Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
OK guys, looking for a sanity check here. My neighbors in NE Washington are totally off grid and, let's be honest, their system is a nightmare. Since the guy looks after my place the 48 weeks a year I'm at sea, and doesn't mind me doing a little experimentation, we're looking to completely re-do his solar setup.
Right now it consists of a couple of old 100w? panels he got from a guy, and a couple of maybe 60w? panels he got from a drinking buddy, and a generator, and he's trying to get a micro-turbine on his spring, and a stack of old batteries, and a cheapie inverter, and... well.. you get the idea.
TL;DR - Total Clusterf$%k
The biggest challenges at the moment is money. He works a side job about a month a year and I have a real home and mortgage so we're working with a very limited budget. It also needs to be simple and easy to repair.
So, here's my thoughts:
I'm looking at doing a bulk buy of 20 used 200w panels (certified for 170w) running about 30VoC each. We'll run these in a 3s/4P setup to however much the controller lets us have, maybe a little light over-paneling since it is almost Canada and Idaho so sunny days are hit or miss. I figure if we use the 200w settings for all the math we shouldn't have any worries of frying anything. Whatever we can't use at his place will go to my camp and my garden shed at home.
I'm looking at the MPP 3048LV 3kw inverter/controller running at 48v nominal.
I'm looking at 8 of the 120ah Marine Deep Cycle batteries from WallyWorld for a pair of 48v banks.
The micro-turbine will come into play later when we figure out how to get it running reliably, find a 3phAC -> 48vDC rectifier, and another charge controller for it paralleled into the system. Currently a non-factor.
I know everyone here is rolling their eyes at the batteries. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute.
I'm choosing those batteries for a couple of reasons. First: they're cheap and I'm already spending a lot on the panels and controller, plus costs for the wire and lugs and fuses and and and. Second: If a battery dies or he needs to add more, it's only a 3 hour round trip to get to WallyWorld, buy more batteries (they usually have a dozen or so in stock), and drive home. Waiting on deliveries to get to his friends place (nobody delivers to his house up the hill and down the dirt road) and then getting them up to his shed is a real PITA. Yes, I understand that 120AH FLA's are only good to 50%, which is why I'm spending just under $800 for 8 batteries. That's 5.7KWh (60Ah usable X 48v X 2banks) of usable batteries for $800 and another 2.8Kwh for only $400. If there's a better way that is in a comperable price range I'd love to know about it. Unfortunately that much Lith-Ion would require 7 very special (lotto) numbers and the Platinum Black credit card from my LearJet.
So does that sound like a reasonable setup? Is there a better battery option that doesn't require me having kids so I can sell them? Am I missing something in my math?
Thanks guys!
Right now it consists of a couple of old 100w? panels he got from a guy, and a couple of maybe 60w? panels he got from a drinking buddy, and a generator, and he's trying to get a micro-turbine on his spring, and a stack of old batteries, and a cheapie inverter, and... well.. you get the idea.
TL;DR - Total Clusterf$%k
The biggest challenges at the moment is money. He works a side job about a month a year and I have a real home and mortgage so we're working with a very limited budget. It also needs to be simple and easy to repair.
So, here's my thoughts:
I'm looking at doing a bulk buy of 20 used 200w panels (certified for 170w) running about 30VoC each. We'll run these in a 3s/4P setup to however much the controller lets us have, maybe a little light over-paneling since it is almost Canada and Idaho so sunny days are hit or miss. I figure if we use the 200w settings for all the math we shouldn't have any worries of frying anything. Whatever we can't use at his place will go to my camp and my garden shed at home.
I'm looking at the MPP 3048LV 3kw inverter/controller running at 48v nominal.
I'm looking at 8 of the 120ah Marine Deep Cycle batteries from WallyWorld for a pair of 48v banks.
The micro-turbine will come into play later when we figure out how to get it running reliably, find a 3phAC -> 48vDC rectifier, and another charge controller for it paralleled into the system. Currently a non-factor.
I know everyone here is rolling their eyes at the batteries. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute.
I'm choosing those batteries for a couple of reasons. First: they're cheap and I'm already spending a lot on the panels and controller, plus costs for the wire and lugs and fuses and and and. Second: If a battery dies or he needs to add more, it's only a 3 hour round trip to get to WallyWorld, buy more batteries (they usually have a dozen or so in stock), and drive home. Waiting on deliveries to get to his friends place (nobody delivers to his house up the hill and down the dirt road) and then getting them up to his shed is a real PITA. Yes, I understand that 120AH FLA's are only good to 50%, which is why I'm spending just under $800 for 8 batteries. That's 5.7KWh (60Ah usable X 48v X 2banks) of usable batteries for $800 and another 2.8Kwh for only $400. If there's a better way that is in a comperable price range I'd love to know about it. Unfortunately that much Lith-Ion would require 7 very special (lotto) numbers and the Platinum Black credit card from my LearJet.
So does that sound like a reasonable setup? Is there a better battery option that doesn't require me having kids so I can sell them? Am I missing something in my math?
Thanks guys!