How frequently does your solar system need attention?

[629658]

Your first guess is correct. No one else in the family is interested enough to bother.
But then I'd guess that would cover nearly all systems, the builder knows and everyone else is Oh Noes

I went the opposite direction and everyone including my wife can operate my system and if issues arise they know how to keep the lights on. Operational simplicity was high on my priority list.

 

[45North]

Your first guess is correct. No one else in the family is interested enough to bother.
But then I'd guess that would cover nearly all systems, the builder knows and everyone else is Oh Noes

One more reason not to do it. You would always be "on call" with no backup.
And also there's sickness and vacations.

 

[S610]

In my opinion if you have access to grid power a hybrid unit no matter the brand is the way to go. Solar, battery or whatever you have will power what it can and if it can't because of defect or not being large enough the missing power comes from the grid. I started doing solar before this was available (unless I missed it somehow) and it was a game changer for me. I didn't do solar at my new house at first even though I had it at my old house because I didn't want the hassle. Hybrid systems was what convinced me. It was truly a game changer for me.

I don't want a hybrid system for a variety of reasons (EMP risk, monthly power bill after investing in full solar, etc...). I would say running the power lines is also an issue on a 15-20 acre rural property but I will probably have fiberoptic run for the net, so maybe it wouldn't cost much to have them lay a power cable down too for future use if I did have to go on grid.

 

[Skypower]

It would be extremely difficult/costly to have an off grid system completely autonomous. For instance even in sunny central California, last December had incredibly low solar energy due to near continuous storms. Unless you had ludicrously large array, you would have had to supplement your energy. At the very least you would have had to make arrangements for an unexpected fuel delivery.
Normal maintenance would entail things like tilting a ground array for optimal performance, clearing off snow, cleaning off summer time dust depending on your location. The first year will have the highest probability of exposing all the bad choice shortcomings or equipment failures, so plan on intervention.

 

[Skypower]

I don't want a hybrid system for a variety of reasons (EMP risk, monthly power bill after investing in full solar, etc...). I would say running the power lines is also an issue on a 15-20 acre rural property but I will probably have fiberoptic run for the net, so maybe it wouldn't cost much to have them lay a power cable down too for future use if I did have to go on grid.

A hybrid system would make it that much easier for automatic generator backup even if you have no intention of ever using grid.

 

[629658]

One more reason not to do it. You would always be "on call" with no backup.
And also there's sickness and vacations.

We travel 4-6 weeks a year no issues so far but we are grid backed. My daughter lives close and worst case she hits the inverter bypass and we continue on (this has never happened). Totally off grid could be more problematic but manageable.

A reasonable quality home generator is a must but the way I have it figured we are looking worse case a 2.5 hrs gen run per day so worse case about 7 gal of LP a day. My tank will last over 50 days with zero sun so real world we can go months. I’m currently on day 24 of absolutely no utility use.

 

[S610]

A hybrid system would make it that much easier for automatic generator backup even if you have no intention of ever using grid.

A hybrid can get zapped in the event of an EMP. I will get some kind of backup generator though may wait until I use the system for a while. South Georgia does get a lot of sun and we rarely have storms that last more than a couple of days. If that occurs I can go to minimal power consumption (it is just me which makes that easy to control).

 

[robby]

In my opinion if you have access to grid power a hybrid unit no matter the brand is the way to go. Solar, battery or whatever you have will power what it can and if it can't because of defect or not being large enough the missing power comes from the grid. I started doing solar before this was available (unless I missed it somehow) and it was a game changer for me. I didn't do solar at my new house at first even though I had it at my old house because I didn't want the hassle. Hybrid systems was what convinced me. It was truly a game changer for me.

My goal is to use the Grid as little as possible, the real goal is to use no Grid at all and have it purely as a backup.
With that in mind whatever Hybrid Inverter I would use has to be super reliable as it has to power my house for most of the Day and Night to achieve my goal. Anything that glitches my lights or shuts down with random error codes was a non starter for me.

