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I am in the process of setting up a new array. The location is northeast Oklahoma and it will be a grid tie system with a limited battery bank and a generator. This is a new building site and the best estimate I can make of how much power we will use is from my current usage, @100kWh/day, since I will be taking all my appliances minus the electric stove and oven and inefficient heating and cooling unit. I am not trying to go completely off grid but I would like to be able to have power when the grid is down. I plan to increase my array over time starting small and building from there. What I have so far is 8, 320W 24V mono panels. My next purchase will be the charge controller and inverter. This is where I am having trouble deciding on what to get. I know this information is probably on this forum but I haven't got months to sift through it all. Does anyone have any suggestions on what brands are the best?
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You will need some type of hybrid inverter that connects to the grid and can charge a battery system when the grid is down.
I know that Schneider makes them but there are other hybrids that might be better. -
This is the one I have been looking at but I am not sure if it is too big. Outback GS4048A 4KW 48VDC 120/240VAC HYBRID INVERTER SYSTEM, FM80
It is about $5500.Comment
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Stop before you do something really stupid. Anything you take off grid in Oklahoma is going to cost you some 10 times more than the utility will charge you.
If you use 100 Kwh per day, you are a super energy hog with to much money. I have a large luxury home in TX, some 2600/ft2 living space and only use 1/4 of that. Oklahoma has dirt cheap energy, even with Net Metering in OK is hard to justify Grid Tied, but battery is just plain ole crazy talk.
At 100 Kwh/day off grid you are talking about a battery that weighs 16 tons, cost $90,000, and needs a building onto itself to to house it. The fun part is you get to replace that battery every 5 years. That is when you realize you could have bought the same amount of power from that greedy PSO or OGE for $9,000. Not only are you throwing a ton of money away, but you becomes a extremely heavy polluter, and no FD would even pee on your house if it was on fire. They would just set back and watch it burn from a safe distance once they cleared the public out. Then call the Employment Prevention Agency to bankrupt you to clean up a nasty toxic waste dump at your expense.
To generate 100Kwh /day grid tied will require a 30,000 watt system costing you over $100,000. Want to go off grid will take 50,000 watts and 10 very expensive charge controllers. You are talking over $250,000 today, and $100,000++ mere every 5 years replacing batteries. Your idea of 3400 watts is not even going to make a dent in 100Kwh/day. It will take 10 times that.
Last edited by Sunking; 01-20-2017, 03:29 PM.MSEE, PEComment
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I believe the OP doesn't want to go completely "off grid" but wants to have a battery back up power supply using his grid tie panels.
Besides the up front cost, what I see that can hurt the OP is that he only wants to start with 8 x 320watt panels (2560w) which will be grossly undersized to handle even a small percentage of that 100kWh daily use.Comment
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I do realize that the initial size is too small but it is a hobby that I want to indulge. The batteries only to allow for the genset to kick in. We eventually plan to add at least 10 times that many panels. I plan on having a 20kw backup natural gas generator, I have free unlimited gas.Comment
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I do not know where you live exactly but in most places you would be required to get a permit for any part of a pv installation. So if you start out with only 8 panels and the inverter then enlarge your system you might get hit with another permit/inspection cost or fee. Even if you do the work yourself you still need the POCO and AHJ to bless the installation before it will be allowed to work.
IMO investing in a 2500watt of panels, inverter, battery, racking, etc, is not a hobby but a costly investment.Comment
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Where I am at there are no permit requirements. I would have to get the POCO's blessing on the install if I want to feed it back to them otherwise I have to install a switch that will not allow it back into the line. We do have net metering and I have looked into this but have no real intention of selling power back to the POCO. Also I doubt the new house/farm will consume as much power since it is being built with efficiency in mind. The old place was constructed in the early 60's when power was dirt cheep and no one cared. I expect about a 40% reduction in power consumption. The PV array is only meant to supplement daily power needs and will be increased to decrease dependence on the grid but not eliminate it. I am having to pay more than $30,000 to have the power lines brought in.Comment
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With free nat gas, you could gas generate your own power, and use the waste heat to keep warm. Been doneOriginally posted by thundercowpoke
here in NW IL. Any batteries will require a generator anyway; you can get a gas gen set with automatic start
and load transfer. Far simpler if you can stand a 5 second power glitch sometimes. Bruce RoeComment
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Wow! Unlimited natural gas......what I could do with that resource.
I'd buy a compressor and make LNG and run all my vehicles on it. I'd buy three NG generators...two running in tandem and keep one spare in the shed. I'd tell the POCO to keep their $30,000 hook-up where the sun doesn't shine.
The only batteries I'd have on the place would be in the remote controls.........Last edited by DanS26; 01-20-2017, 07:42 PM.Comment
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What could really be taking a hundred kilowatts a day, and where does unlimited free gas come from?Comment
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The gas comes from wells that I own. The only limit to it is the production. At 100 MCF per day there is more than I could use. One problem is when the wells are undergoing maintenance there could be no or limited gas for a day or two. CNG vehicles are a joke and are not worth the trouble unless gasoline is over $4 a gallon. Plus your range is very limited and the are no CNG stations anywhere near me. I will sell the ng and but gasoline.
Going on ng generators exclusively is a non starter for my bank. No utilities no loan.Comment
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