Tired of unreliable power company & wanting to go solar

[zannej]

Salutations,

I live in a rural area in the woods where electricity is the only utility we get on grid.

I just joined today while trying to get more info about solar power options because I am sick of my power company Beauregard Electric (BECI) screwing us over. The most recent events were the last straw.
Basically they restored power to every house but mine bc some idiot forgot to flip the switch to turn our power back on at the station. So we were without power for an additional 18 hours after everyone else had power back. Not the first time they did this to us either. They also have frequent power surges and outages for no apparent reason. It killed our microwave and air fryer. Also fried a couple of computers even though they had surge protectors. Blew up our landline phone about 3x. Sorry, venting. I hate this company. You can't even reach them in an actual emergency.

Anyway, my best friend started looking in to solar options and found the sale on Sungold's site. The 20kw kit is looking pretty good right now and I'm hoping it would be enough. I will have to double check to see what everything draws, but the things we run:
One Trane central air (outside unit and inside air handler)
One 50gallon water heater
1HP pump that draws water into a cistern
1HP jet pump that pushes water out to the house and outside areas
Two refrigerators
One upright freezer
One mini/dorm refrigerator
Three mini coolers (for insulin and cooled medicines)
One Microwave
Two pressure cookers
One air fryer (which will be replaced after the recent power surges killed it)
One toaster
One electric can opener
Two portable induction cooktops
One water fountain for kitties (intend to add one or two more at some point)
Two TVs (but might get a 3rd)
Starlink modem and dish
Three PCs
Three Laptops
Various gaming systems (those are for my brother)
Charging for headsets and other devices-- minimal usage
One window AC unit
Various lights and desk fans- mostly LED

Down at the workshop we have multiple LED shop lights, table saw, miter saw, air compressor, shop vac, planer, band saw, drill press, etc. The planer tripped the breaker down there so we haven't used it in awhile. It's also pretty far from the house so might need its own system set up independently. Anyone know how much power those tools draw? I'm totally new to this.

My best friend is a certified electrician and works on cars, phones, computers, and arcade games. He's also done some wiring at home and has more knowledge of this stuff than I do. I took electronic engineering in college but that was almost 30 years ago.

The kit I was looking at was the one with two of the 10kw SPH10048P inverters. It also has six SG48100P LifePo4 batteries, some cables and bracket thingies, and the battery stand shelf thingamabob. My friend was thinking we could put the batteries in a utility closet near the laundry room (which is all wood) but I'm not sure that is a good idea. There is also a metal storage shed outside but I need to patch the roof and insulate it better. I could always buy a cheap plastic shed that can be slapped together, but I'm not sure if that would be the best idea. Kit also comes with 32 440W solar panels.
Do these things need a lot of room to breathe? How much humidity/moisture can they handle?
Is it dangerous to keep them in a house?
Could I buy things separately to build a kit for about the same price?
Should I get different solar panels?
Or could I upgrade the panels at some point?

I watched a video from someone who used a similar setup on smaller scale and I see he had a bus bar (which I couldn't find for sale).

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Welcome to the forum.

You need to do load calculations to figure out what your power draw is, max, sustained, average etc. Then determine how much battery backup you want to have.
I'd ask your friend to borrow his clamp meter and measure the inrush current of your big loads; well pump, compressor, etc.

You'll most definitely want a soft start / easy start for your air handler.

The inverters you're considering are made by SRNE, the model is the ASP. sungold is just relabeling them.
A couple of us recently ordered the ASP, I paid $2255.49 for 2 of them delivered to my door.... Normally the kits are overpriced and your much better off piecing together one yourself to save money.
I can't recommend them until we know what your loads are and if they will handle what you need. I will say I've been running an ASF since last fall powering my entire house, well pump, air compressor, stove, dryer, etc. The only reason I'm upgrading to the ASPs is I need more than 10KW output and the ASF can't be paralleled...

Search around for some SRNE threads. There are also a few members running the sungold version of the ASF that have had good feedback. Again until we know your actual loads it's tough to give recommendations.

I will recommend sharing your power bill (private info redacted) so we can get an idea of avg usage. I'd also advise you to check out suncalc.org, JRC solar calculator and PVwatts. Gov; they were invaluable in my planning.

