20kw Sustainable Farm System - Input needed

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  • chevenstein
    chevenstein Solar Expert Posts: 100 ✭✭
    #32
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    Re: 20kw Sustainable Farm System - Input needed

    I think, Kyle, that your answer to where to go lies mostly in Chris' responses. You should gather more information from people who have accomplished what you're setting out to do and reevaluate your plans. Consult a Professional Engineer about your proposed setup and subject matter experts (like Chris) about strategies employed at similar facilities. It sounds like you should focus on solving your backup needs and reducing the consumption of the refrigeration equipment.

    I personally live with off grid solar power and professionally work on utility scale solar projects (multi-megawatt) and can tell you that solar has its uses, but what you're describing is not one of them. Go visit a residence that is off grid with solar and look closely at how energy is used (get real numbers, not estimates or guesses), then go visit an on grid facility similar to that which you want to construct and again spend some time collecting real operating data and compare the requirements. You will find that the former is substantially easier to supply than the later.

    Good luck!
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  • ChrisOlson
    ChrisOlson Banned Posts: 1,807 ✭✭
    #33
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    Re: 20kw Sustainable Farm System - Input needed
    chevenstein wrote: »
    It sounds like you should focus on solving your backup needs and reducing the consumption of the refrigeration equipment.

    The refrigeration systems are the killer on this project. If you're talking about running some lights and fans and computers, etc. - no problem. But refrigeration compressors typically draw 2.5-3x their rated running amps for starting and 5x their rated running amps at locked rotor with high-side pressure trapped on the heads. Even with a standby generator in a power outage situation, with the 30 second delay between power out and gen online and accepting load, the described refrigeration systems will snuff a 20kW generator like snapping your fingers.

    In order to bring a system like this back online after a power outage, unattended in the event you are gone, you would have to have automatic staged auto-restart controls on the compressors and a whole bunch of other stuff that goes way beyond what anybody can try to explain how to set up on a internet forum. In all good faith, a pro needs to look it over and design it or you'll have a disaster with money spent on stuff that won't work.
    --
    Chris
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