moose09876
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2021
- Messages
- 8
Just posting this here for anybody enjoys brainstorming and finding new solutions like I do.
Environment (midwestern Indiana):
1 Main 200A 30 slot panel
1 Secondary main 100A 24 slot panel in detached 4.5 car garage (2.5+2, lengthwise)
Room for 20-22 panels south facing, full sun
Full detached garage available facing east/west, almost full sun. Est. 40 panels (future)
Plan to have 1 electric car/truck/suv, and one electric motorcycle in the next 1-10 years, with an additional car/truck/suv close or after. Currently we both work from home, 2 dogs, no kids, lots of tech, lots of hobbies.
Electric stove, clothes dryer, 2 12kbtu inverter mini splits, and a 3ton 2 stage A/C. Hot water heater and furnace are both natural gas.
All our home lights are LED, the main draws are home theater, microwave, NAS/gaming PC, other 110V cooking implements.
I also have a shop with all 110V air compressor, welder, 1/2hp lathe, 1/3hp mill, 1hp grinder, etc. Nothing essential, but information to have.
Goals:
1) Offset grid cost. All the installers focus on a $0 bill right now, which is not one of my goals and really puts me off the installers. Price is rising, usage is rising, I'd like to get something in place that can grow with us and be financially feasible.
2) Expandability - more PV, more battery, more inverting power. I don't want to be stuck down the road.
3) Provide at least some UPS / grid down functionality. Longest we've been without power was 30 hours in the last 10 years, but it gives me unnecessary stress.
The lobbyists won, so net metering here is dead. No choice other than zero export. Average current usage is ~1800kwh/mo. We will never be off-grid here.
I'm a DIYer, so an off the shelf solution or paying for full install is off the table. For this area and potential benefit, the cost is just too high. The best plan I've come up with so far is (and I'll try to make this make any sense) - Keeping the main grid feed to the 200A panel along with the dryer, stove, and main A/C. I consider these very power hungry and not completely necessary. 60A breaker off the main panel would feed an Outback Power Skybox. Additional 60A would backfeed an interlocked subpanel (see below). The Skybox seems to integrate all the functions I'm looking for and are outdoor rated to save space in the garage. ~8kw PV on the attached south facing garage would feed into the Skybox. That would then feed a subpanel in the house that houses all my loads (except dryer, stove, and 3ton A/C). That panel would have an interlock and be backfed from the 60A breaker mentioned above for the option to switch back to grid if necessary. I can't put all my eggs in the inverter's basket. Battery for the Skybox would be a server rack style 100AH 48V Battery, planning on starting with 2 with the option to expand this bank. The Skybox has CT's that can monitor the mains to insure zero export. My hope is that I won't need an additional skybox for my loads, but if I do, I'll just move the necessary circuits back over to the grid connected box until I get the future skybox installed.
Future:
After electric vehicle adoption.... Add however many panels I can fit on the detached garage both watts and space wise, and add another Skybox in parallel with another 2+ battery bank in the detached garage. The Skyboxes communicate with each other and the consumption monitor to adjust the output to maintain zero export. Another major benefit to using the Skyboxes is if the dumb laws here ever change, they can be reconfigured for net metering.
I antagonize over everything, something this substantial is a lot. Would love constructive opinions on what I missed / haven't thought of / found. Thanks!
Environment (midwestern Indiana):
1 Main 200A 30 slot panel
1 Secondary main 100A 24 slot panel in detached 4.5 car garage (2.5+2, lengthwise)
Room for 20-22 panels south facing, full sun
Full detached garage available facing east/west, almost full sun. Est. 40 panels (future)
Plan to have 1 electric car/truck/suv, and one electric motorcycle in the next 1-10 years, with an additional car/truck/suv close or after. Currently we both work from home, 2 dogs, no kids, lots of tech, lots of hobbies.
Electric stove, clothes dryer, 2 12kbtu inverter mini splits, and a 3ton 2 stage A/C. Hot water heater and furnace are both natural gas.
All our home lights are LED, the main draws are home theater, microwave, NAS/gaming PC, other 110V cooking implements.
I also have a shop with all 110V air compressor, welder, 1/2hp lathe, 1/3hp mill, 1hp grinder, etc. Nothing essential, but information to have.
Goals:
1) Offset grid cost. All the installers focus on a $0 bill right now, which is not one of my goals and really puts me off the installers. Price is rising, usage is rising, I'd like to get something in place that can grow with us and be financially feasible.
2) Expandability - more PV, more battery, more inverting power. I don't want to be stuck down the road.
3) Provide at least some UPS / grid down functionality. Longest we've been without power was 30 hours in the last 10 years, but it gives me unnecessary stress.
The lobbyists won, so net metering here is dead. No choice other than zero export. Average current usage is ~1800kwh/mo. We will never be off-grid here.
I'm a DIYer, so an off the shelf solution or paying for full install is off the table. For this area and potential benefit, the cost is just too high. The best plan I've come up with so far is (and I'll try to make this make any sense) - Keeping the main grid feed to the 200A panel along with the dryer, stove, and main A/C. I consider these very power hungry and not completely necessary. 60A breaker off the main panel would feed an Outback Power Skybox. Additional 60A would backfeed an interlocked subpanel (see below). The Skybox seems to integrate all the functions I'm looking for and are outdoor rated to save space in the garage. ~8kw PV on the attached south facing garage would feed into the Skybox. That would then feed a subpanel in the house that houses all my loads (except dryer, stove, and 3ton A/C). That panel would have an interlock and be backfed from the 60A breaker mentioned above for the option to switch back to grid if necessary. I can't put all my eggs in the inverter's basket. Battery for the Skybox would be a server rack style 100AH 48V Battery, planning on starting with 2 with the option to expand this bank. The Skybox has CT's that can monitor the mains to insure zero export. My hope is that I won't need an additional skybox for my loads, but if I do, I'll just move the necessary circuits back over to the grid connected box until I get the future skybox installed.
Future:
After electric vehicle adoption.... Add however many panels I can fit on the detached garage both watts and space wise, and add another Skybox in parallel with another 2+ battery bank in the detached garage. The Skyboxes communicate with each other and the consumption monitor to adjust the output to maintain zero export. Another major benefit to using the Skyboxes is if the dumb laws here ever change, they can be reconfigured for net metering.
I antagonize over everything, something this substantial is a lot. Would love constructive opinions on what I missed / haven't thought of / found. Thanks!