Good read! Bittersweet, but I hope I'm also able to look back in 10-20 years and feel this whole solar power thing was worthwhile (and not an ongoing hassle).
You are probably a good candidate for Victron although I am pretty much all Conext, aka Schneider. I will be adding some Victron to my setup this year as I add 15 kwh of LFP to my existing batteries. I suggest you think about your system DC voltage. I don't think that anyone putting in an all new off grid system should consider anything but a 48 v system.
Seasonal use only in the summer? Off season usage? Where are you located? My off grid cabin is in northern Saskatchewan (55 degrees N) so in the summer I get lots of sun. We use about 11 kwh per day and our 4 kwh array provides 98% of the power we need. We live at the cabin full time from mid-May to mid-October. I probably run the generator for less than 5 - 10 hours total all summer and sometimes I run it so that I can put fresh fuel in and make sure it works. Currently I have a 40 kwh FLA battery bank, but, as I mentioned above, I am going to introduce 15 kwh of LFP this spring.
There is a lot of cool new stuff out there to choose from and if you can and will DIY your system you will learn enough to be self supporting. I designed and installed my own off grid system back in 2012. I am glad that I took the time to do it. I really have not had any problem that I could not immediately diagnose and fix. You are on a good path, this forum is great for DIYers. Another forum worth mentioning is Northern Arizona Wind and Sun's forum. I used that a lot since this site didn't exist back then. This stuff is not real hard to figure out but mistakes can be expensive. Don't cheap out on safety!
Once I electrified my cabin I was able to use electric for refrigeration, starlink, a TV, power tools, electric blankets, lights and a lot things. I cook now a lot with an induction hot plate to save on propane. I use propane now exclusively for heating,
I would not bother with a DC fridge. A good Energy Star a/c fridge, even a big one isn't a big deal anymore. A bit over 1 kwh per day. I run two large fridges 21', 19' and a 10 cu ft. deep freeze on 4000 kw array. The array also provides enough power to run my dish washer, make most of my hot water, microwave, coffee maker, electric kettle, Starlink, 240 volt submersible water pump, log splitter, 60 " big screen TV, Bell TV Satellite receiver, stereo, all my power tools, countless (it seems) laptops, cell phones and tablets No problem. I haven't shopped around but I just looked up a Danzer 10 cu ft 24v dc fridge for a mere $2340. Buy a few more panels and get a great fridge. Maybe even get the icemaker option!
I'm definitely planning on 48V LFP batteries.
Fair enough, if adding more capacity to your system is an option. I was just thinking in terms of reducing consumption overall - my big fridge is something like 1.8kWh/day, which constitutes ~20% of my household consumption.
You seem to know what kind of loads you will need to supply. However do you have a location the lends itself to solar power generation? You will want a place that is unshaded by trees, horizon, tall structures during the prime daylight hours of 9am to 6pm. If your cabin location is such that it gets a lot of overcast days it can also affect your setup plans.
Yes, we've been in the cabin for several years now and I have a spot for a ground mounted rack picked out. I'm calculating PV potential with location specific calculators. Luckily we wired the cabin to code when we built it with the idea of installing a full solar power system in the future. That time has come.
It’s rarely that simple. In my area, once I did down 8 feet, I hit ground water, now i would have to build a water proof structure to house he batteries /electronics and deal with high humidity environment. I have a root cellar, its great for storing potatoes and cabbage, but i don’t want my expense batteries down there. I looked into burying a cement tank, etc, but all those ideas were impractical and not cost effective. But I totally agree, the basic idea is great.
It was... but wrong site and it simply required too many cords of wood to heat to realistically retire there year-round, working on a new retirement cabin now, better site, less than a mile away, super insulated, super tight, wood will only be backup not primary, all DIY... Brooklyn, your asking all the right questions...
I agree with that. The 12K is really a great AIO.
