Whole home off grid 240v setup

[Amy@altE]

If you want 600V input from the array with those loads, here's my suggestion:
QTY 5 Schneider MPPT80-600 (may be able to get by with 4)
QTY 2 Schneider XW+6848
QTY 1 Schneider PDP + stacking kit breaker box
QTY 1 CommBox

For ground mount, check out IronRidge's ground mount design tool on their site.

[azdave]

Why on God's Green Earth do you want to pay 5 to 10 times more for electricity the rest of your life?

Agree totally with Sunking but at least that kind of foolish spending will keep the economy going...some might even trickle down to me one day.

[Sunin]

Instead of throwing $ into solar and batteries, get an energy audit, and see where it's leaking. >2000 sq ft, 2 story home here, a week into heat wave, 103 F outside, 73F indoors, all passive.

You SHOULD consider Hybrid Grid Tie, have a minimal battery bank and rely on generator & solar for grid outages. Way less expensive than huge off grid system

Also - don't forget the Schneider Electric XW Conext gear, 600V String charge controllers, 6Kw stackable 240V inverters, excellent monitoring via Combox.

thanks that is one of the options I was looking at in fact. I agree with the generator, gridtie and small battery bank. The more I research that seems to be the way to really go!

[Mike90250]

..... My power usage right now is 30kw a day and 80%-90% of that is during daylight and this is on an inefficient home.....

Instead of throwing $ into solar and batteries, get an energy audit, and see where it's leaking. >2000 sq ft, 2 story home here, a week into heat wave, 103 F outside, 73F indoors, all passive.

You SHOULD consider Hybrid Grid Tie, have a minimal battery bank and rely on generator & solar for grid outages. Way less expensive than huge off grid system

Also - don't forget the Schneider Electric XW Conext gear, 600V String charge controllers, 6Kw stackable 240V inverters, excellent monitoring via Combox.

[ButchDeal]

Unknown new location. Critical would be fridge and freezer.

so what if I hybrid gridtie, with generator as backup, reduce energy usage and have a cheaper backup.

with a set up like this you can have a smaller more critical load panel that has your fridge, freezer, some lights etc but not your air conditioner.

The full house though could be on the generator, giving you the option to run the A/C.

[Sunking]

Why on God's Green Earth do you want to pay 5 to 10 times more for electricity the rest of your life? This is never going to happen once you learn how much it really cost and how foolish it is. What you are asking for and going to get is going from paying the electric company 10 to 15 cents per Kwh to paying Trojan or whatever battery manufacture you choose $1 per Kwh and you get to pay it all up front in advance, and in cash every 5 years when you replace batteries. By the time you realize your mistake will be too late with $10's of thousands of dollars lost.

[Logan5]

If you still want to discover the size of battery you would need for whole house off grid. Take your relative small refrigeration load and do your math to find necessary battery size. then realize this is a very small fraction of your whole house. you will find you will need dedicated battery room, with 24 X 2 volt batteries or more. resistant heating element loads are very aggressive on batteries and should be replaced with gas appliances even when natural gas is unavailable, one uses propane for these demanding loads. However your hot water could be mitigated with a hot box collector in more tempered climates and or evacuated tubes in colder climates. This all becomes a non problem if you stay grid tied and use generator for outages.

[Logan5]

Unknown new location. Critical would be fridge and freezer.

so what if I hybrid gridtie, with generator as backup, reduce energy usage and have a cheaper backup.

yes

[Sunin]

As you wish. Enjoy retirement, but be aware that off grid is not all sweetness and light, especially with your loads and the cost of batteries.

I get that. It took me about 6 months to get my test bed 100% reliable and worry free.

[Sunin]

How often does your power go out ?
Do you have mission critical applications ?

Off grid costs a lot of money. A lot more than most people think. It's also a lot a hassle. Most folks are clueless about that as well.

If you have access to reasonably reliable grid power, be like the smart folks - buy a generator and skip the off grid.

Unknown new location. Critical would be fridge and freezer.

so what if I hybrid gridtie, with generator as backup, reduce energy usage and have a cheaper backup.

[J.P.M.]

ive already been running 500w and powering a test bed of devices using AGM batteries. This has been zero hassle. I never hardly have to look at it. Now I do expect for larger projects this will require a bit more monitoring, but not more than once a month! I'll be retired so I'll have the time!

As you wish. Enjoy retirement, but be aware that off grid is not all sweetness and light, especially with your loads and the cost of batteries.

[Sunin]

How often does your power go out ?
Do you have mission critical applications ?

Off grid costs a lot of money. A lot more than most people think. It's also a lot a hassle. Most folks are clueless about that as well.

If you have access to reasonably reliable grid power, be like the smart folks - buy a generator and skip the off grid.

ive already been running 500w and powering a test bed of devices using AGM batteries. This has been zero hassle. I never hardly have to look at it. Now I do expect for larger projects this will require a bit more monitoring, but not more than once a month! I'll be retired so I'll have the time!

[J.P.M.]

He want's to be "self sufficient"

Yea, we'd all like that in some form(s) I suppose. Different folks have different definitions. I'd think the passive solar and thermal mass portions of the OP's residence and lifestyle get a lot closer to the definition of self sufficient than combustion devices and a tank of propane, which, while good backup, do no more for the concept of self sufficiency than power lines to a property.

[Logan5]

This location has no gas service. It is electric and water only.

then get a 500gal propane tank and switch the water heater, stove and dryers over to that propane tank.

[ButchDeal]

He want's to be "self sufficient"

so a wood gasifier and generator

http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/wood-powered-generator-zmaz81jazraw