My girlfriend and I are moving to a small house/cabin that is not connected to the grid.
There is a very small solar system installed: 300w of panels, 600w inverter, 4 - 12v 105ah batteries and a 20A regulator.
We want to run lights (LEDs), a fridge/freezer that uses 258kwh/year and is rated at 160w, a laptop, a desktop with a 650w power supply (estimate it uses about 400w), a washing machine and a couple of other smaller appliances.
I do realize that we will have to upgrade but budget is VERY tight so we do not mind running things like the washing machine on sunny days only, maybe my desktop too.
So, what I am asking is, what is the smallest system we can get away with?
I am particularly looking for advice from people with personal experience of running a really small system but obviously will welcome comments and suggestions from anyone who thinks that they can help.
We live in South Africa at about 34 degrees South and have a Mediterranean climate.
We are TOTALLY new to solar and have been researching on the net but I have to admit that I am feeling quite overwhelmed by the intricacies and also the jargon that is commonly used so I would ask whoever answers to please make it as easy to understand as possible.
Thanks.
Mark
There is a very small solar system installed: 300w of panels, 600w inverter, 4 - 12v 105ah batteries and a 20A regulator.
We want to run lights (LEDs), a fridge/freezer that uses 258kwh/year and is rated at 160w, a laptop, a desktop with a 650w power supply (estimate it uses about 400w), a washing machine and a couple of other smaller appliances.
I do realize that we will have to upgrade but budget is VERY tight so we do not mind running things like the washing machine on sunny days only, maybe my desktop too.
So, what I am asking is, what is the smallest system we can get away with?
I am particularly looking for advice from people with personal experience of running a really small system but obviously will welcome comments and suggestions from anyone who thinks that they can help.
We live in South Africa at about 34 degrees South and have a Mediterranean climate.
We are TOTALLY new to solar and have been researching on the net but I have to admit that I am feeling quite overwhelmed by the intricacies and also the jargon that is commonly used so I would ask whoever answers to please make it as easy to understand as possible.
Thanks.
Mark
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