Sky Noris
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2021
- Messages
- 90
So a few months ago I decided to build my first solar system...
My main reason for this project was to provide a renewable generator that doesn't need anything but sunlight to operate. Previously I'd experienced 3-4 days without grid power due to a large inland hurricane like windstorm. This and other grid failures have me and others that live in the surrounding area motivated to build alternate power sources. Personally, I just didn't like the idea of a gas-powered generator like most people use in the case of natual disasters or emergency. So, I've went about things a little out of the ordinary but in the long run I feel this is the better way to go. Not to mention I can use this off grid power as a supplemental system. Saving me lots of money off my power bill continually.
The journey so far...
I started out small just 4 200-watt panels that fed a 3000-watt hybrid inverter/charger. For storage I started with just a 24v 100ah of Lifepo4 battery bank. I purchased all these items in a kit for about the price cheap generator. After installing this system and seeing it in action for a week or so I was fascinated by all the possibilities. I then decided that I needed to upgrade my battery system and added 300 ah of storage. To charge the batteries more effective I added more panels 14 X 200 Watt and a decent mppt charge controller. Then eventually I would expand my battery bank to 600 ah to give me 14.4 KWs of storage. After these upgrades I was noticing my Victron charge controller was pushing 78 amps during peak sunlight. As the days started to get much shorter near the end of October, I decided it would be wise to do one last big upgrade. So I added six 450-watt bifacial panels, 8 KW inverter and one more 100-amp charge controller.
To sum things up here is my current system..
16 - 200 watt panels 4 strings running at around 90 volts DC open circuit
6 - 450 watt panels 1 string running at 92 volts DC open circuit
2 150 volt / 100 amp Victron charge controllers
1 24 volt 8KW inverter singe phase 120 V AC
600 AH battery bank 24 V DC 14.4 KW of Lipo4 storage.
After working on this system for a while I decided to give it a name SOLAIRUS. ? No idea why but after a while the name just stuck in my head.
I plan to hopefully document this a little better in the future moving forward.
My main reason for this project was to provide a renewable generator that doesn't need anything but sunlight to operate. Previously I'd experienced 3-4 days without grid power due to a large inland hurricane like windstorm. This and other grid failures have me and others that live in the surrounding area motivated to build alternate power sources. Personally, I just didn't like the idea of a gas-powered generator like most people use in the case of natual disasters or emergency. So, I've went about things a little out of the ordinary but in the long run I feel this is the better way to go. Not to mention I can use this off grid power as a supplemental system. Saving me lots of money off my power bill continually.
The journey so far...
I started out small just 4 200-watt panels that fed a 3000-watt hybrid inverter/charger. For storage I started with just a 24v 100ah of Lifepo4 battery bank. I purchased all these items in a kit for about the price cheap generator. After installing this system and seeing it in action for a week or so I was fascinated by all the possibilities. I then decided that I needed to upgrade my battery system and added 300 ah of storage. To charge the batteries more effective I added more panels 14 X 200 Watt and a decent mppt charge controller. Then eventually I would expand my battery bank to 600 ah to give me 14.4 KWs of storage. After these upgrades I was noticing my Victron charge controller was pushing 78 amps during peak sunlight. As the days started to get much shorter near the end of October, I decided it would be wise to do one last big upgrade. So I added six 450-watt bifacial panels, 8 KW inverter and one more 100-amp charge controller.
To sum things up here is my current system..
16 - 200 watt panels 4 strings running at around 90 volts DC open circuit
6 - 450 watt panels 1 string running at 92 volts DC open circuit
2 150 volt / 100 amp Victron charge controllers
1 24 volt 8KW inverter singe phase 120 V AC
600 AH battery bank 24 V DC 14.4 KW of Lipo4 storage.
After working on this system for a while I decided to give it a name SOLAIRUS. ? No idea why but after a while the name just stuck in my head.
I plan to hopefully document this a little better in the future moving forward.
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