Affordable solar kit

Dapdan
Dapdan Solar Expert Posts: 330 ✭✭
Hey guys,

I have been thinking recently about pitching a small affordable kit to business venture or as a proposed policy stragedy for small island states. I think i can put together system component that would be able to running lighting 24/7 in a moderately sized home (not greater than 1500sf) for under a total equipment cost of $2500. Here is the proposed system breakdown and approximated cost as i see it. Tell me what you guys think of the proposal in terms of feasiblity as design:

400w pv ~ $1000 (thinking 2No. sun-205- non-ul listed)

600w TSW 24v inverter ~ $225 (thinking samlex)

panel with pv, cc & bat breaker/disconnect including breakers ~ $150
(thinking midnite big baby box and all necessary hardware)

CC ~ $250 (thinking morningstar mppt )

batteries at least 100ah ~ $400 (thinking 4x u-225)

so grand total is appro. $2025

Basically this is to run 4 25w cfl for 6 hr straight every night to give me a load of
600wh (of course you can get 13w cfl, but i am over estimating for losses)

so for a 24v system i reckon this is approximately 30ah of storage to achieve this.
and for say dod of about 30% i am looking at least 100ah 24v battery bank.

panel wise...200w at 5hr per day gives me 1000wh which is appro. 50ah for a 24v system which more than replaces the discharge at night.

so what do you guys thinking of my reckoning.

Cheers...
Damani

Comments

  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    i imagine you either have a business or are contemplating one for this field. if this is only for lights and noninductive loads then go with a modsine inverter. more islanders then could afford it. if for fans, friges, etc then a tsw inverter is warranted and you'd most likely need to up the pvs, inverter, and battery capacity to match the loads. i don't know what all would sell for islanders, but i would think refrigeration would be a desire if not a fan. they'd probably be happy with a few cfls or even leds, but you would know what they'd want better than i i suppose.
  • Dapdan
    Dapdan Solar Expert Posts: 330 ✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    hey niel,

    thanks for the input. i live in a country where every other house has an solar hot water heater and they start at about $1250 each. we have been using solar hot water heaters since the late 70s. I have a 80gal system on my house that handle 3 bathrooms i kitchen quite well.

    I am looking at energy independence. ppl i think would looking to it on just those merits. as for tsw, i bought a $60 msw (xantrex XP1000) and it had some problems starting two types of cfl. It just could not get them started. so i thought the tsw would a way to go and the price i found the samlex at was a good price. Oh yeah that same inverter killed a small advent tv i had as well. so with my experiences i prefer to go with tsw. I would only use my msw if it is an entirely resistive load. I would not want others to go through want i went through.

    Cheers...
    Damani
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    consider 12v cfls or leds then and skip the inverter. i can't see spending bigger $ and wasted wattage for lights only. see this thread on leds.
    http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?t=4791
  • Dapdan
    Dapdan Solar Expert Posts: 330 ✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    niel,

    I was thinking more along the lines of direct replacement of existing light fixture. 120v cfl are cheap and easy to access locally whereas 12v cfl cannot be bought locally and are more expensive.

    I have been following that thread on leds and have checked the ref site but have found no suitable low voltage light that can directly replace (edison type fitting) existing light fitting found in a house. Although using 12v setup would be more efficent and you save a couple hundred dollars. I was thinking that a person would have more flexibility in terms of 120ac for emergency uses such as blackout and hurricane events which we tend to get down here in the Caribbean. That is why i went with a 600w inveter (you could run your lights, listen to your radio, charge batteries/cell phone and watch a small television). using the batteries i spec would give about 2.5kwh down to 50% dod which is pretty decent and could run a couple of small electrical items.

    Cheers...
    Damani
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    ok the cheap availability of cfls is a consideration, but to replace them with an expensive tsw inverter that can't be any more available than the 12v cfls or leds, i somehow just can't see.
    ok see it in the perspective of the survivor in a hurricane. no electric except what they got from you. how long will it last with the extra power sucked from the inverter? in fact going leds would be best i think as they are less likely to burn out at a bad time and cfls (ac or dc) are made of glass and are more apt to break. the longest reliable sustained light under adverse conditions is what i'd want even if one must order it and it initially costs more. let's face it, the inverters and pvs aren't exactly all that available there cheaply either. tsw inverters may still have a place there in some circumstances, but imho for lighting i disagree with your decision to go with inverters.
    in any case of what you decide to try, fuse them as nobody wants to short a battery at a time like that. worst case then would be back in the darkness until you grope for another fuse.
  • Dapdan
    Dapdan Solar Expert Posts: 330 ✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    niel,

    I take your point on the led lights. I actually bought some couple years back and did not last the thousand of hours as reported (bought from geeks.com 1.3w edison type fixture). I would be the first to buy them but need to see good reviews in respect of history of use. as i said i went through the site and did see a good "swap" replacement for an existing light socket that could work. the 120v type with the right amoung of lumens (say >300) was around $50 each! In respect of the inverter $215 for a 600w 24v inverter is very good price and would do the job of lighting a more (comp, bat chargers, small fan, small tv) as required if you monitor the discharge.

    as i said local you can get a good 120 cfl but you can't get a good 120v or 12v led bulb you would have to import. therefore you have to factor in 2 sets of shipping cost, local taxes(15% vat & 1% levy), clearing cost from port and maybe even a delivery fee. so from my experience you can add about 50% of the cost of the one bulb to get it in your hand. of course with economies of scale the more you bring the cheaper they would be (also more you would have to spend up front to buy them). Then there is the warranty it is just not feasible to claim warranty on these items when you are out of the usa. These are some of the thing i considered when i considered the 120v cfl to be a better choice now. you could buy one here for as little as $6.

    also in my build up i did include fusing for the panels, cc and batteries (using the midnite solar products). You thing naws will consider a discount if i approach them in respect of buying material from them. I am a past customer ;):p

    cheers...
    Damani
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    1) PV panels come and go, you may have to change vendors and distributors often.

    2) lightning - a nearby strike can induce a surge that can blow the inverter & CFL's Grounding will be a art, not a science.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    ok dapdan, good luck with them and let us know what you settle in with and how they work under fire so to speak. as to being a customer, i can say that many of us are and i'm not aware of anybody getting special treatments, myself included.
  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    Another advantage of 12vdc or possibly 24vdc,, is it keeps the fusing simpler. You could incorporate both the charge side fusing as well as the load side fusing in a simple, portable box,,, with polarized dc outlets it you wanted to. If you have to fuse the dc side,, and then fuse the ac side you are adding an element. Between the RV and Marine industries there are a whole host of 12vdc appliances from tv/stereo coffee pots etc. I realize that you are envisioning this for emergencies,, but even at that, portable tvs and radios,, as well as 12vdc lighting might be sort of standard in an emergency "kit". It's also one less thing to understand and one less thing to go wrong.

    Tony
  • n3qik
    n3qik Solar Expert Posts: 741 ✭✭
    Re: Affordable solar kit

    How about this:
    AGM battery, 12 V LEDs and other stuff. Why? Well if the house is damaged by wind or storm surge. Wet electronics ( inverter ) will not work.

    I like the KISS approach to things in life.