Off-grid project in the south of France - 1.4kW / 4.8kWh

[rmaddy]

48V is fine, especially if you plan to go with a much larger inverter in the future. Saving money on stuff you can get locally is a good plan. You could run wires and size fuses based on a 4000W inverter, for example, so then you don't need to replace anything other than the inverter. This assumes your planned 1200W inverter can handle the larger wires. There's little reason to wire for a larger SCC. Setup the planned 150/35 with the 1600W. If you need more solar in the future you can add more panels to a second SCC.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

IMHO, it makes perfect sense.
I'm impressed. This could be referenced to in Resources as an example of good planning - and making the best of this forum.
Like, how someone with no experience (OK, with some financial resources, but still) can come up with a plan (by actually taking forum advice) that makes really good sense - on paper, but I'd wager it will turn out quite well IRL.
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[psish]

Thanks guys, this is all so useful and so insightful.

RMaddy I'm gonna write your name on the walls of the solar shed, you've been so helpful and nice !

Can't wait to start building

 

[psish]

Ok, so here's my final diagram:


I'm gonna ditch the Lynx Distributor and do the DC distribution with 150A/70V Victron busbars and then use MIDI 40A/58V (Victron for 48V), so it should cover all my needs.

Regarding wires, unfortunately the max wire size for the Multiplus is 13mm2 (AWG6) and 10mm2 (AWG8) for the SCC, so given the 40A fuses, I'll use 10mm2 everywhere for DC distribution, and 6mm2 (AWG10) for AC and ground.

Thank you everyone!

 

[Don B. Cilly]

8 AWG should be fine for 48V. Especially since you plan to draw 1KWh a day. But I guess you're planning to draw more than that eventually... or why else have all that storage.

One thing. That red round switch after the battery fuse, why not use a proper circuit breaker, it will do the job of both.

I don't understand "0° South, 180° North".
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[psish]

I don't understand "0° South, 180° North".

That's how we note panel orientation in French, I guess it does not translate well internationaly. It just means the panels are oriented pure south.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

I see. It means 0° from the south.
Because, obviously, 0° being North (on a compass) and 180° being South, I got a bit...

 

[psish]

I see. It means 0° from the south.
Because, obviously, 0° being North (on a compass) and 180° being South, I got a bit... View attachment 91986

Exactly ?

 

[Don B. Cilly]

Another note: I also have my panels due south. I have plenty (~1kW nominal) so I don't worry too much about orientation, angle, etc.
In fact, I worry more about wind, which is why I have them like this:


So, in theory, having some panels facing south, some SE, and some SW, is more efficient. But
a) there is that... self-compensating summer-winter quality panels tend to have, mainly due to the fact that (at our latitudes) in winter, lower temperatures make for better charge, and in summer, the sun rises (and sets) to the north of east, whereas in winter, to the south. Which compensates quite a bit for shorter sun-hours. And
b) if you have a south-facing roof, and enough panels for your needs/storage, you can afford to "not give a fig" about optimal angle, orientation, etc :·)
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[psish]

That's interesting. I am actually mounting my panel array on a pole, I haven't build the mount yet, maybe I could think of a system to have 1 panel facing South East, 2 panels South and 1 panel South West arranged around the pole.
I could also arrange some at different angles, but that's maybe too much thinking, as you said with that setup I can probably dont give a "fig" about all that !