diy solar

diy solar

Marooned in the desert

Dontknowsquat

New Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2021
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3
Hi all,
Bought 40 acres in the middle of the desert. Tired of the city life. HAVE NO IDEA, but want to go solar and live off-grid. Just me, the missus and the dog. Loading up a schoolie and going cross-country. Spent last 23 years figuring out how to put food on the table, whilst not letting the children drive my and wifey insane. OUR TIME, but only with help from ONLY the truly patient type. I don't own a cell phone and not very computer savvy. Need help. Only the patient type need reply. Thanks.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.

As @MisterSandals implied, taking a little bit of time to skim through threads matching that search term might help you orient towards what others are attempting with their builds.

If you have specific design goals like be able to run a microwave for twenty minutes a day or something, be sure to mention that in this thread so others can factor that into things ?☺️☀️
 
40acres? That's a really big school bus! :)

Whatever you decide, I would make it ground based (not fixed to the bus) so you can just unplug and go without having a massive solar array on the roof. 40 acres is a lot of solar panels....

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I drive past the Coleman Federal Prison 4 times a week and they have a 2megawatt, $45million USD solar array and I always think...."I wonder if they'd miss a panel or two?", lol.

The good news "Don'tknowsquat" is that a LOT of us started by knowing nothing. By the time you're done reading through some of threads, go to YouTube and search for Will Prowse. He's got a TON of "First Timer" videos for beginners. Worth the watch I assure you!
 
Such a warm welcome, hopefully you won't lose the warmth. Let me begin by letting you in on a secret. I have no pre requisites for this. I know there are watts, amps and volts. I don't know much about any of them. They may as well be very distant relatives. I know a solar system needs panels, a bms, batteries, and an inverter. But I am copying what everyone says, again I don't know any of them either. I know we will need to keep food cold on the ride out, and when we get out there. Won't have much need for much other than tv and dvd player. Battery powered lights. Will need a system for the well pump. But that's a bridge we can cross later.
 
So you want something on the bus to get you there? You need to figure out how much power you need, can't really do squat without it, and then go from there. Are you willing to DIY to your bus?
 
I know a solar system needs panels, a bms, batteries, and an inverter.
Not necessarily.
Panels yes.
A BMS only if you are making a DIY battery from LiFePO4 cells.
You will need a solar charge controller, the brains and heart of any solar system.
Batteries most likely.
And inverter only if you need to run household current (AC), for household appliances for example.
 
I need to power a fridge/freezer and tv and dvd player for in the bus for on the way out there. Then when out there, those things and a well pump. We won't use much but I know the fridge needs a lot to start, not to run. I will be doing all the work on the bus.
 
Where are you heading that you bought a land grab 40 acre lot?

You can buy most of west Texas for $50... but it's only worth $25... :p

Seriously though, I have seen as low as $500 an acre around Van Horn, and that's what is listed on the internet. If you drive around you can find cheaper, but it is in the middle of nowhere and is a FLAT piece of land with nothing on it.
 
I know we will need to keep food cold on the ride out, and when we get out there. Won't have much need for much other than tv and dvd player. Battery powered lights. Will need a system for the well pump. But that's a bridge we can cross later.
  • food fridge (~1,000-5,000 watt hour per day)
  • LED lamps (~250-1,000 watt hour per day)
  • well pump (at least 1,000 watt hour per day)
  • tv and dvd player (1,000-5,000 watt hour per day)
Just totally ballparking those uses... could be totally off... 3,250-12,000 watt hour per day.

A desert was mentioned, so I would like brownies, I mean.. ~2,000-8,000 watt hours per day per 1,000 watts solar panels varying by time of year. Please feel free to check this tool http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html to evaluate how many watt hour per day per 1,000 watts solar panel to expect. Sharing the numbers it shows will help other visitors here give you accurate advice regarding how many solar panels to get.

On the very optimistic and energy sipping side of this ballpark is 400-1,600 watts of solar panels to meet this need.

On the more leeway for all day usage side of this ballpark is 1,500-6,000 watts of solar panels to meet this need.

Again, my two cents, could be totally off, but hopefully this can help be a little guidepost.
 
@Dontknowsquat

You should do an energy audit to get your head around how much energy you need:

Energy Audit.

Agreed.

Since access and computer skills may be lacking, simply create a list of all the devices you plan to power. Most specify either Watts or (amps and volts). Don't worry about the spreadsheet yet, unless you're comfortable with it. Otherwise, just make a list. Once you have all the devices, estimate how many hours you plan to run them per day. Your list will look like:

Item, Watts (or amps and volts), hours.

Once you've laid that out, it's mostly just plugging in numbers and reading results.

@curiouscarbon gave you a start.

Other useful information is location and things like anticipated well depth to help us estimate the size of the needed well pump.

Note that in almost all cases, a well pump requires a powerful inverter even if it doesn't require a lot of energy to run.

Lastly, a idea of what your potential budget is. Yes, this is DIY, so we're all on board with "as little as possible," but if you come back with "I have $2K for this," then there isn't much hope.
 
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I have an explosives process building in the middle of nowhere.
Loads are swamp cooler , 16 led lights , fridge, 40 gallon water heater .
System is 2k of solar , 8 180 amp calbs, 2 epever svc.

Other than when more than 1 shower per day is taken , it's self sufficient.
 
I have an explosives process building in the middle of nowhere.
Loads are swamp cooler , 16 led lights , fridge, 40 gallon water heater .
System is 2k of solar , 8 180 amp calbs, 2 epever svc.

Other than when more than 1 shower per day is taken , it's self sufficient.

If you have access to the necessary water, swamp coolers are AWESOME alternatives to A/C in the desert. We have a couple small portables at HBR, and the only downside is we never have more than about 900 gallons on site. They can go through 2-4 gallons per hour.
 
Yep. And as side benefit, gives us the kg humidity needed for processing co mmm pounds safely
 
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