Needs some help with my solar

At311

Hey guys just joined the site I'm a Canadian guy but I noticed the forum looks very helpful in figuring out my needs .

I have recently built a smaller homestead style cabin on my 5 acre lot in Nova Scotia, and i would like to erect a solar aray to power the place .and i am trying to size up the solar system i will need to get. And also what some of the best products to purchase are and which ones are bad . Also would like to know exactly which components i will need for sure and which ones are optional. As well as any other pointers when starting a solar system.

Thanks

BB.

I like to start with your loads (amp*hours @ xx VDC or Watt*hours per day, AC or DC loads), roughly where the system will be installed, summer, 9 Month, 12 month usage, trees or mountain shading, etc

Backup genset (especially winter usage)?

More or less, solar power will cost around $1 to $2+ per kwatt*hour. Or almost 10x the cost of utility power.

So picking very efficient loads, conservation, and such is very helpful too.

Bill

softdown

Welcome to the forum! Very helpful forum, you have quite the undertaking on your hands. You need a good basic understanding of solar power. A few hours with a good Intro to Solar book will be time well spent. 

You will need:
Panels
Charge Controller
Inverter
Batteries
Wiring and battery cables
Safety Gear like fuses and grounds

Are you sure grid power is not an option? Solar really is pretty expensive.

At311

Hey man I have not much for worries with price . I have an idea of a starter system I want and I am familiar with solar system in general I jus want a second option and more advice on the in depth details of each component ect.

At311

And for the other fellow I would be there 12 months of the year with hash winter conditions from at least December to match an I do have a generator capable of back up power

mcgivor

Knowing the anticipated loads is crucial to sizing, without which nothing can be suggested with any accuracy, even a rough idea would be helpful, an accurate figure more so. 

petertearai

generally you get what you pay for . Stick with the top players in the market for charge controllers  inveters etc .dont even consider 12 volts . 24 or 48  is the way to go . 5 acres may mean you can do a ground mount PV system, easier in many ways .
Cost is one aspect of off grid . Being in charge of your own power can be interesting . Where i am i look down a valley , and for the people who are on grid , there are many power-cuts. All lights out except for my house. I've so far never had a power-cut , only a few planed outages for maintenance  , battery replacements etc. .
I think you'l find it interesting , and this site has a lot a great helpful people to advise . 

At311

What are the top players in the market

At311

N I was considering 12v at first but why would you say go with 24 or 48v without hesitation

At311

As of right now I do have a motomaster 2000w power inverter . Should I use this and base my other products around that after I figure out my potential usage . Also is this mom to master 2000w inverter appropriate for the solar application or is this jus a product used mainly for a vehicle

MrM1

If you look at the signatures of some of the people who have posted above,   some or most of them are successfully living off grid.  There signatures give you a pretty good idea of their usage, setups sizes and quality equipment.  But there is no shortcuts here.  Having a good/solid idea of what your daily loads will be in Watt HOURS!  will be an invaluable tool. 

As to key players in the market.  You really want a company that has a good reputation and who will answer the phone when you need tech support - and you will.  If you stick to Schneider, Outback Power, Magnum, MidNite Solar, Samlex, Morningstar (to name a few in no particular order) you will be in pretty safe territory. 

mcgivor

At311 said:

What are the top players in the market

MrM1 said:

If you look at the signatures of some of the people who have posted above,   some or most of them are successfully living off grid.  There signatures give you a pretty good idea of their usage, setups sizes and quality equipment.  But there is no shortcuts here.  Having a good/solid idea of what your daily loads will be in Watt HOURS!  will be an invaluable tool. 

As to key players in the market.  You really want a company that has a good reputation and who will answer the phone when you need tech support - and you will.  If you stick to Schneider, Outback Power, MidNite Solar, Samlex, Morningstar (to name a few) you will be in pretty safe territory. 

There are many who started with various components from different manufacturers, myself included,  in order to create a system that works, it can be done, very successfully too if the knowledge base is sound, but there has to be something to be said to an integrated system where components communicate with one another. My choice with Schneider equipment was based on price and availability, I initially wanted Morningstar based on experience, but a whole new door was opened, not only are the components reasonably priced, even compared to no name, brands but they are designed to work with one another. Granted it's impossible to have experienced every manufacturers offerings so much information is based on personal experience, Midnight I understand has probably some of the best controllers but, as far as I know have no inverter which is designed to work in conjunction with it. Outback is well established in the field, no personal experience, Morningstar has little in the way of inverters, except small non communication units, SMA is interesting, very well integrated, based on reading, not first hand experience, but they don't seem to have a foothold in the North American market. My best suggestion is to read, read, research as much as possible, it would sure be nice to get it right on the first attempt, if planned correctly it's not impossible...... start with loads, very important. ...very!

littleharbor2

+1, mcgivor.  I might add the SMA Sunny Island inverters are rock solid but definitely at the upper end of the price category. Just for the fun of it look them up on Amazon, 

petertearai

looks like that inverter is a modified sine wave , not the best for some loads .  as for the volts   12 volts at say 100 amps is the same as 48 volts at 25 amps. So voltage drop is less of a problem and cables can be cheaper  .   get a mppt charge controller  this will allow for a higher voltage input and give more design flexibility. Also you can use the ( generally less expensive ) 60 cell pv panels .

MrM1

The only reason I did not go with matched components -

1. I wanted the Schneider Conext SW inverter because it was (honestly) the cheapest I could find in a UL1741 inverter of the size I needed AND it was split phase 240 for North America

2. I went with MidNite Solar MPPT CC because it had what appeared to be the best communication software/connection of anything else. 

So while not matched,  the SW and the Midnite play well together do to both of their local area network controls and the ability for the user to deeply monitor the system.  The Midnite classic CC with the WhizBang Jr Shunt adds extra monitoring capability to the Classic CC and is probably the best / cheapest battery monitor system out there.  The combo of the 2 products - SW inverter with Conext Combox and Classic CC with Whizbang JR - give me unlimited control from the comfort of my dining room table.  I can manage,  adjust and monitor the whole system from inside the house.    

This setup is truly a tweak geeks paradise.

mcgivor

At311 said:

As of right now I do have a motomaster 2000w power inverter . Should I use this and base my other products around that after I figure out my potential usage . Also is this mom to master 2000w inverter appropriate for the solar application or is this jus a product used mainly for a vehicle

No, don't use the Canadian Tire inverter to base your system around, base your system around loads, first and foremost, you are correct however it is not for a solar application.

Estragon

Midnite is in the latter stages of developing an intergrated inverter which looks interesting FWIW.

IMO, most of the gear sold by our hosts would be considered quality, well supported product, provided it's used in an appropriate way in a properly designed system.

I have a couple of the Motomaster inverters. They work well for incandescent lights, and maybe charging phones etc in a pinch, but not much else. I have found they make pretty much anything other than purely resistive loads run hot.

What is your source of water? Often it's stuff like pumps that ends up driving some of the design decisions (along with total daily watt-hours and desired days of autonomy with no sun).

mike95490

our host

https://www.solar-electric.com/solar/calc

 has a off-grid load calculator, figure your appliances, and how much they operate per day, and you come up with the battery size needed.

softdown

I'd suggest slowing down and doing plenty of research before leaping into everything. There are 99 ways to screw things up. 1 way to "do it right"