Trying to get my head around off-grid and batteries!

ChrisOlson

Re: Trying to get my head around off-grid and batteries!

Photowhit wrote: »

Or just have a well planned system, No generator for 11 years, 3 battery replacements, (one due to user error, leaving a load while gone for 3 months with panels mostly down.) Golf cart batteries until forklift battery 2 years ago.

IMHO, well planned can involve any number or combination of components, including generator(s), to achieve the desired results. But to get to well planned you have to know some basic things about daily consumption, average and peak loads, etc.. While some folks may be able to do without a generator, for others proper use of generator power can reduce the required investment in batteries and battery replacement costs.

When you're trying to get your head around off-grid and batteries, the first thing that has to get into your head is that batteries are the most expensive consumable item in an off-grid power system. Generators, and the fuel run thru them, are cheap by comparison.
--
Chris

jars121

Re: Trying to get my head around off-grid and batteries!

Thanks for the input everyone. As I said in the first post, I'm hypothetically thinking of this system, so the likelihood of ever actually building it is slim, which is why the hush-hush aspect of it all doesn't bother as much. I just wanted to understand the role batteries played in the whole thing, which I now understand. I must say, I quite like the tangent this thread has gone off on!

Cariboocoot

Re: Trying to get my head around off-grid and batteries!

jars121 wrote: »

I must say, I quite like the tangent this thread has gone off on!

Lateral thinking.
You know what a lateral is? It's a kind of muscle.
(Original form of the joke: credit Terry Pratchett.)