new solar setup

[Scottish dan]

Hi all I am looking to build a new solar panel system for my summer house . I have no experience in solar power so have no clue . I definitely want lithium battery 12 or 24v and love the look of epever tracer mppt charge controller with a higher amperage in case I add more panels . What size of solar panels and battery ah would I need to run small fridge , mobile phone charger some led lights and a pond filter ( filter uses 120 watts ). Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense to you guys , but as I say I’m totally new to solar

cheers

 

[Brewman]

I would suggest you get a Kill-A-Watt meter and determine your total load first. All your equipment we'll be determined by your load.

 

[Scottish dan]

Ok , thanks . Will get one and report back to forum when I have checked .
Thanks

 

[svetz]

This similar question might help you get started: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/help-please-miami-condo-hurricane-prep.8470/post-90422

 

[novice]

I would suggest you get a Kill-A-Watt meter and determine your total load first. All your equipment we'll be determined by your load.

Do you have a preference for the P4400 or P4460?

 

[Brewman]

I've never used those two but I would go with the P4460 because of its backup battery so if you lose power it keeps it's memory.

 

[novice]

I've never used those two but I would go with the P4460 because of its backup battery so if you lose power it keeps it's memory.

Thanks, that one is at Harbor Freight which is nearby.

Which one have you used? (Not a quiz, just looking for user opinions before I buy.)

 

[Brewman]

I have the Baldr US electricity monitor from amazon. I would not recommend it, display is very hard to see.

 

[mandrews44]

I have both with and without backup battery.. I'm always having to remove the backup battery to reset the stats.. for initial load testing, I like the version without the battery.

 

[Brewman]

Mine has backup battery and a small reset button to clear it out of old data.

 

[mandrews44]

When you do your load testing, you will want to also note the power factor of each load and duty cycle. A fridge for example, might have a low power factor because of the compressor, require a large startup current but have a low duty cycle (usually 50%).. It will be the toughest on your inverter because if it uses 115 watts from the grid, it will need 160 watts from your inverter (Power Factor).. That can add up and possibly substantial 10 appliances later.

 

[mandrews44]

Mine has backup battery and a small reset button to clear it out of old data.

Nice, I didn't see that on mine.. I wish I had that version.

 

[Scottish dan]

Good evening all .
I have calculated my wattage use and it looks like this
5 mobile phones -25 watts an hour/2 hours charge maximum
Pond pump and UVC light -136 watts an hour /12 hrs a day
Small beer fridge - 20 watts an hour /24 hours on on weekend
5 led lights -25 watts an hour/ max 5 hours a day only on weekends

Based upon everything I estimate that at any one time I could use as much as 205 watts an hour /2300 watts over a day . Is this any help on the kind of solar system I need

thanks danny

 

[Brewman]

Now how many days backup do you want. It's not always sunny so you need to decide if you want back up or not.

 

[Scottish dan]

I would like to have 2 days back up at least

 

[Scottish dan]

But wouldn’t bother me not having any

 

[svetz]

... Is this any help on the kind of solar system I need...

That's a great start Danny! If you think you'll use 2300 Watt hours per day and want two days backup, you'll need 2300 x 2 = 4,600 watt-hours.

Take a look at the examples in these threads:

• How to figure out how much Solar and inverter wattage is needed to charge a battery
• What does it mean to have solar panels in parallel and series?
• Figuring out how many panels in series and parallel based on your MPPT

You should be able to figure out how many batteries you need, how many panels you need, and how to arrange them.

 

[Brewman]

Now will this load be mostly during the day or night?

 

[Scottish dan]

Mostly day time . 1900 watts are used during day . Rest at night .

 

[Scottish dan]

Sorry forgot to mention that mon-fri the system will only use 1640 watts . Day time only
1900 watts at day on weekends