I'll end with a final warning, it's a dangerous addiction; once you start harvesting your first photon you'll want more more more

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

I would address the big issues first, such as:
- surge protection devices (in your load panel, and in front of critical devices)
- site fuel (propane) and generator (auto-start)

Electrician friend should be able to address both of these with you.

With just these two things out of the way, it may be possible to solve 90% of the current issues you have with being on grid, from your particular utility provider. The gen is also part of your solar equipment setup, as you want a backup system (to charge battery-bank if weather isn't cooperating that day), and a way to handle large loads that exceed your design or budget (and this always happens).

You'll have time to plan first, and buy to your requirements and plan. Plus, the grid connection is valuable, so it will also become a part of the final solar setup.

If backup power from gen is now available, and surge protection is now in place, you can slowly tackle the learning curve with some small projects (perhaps the shop, or some specific set of loads that you'll get off the grid).

Hope this helps ...

 

[Mattb4]

Don't buy a kit until you have a handle on the your loads you intend to power. Your list is filled with high demand type items and it sounds like there are several persons in your household. If any of them are not onboard with doing load management, due to limited supply that a solar setup may provide, there will be problems. For instance if your home is typical with a 200 amp Main Service this means that from the grid you can power up to 48,000 watts worth of loads. It can do this (if not out) anytime during the day or night. To build equivalent with solar is possible but be prepared for a massive expenditure.

If you and your family can work around not needing everything on at once you can get by with much less of a setup.

 

[zannej]

Thanks for the input. I need to get the power bills from the old lady (my elderly mother). She handles the bills but I'm her caregiver since she is disabled. It's just us, my brother, 2 dogs, 2 cows, and 12 cats. I may have to get some sort of timer for my brother's stuff because he leaves things running all the time.

Part of the problem with my system is that there are no ground wires for any of the outlets or fixtures. The people who built this place didn't get permits and nothing is to code. I've been slowly fixing things, but the power company also sucks and doesn't do much maintenance. They don't trim back trees like they should and they have some janky looking setups.

We sometimes run the air fryer and microwave at the same time. Or the cooktop (which goes into a 15amp outlet) and the microwave. Fridge and freezer are constantly running but the rest only run when needed. Well, AC fan is permanently stuck on after a repair, but the cooling/heating part is only when needed. If having batteries as a backup helps when power is out and can keep at least the fridge and water running then we're ok. It sucks when power goes out and we can't even flush a toilet since we have the well system.

Soft starter is a good idea. I meant to get one awhile back but the one I was looking at sold out.

 

[dopeassjackson]

Buy a backup generator. 18hr extra isnt much.

 

[ricardocello]

They also have frequent power surges and outages for no apparent reason. It killed our microwave and air fryer. Also fried a couple of computers even though they had surge protectors.

Given the unreliability of the grid, rather than setting up a whole house UPS (which will cost a mint), you might consider a double conversion system, or go mostly off grid, only using it to charge batteries. This is a really expensive venture given the equipment you want to power.
But I understand the frustration. Given your house wiring isn’t up to code, it may be better to invest in improvements there first, adding critical load panels, for example, so you can easily power those when the grid goes down.

 

[Cabin Rising]

I gave up on your solar venture at the 50 gallon hot water heater. Realized you are expecting way too much from a solar array. After reading more of the follow up, I think most of your problem is the wiring in the house. The power company may not be causing those failures so much as you might think.

What you need to do it first bring all of the house wiring up to code. Then if most of the troubles have not been corrected, look into a possible grid tie hybrid system. This way you stay on the grid and then have backup when the power is down. This is only one option you may consider. For what you listed for power needs, there is going the be a lot of batteries installed to cover everything. I mean a lot.

When you have no grounded circuits, shorts and surges have to go somewhere. It seems that somewhere is all of the appliances that cant take the heat, so to speak. I am clueless when it comes to a whole house off grid solar array, but from what I understand, you need more than a few panels in the sun and even more batteries. More than you may realize just how expensive it will be.

 

[wpns]

You really need to start with an energy audit or survey to determine your peak load (KW) and daily use (KWHR). Monthly power bills can be an approximate starting point but your appliance list has a lot of high power equipment, and it’s not going to be cheap (SWAG $25-50K)