a cell, a BMS, a bus bar, an inverter — can be replaced individually and sourced from multiple suppliers. If a turnkey battery fails out of warranty, the unit is typically scrap or a full replacement; if a cell in this rack fails, you swap one cell and the pack keeps working. For a system meant to run for 15 years, that is the difference between an asset and an expense.
The heart of the build is sixteen EVE 304Ah prismatic LiFePO4 cells — grade-A cells that are among the most common in the DIY market, with a rated cycle life in the thousands. The host stacks them in a BassenGreen metal rack that provides the compression LiFePO4 cells need as they swell slightly during cycling, with the posts facing up for clean bus-bar access. The rack also keeps the cells off the floor and gives the pack a place to shed heat. A JK BMS sits on top: one 150-amp BMS per 8 cells, both communicating with the inverter, with cell balancing, low-temperature cutoff and overcurrent protection that a bare pack would not have. Two 8S BMS units for 16 cells is the configuration the host trusts — one BMS per battery bank, so each bank monitors its own eight cells independently.
The inverter is a 6,000W all-in-one hybrid unit — solar charge controller, AC charger and inverter in one box, the same architecture we use in our own off-grid power systems. It runs the house loads, charges the pack from solar during the day, and switches to battery at night. The combination — two 8S banks feeding one hybrid inverter — is the standard modern small-home configuration: simple wiring, one app, and expansion possible by adding more banks later.
The video spends real time on safety, and every step is worth repeating. First: remove all jewelry. A metal ring or watch band across a terminal is a 500A short circuit that heats red-hot in seconds — a commenter with a permanent burn scar confirms exactly how fast it happens. Second: check the pack voltage before touching anything — the bus bars carry the full pack voltage even with the inverter off, and sixteen 304Ah cells hold far more energy than any tool should short. Third: respect the torque specs. Bus-bar screws on EVE cells are typically torqued to about 8-10 Nm; overtightening cracks the aluminum terminal and voids the cell, undertightening leaves a high-resistance connection that heats under load. The host uses a torque wrench set to spec, and covers exposed bus bars with kapton tape while working so a dropped tool cannot short the pack mid-build.
The build order in the video is the order you should follow. The cells go into the rack upright — the rack's end plates apply even compression across the faces, and the stack is torqued evenly so every cell sees the same pressure. One important correction from the comment section: do not lay the finished rack on its side. LiFePO4 prismatic cells depend on consistent compression, and a sideways stack lets the bottom cells carry the whole weight while the top cells run uncompressed — pressure builds unevenly and the pack can distort over cycles. Upright, as designed, always.
With the stack in place, the bus bars connect the cells in series, and the order of connections matters for safety: the positive lead connects first, because the steel rack frame is a conductor — if the negative is already connected and the positive touches the frame, you get an instant dead short. Spacers and washers go on top of the bus bar, never between the terminal and the bar, so the contact face stays flat and torqued. Then the BMS wires — each cell's sense wire to its corresponding terminal, double-checked against the BMS wiring diagram before power-up. The host checks the full pack voltage at the BMS terminals before closing any breaker, and only then connects the inverter.
The battery feeds the hybrid inverter, and the inverter does the work of managing solar, grid and loads. The host wires the pack to the inverter's battery terminals through the BMS, connects the solar input (the panels charge through the inverter's charge controller), and wires the inverter output to a sub-panel or transfer switch that feeds the circuits he wants backed up. The breaker sizes follow the inverter's spec — the battery cables are sized for the full inverter draw, and the AC output goes through a properly rated breaker before it reaches the house wiring.
The practical result: during the day the solar charges the pack and runs the loads; at night the house draws from the battery; if the grid drops, the inverter switches to battery without the loads noticing. This is the same architecture as a commercial home storage install — the only difference is that the owner did the assembly. For a DIY system in most regions, the AC output should still be connected through a licensed electrician's interlock or transfer switch if it can power house circuits, since local codes govern grid interconnection.
