Off grid home building project - PV as necessity to reduce run time on diesel generator

[SilverbackMP]

Adding that much height for a use case I will never have, so that I end up with a cold shop because I cant afford to heat it sounds like a lose/lose scenario. One has to live within your means. The 12' walls will be 2x6 24" on center and the ceiling will be R60 blown in insulation. I have not settled on what door to use. I want it well insulated and sealed so a roll up door will be out.

My shop looks like a pole barn but it's also 2x6 24" on center walls are 2 inch closed cell spray foam and roof deck is 3 inches. Cavities will be filled with rock wool. I think my doors have two inches of foam but I am pretty sure they are also available in 3 inches. Radiant heat in the floors. Opening and closing them shouldn't pose too drastic of a change (I'm more worried about humidity entering), but I don't live on a mountain either.

 

[Westcliffe01]

My shop looks like a pole barn but it's also 2x6 24" on center walls are 2 inch closed cell spray foam and roof deck is 3 inches. Cavities will be filled with rock wool. I think my doors have two inches of foam but I am pretty sure they are also available in 3 inches. Radiant heat in the floors. Opening and closing them shouldn't pose too drastic of a change (I'm more worried about humidity entering), but I don't live on a mountain either.

View attachment 178171

Your door height is pretty modest. What was the reason you opted for the high ceiling ? Im going to do injection pump rebuild / conversion and possibly build airplane engines. The only reason I went with a 12' ceiling was to allow the car hoist so I can maintain my vehicles in a bit more comfort...

 

[SilverbackMP]

Your door height is pretty modest. What was the reason you opted for the high ceiling ? Im going to do injection pump rebuild / conversion and possibly build airplane engines. The only reason I went with a 12' ceiling was to allow the car hoist so I can maintain my vehicles in a bit more comfort...

Vehicle lift capable of lifting smaller but full sized cabbed utility tractors. Ability to move a mini ex boom inside for maintenance. And for a good sized mezzanine that will likely divide into a couple of rooms (I am going to put ceiling panels below the roof deck instead of on the bottom cord…which goes back to wishing I had gone with 18 foot sidewalls and/or scissor trusses).

 

[Westcliffe01]

Im pretty much going to be by myself. Extra storage is just an invitation to hoarding.... I might have tens of small 3 cylinder japanese engines in inventory, but I will just use vertical racking and pallets and get myself a small forklift. As far as hoisting goes, a Cummins 5.9 possibly with a transmission attached is at the top end of what I will do. Maybe jeep conversions with the 1.9Tdi.

 

[Hedges]

The page on which I found that reference seems to supply professionals in the field. They have standard packages for 50-300kW lithium batteries, so utility grade, not homeowner type stuff. I have requested manuals for the equipment I referenced because it was not available right on their web page. Will see if they respond.

Their location:

Energetech Solar
7427 South Main Street
Midvale, UT. 84047
USA

That seems to be a retailer offering big and small (5kWh) systems.

5KWh 48V 100Ah Battery System | Energetech Solar

energetechsolar.com

Energetech Solar - Solar Energy Storage Systems & Batteries

A great many products are imported Chinesium, some rebranded. Some relabelers provide value-add, like updated software and support, UL listing, possibly specified hardware differences. Can be good/bad/ugly. Obviously some equipment manufactured in China is premium quality. You really want to know about customer experiences with a given product, but unfortunately it is quite opaque.

Also, many companies are great at putting up a good web page. I've read the web pages of current/former employers.

There are a handful of companies we know made inverters and charge controllers that worked for several decades. Trace/Xantrex/Schneider, Outback, Midnight (newer company, the people from Trace), Victron, SMA, some others. Any unknown company has a track record only as long as they've been around, and it is with difficulty we even determine what their failure rate is.

 

[Westcliffe01]

That seems to be a retailer offering big and small (5kWh) systems.

5KWh 48V 100Ah Battery System | Energetech Solar

energetechsolar.com

Energetech Solar - Solar Energy Storage Systems & Batteries

A great many products are imported Chinesium, some rebranded. Some relabelers provide value-add, like updated software and support, UL listing, possibly specified hardware differences. Can be good/bad/ugly. Obviously some equipment manufactured in China is premium quality. You really want to know about customer experiences with a given product, but unfortunately it is quite opaque.

Also, many companies are great at putting up a good web page. I've read the web pages of current/former employers.

There are a handful of companies we know made inverters and charge controllers that worked for several decades. Trace/Xantrex/Schneider, Outback, Midnight (newer company, the people from Trace), Victron, SMA, some others. Any unknown company has a track record only as long as they've been around, and it is with difficulty we even determine what their failure rate is.

I get the impression the high voltage DC input inverters are made by Sandi Electric in China. I dont know the history of the company.