I see a lot of people on here that seem to be obsessed with Brute force power of an Inverter.
If you Invest in a Soft start system for those 5 Ton AC units and the Well Pumps then you will find the power a house is consuming at any one moment is typically not all that high. If your house was really consuming 6KWh all the time then you would be seeing a bill for 144KWh per day or 4320KWh per month. Most Americans are getting bills of around 800-1400KWh on Average per month. The 1400KWh bill is about 2KWh of Average usage. My Bill was typically about 1600KWh and my usage ranges from about 1.2KWh on the Low to about 6KWh on the high.
Mini Splits certainly do save a lot on electricity IMHO but even with a 5 Ton unit my neighbor down the road claims to be paying the same as I was before I got Solar. Of course thing change if you have hobbies like Carpentry which will require lots of surge power for heavy duty electrical tools.

 

[Skypower]

Just having an array, up’s the odds of getting a jolt of some kind, not the fact that you have an hybrid and not grid connected. Even a generator can take a hit and bring it in. You are three times more likely to sustain surge damage from something inside the house. A good whole house surge arrestor will most likely save you from an indirect lightning strike (like a mile away). I have two whole house surge arrestors, one between the inverter grid/generator and the other on house side(distribution center). There’s also a surge arrestors from both arrays before entering the house. If you are trying to survive a non natural EMP event, you may want to have spares in a totaly enclosed metal container next to your iodine pils.

 

[629658]

Just having an array, up’s the odds of getting a jolt of some kind, not the fact that you have an hybrid and not grid connected. Even a generator can take a hit and bring it in. You are three times more likely to sustain surge damage from something inside the house. A good whole house surge arrestor will most likely save you from an indirect lightning strike (like a mile away). I have two whole house surge arrestors, one between the inverter grid/generator and the other on house side(distribution center). There’s also a surge arrestors from both arrays before entering the house. If you are trying to survive a non natural EMP event, you may want to have spares in a totaly enclosed metal container next to your iodine pils.

I agree off grid is difficult enough add in EMP (which no one has ever seen) and you’re in no man’s land. Even if they say it’s EMP proof no one knows for sure. I think the only option is to have spare equipment stashed.

I guess if you were building new you could turn your house into a Faraday cage.

 

[timselectric]

I have the same goal.
Less and less grid, until I can pull the plug for good.
I went the off grid AIO route. Because I never planned on exporting. So I didn't need the extra cost of a hybrid AIO. I chose stackable units for redundancy. And multiple diy batteries for the same reason.
I spent a lot of time researching what would do what I needed reliably. And so far I haven't had a single problem. Started building my system over a year ago.
And will probably be two more years before I can call it complete. Only because finding the time to build and patience to bargain for the right prices.
The journey has been very enjoyable.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

My goal is to use the Grid as little as possible, the real goal is to use no Grid at all and have it purely as a backup.
With that in mind whatever Hybrid Inverter I would use has to be super reliable as it has to power my house for most of the Day and Night to achieve my goal. Anything that glitches my lights or shuts down with random error codes was a non starter for me.

I see a lot of people on here that seem to be obsessed with Brute force power of an Inverter.
If you Invest in a Soft start system for those 5 Ton AC units and the Well Pumps then you will find the power a house is consuming at any one moment is typically not all that high. If your house was really consuming 6KWh all the time then you would be seeing a bill for 144KWh per day or 4320KWh per month. Most Americans are getting bills of around 800-1400KWh on Average per month. The 1400KWh bill is about 2KWh of Average usage. My Bill was typically about 1600KWh and my usage ranges from about 1.2KWh on the Low to about 6KWh on the high.
Mini Splits certainly do save a lot on electricity IMHO but even with a 5 Ton unit my neighbor down the road claims to be paying the same as I was before I got Solar. Of course thing change if you have hobbies like Carpentry which will require lots of surge power for heavy duty electric tools.

