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Dear All:
I'm completely new to solar power and apologize if these are dumb questions of if I ramble. I've been looking into building a remote cabin that would probably never have grid access available.
I would be there infrequently, probably only 3-4 days at a time most times with 2-4 weeks in between visits and from my research the property has about 4-5 sun hours per day. From my estimates I believe I would need about 7kwh per day at the absolute maximum if every appliance I intend to run (actual use would be about 2kwh per day with the 7kwh being if I used a small window a/C unit some during the summer and an electric refrigerator instead of propane- I'm still undecided whether it makes more sense to pay the higher cost of propane fridge vs. more panels/batteries)
My question is how big of a solar panel array would I need. I've ran some calculators that say I could get by with 600 watts of panels and about 900aph of batteries for the 2kwh and 2100 watts of panels with about 1100aph for 7kwh. I will have a back up small generator for times when there is a heavier than usual load or to help charge batteries if I'm there for longer periods of time but would prefer to run it as little as possible.
I'm thinking since that the batteries would have no use for a few weeks at a time (everything except the fridge would be unplugged when not there) that I could get by with a larger battery bank and a much smaller solar panel array. Eventually I plan to add on to the cabin and panel array, but my question is how small of an array can I get by with and how much additional battery power would I need? Would an 800 watt panel array work and if so, how much additional battery power would I likely need?
Also I'm planning to install a rain harvest system with a pump on a separate solar system. Most likely a 3/4 to 1hp pump engine. Would a 100 watt panel system with batteries be enough to power the pump consistently.
I'm completely new to solar power and apologize if these are dumb questions of if I ramble. I've been looking into building a remote cabin that would probably never have grid access available.
I would be there infrequently, probably only 3-4 days at a time most times with 2-4 weeks in between visits and from my research the property has about 4-5 sun hours per day. From my estimates I believe I would need about 7kwh per day at the absolute maximum if every appliance I intend to run (actual use would be about 2kwh per day with the 7kwh being if I used a small window a/C unit some during the summer and an electric refrigerator instead of propane- I'm still undecided whether it makes more sense to pay the higher cost of propane fridge vs. more panels/batteries)
My question is how big of a solar panel array would I need. I've ran some calculators that say I could get by with 600 watts of panels and about 900aph of batteries for the 2kwh and 2100 watts of panels with about 1100aph for 7kwh. I will have a back up small generator for times when there is a heavier than usual load or to help charge batteries if I'm there for longer periods of time but would prefer to run it as little as possible.
I'm thinking since that the batteries would have no use for a few weeks at a time (everything except the fridge would be unplugged when not there) that I could get by with a larger battery bank and a much smaller solar panel array. Eventually I plan to add on to the cabin and panel array, but my question is how small of an array can I get by with and how much additional battery power would I need? Would an 800 watt panel array work and if so, how much additional battery power would I likely need?
Also I'm planning to install a rain harvest system with a pump on a separate solar system. Most likely a 3/4 to 1hp pump engine. Would a 100 watt panel system with batteries be enough to power the pump consistently.
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