diy solar

diy solar

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I NEED

DJIMMIEG

New Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2022
Messages
10
Starting out like many b4 me.
I will cut to the chase.
Basically. I wanna run everything in my home (not rv) only on a solar.
I have been subbed for just a couple months. Tried looking up something on the channel but I dont have the time to weed thru them and find the one specific to what Im asking for. I will venture to say that a stand alone might be the way to go, but if I knew I wouldnt be asking lol, Thnx please inform.
 
You would need to know what energy you are consuming 1st. An energy audit using watt meters would give you an idea of what your using or use old electricity bills. You can then calculate what size system you need
 
Step 0 is an energy audit.
My signature contains a helpful link.
You mention you don't have time to weed through the videos, do you have a deadline?
 
No one can tell you everything you need to know. You have two choices, buckle down and learn the basics, or pay someone else a lot of money to do it for you and be at their mercy for maintenance and repair forever.

Watch all of Will's videos, he lays it all out in very simple terms.

Second, build a small system to power a part of your house, or for emergency backup. That will get you familiar with the components and how they work together.

Trying to run a whole house at once is overwhelming, take little bites, but keep the end goal in mind.

Buy quality once and save money in the long run.
 
1. Calculate your home load to choose battery capacity
2. Buy batteries
3. Installation
4. Start your happy hour
or
1. Paying for help
2. Start your happy hour
 
Well, I'll start the default answer to these questions and we can work from there. Here's you To-Do list:

1: Power audit! This will give you some important information on how big your inverter needs to be as well as how much battery capacity you'll need. There is a link in the FAQ section (I think, or someone here will post it shortly) so fill in the blanks and see what it comes up with. You'll probably need some sort of Kill-A-Watt to get accurate measurements. Are you going to be running a 12v system? 24v system? 48v system? What are the specs on your solar panels? VoC? Vmp? Being as this is a new build, throw together a wish list of what you want and estimate on the high side.

1a: Where do you live? Speccing out a system for Scotland is a LOT different numbers than Arizona due to the amount of light you actually get. Someone here can post the link to the PVwatts.com or JCR Solar Uber-Sun-Hours calculator sites to help figure out how much you'll have to work with. That will be a box in the Power Audit form.

2: Parts list: You don't need a make & model list, just a parts list to start from for reference. You'll need an inverter, a MPPT charge controller, fuses, shunt, buck converter, batteries, wire, etc. Once you have a basic list it can be fine tuned to make & models after that. If you're looking at the All-In-Ones check for correct voltage outputs (120v or 240v Split Phase for North America, 220v Single Phase for European type areas) and make sure it has enough capacity for a little bit of growth and fudge factor.

3: Budget!: Steak is great but doesn't mean anything if your wallet says hamburger. :) Figure out what you're able to spend now vs what you'll have to cheap out on now and upgrade later.

4: Tape measure! Figure out where you're going to stick all the stuff you'll need. A dozen 3000AH batteries sounds great until you're sleeping on the floor because there's no room left for a bed. Is there a compartment that can house all this stuff? Will the server rack batteries fit? Are you going to have to make space? Physics can be pretty unforgiving.

5: Pencil out what you think you need and throw it at us so we can tell you what you've missed (because we ALL miss stuff the first go-round :) ) and help figure out which parts and pieces you're going to want to get.
 
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