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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 24 Oct 2013 06:38pm
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I would like to know how that works!
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Rossman
Member
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# Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:13pm
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Hey creeky, what all do you run off your 1kw solar setup?
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Borrego
Member
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# Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:17pm
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Quoting: FullSpectrumSurivalist When calculating your watt hour for a refrigerator, you should know it only runs about 25 percent of the time, so if it says 100 watt hours it's really only about 25 watt hours.
Good point, thanks!
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FullSpectrumSurvivalist
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2013 02:44am
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Ontario lakeside, How what works?
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creeky
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2013 08:50am - Edited by: creeky
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Rossman. everything.
remember, I'm one guy watching my solar controller obsessively
so:
fridge (10 cu ft 311 kw/h annual)
microwave (700)
kettle (make coffee every morning)
blender (make a fruit/veg smoothie for breakfast every morning)
induction hot plate (rare)
air conditioner (didn't need it much this year)
stereo system (just put it in ... will post on it later)
large 46" cfl lcd tv (watch it very little until hockey, great for movies and what not when visitors come by)
lights (i have two buildings wired for 120, aprox. 20 lights/outlets)
washer (little Haier washer. man. works great. lots of use)
dishwasher (until i get it hooked up to hot water, rare use)
gadgets (ipod, phone, lights, portable tools, etc to charge and carry around)
tools (mostly the chop saw, but also vacuum cleaner, shop vac/blower)
my battery system is 1200 amps at 12v. wish it was 800 at 24. or 800 at 48. dreamin'. so in the fall nov/dec i run the genny for a half/full hour in the a.m. to help cover the morning loads and give the batteries a bit of a boost. on real cloudy days, if i'm watching tv and cooking on the induction hot plate i may run it for an hour again.
i'm trying to get another 1k hooked up. not so much to charge batteries, but to handle bigger loads in the afternoon. i could schedule the washing and do a little cooking or work with the tools ...
probably forgot some stuff. oh. coffee grinder.
oh. and the internet. i have a router, two laptops, and the modem is satellite. so it's a pretty big energy hog. turn it off at night. every night. kinda cool walking to the solar shack in the dark with the critters rustling in the bush.
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MJW
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2013 09:55am
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Quoting: creeky little Haier washer. man. works great. lots of use
I second the emotion on the Haier. We have the washer and dryer (which also runs on 110) and LOVE them.
They do use a little more water than I thought they would, though.
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Rossman
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2013 11:56am
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Wow, creeky, that's a good system if it can power all that.
I feel like if you can run that off a 1kW and 800AH battery bank, setting up our solar system so we can run all the same stuff we run on grid, will definitely be achievable!
Thanks!
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Borrego
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2013 07:03pm
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Creeky - Very impressive list of stuff you're running, makes me feel optimistic about my upcoming system....would you mind listing your basic system setup? Like how many panels/type. how many batteries/type, etc...
I'd appreciate it greatly!
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creeky
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2013 10:20am
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Rossman. yup. it's surprised me that's for sure. I found out this spring when I did my year analysis that in one period my system could have created 800 kws of power but I had only used 250. so in came the stereo and the fridge.
no problem Borrego.
I have
* 4 48v 250w monocrystalline panels. I wire 2 panel sets in parallel and use 6 g wire to the
* midnight solar mnpv 6 combiner box w 2 20 amp fuses
* 2 gauge runs to my Morningstar MPPT ts-60 controller (which has built in lightning protection, and internet server, so I can easily check how my batteries are doing, plus reliable overcurrent protection).
* 2 gauge runs to an old dc motor switch which i use as the disconnect
* 2 gauge runs to a bus bar where i add a 75 amp PowerMax charger
* 2 gauge runs to a bigger bus bar and 2g connects 3 pairs of Crown CR395 6v batteries wired with 2/0 in series for 12v (this gives me 1200 amp hrs at 12v and almost 800 lbs of lead)
* 4/0 runs from the big bus bars to a fuse and then to a 3000w Ramsond inverter
of course the combiner box hosts the ground. 6 g bare copper as per code runs to the ground plate. most everything is to code. though they might nitpick some of the wire choices as I got a bunch of wire for free.
the inverted ac runs at 30 amps to a fuse box from which i run 4 15 amp circuits. I used 10g to the box and 12 to the start of the plugs/lights when I switch to standard 14g romex. (I got the 10 and 12g on mega sale. It's buried nmwu with the longest run around a 100 feet).
by careful shopping and with some lucky finds I was able to build my system for around $5k.
hope this helps. and enjoy.
