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diy solar

Another Cabin build

NwCali

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 27, 2021
Messages
340
I have a cabin that will be well insulated and small. So far I've bought a 6,000 Watt inverter https://watts247.com/product/hybrid-lv6048-split-phase-120v-240v/ and now I'm looking at this 10kw battery https://buycheapsolar.com/shop/solar-batteries/10kwh-lithium-power-wall-new-48-volt-10-year-life/

I plan on using 10 300 watt solar panels, I get lots of sun in the summer and rarely go a few days in the winter without some sun, but have a genset so I can keep them charged.

I plan on using the max voltage to go from the panels to the charge controller due to it being around 100feet.

Any advice/input would be nice, and if anyone has any thoughts on the battery bank now would be nice to hear it!
 
Big inverter for a small cabin. What do you possibly need 6kW 120/240VAC split phase for?

No load power consumption of 100W means you'll use 2.4kWh of your 10kWh battery just by having the inverter turned on.

When configuring your array, you can't just run up to the 145V limit on panel series Voc. You need to allow margin for lower temperatures. If you have 72 cell panels (~46Voc), you're limited to 2S.

Have you analyzed your available solar (link #5 in my sig)?

Have you conducted an energy audit (link #1 in my sig)?
 
Something seems off balance.
You have a 6000 watt inverter but that battery pack is rated to output 4800 watts for only 2 hrs.
Also 300 watt x 10 panels = 3000 watt which is only 1/2 the inverter output.
If you really need an inverter that big you need more panel input and more battery storage or you will be out of power pretty quick.
 
6,000 watts would only be for minutes at most, and maybe once every two days, on demand water heater. If it doesn't work out now its no biggy as my home is close and is grid tied (showers can be taken there). Adding more batteries is the near goal, as is adding more panels.

As far as someone mentioning the 100 watt draw this cabin will rarely get below 40ish or above 70ish degrees and the "wasted" heat will be welcome as I don't plan on a fireplace being in it. Most likely a small heat pump to warm it up. I live in a pretty mild temperature climate. So as far as size is concerned I think I'm in the right direction.

I hadn't planned on finishing it for a few months, but someone (s) is moving back home and having a cabin with basic electric (everything else is complete) will go a long ways towards my peace of mind.... Hence the mis match and rush to undersize certain aspects (battery size).

Long term I'm debating ordering some of the EVE (looks like it would take months) modules and making my own. I'd then use the power wall to convert a Mini Truck over to a forklift motor using the panel/batteries I buy now, but that is another adventure.
 
I second the others in that, without further information, it would seem that your inverter is unnecessarily large. Do you need split phase? (Do you have 240V applicances?) If you only need 6000W for minutes at time, take a look at what the surge capacity of different inverters actually are. For example I have a 3000W inverter (single phase) which can happily surge 6000W for something like 30 minutes. It turns out though, at this point I've never once come anywhere near 3000W even. I guess my point is it's really easy to oversize your inverter or think that you need more which could easily end up wasting a surprisingly large amount of your capacity.
 
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