Andersonjk4
New Member
New to the forum and glad I have found this useful resource. I am going to begin building an off-grid home this summer and am having trouble deciding on which inverter(s) to base my off-grid system on.
Some background. Located in Eastern Washington. Family of 5 with one more on the way. System will be ~16-18kW PV panels to begin (expandable to 24kW+), 48V battery bank ~30-50 kWh to start, will have a backup generator (most likely a Honeywell 22kw). I would like to design for a peak surge load of 10-12kW. Larger loads are going to be 1.5 HP well pump (Variable speed EC Motor), geothermal heatpump, heat pump water heater, Induction cooktop and electric oven (will have propane cooking options for "dark" periods), heat pump dryer, dishwasher.
Factors in my decision making:
I'm sure there is more I'm missing, so that is why I am looking for input here.
Some background. Located in Eastern Washington. Family of 5 with one more on the way. System will be ~16-18kW PV panels to begin (expandable to 24kW+), 48V battery bank ~30-50 kWh to start, will have a backup generator (most likely a Honeywell 22kw). I would like to design for a peak surge load of 10-12kW. Larger loads are going to be 1.5 HP well pump (Variable speed EC Motor), geothermal heatpump, heat pump water heater, Induction cooktop and electric oven (will have propane cooking options for "dark" periods), heat pump dryer, dishwasher.
Factors in my decision making:
- Listing. I will have to get my system through permit review and electrical inspections, so UL listing in needed.
- Reliability. This is my prime power source for my family, so it has to work without constant fussing. I travel some for work and play, so I need to be able to rely on an inverter(s) to operate as they are supposed to. Redundancy. I would rather have two or more stacked units, so a failure doesn't take down the whole system.
- Ease of use. I would like something that is easy to operate. Example, If I am out of town my wife can easily reset a fault.
- Features. Some features I would really like: Auto generator start/stop, Auxillary output to start a load (well pump or irrigation pump) when there is excess energy production. Remote system monitoring (wifi). Communication/integration with battery bank.
- Customer Service.
- Price.
I'm sure there is more I'm missing, so that is why I am looking for input here.