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  • design help?

    folks,
    I've postponed for 2 years plus... various reasons. now I'm ready.
    this sort of sounds like a solar energy final exam to me!

    here's the layout.
    house with a meter...
    generac will be installed in a week or so. it's ordered.

    house averages 1500 kwh/month

    barn with a meter. barn is 550 feet away from house. barn feeds power to an office/apartment which is 200 feet away from barn. barn also feeds
    elec. to two wells 1 hp well feeds water to the office.
    barn meter averages 500 kwh... we need more power at barn.

    there are shading problems on all buildings.
    there is open area between with minimal shading about half way between the house and barn for a ground mount
    .

    outages happen but not heavy, but my gut says prepare for long outages... (that's another story for another post. I don't see many political/religious/economic
    posts on this forum so probably best to do those elsewhere!) bottom line...
    desiring a battery system also...
    since there will be generator on location. I'm thinking enough battery backup for 24 to 48 hours. If I shut off the hvac and washer/dryer and electric stove.
    a solar book mentions xx brand battery inverter will sense grid failure and turn on batteries, then when batteries drop to 50% inverter will turn on generator till batteries restored. then inverter will cut off generator and place system under power from pv panels...

    looking at prices.. what do you recommend with a 10kw system ?
    how do I get electricity to both meters?
    8kw to house and 2kw to barn?
    does that mean two inverters? one to each meter?
    how do I get 240 to the well? it is wired through the barn.
    I'd like a system that I can monitor from my computer.

    I'd like to do this with 10kw in panels.. (the cost!) realizing that I'm just reducing the cost of power bill most months.

  • #2
    Originally posted by rock View Post
    folks,
    I've postponed for 2 years plus... various reasons. now I'm ready.
    this sort of sounds like a solar energy final exam to me!

    here's the layout.
    house with a meter...
    generac will be installed in a week or so. it's ordered.

    house averages 1500 kwh/month

    barn with a meter. barn is 550 feet away from house. barn feeds power to an office/apartment which is 200 feet away from barn. barn also feeds
    elec. to two wells 1 hp well feeds water to the office.
    barn meter averages 500 kwh... we need more power at barn.

    there are shading problems on all buildings.
    there is open area between with minimal shading about half way between the house and barn for a ground mount
    .

    outages happen but not heavy, but my gut says prepare for long outages... (that's another story for another post. I don't see many political/religious/economic
    posts on this forum so probably best to do those elsewhere!) bottom line...
    desiring a battery system also...
    since there will be generator on location. I'm thinking enough battery backup for 24 to 48 hours. If I shut off the hvac and washer/dryer and electric stove.
    a solar book mentions xx brand battery inverter will sense grid failure and turn on batteries, then when batteries drop to 50% inverter will turn on generator till batteries restored. then inverter will cut off generator and place system under power from pv panels...

    looking at prices.. what do you recommend with a 10kw system ?
    how do I get electricity to both meters?
    8kw to house and 2kw to barn?
    does that mean two inverters? one to each meter?
    how do I get 240 to the well? it is wired through the barn.
    I'd like a system that I can monitor from my computer.

    I'd like to do this with 10kw in panels.. (the cost!) realizing that I'm just reducing the cost of power bill most months.
    You probably know more about this than I do, but I have heard that Outback has systems like this and saw one that handles 8K. It that a deal breaker?

    Comment


    • #3
      Xantrex (Schneider) has the XW & Conext series of inverters, that are Hybrid inverters, that can manage 2 AC power sources (Grid & generator) and work with batteries.
      I think SMA also has the Sunny Island which is a grid or battery inverter.

      But you will need an energy diet. dump the electric heating appliances and use propane/gas Batteries can't handle those heating loads. When the grid is down, you go to life support mode, not in your face neighbor - I gots light.

      This is going to be a 48V system because of the size of the loads.

      You now need to build up a spreadsheet with your Average loads & Max loads
      My idle load is about 200w, average is 250, and Max is about 3KW for 5 minutes (blow dryer running while pump is on)

      The larger inverters provide 240VAC output. You need to balance loads on each leg properly.

      With 2 meters, I'd say bite the bullet and install 2 systems.
      Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | 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

      Comment

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