diy solar

diy solar

new to this forum & new to solar

lou124

New Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2021
Messages
16
Hi all,
I'm new to this. I've been doing a lot of research online as I want to set up solar panels for my new eco homestay. I am based in Sumatra so quite limited to what i can get here. Looking forward to asking questions and gaining more knowledge, thanks
 
Hi all,

I live in Sumatra and have no electric so would like some solar panels. Because of cost, to begin with I want for just lights, charging laptop, phones,, a rice cooker (just the cooking part) and to run a blender to make smoothie/pastes etc. I have worked out that the wattage per day for the lights and 1 day back up is 532W, adding the blenders, rice cooker, coffee grinder etc it adds to 933W a day. I've worked out that I would need a solar array of 350W.

wattage per day calculations.JPG
Eventually i would like to increase it to run a fridge. So my question is:

Do i need a 12v or 24v system?
- could i start with a 12v system and change to a 24v system once we have more panels and a fridge.
How many batteries do i need? I'm hoping to start with just one!
battery sizing.JPG
What amp charge controller do i need to buy with the idea that i will be increasing the solar array?

I am a complete basic. I have talked to shops here in Sumatra but they want to sell you packages which are expensive and the equipment and batteries are rubbish. I think solar panels are a reasonable new thing here!. Any help or tips would be much appreciated, thanks
 
I have worked out that the wattage per day for the lights and 1 day back up is 532W, adding the blenders, rice cooker, coffee grinder etc it adds to 933W a day. I've worked out that I would need a solar array of 350W.
If you properly use watts and watt hours, your answers are pretty much already calculated.

933wh / 12.8v = 73ah battery (if lead acid, 146ah because only 50% dischargeable)

350w x 5hrs = 1750wh from solar
 
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