Newbie Questions

[Tiffany H]

Hello everyone, New to Solar and off griding. I stated in a earlier post I have a bunch of Kyocera KC125G panels that are 17 volts. 125 watts. I have a few questions as to what we are doing.

Also bought 32 ap130 Astro panels. (130watt)

how should I wire them? We have a list of things we use normally (We don't leave our lights or Tv on 24 hrs but it would be a nice option.

Fridge 325 watts 24 hours
Tv 250 watts 24 hours
microwave 1100 watts 10 mins a day
Lights combined 100 watts 24 hours
And let's say 100 watts in misc chargers and what not.

How many panels do I need to hook up to keep plenty of power going and what voltage should I go with? Thank you.

[SunEagle]

Hello everyone, New to Solar and off griding. I stated in a earlier post I have a bunch of Kyocera KC125G panels that are 17 volts. 125 watts. I have a few questions as to what we are doing.

how should I wire them? We have a list of things we use normally (We don't leave our lights or Tv on 24 hrs but it would be a nice option.

Fridge 325 watts 24 hours
Tv 250 watts 24 hours
microwave 1100 watts 10 mins a day
Lights combined 100 watts 24 hours
And let's say 100 watts in misc chargers and what not.

How many panels do I need to hook up to keep plenty of power going and what voltage should I go with? Thank you.

Based on that list of loads and hours used, I come up with a total close to 19kWh a day. That is a huge amount of power for an off grid system which may require an investment of over $40,000.

Maybe if we start with you total panel wattage wired to charge a 48v battery system we can work backwards (not the best action) to determine how much Watt Hours you will be able to use from the batteries and if it can be recharged each day.

Keep in mind that a typical off grid system may cost around $2000 for each kWh it can generate.

[LETitROLL]

Hello everyone, New to Solar and off griding. I stated in a earlier post I have a bunch of Kyocera KC125G panels that are 17 volts. 125 watts. I have a few questions as to what we are doing.

how should I wire them? We have a list of things we use normally (We don't leave our lights or Tv on 24 hrs but it would be a nice option.

Fridge 325 watts 24 hours
Tv 250 watts 24 hours
microwave 1100 watts 10 mins a day
Lights combined 100 watts 24 hours
And let's say 100 watts in misc chargers and what not.

How many panels do I need to hook up to keep plenty of power going and what voltage should I go with? Thank you.

Conservation is King with off grid solar, even with a well designed system it is not as reliable as the "Grid", due to weather, batteries aging, maint, and repairs along the way, etc. Every extra watt you need to generate cost size and complexity of the system, so for example, even though you have lots of panels, one should still look at other efficiency gains first to reduce the size of the "monster", like comparing appliances, every dollar you spend now on more energy efficient Tv, etc. will save money both up front by reducing size of controllers, inverters, battery bank, wiring, etc. and then much more over time by maintaining and replacing smaller system components. The Battery bank is the biggest loser (both up front and over time), so the more you need to run at/over night can get very expensive when using inefficient appliances, and/or leaving things on any longer then necessary.

[Tiffany H]

Currently bought 32 130 watt framless Astro Power panels for $25 a panel from a Electrical engineer. He said that General Electric owns this company is G.E. A good company for solar? I could not find any info on these panels but They all test well. They were saved from the Anaheim convention center when the roof collapsed and are 6 years old. I was thinking of floating them on My motor home with high density foam blocks and Vhb tape so my a.c. Won't shade it. Was also looking into 18650 lithium DIY batterys for power. Can I make this work? Any better ideas? You guys and Gals at this forum seem very educated compared to myself.

[Tiffany H]

Based on that list of loads and hours used, I come up with a total close to 19kWh a day. That is a huge amount of power for an off grid system which may require an investment of over $40,000.

Maybe if we start with you total panel wattage wired to charge a 48v battery system we can work backwards (not the best action) to determine how much Watt Hours you will be able to use from the batteries and if it can be recharged each day.

Keep in mind that a typical off grid system may cost around $2000 for each kWh it can generate.

Just bought 32 130 watt astro panels, Am I getting closer? Posted about them in this post. Just got them.

[littleharbor]

Those Astropower panels are more like 16 years old. Whomever told you 6 years old is lying to you. They may have sounded like a good deal but as far as functionality, with Styrofoam blocks glued to the backs and no frames you have a real challenge mounting them. I really think you're putting the cart in front of the horse by buying equipment before you have a well designed plan.

