New system- 24v or 48v

[mschulz]

To the OP, If I were you, I would forget about the battery to last 3 to 5 cloudy days and get a small portable 800watts to 1500 watts gas generator and a battery charger along with the system. Amazon sell the generator for less than $200 and the battery charger for less than $150. way cheaper than use 8 batteries. Batteries replacement cost is very high.

Cheers.

I agree with the batteries being expensive and have don everything to reduce that but there are stretches of time that I will not be there and I want to make sure the freezer is always running. I have a EU2000i that I will use if I need more power when I am there.

[thastinger]

do you have a budget in mind? I had grossly underestimated the cost, no regrets on my end because I didn't build it to "go green" or "stick it to the POCO". Just so long as you don't think it'll be cheaper than grid power you'll enter it with the proper mindset. Be prepared to spend more than you're probably thinking, the quality equipment is expensive. I spent a good chunk on things I had not factored in, such as panel racking and I had to pay a core charge on each battery because I didn't have any turn ins etc.

[mschulz]

do you have a budget in mind? I had grossly underestimated the cost, no regrets on my end because I didn't build it to "go green" or "stick it to the POCO". Just so long as you don't think it'll be cheaper than grid power you'll enter it with the proper mindset. Be prepared to spend more than you're probably thinking, the quality equipment is expensive. I spent a good chunk on things I had not factored in, such as panel racking and I had to pay a core charge on each battery because I didn't have any turn ins etc.

Yes I did, Power is 4 miles away. Part of the charm of the place is just that, off the grid. We just want a little refrigeration and satellite internet while we are there as we both do a lot of work from home. I know that Propane would be a good option for refrigeration but access does not allow big trucks to the cabin and I don't want to be hauling 5-7gal tanks up and back every month. Winter is snowmobile access only. My thought is solar is a little easier.

I am budgeting $5,000 to $10,000 which I think will fund this project. I can't do anything with it until the snow melts anyway so I thought I would get a few thoughts from everyone here as I always am reading about someone who bought the wrong stuff. I just want to do it once.

[thastinger]

I see. For the refridgeration part, several of us here have converted chest freezers to act a fridges. I leave mine running at our spot when we aren't there, it isn't as user friendly as a normal fridge but it uses much less power .5Kwh/day so that may mean you could make the system smaller and save some money. Only costs about 60 bucks to do the conversion and the freezer remains unaltered.

http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Controls-A19AAT-2C-Temperature-Controller/dp/B0002EAL58/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1391793681&sr=8-2&keywords=johnson+controls

[Naptown]

Yes I did, Power is 4 miles away. Part of the charm of the place is just that, off the grid. We just want a little refrigeration and satellite internet while we are there as we both do a lot of work from home. I know that Propane would be a good option for refrigeration but access does not allow big trucks to the cabin and I don't want to be hauling 5-7gal tanks up and back every month. Winter is snowmobile access only. My thought is solar is a little easier.

I am budgeting $5,000 to $10,000 which I think will fund this project. I can't do anything with it until the snow melts anyway so I thought I would get a few thoughts from everyone here as I always am reading about someone who bought the wrong stuff. I just want to do it once.

Panels 4 250W $1000
Charge controller $500
Inverter $800
Batteries $1000
Misc $400
I would say your budget works.

[thastinger]

...need to add a racking system in there as well and installation if you're not a roofing guy/don't want to chance mounting the panels by yourself