The video ends with real tests, not specs. The host runs the full 15.2kWh pack through the inverter under house loads and records the numbers. The capacity test shows the pack delivering as expected for a fresh LiFePO4 bank — rated capacity holds within normal variance, with the BMS balancing the cells during the first full cycles. Then the test that matters for a home system: starting a heat pump. Heat pumps have a large inrush at compressor start — often 2-3x their running draw for a few seconds — and the 6,000W inverter handles it with the battery voltage holding steady. A 15kWh bank at roughly 100-150A continuous is comfortably within the JK BMS's rating, and the inverter's surge headroom covers the motor start. For a house with a fridge, a heat pump and the usual loads, this is the difference between a battery that is decoration and one that actually runs the house.
The host gives the complete ledger, and it is the number that makes the whole video worth watching. Sixteen EVE 304Ah cells at roughly $63 each come to about $1,000 for the raw battery. The BassenGreen rack, the JK BMS units, the bus bars and the wiring hardware add a few hundred dollars. The 6,000W hybrid inverter is the largest single line item. The final tally lands around $2,000 total for a 15.2kWh LiFePO4 home battery — about 14.5 cents per watt-hour of storage. A comparable turnkey battery from a major brand runs $800-1,200 per kWh, or roughly $12,000-18,000 for the same 15kWh. The same math appears in the comments: one builder sourced CATL 204Ah cells at $38 each and built a 10kWh pack for about $608 in cells — 80% below a turnkey equivalent. That is the pricing reality of 2026.
The video's closing advice is honest about what a DIY build asks of you. You need a torque wrench, basic electrical tools and the discipline to follow the wiring order every time — jewelry off, positive first, torque to spec, kapton on exposed bus bars. You need to verify your cells are genuine grade-A stock (the comment section is full of warnings about counterfeit EVE cells sold at deep discounts), and you should size the BMS and cables for the full inverter draw, not the typical load. And for anything that can back-feed house circuits, have a licensed electrician handle the AC interconnection and the transfer switch — the battery side is DIY-friendly, but the grid side has codes for a reason.
If the full build feels like too much, the middle path exists: buy a pre-built rack battery from a manufacturer that documents its cells, BMS and cycle life, and pair it with a hybrid inverter. That is the route most of our customers take — it keeps the repairability and the price advantage partially, while leaving assembly to the factory. Whichever route you choose, the sizing logic is the same: match the kilowatt-hours to the loads you actually run, and match the inverter to the largest motor you need to start. That is exactly how we engineer home storage at Dajiu Energy.
Dajiu Energy is a Chinese manufacturer building LiFePO4 batteries for RVs, homes, golf carts and portable applications since 2017. Our product range covers LiFePO4 drop-in replacement batteries, EV and golf cart batteries, wall-mounted home storage, portable power stations, commercial energy storage and battery swap cabinets — explore the full lineup in our product center, or browse more buying guides. Tell us your voltage, capacity and size, and we'll engineer the pack to hit it.
Source video: Projects With Everyday Dave — "SAVE Thousands - Build your own home solar battery backup!" (youtube.com/watch?v=aH5Y_gJXOsI). Comment excerpts are quoted verbatim from the video's top comments; the host did not reply to these comments, so the answers are Dajiu Energy's own. Test figures, prices and specifications are transcribed from the video as of filming and may change with sales.
Yes, if you follow the discipline the video demonstrates: remove jewelry, verify pack voltage before touching terminals, torque bus bars to the cell spec, wire positive first, cover exposed bus bars, and use a BMS with overcurrent and low-temperature protection. The battery side is DIY-friendly; have a licensed electrician handle any AC interconnection to house circuits.
The video's 15.2kWh build lands at about $2,000 total, or roughly 14.5 cents per watt-hour. A comparable turnkey battery runs $800-1,200 per kWh — often $12,000-18,000 for the same capacity. DIY hardware savings of 70-80% are realistic if you buy genuine grade-A cells.
EVE 304Ah prismatic LiFePO4 cells are the most common choice and what the video uses; CATL 204Ah cells are another popular option at a lower price. The critical step is verifying you are getting genuine grade-A stock — counterfeit cells sold at deep discounts are a documented problem in the DIY market.
It depends on your loads. 15kWh covers a fridge, lights, electronics and a heat pump or AC through the night for most homes, but an electric oven, dryer or well pump running at the same time will drain it much faster. List your essential loads, add the wattage, and size the pack for the hours you want to cover — the inverter must also handle the largest motor-start surge.
Tell us your voltage, capacity, size and application. We will get back to you with a professional quote and technical spec as soon as possible.