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diy solar

On grid newbie question about preparing cabling

mschipperheyn

New Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2021
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1
Hi all,

I am a newbie so forgive me if my questions are stupid. I've bought a new apartment and now is the time to prepare cabling and such. I've been thinking about installing a single solar panel on the veranda. It will help with energy costs but of course not cover them. I'm thinking of installing it in a way it can deliver back to the grid or perhaps just help with kitchen appliance and airco.

My question is about cabling. In order to deliver back to the grid, do I need to connect a cable to the point where the grid is connected to the main fusebox? I was thinking: since the return of a single panel is low, I was thinking I could hook it up to the kitchen grid, so it could reduce consumption for the various appliances: fridge, airco, etc. There wouldn't be anything left for the grid probably anyways. However, many appliances have separate fuses, so that would suggest you could perhaps support only one.

I'm also a little vague about why and how in these scenarios, the current from the panel would reduce the grid related energy bill.

So, yeah, a number of newbie questions related to basic concepts. Any help is appreciated

Kind regards,
Marc
 
Questions are how you learn. The only stupid question is the one not asked, as the old saying goes!

As with most newbies, you would do well to start by going to the “Beginner’s Corner” forum and do some reading on sizing systems, etc. That’s where I started here, and for good reason; I needed to! Please don’t take this offensively, but your statements and questions make clear that you have no idea how solar works, what it takes to generate a useful amount of power, or the extreme limitation of a porch/veranda - single solar panel setup. No problem though... as it is for all of us, such understanding gaps are fixable!

So, let me try to answer your questions...

A single, small solar panel (say, 100 watt) on the porch would be useless for grid-tying. You will also need some sort of storage (battery) to hold the energy generated by the panel if you want to use it any time the sun isn’t shining. A controller to handle charging is best, and a cheap PWM unit will get you by. So, now you have a 12 volt battery with some power in it. You can run 12 volt power devices, like car chargers for your phone or laptop, or you’ll need an inverter to change the 12V DC to 120V AC. A single battery won’t last long driving that, but it can get you through a short power outage for running a few very small devices intermittently. As you learn to calculate load vs supply, you’ll figure out what you would need to power your intended uses.

As you add panels (or panel size), batteries, and power processing components, what you can do, and the length of time you can do it, goes up.

A few hints... scratch these from your very small system list: Grid tying, A/C powering, Heat or Water Heating, major appliance powering (stove/fridge/large microwave), etc. Much smaller items could be powered for a limited time. Watch some of Will Prowse’s videos, especially the ones showing how to build a small system. You can make a usable system for a couple of hundred bucks, one that will power some things you’ll actually use, and learn a hell of a lot in the process!

Again, I sincerely hope to be helpful to you, and have no intent to offend. As you read and learn, keep asking questions! You’ll get there.

Click the link in my signature below, it’s a treasure trove of info...
 
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