We probably averaged 1800 a month before solar but that was 1300 in the spring and fall and as high as 3300 last summer one month. I swapped out the 14 SEER HVAC units for high efficiency Mitsubishi so I'm hoping that will help some. I have the 3 ton on solar now and am hoping to put at least one of the 2 ton units on as well. I want to wait for some warmer weather to see just how much I can load it up without it switching to bypass all the time. I agree on making everything as energy efficient as possible. Whether you have solar or not, that's your best investment. Also means you'll need less solar.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

I have the same goal.
Less and less grid, until I can pull the plug for good.
I went the off grid AIO route. Because I never planned on exporting. So I didn't need the extra cost of a hybrid AIO. I chose stackable units for redundancy. And multiple diy batteries for the same reason.
I spent a lot of time researching what would do what I needed reliably. And so far I haven't had a single problem. Started building my system over a year ago.
And will probably be two more years before I can call it complete. Only because finding the time to build and patience to bargain for the right prices.
The journey has been very enjoyable.

I agree but I doubt I can ever pull the plug unless I invest quite a bit more. But maybe. Who knows. For now I don't mind paying a tiny bit to the power company just so I can have them as my backup bitch. Only give them enough money to string them along ...
?

 

[OzSolar]

I agree but I doubt I can ever pull the plug unless I invest quite a bit more. But maybe. Who knows. For now I don't mind paying a tiny bit to the power company just so I can have them as my backup bitch. Only give them enough money to string them along ...
?

Yep, $27.50 per month buys me a battery larger than I could ever imagine. I don't need my COOP 95% of the time but it's quite easy to have them there vs. upsizing my system to cover that other 5%.

 

[Skypower]

We probably averaged 1800 a month before solar but that was 1300 in the spring and fall and as high as 3300 last summer one month.

Is that Dollars?? How big is your spread/mansion?
I can’t justify more solar. Barely use the grid and run the generator just to exercise as well as not waste power and test it into the batteries. I don’t complain anymore at a buck a day if it wants some and 20 cents just connected.

 

[Skypower]

For now I don't mind paying a tiny bit to the power company just so I can have them as my backup bitch.

??

 

[OffGridForGood]

Wish I could plan to be "totally" off grid but Nov-Dec around here will never let me do it without running the generator a lot, so I string along a power company bitch too!!
Meanwhile, like you guys, I do energy efficiency upgrades a bit at a time, and now that I have my main PV system well set, I will just add another DIY (14.3kWh) battery every spring and every fall until I am out of space for them...okay until I have 110kWh, or until the plan changes!

 

[JRH]

That is the big question that is often ignored on this forum when people are suggesting equipment.
You might add to Busy Life and other interest,"Do you have a wife that is willing to put up with power issues?"
My wife was very resistant to solar because she associated it with unreliable power and having batteries levels dictate what she could and could not do

Yep, $27.50 per month buys me a battery larger than I could ever imagine. I don't need my COOP 95% of the time but it's quite easy to have them there vs. upsizing my system to cover that other 5%.

Damn smart…

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Is that Dollars?? How big is your spread/mansion?
I can’t justify more solar. Barely use the grid and run the generator just to exercise as well as not waste power and test it into the batteries. I don’t complain anymore at a buck a day if it wants some and 20 cents just connected.

Around 3400 sf. I didn't build it that big. It was part of the package when we bought the place. But amazingly we found a way to fill it up without any problem at all. I never planned on having enough solar to be completely off grid. I just figured build all I can afford and it will get used. But it's looking like it may cover more of the load than I was expecting. July and August will tell the story. Right now I'm only using about 15kw a day from my backup bitch and I plan on moving more over to solar.

 

[Skypower]

Around 3400 sf. I didn't build it that big. It was part of the package when we bought the place. But amazingly we found a way to fill it up without any problem at all. I never planned on having enough solar to be completely off grid. I just figured build all I can afford and it will get used. But it's looking like it may cover more of the load than I was expecting. July and August will tell the story. Right now I'm only using about 15kw a day from my backup bitch and I plan on moving more over to solar.

My house is much smaller. My next won’t be much bigger but my barn/workshop sure as heck will be huge. A guy’s just got have room to keep his toys safe and working.