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Rossman
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2013 11:29am
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Wow, nice, thanks for the details creeky.
I feel like all these people telling me I'm going to need a "$25k - $50k setup" for going off-grid are talking some *manure* if you know what I mean.
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Borrego
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2013 09:38pm
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It helps big-time, Creeky! What a nice setup...
Only problem for me is that I don't have $5k (at least right now) I was hoping to get going for under $1000. I've read where a person can get a lot of basic needs taken care of for that amount...lights, coffee maker, TV, laptop, ceiling fans....those are what I need first. So would you recommend going with your exact components (I'm sure they are the best quality) and just use 1 panel, smaller controller, inverter? Or use cheaper panels/inverter/controller?
I'll be interested in your take.....
Thanks....
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creeky
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2013 09:18am
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Borrego even a small system will work well for basic needs. I'm out here full time so ...
i started with a $600 "system". it ran lights and the tv for the first summer on the farm. hilarity ensued. blue ray movies do draw in the critters. i don't know why. but the birds would flock in to look at what was going on. even had a fox come take a look. but i digress.
if i was starting again i would definitely do things different.
* but i would stay with the 48v panel. they sell for less per watt.
* then i would get two or four el cheapo 6v golf cart batteries. same as i did originally. that way if i abuse them I'm not out much when i expand to a bigger battery pack. worked perfect for me. wire for 12v
* then sure. a cheap controller. maybe somebody else has a good pick. you'll want mppt with the ability to convert the 48v to your 12v battery pack. get mppt. it's worth it. some of those el cheapo chinese/taiwan controllers look okay. i don't know.
* and a puresine inverter. i'll get flack for this. but i toasted the batteries on a real expensive "pro" drill and that cost me way more than the extra to go puresine. you say you want to charge your laptop etc. go puresine. sneer at msw.
now start haunting flea markets etc and score yourself some cheap wire. you're looking for 10, 8, 6, and 2 gauge. you'll only need some of the really fat wires in the less than a foot range. so scraps are good. a nice fat 10 or 8g makes for great panel to controller wire. you know. keep the distances as short as possible. I started around 20 ft. 6 is great, at your voltage/amp range, for controller to battery. and i'd still go fat for battery to inverter. so 2? maybe 6. i don't know your loads.
walmart saved me when i started. they have 8g cables with lugs on. cost a bit, but saved some time connecting inverter to batteries... maybe a bit small, but I was only running lights and a tv. when i built the big system i did all my own lugs as required.
Rossman. I know. I was told the same thing when I started. Planning for a 4kw system. IMHO: people don't realize that almost everything has dropped in price over the last two years by 1/2 or more. I mean I bought 48v panels last year for .80/w. I paid 1.90/w the year before. They were $6/w only a few years before that...
That new charger/inverter from Schneider is 1200 bucks and inverts to 4kw, built in charger, ats! Again, a similar device was almost $4k when I first built my system.
whatever the cost tho. living with no sound but the wind through the trees and the singing of birds ... yet all the amenities of "home" ... 
(okay the honking of flocks of geese at 5:30 and the howling of "coyotes" ...)
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2013 09:51am
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Quoting: creeky * and a puresine inverter. i'll get flack for this.
Not from me you won't. I totally agree with the choice of pure sine wave. Not everything works well or works at all on square wave (so-called modified sine wave). Some things work but waste energy; motors for example run hotter, waste energy and have a shortened life. I have a microwave that does not run at all on square wave; makes noise, fan inside goes, but heating is so slow it is hard to measure.
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Borrego
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2013 10:58am
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Thanks, Cheeky! I'll be starting my system in a couple months, and your advice is a big help. can you suggest an alternative panel? The ones you spec out seem to be unavailable online.....
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2013 02:30pm
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almost all gridtie panels are 48v.
so you're looking for a 48v panel @ 250 watts
not to toot anyone's horn here but, like this one
http://www.solar-electric.com/trina-solar-panels.html
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2013 02:33pm
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thx MtnDon.
I'm an enthusiast. not an engineer. and most of what i think i know is the direct result of trial and error. which i like to call trial and success. 
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Rossman
Member
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:55am
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It makes you wonder, what wouldn't you be able to run with a crazy system like this?
http://www.solar-electric.com/7waofsoposyw.html
Feel as though, with that, you can pretty well run anything??
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:14pm
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Pretty much. Within a small radius of where I live there are three large PV installations; two grid tie and one stand alone. The stand alone has the advantage of having power during an outage.
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