Suggestions for Off Grid Power

[offgridliving2020]

I am new to this forum and learning about solar power and am planning to setup off grid power for my small house I am building that is not tied to the grid (no power to property). It will be heated with a wood stove and using off grid propane cook stove (no power required).

The power draws will be the following...

-18 cubic foot refrigerator (energy star rated)
-16 cubic foot upright deep freezer (energy star rated)
-120v pressure pump for water supply
-30 LED lights @ 9watts each
-a few small kitchen appliances
-washing machine (energy star rated)

I am thinking about the following for components

8@ 48V solar panels (380watt)
8@ 12 AGM batteries
4000/12000w pure sine inverter
MPPT 60amp charge controller

I have a 12000 watt 4 cylinder diesel generator as a back up as well

Are the components going to be enough?
Am I missing components needed for this system?
How do I tie the house breaker panels into an off grid system?

 

[snoobler]

Link #5 in my signature for solar availability at your location, panel direction and tilt.
Link #1 in my signature for energy audit.

The results of the above will dictate your system configuration.

 

[Steve_S]

Off Grid Cabineer here,
Unusual Build: Hyper Efficient net+ structure, R30 Walls (Rain Screen Siding with Live Edge Cedar), R45 Roof (Cool Roof System)

Radiant Heating in Frost Protected Slab Foundation, using a Takagi On-Demand heater unit (LPG), Wood Stove as well.
Hot Water by EccoTemp On-Demand Heater (also LPG)
Cookstove Unique Classic 24 (LPG)
2kw Solar, Midnite Classic-200 SCC, Samlex EVO-4024 Inverter/Charger.
24V; 956AH of Heavy Lead Deep Cycle now transitioning to 910AH LFP (LiFePo4).
Only running with 120vac, no need for 240vac here.
Water Pump: GrundFos SQ-5 Deep Well submersible with Soft-Start (Solar Friendly no surging).
More info in my "About My System" link in my Signature.

On battery costs, beware things are not what they generally appear to be. For Solar you need Deep Cycle cells forget Marine/Auto/ RV batteries they won't cut it. Once you get to Deep Cell AGM, your also deep into bucks for good ones. Note Lead Batteries have really gone down in quality unless you're buying Genuine Trojan, Rolls or Similar "Real" Solar batteries. LFP (LiFePo4) has really come down in price and you get a lot more for the buck. They are also a Safe & Non-Toxic chemistry which will not explode, catch fire or require maintenance. Pre-Built packs can get very pricey but DIY Built packs can be a really good deal if caution is applied.

• You will need to figure out what your expected loads will be for a 24 hour period as mentioned above.
• You will then need to decide on how many days Autonomy you want to have for stored energy (meaning no power generation, most use 3 days for storage capacity.
• Once you know the load potential, the average watts & peak potentials, the desired capacity, then to figure out Voltage & Battery Bank Sizing to best suit the "needs" - Plus a bit extra for future & overhead that is unaccounted for (20% margin is usual).

Pure Sine, Low-Frequency off-grid inverters choices are many depending on features, functions & capabilities. There are some excellent All-In-One units by Growatt & MPP-Solar which have Inverter/Charger & Solar Controller all together. Price points vary quite a bit, so once you have the basics figured out then look at the inverters & such.

SPECIAL NOTE: Many people underestimate what it takes to charge battery systems and want to go Huge Battery but haven't the means to charge them because they undershot the solar & solar controllers. The most common reason, is folks do NOT calculate based on the Lowest Sun Hour Days (Dec.21 North America), they always think of High Summer 12 hour sunny days... They also quite often underestimate the number of Amps the Solar Controller will have to push to charge a battery bank. IT IS ESSENTIAL that all of these things are factored in and so please Take you Time to get this right.

Solar Panels can be had easily enough. New & Used are readily available on sale for a DIY'er, so there are many ways to skin That tired old cat.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING !
This is ever so important, without a PLAN you are planning to fail and expensively. Take your Time, Ask Questions, use Critical & Logical Thinking, NO IMPULSE BUYING (there are always deals and more deals that follow), no such thing as a "once in lifetime deal" anyone (vendor) pressures you to buy anything RUN.

Hope it helps get you started on your path.
Good Luck
Steve

 

[Smith]

Do you actually need a 120v water pump.... or can you do an RV type, 12v water pump...?

 

[Ampster]

Are the components going to be enough?

You did a good job of articulation the capacity of the components. As @SteveS mentioned above, now you need to do the same for the loads. In the case of the loads two numbers are important. The kW of all the loads that you need to run and the same time and the kWhrs that you think the loads will consume overnight or when the sun is not shining.

 

[Trukinbear]

As long as you have that diesel generator there is no such thing as too much battery. Only April thru September do we produce enough solar to fully charge our batteries, the rest of the year the diesel generator runs at least an hour or two every other day.