Recent content by aspen12777

That’s what I used.

We close our cabin for the winter in November and open in April/May. I think I will just install a switch to turn off the heaters when I close for the winter, turn the inverter off and make sure the batteries are full. I was looking for a passive system that would not drain my batteries when I...

I would assume that both panels are covered, hence no need for heating. I would not want to walk in though the snow to find my batteries it a low state of charge because the panels have been covered for an expanded time period, that is what I was trying to avoid. If the load port on the MPPT...

The problem with that is what if the main charging system is not producing power, because it is covered in snow, or it may heat the batteries at night (which you may or may not want). If you connected it to the same bus as the main SCC. I would not want the heaters to drain the batteries when I...

I was thinking as long as you batteries are low temp protected could you come up with a way to just run the heating pads off a 100 watt panel and a DC regulator? Once the batteries heatup they should start charging.

We cook with propane (Stove and Grill) and we have backup propane lights. To be honest the propane lights don't get used much. This cabin has been in the family for over 70 years. When I was a kid we used the propane lights a lot more, but battery powered USB chargeable lights have really...

No way that we will be able to connect to the grid. We are a least 7-8 miles from the grid. The only service that we have access to is propane delivery, which is not cheap. We like to keep the fridge running May until October, which does not use that much but it would be nice to not have that cost.

6400 in elevation, in the Sierra Nevadas. The main cabin is about 1000 square feet, the bunkhouse in 250 square feet, the shed and the bar are around 100 square feet each.

USB chargers for cell phones would be nice, in the bunkhouse. The cabin is at 6400 feet, for ventilation we just open a window. When I really think I about it I was trying to get a setup were lights would always be available and always work. I think I should upsize the solar and simplify the...

I forgot to account for the round trip….. More to think about. I only need 4 LEDs in the outbuildings, that’s what is there now. That’s under 40W, 3 to 4 amps.

If I locate the system in the central building the runs will be between 50 to 100 feet, which would put me at 8 gauge if I could live with 5% drop, which I think would be OK for lights to a bunkhouse or shed. That would be at 10A, which is a lot of lights, more than likely it would be closer to 5A.

I also like option 2 because it seems more reliable for the most important items I need, keeping my food cold and the lights on. As long as I have 2 Solar charge controllers and 2 batteries, I should be good. I figure my DC loads needed in the the outbuildings would be low, well under 10A as its...

We are in the middle of a complete remodel of our off grid cabin. It has been taken down to the studs. This brought up an idea. I see that I have two pretty good options. There are four buildings that would need to be connect main cabin, bunkhouse, utility shed and Tikki bar. 1) Wire the cabin...