Hey all. First time post, but have spent many hours digging through the forum gaining lots of helpful information in planning my off grid cabin power configuration. Thanks to the forum, I am leaning towards an MPP Solar All-in-one unit. Mainly for ease of setup, clean minimal install, and ability for future expansion.
First quick background on what I am doing. I am building a small 12' x 16' bunkhouse/cabin in the forest. Kootenay region of BC. Electrical is roughed in, and insulation is in. Before I close up the walls, I want to get power to the electrical panel to test everything. I have all of the electrical in my cabin split between 5 circuits. Kitchen outlets are 20amp and the rest is 15amp. I would like to start with a generator + battery setup, with solar panels to be added at a later date. I don't want to have to run the generator all the time, so instead, run it to charge the batteries, then run off the batteries until it needs another charge.
Cabin is ran with all LED lights, plus outlets for charging devices and running my computer and satellite internet for a remote office. No pumps, etc. at this time, but nice to have the ability to expand a bit in the future. The fridge is propane, and wood stove is the only heat source.
From the research I've done, I feel like the MPP Solar LVL2424 24V 2.4kW 120V all-in-one would suit my needs. (Big thanks to Will for all the information he has provided on these units). I like that I can connect my generator directly to it, easily switching between running off the generator if the batteries are drained, and charging the batteries at the same time. I also don't get a lot of sun in the winter, so if I am lacking sun, I can make up for it at times as needed with the generator. I own both a Honda 2200i and a 3000i generator. I won't use both for the cabin electrical, but will probably commit the 3000i to the cabin for this configuration. The 2200 is nice to move around and use when I need power tools, etc. in various locations.
Through my research I am leaning towards Lithium batteries. Mainly because this cabin will be used often and the batteries will be going through a lot of cycles throughout their lifespan.
I would like to place my order to get everything coming in, but want to be certain on this configuration before doing so. With that, I have a few questions:
-I want the MPP Solar AC Out to power my electrical panel. It is a 'Homeline 125 Amp Sub panel' 1 Phase, 3 wire 120/240 VAC (Link: https://bit.ly/3nexHfO). Will this model of the MPP Solar work for this? Or do I need to get one that does split phase? If I can make this work, what is the best way to wire it to my panel?
-In the manual for the MPP Solar 2424 it recommends a 40A breaker between the power source and AC In. Does that mean I need to install a breaker between my generator and the MPP Solar? If so, what is the best way to do that?
-From my research I assume the breaker between the MPP and the breaker box will be a breaker at the top of my breaker box. What size should this breaker be?
-My cabin is quite small, all open with no closets etc. I've heard the units can be somewhat noisy between the beeps and fans. Not only that I just don't have much wall space to mount. So I would like to mount this on either the outside wall of my cabin, or underneath in the crawlspace. I'm wondering if anyone has experience doing something like this? In the manual for the MPP it says the minimum operating temperature is 0 Celcius. I will be using the cabin in the winter so I'm wondering about coming up with a weatherproof, vented enclosure with the ability to have some type of heater (heat mat, etc.) that will first warm up the enclosure before I turn it on. For the batteries I have looked at the Kilovault cold-rated versions that have a BSM which heats them up before allowing them to charge. I think that would work great for my setup, and hoping to achieve something similar for the MPP unit. If anyone has any experience doing something like this and has found a good enclosure that fits and works well I would love to hear about it! In a perfect world I would have a utility shed for all of this, but I'm just not at that stage yet. I have to get this first bunkhouse built. So hoping to figure out a solution similar to what I've mentioned for now.
I hope I have explained everything without making it too convoluted, and that my questions are clear. If anyone has anything else to add or advice whether this sounds like the right setup for the job or not, I would love to hear all feedback.
Thank you for your time! I am very grateful for the abundance of information the community and this forum provides!!
Cheers,
Baran
First quick background on what I am doing. I am building a small 12' x 16' bunkhouse/cabin in the forest. Kootenay region of BC. Electrical is roughed in, and insulation is in. Before I close up the walls, I want to get power to the electrical panel to test everything. I have all of the electrical in my cabin split between 5 circuits. Kitchen outlets are 20amp and the rest is 15amp. I would like to start with a generator + battery setup, with solar panels to be added at a later date. I don't want to have to run the generator all the time, so instead, run it to charge the batteries, then run off the batteries until it needs another charge.
Cabin is ran with all LED lights, plus outlets for charging devices and running my computer and satellite internet for a remote office. No pumps, etc. at this time, but nice to have the ability to expand a bit in the future. The fridge is propane, and wood stove is the only heat source.
From the research I've done, I feel like the MPP Solar LVL2424 24V 2.4kW 120V all-in-one would suit my needs. (Big thanks to Will for all the information he has provided on these units). I like that I can connect my generator directly to it, easily switching between running off the generator if the batteries are drained, and charging the batteries at the same time. I also don't get a lot of sun in the winter, so if I am lacking sun, I can make up for it at times as needed with the generator. I own both a Honda 2200i and a 3000i generator. I won't use both for the cabin electrical, but will probably commit the 3000i to the cabin for this configuration. The 2200 is nice to move around and use when I need power tools, etc. in various locations.
Through my research I am leaning towards Lithium batteries. Mainly because this cabin will be used often and the batteries will be going through a lot of cycles throughout their lifespan.
I would like to place my order to get everything coming in, but want to be certain on this configuration before doing so. With that, I have a few questions:
-I want the MPP Solar AC Out to power my electrical panel. It is a 'Homeline 125 Amp Sub panel' 1 Phase, 3 wire 120/240 VAC (Link: https://bit.ly/3nexHfO). Will this model of the MPP Solar work for this? Or do I need to get one that does split phase? If I can make this work, what is the best way to wire it to my panel?
-In the manual for the MPP Solar 2424 it recommends a 40A breaker between the power source and AC In. Does that mean I need to install a breaker between my generator and the MPP Solar? If so, what is the best way to do that?
-From my research I assume the breaker between the MPP and the breaker box will be a breaker at the top of my breaker box. What size should this breaker be?
-My cabin is quite small, all open with no closets etc. I've heard the units can be somewhat noisy between the beeps and fans. Not only that I just don't have much wall space to mount. So I would like to mount this on either the outside wall of my cabin, or underneath in the crawlspace. I'm wondering if anyone has experience doing something like this? In the manual for the MPP it says the minimum operating temperature is 0 Celcius. I will be using the cabin in the winter so I'm wondering about coming up with a weatherproof, vented enclosure with the ability to have some type of heater (heat mat, etc.) that will first warm up the enclosure before I turn it on. For the batteries I have looked at the Kilovault cold-rated versions that have a BSM which heats them up before allowing them to charge. I think that would work great for my setup, and hoping to achieve something similar for the MPP unit. If anyone has any experience doing something like this and has found a good enclosure that fits and works well I would love to hear about it! In a perfect world I would have a utility shed for all of this, but I'm just not at that stage yet. I have to get this first bunkhouse built. So hoping to figure out a solution similar to what I've mentioned for now.
I hope I have explained everything without making it too convoluted, and that my questions are clear. If anyone has anything else to add or advice whether this sounds like the right setup for the job or not, I would love to hear all feedback.
Thank you for your time! I am very grateful for the abundance of information the community and this forum provides!!
Cheers,
Baran
