totally new to solar but want to set up system on grid

[GK Price]

Hello - I'm totally new to solar, live in an on grid location in the mid Willamette Valley OR - wide open sky above but lots of rain 5-6 months a year -

where to start ? ...... OK, unexpected delays now taken care of and I'm ready to begin this "journey"

as original post above says is still current ... My "plan" is to build a 200 sq ft outbuilding situated in direction to take full use of sun, can build roof
structure a little outside the bldg footprint and robust enough to carry panels but don't know yet, will I need more panels that what I can mount on say 220 sq ft ? will separate a room for controls and batteries below - plan on RV batteries, good or bad idea ? -
Not a high usage residence, in summer w/ 3 mini splits in 1400 sq ft my monthly bill runs approx $100, not doing this to save money but to have power if/when grid goes down or disappears - One TV, 2 adults, induction cookstove, 1 computer nearly all LED lighting - pellet stove and wood stove if needed - PLEASE tell me what I'm missing or unaware of ...

Best source for equipment will be key for me also

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Welcome to the forum! There are a lot of great folks on the forum who are more than willing to help. My advice would be to start with some of these resources, then ask your questions from there.

Beginners' Resources

New to the forum and building a solar power system? Start here

diysolarforum.com

 

[ncsolarelectric]

Start with your annual kWh usage. If you want batteries to have independence from the grid. Do an audit of all your electrical loads. List the item, Watts, Amps, Volts, and how many hours a day it is used. This tells you the size of the inverter and how many kWh of batteries are required at a minimum. Reach out if you need assistance.

 

[GK Price]

Start with your annual kWh usage. If you want batteries to have independence from the grid. Do an audit of all your electrical loads. List the item, Watts, Amps, Volts, and how many hours a day it is used. This tells you the size of the inverter and how many kWh of batteries are required at a minimum. Reach out if you need assistance.

I have time, haven't even begun building yet although I'm a contractor and build my own stuff, give me 30 days for that, ie; special needs for enclosure such as venting or windows for heat issues ? I'm committed to doing this and usually fast at it ...

I REALLY appreciate the guidance, does your company sell equipment ?

 

[peakbagger]

The best investment right now is buy a used copy of Solar Power Your Home for Dummies, its bit dated but it gets you up to speed on the basics and allow you to understand a lot of the specialized terms.

Next thing is look up your utility tariffs for solar. Grid tied systems really need to be designed to take advantage of the solar tariffs that your utility has in place. Some utilities are solar friendly and some are definitely not and some may not even let you connect a grid tied system(rural coops on rare occasions).

If you are thinking of buying an EV factor that into your estimated usage.

Caution - Editorial )

There are firms that will design and sell you a "kit", most grid tied solar is "plug and play" but tying it into the homes electrical system is definitely not for many folks. Some solar incentives requires the install by licensed electricians, some do not. Ideally you do the grunt work of installign the rails and panels, then work with and electrician. The one "con" these days are equipment companies and some contractors are desperately trying to turn a one time purchase into ongoing revenue stream. They do this by having the inverters communicate to the internet for long term monitoring. This usually mean the installer has to do the initial configuration and inevitably have to come visit on occasion when it screws up or the manufacturer changes the communication requirements. The homeowner usually does not get access to configuration passwords and some equipment companies will not talk to homeowner, only the "authorized installer". The systems usually work without communcation but things like self diagnostics that should be local in the inverter is sent to the :mothership" so if the communcations go down, the homeowner may not beable to know if all the panels are working. Most grid tied systems on residential roofs need panel level devices to meet code requirements and these are not particularly reliable so over the life of the array panel could be out of service and the homeowner would not know unless the communciations were working. There are alternatives to this if the structure you are building is non occupied or if you go with pole or ground mount. Installers do not typically offer the simpler lower cost alternative as they would rather do cookie cutter installs with standard components they buy by the case.