As far as running AC in an RV, you need to give up on the idea. Sorry about being negative but that's reality. If you have to have AC then you need a good size generator.

[LETitROLL]

Just bought 32 130 watt astro panels, Am I getting closer? Posted about them in this post. Just got them.

The panels are the easy part, since the sun is not out at night, (or when cloudy), to run anything in those situations of course requires battery(s), that is what gets very expensive, both short term, and long term due to replacement, which can be short due to killing them early from poorly designed systems, or trying to run too many loads too long at night. Every extra watt needed during off peak sun hours gets mighty expensive, no way around that. Others can weigh in more, but the number of 18650 needed to run the kind of loads you are looking at would make that a very complex system, and expensive if purchasing quality cells, cheap cells is probably looking for trouble on that scale of a project. Producing electricity from solar has really gotten affordable in the last couple of years, prices are reasonable and panels last a long time if cared for, storing that energy to use later, still a very expensive problem, no cheap solutions, so every watt not needed off peak (conservation) will save a small fortune over time.

[Tiffany H]

Those Astropower panels are more like 16 years old. Whomever told you 6 years old is lying to you. They may have sounded like a good deal but as far as functionality, with Styrofoam blocks glued to the backs and no frames you have a real challenge mounting them. I really think you're putting the cart in front of the horse by buying equipment before you have a well designed plan.

As far as running AC in an RV, you need to give up on the idea. Sorry about being negative but that's reality. If you have to have AC then you need a good size generator.

No prob, I just took the guys word on it about the year as I did not see a date on them. If I can't run a A.c. On them don t think I'll try to even do the research to make it work then. I have a generator already onboard, just hate running it in parks, driveways ect.

I guess I'm just desperately trying to find a way to keep my dogs cool while I go to work in a pinch and thought solar was the answer.

Someday It should get better huh? I read Sunpower has some very good panels. 23% efficiency.

[Tiffany H]

The panels are the easy part, since the sun is not out at night, (or when cloudy), to run anything in those situations of course requires battery(s), that is what gets very expensive, both short term, and long term due to replacement, which can be short due to killing them early from poorly designed systems, or trying to run too many loads too long at night. Every extra watt needed during off peak sun hours gets mighty expensive, no way around that. Others can weigh in more, but the number of 18650 needed to run the kind of loads you are looking at would make that a very complex system, and expensive if purchasing quality cells, cheap cells is probably looking for trouble on that scale of a project. Producing electricity from solar has really gotten affordable in the last couple of years, prices are reasonable and panels last a long time if cared for, storing that energy to use later, still a very expensive problem, no cheap solutions, so every watt not needed off peak (conservation) will save a small fortune over time.

Well I was going to buy bulk cheap Chinese cell's, 50 for 38 bucks 10000 mah made in the USA? Few thousand would work right?
https://www.ebay.com/i/142325401295?...D1436519542559

Vid Of Someone Utilizing Those Batts

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=264s&v=Bk50IuWXg-c

Can I Make Somthing Like This work? Am I Even Headed In The Right Direction?

[SunEagle]

Just bought 32 130 watt astro panels, Am I getting closer? Posted about them in this post. Just got them.

Well that is about 4160 watts of panels but I really doubt you will be able to mount all of them on your Bounder. They are also pretty old and may have a short life even if they were made by GE.

How did you plan on mounting the pv panels and will they be flat or angled toward the South? Anything other than pointed due South and angled at your approximate Latitude will result in less than nameplate wattage. So until we know how many usable watt hours the panels can generate it would be a guess on the battery size.

[SunEagle]

Well I was going to buy bulk cheap Chinese cell's, 50 for 38 bucks 10000 mah made in the USA? Few thousand would work right?
https://www.ebay.com/i/142325401295?...D1436519542559

Vid Of Someone Utilizing Those Batts

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=264s&v=Bk50IuWXg-c

Can I Make Somthing Like This work? Am I Even Headed In The Right Direction?

IMO building a battery system like the one you saw on YouTube is going to be dangerous.

[LETitROLL]

Well I was going to buy bulk cheap Chinese cell's, 50 for 38 bucks 10000 mah made in the USA? Few thousand would work right?
https://www.ebay.com/i/142325401295?...D1436519542559

Vid Of Someone Utilizing Those Batts

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=264s&v=Bk50IuWXg-c

Can I Make Somthing Like This work? Am I Even Headed In The Right Direction?

Not safe, or reliable long term, cost a tremendous amount of money to do it right (many thousands), those are not the type of lithium batteries typically used in solar setups. (lifepo4)