Brand new to solar

[Ubershticky]

Hello everyone, i am totally new to solar and am looking forward to learning from everyone. I am wanting to build a battery backup system without panels at first that will kick in after the power goes out just like a backup generator is this at all possible?

 

[45North]

Can't you just get a UPS (uninteruptable power supply) off the shelf?

 

[John Frum]

Hello everyone, i am totally new to solar and am looking forward to learning from everyone. I am wanting to build a battery backup system without panels at first that will kick in after the power goes out just like a backup generator is this at all possible?

Yes.
How bout something like this.
mains_power->inverter/charger/transfer_switch->critical_loads_panel->critical_loads
Within ~20ms of the mains power dropping out the inverter/charger/transfer_switch starts supplying the load.
The loads should not know the difference
When the mains power comes back the process reverses seamlessly and the batteries get re-charged.

 

[Q-Dog]

What are you trying to keep powered up? and how much do you want to spend?

I probably have $3200 into this so far and it keeps my refrigerator going for 30 hours. No panels, yet.

Another new guy, building a home battery backup system.

Hello. Last year we had about 3 weeks worth of power outages due to hurricanes, the longest being 6 days, so I decided to make some changes to how we do backup power. We have a small inverter generator that can handle our basic needs, but we need to move it around and run extension cords...

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