Starfish Prime
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2019
- Messages
- 11
Hello all, greetings from North Alabama. I've watched maybe 20 of Will's videos on YT and followed him here to this forum. Will, if you're reading: Thanks for all you've done to inspire me to do this. We purchased 9.5 acres of cotton field in 2016 and after 3 years of back breaking labor, have carved out a horse farm with 3 paddocks, a 4 stall shed row barn, and now, wait for it..... a 570 square foot off grid solar cabin!
The cabin is new construction with 230V split phase traditional wiring. We are installing a Pioneer 24 SEER mini split AC system and using propane for heat and for some appliances. The biggest challenges are the AC, water heater, and clothes dryer. Our solution is 1600 watts of panels, a Schneider Electric Conext SW2524 Inverter at 48V, and a Champion remote start capable inverter generator. Batteries are Trojan golf cart deep cycle (for now). Will upgrade to something better when these die and more money is available. I'm in North Alabama so we average at least 5.5 hours peak sunshine in the summer, when we need AC the most. The Pioneer unit uses a couple amps and about 800 watts at most. It's extremely efficient and much care was taken with the cabin insulation.
BTW, type your zip code in here to see your peak sun by the month: https://tyconsystems.com/html/nrel_lookup.htm
The Panels will carry us through the day and you can program the Conext to activate the generator start at any level of battery depletion. So I'll set it to power up when the batteries are at 60% and it'll shut off when they reach capacity. The Conext will take any incoming voltage and supply my main panel with 230V 60hz split phase power.
Link: https://solar.schneider-electric.com/product/conext-sw-na/
I'll be taking one of the two elements out of the water heater and put it on a timer. If this proves to be unfeasible we'll go with a wall mount Bosch 110V on demand unit for the shower. I've used these and they're awesome. The clothes dryer is on a 30 amp breaker and typically uses 23-25 amps so it will be on a dedicated circuit tied to an inexpensive 5500 watt non-inverter generator. It will only see 1-2 hours use a couple times a week. (Some times the brute force method is best)
Coffee maker > donated. Learn to use a French press. Thank me later.
I am not an electrical engineer and this is a learning experience so I'll be sharing what works and what doesn't. I am purchasing the parts of the system over the next 2-4 weeks so I'll keep you posted with pics.
The cabin is new construction with 230V split phase traditional wiring. We are installing a Pioneer 24 SEER mini split AC system and using propane for heat and for some appliances. The biggest challenges are the AC, water heater, and clothes dryer. Our solution is 1600 watts of panels, a Schneider Electric Conext SW2524 Inverter at 48V, and a Champion remote start capable inverter generator. Batteries are Trojan golf cart deep cycle (for now). Will upgrade to something better when these die and more money is available. I'm in North Alabama so we average at least 5.5 hours peak sunshine in the summer, when we need AC the most. The Pioneer unit uses a couple amps and about 800 watts at most. It's extremely efficient and much care was taken with the cabin insulation.
BTW, type your zip code in here to see your peak sun by the month: https://tyconsystems.com/html/nrel_lookup.htm
The Panels will carry us through the day and you can program the Conext to activate the generator start at any level of battery depletion. So I'll set it to power up when the batteries are at 60% and it'll shut off when they reach capacity. The Conext will take any incoming voltage and supply my main panel with 230V 60hz split phase power.
Link: https://solar.schneider-electric.com/product/conext-sw-na/
I'll be taking one of the two elements out of the water heater and put it on a timer. If this proves to be unfeasible we'll go with a wall mount Bosch 110V on demand unit for the shower. I've used these and they're awesome. The clothes dryer is on a 30 amp breaker and typically uses 23-25 amps so it will be on a dedicated circuit tied to an inexpensive 5500 watt non-inverter generator. It will only see 1-2 hours use a couple times a week. (Some times the brute force method is best)
Coffee maker > donated. Learn to use a French press. Thank me later.
I am not an electrical engineer and this is a learning experience so I'll be sharing what works and what doesn't. I am purchasing the parts of the system over the next 2-4 weeks so I'll keep you posted with pics.