I'm trying to begin planning a new system for a property we recently acquired in CA.
We ultimately intend to build a house and my goal would be to design it to be primarily off-grid, with grid backup and potentially grid-tied. I've built a couple of small systems a few years back following a lot of Will's videos and have a basic understanding but am by no means an expert. After watching some of Will's more recent videos I'm not sure of the ideal path. Will appears to have a grid-tie system with a solar shed that seems more oriented toward a failover scenario.
The property I have requires permitting for any and all solar systems, but of course CA also requires all new builds to have solar. I'm expecting to have to follow all of the requirements for a UL listed system. I'm leaning toward building a solar shed with a Sol-Ark 15K system with rack mounted batteries and between 5 and 10Kw of panels. I haven't acquired any significant components yet as I would prefer to develop a plan that I can get permitted before I buy. I've gone back and forth in regard to the MPP/EG4 6548 options, but I think I'm more comfortable with the Sol-Ark. They seem very stable and the support is excellent from everything I've read.
With regard to the batteries, it seems there are a lot of problems with the EG4, the Jakiper and the Trophy. A lot of these may just be growing pains which will eventually be resolved, but the SOK seems to be the most rock solid and the support seems very strong so maybe worth a little extra for the peace of mind.
As far as the solar, I have about 5kw worth of Mission-Solar panels, but may acquire more current panels as the ones I have are not in CA. I may want to go with a newer more efficient panel when we build.
Is it better to plan toward one common system or to separate a grid-tied plan from an off-grid?
Am I generally on the right path in regard to the component choices or are there better alternatives?
I know I'm a long ways from finalizing my direction, but always interested in opinions from people with more experience.
We ultimately intend to build a house and my goal would be to design it to be primarily off-grid, with grid backup and potentially grid-tied. I've built a couple of small systems a few years back following a lot of Will's videos and have a basic understanding but am by no means an expert. After watching some of Will's more recent videos I'm not sure of the ideal path. Will appears to have a grid-tie system with a solar shed that seems more oriented toward a failover scenario.
The property I have requires permitting for any and all solar systems, but of course CA also requires all new builds to have solar. I'm expecting to have to follow all of the requirements for a UL listed system. I'm leaning toward building a solar shed with a Sol-Ark 15K system with rack mounted batteries and between 5 and 10Kw of panels. I haven't acquired any significant components yet as I would prefer to develop a plan that I can get permitted before I buy. I've gone back and forth in regard to the MPP/EG4 6548 options, but I think I'm more comfortable with the Sol-Ark. They seem very stable and the support is excellent from everything I've read.
With regard to the batteries, it seems there are a lot of problems with the EG4, the Jakiper and the Trophy. A lot of these may just be growing pains which will eventually be resolved, but the SOK seems to be the most rock solid and the support seems very strong so maybe worth a little extra for the peace of mind.
As far as the solar, I have about 5kw worth of Mission-Solar panels, but may acquire more current panels as the ones I have are not in CA. I may want to go with a newer more efficient panel when we build.
Is it better to plan toward one common system or to separate a grid-tied plan from an off-grid?
Am I generally on the right path in regard to the component choices or are there better alternatives?
I know I'm a long ways from finalizing my direction, but always interested in opinions from people with more experience.
