diy solar

diy solar

Home Office DIY Solar

Luke13172

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2020
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5
Hi I have home office setup using approximately .300Kw according to the UPS display and that with everything but the laser jet running including a desk lamp. Following one of the videos that's like 7200 watts per day and unfortunately due to my job and always being on call I can't turn everything off at most when I am sleeping the system drops down to about .100Kw draw. If I am following the videos right I would need at minimum 24volt system to handle that and definitely want a mppt so it could flip over to utility power when needed what I am trying to figure out now is how many solar panels and what kind of batteries to run with. Any suggestions would be welcome I am leaning toward Fortune 100Ah packs as I love the modular and almost lego like feature.
 
Theoretically,

Assuming you need solar panels that can produce 7200 watts per day, and you are in a area that gets 4 solar hours per day (this maybe less during the winter), and the panels You picked out because they were priced well are rated at 330 watts, then....

7200/330X4=5.45 or 6 solar panels. Of course this is pretty simplistic. There are several other factors to consider, energy efficiencies, tolerance of the days when there is little sunshine, etc.

You will want to make sure that the solar panels specs are such that it will work with the equipment You plan on purchasing.

When determining the configuration of the batteries make sure that the C rate delivered to the batteries from the solar panels are within the specifications of the battery.
 
I am in Southern California, 5hrs of sun is not an issue and I have working area 30'x6' for panels. I was looking at 200watt panels on Amazon last night and given the dimensions of those panels I could fit 13 into that area (13 being an odd number) so what I was thinking was 12 x 200watt panels divided into two arrays with each array sitting at 1200 watts / 71 amps (maximum potential). I was looking at the MPPT LV2424 but discovered I would need two units for split phase (future expansion I would want 220) and I don't know if running the MPPT so close to it's rated maximum for input is a good idea long term so that got me looking at the MPPT LV5048 and that's kinda where my brain is right now. Far as batteries I believe the ones he did the video on the Fortune 100's will handle the C rate .. MPPT even if it is kicking in the utility charger claims it is a 100AMP charger soo. Admittedly I have not got anything down on paper yet for a BMS but I do know I want to start with a 8 cell pack and expand out from there as my wallet allows.
 
You might save quite a bit by checking out santansolar.com for panels. They have used panels and new (old stock) panels for sale. I paid $150 each for new LG brand, 350 watt panels. A lot of members from here have purchased from them.
 
As far as I remember, you need to focus on the minimum and maximum efficiency indicators of solar panels in order to understand how many are needed. If you look at the minimum value only, then the amount of energy will drop on cool and cloudy days. When I worked in Singapore, there were solar panels on the roofs of every modern office buildings. Since the daylight hours there are long enough and the average temperature is high, they needed far fewer panels and this method of generating energy is really cheap there. I even read on https://osdoro.com.sg/co-working/top-8-coworking-spaces-in-singapore-for-2021/ that they won an award for it.
 
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