Small solar/battery setup ?

[Mavmike72]

Do you guys have solar panels and batteries ? What kind do you all have ? Just curious

[lkruper]

Do you guys have solar panels and batteries ? What kind do you all have ? Just curious

I have a generator and a manual transfer switch for my cabin and am planning for backup battery, and then possibly solar panels. After months of research my most likely setup will be four flooded lead acid 6v golf cart batteries as 24v bank, a UL listed battery charger like Samlex or Cotek with temperature compensation and a pure sine wave inverter which is also UL listed (eg Samlex or Cotek). If I add panels, it will likely be 4 250w panels with an MPPT controller, like Morningstar.

I may consider splitting up my chargers for two 12v chargers and also configure the four panels into pairs of two, each with its own controller for redundancy.

[Sunking]

You are not going to like what you learn.

So let's say in winter you have a 2 Sun Hour day about average across the country, and your 500 watt fan runs 8 hours in a 24 hour day means you use 4000 watt hours. About 40-cents worth of electricity.

It would take a minimum panel wattage of 3000 watts, and a 48 volt 400 AH battery that weighs in around 1000 pounds, cost $4000, and you get to replace that battery every 3 to 5 years at higher cost. So just to run your heater fan only, you are looking at around $9000 right now all up front in cash, and $4500 in a few years to replace the battery.

Good luck with that. Hope you are a very wealthy person. It would be cheaper to just burn $1 bills as fuel for heat.

[Mavmike72]

Boy I'm confused ! They're saying I could go completely solar for around $25,000 off the grid . Your saying I can't power one fan for less than $9,000 ? Wow , I guess I was thinking all wrong about solar then . Several have told me to get a generator instead of solar ( which I have ) . I guess I'll scratch this thought then , lmao ! I'm definitely not rich ! Hell im not sure how anyone can afford it after hearing what you said .

[Sunking]

Who is they? The only person in this thread, other than me, has never done anything solar and you are taking his advice?

Since you are asking about heat I can only assume you live in a area that has winter with snow and ice? That means your sun hours or no more than 3 and as low as 1. That means for every Kwh you want to generate and use will cost you around $2000 to $2500 per Kwh. Your heater I low balled at only running 8 hours in a 24 hour day. Watt Hours = Watts x Hours. So 500 watts x 8 hours = 4000 watt hours or 4 Kwh. About 40 to 50 cents worth of electricity. For each Kwh in battery will cost you $1000 to $1200 every 3 to 5 years. Your first set will be destroyed in 2 years or less.

I have no clue what you use in a day but 30 Kwh per day is national average. So if you use 30 Kwh in a day would cost you initially $60,000 dollars. Of that is $30,000 in batteries you get to replace for th erest of you rlife at even higher cost.

If you need emergency power, get a good pad mounted whole house generator with a 500 gallon LPG tank, or diesel. Avoid gasoline.

[Mavmike72]

Lmao , cocky arnt ya ?

[lkruper]

Boy I'm confused ! They're saying I could go completely solar for around $25,000 off the grid . Your saying I can't power one fan for less than $9,000 ? Wow , I guess I was thinking all wrong about solar then . Several have told me to get a generator instead of solar ( which I have ) . I guess I'll scratch this thought then , lmao ! I'm definitely not rich ! Hell im not sure how anyone can afford it after hearing what you said .

Sunking is telling you the truth! I have been hoping you could come up with a number way less than 24 hours per day and much lower than 500w for that furnace fan by measuring it directly, or you will be spending a bundle to run that furnace.

When I was growing up we had a gravity fed furnace. I don't know if they make them any more, but you don't need a fan with those. That's the ticket.

[Mavmike72]

Knowledge is one thing but he came across as cocky as hell . Constructive criticism and advice are always welcome but not like he was doing it . Thank you sir for your input ! Not sure on my furnace but it's a new ( last year ) Carrier 90+ efficient one . It may be less watts than what I stated earlier that's just what I got off the internet really quick . The people I was referring to that said it could be done for $25,000 was a local solar installer . They may be full of **** I don't no .

[Mike90250]

I'm off grid with passive wood fired Masonry Heater. 3 backup generators. 6Kw 240V inverter, 5Kw Solar PV. very expensive.

To keep your house from freezing the pipes, a generator to run the fan for a couple hours a day, is all you need. You only need to keep the house above 40F, not into the 80's so you only need to run a couple hours a day.

[Sunking]

Lmao , cocky arnt ya ?

Just brutally honest. I hate PC. If you believe in PC, you are a liar. I am no liar. You should be thanking me and pay me a reward. I just saved you thousands of dollars.

I also told you exactly how to achieve what you want. What more do you want? Pay me 15% and I will design and build you a working system. Otherwise get lost. You will get no more advice from me.

Last peice of advice. Until you determine how many watt hours you need in a 24 hour period. You are wasting you and our time.

[lkruper]

Knowledge is one thing but he came across as cocky as hell . Constructive criticism and advice are always welcome but not like he was doing it . Thank you sir for your input ! Not sure on my furnace but it's a new ( last year ) Carrier 90+ efficient one . It may be less watts than what I stated earlier that's just what I got off the internet really quick . The people I was referring to that said it could be done for $25,000 was a local solar installer . They may be full of **** I don't no .

Sunking is a genius in solar, no doubt about it. Sorry to say this, but if you are going to come onto a forum asking for free advice and someone with the caliber of Sunking gives you advice, you should be very grateful. To be frank, I find your comments offensive, considering you have been here about as long as a fruit fly lives.

[Mavmike72]

Are you serious rite now ? How in the hell was I offensive in what I said ? I've not said **** out of line . You speak to people how you want to be spoken to ! I don't really give 2 ****s how smart someone is if their an asshole about it ! I'll just remove myself from here and use my generator instead of solar . Thanks for the FREE info !

[Sunking]

Are you serious rite now ? How in the hell was I offensive in what I said ? I've not said **** out of line . You speak to people how you want to be spoken to ! I don't really give 2 ****s how smart someone is if their an asshole about it ! I'll just remove myself from here and use my generator instead of solar . Thanks for the FREE info !

I warned you that you would not like it. You must be PC and want to be lied to.

[lkruper]

Are you serious rite now ? How in the hell was I offensive in what I said ? I've not said **** out of line . You speak to people how you want to be spoken to ! I don't really give 2 ****s how smart someone is if their an asshole about it ! I'll just remove myself from here and use my generator instead of solar . Thanks for the FREE info !

You are most welcome. I hope it works out for you.

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[Living Large]

Knowledge is one thing but he came across as cocky as hell . Constructive criticism and advice are always welcome but not like he was doing it . Thank you sir for your input ! Not sure on my furnace but it's a new ( last year ) Carrier 90+ efficient one . It may be less watts than what I stated earlier that's just what I got off the internet really quick . The people I was referring to that said it could be done for $25,000 was a local solar installer . They may be full of **** I don't no .

You need some of this stuff I have called Thick Skin in a Bottle. Stuff is just frigging amazing. You're getting good advice - you may not like how it is coming, but knowledgeable people are delivering it. If you want to pay a consultant, they are available at $100 or more an hour.

Powering a house with solar, especially off-grid, is not green, and it is not cheap. I spent 6 months here learning how to design a system, and then ultimately decided "why in the heck would I do this?" It was Sunking that opened my eyes with a plain language post that was not touchy-feely, but honest. And he was one of the people helping me over months with the technical details of a high tech battery bank. Imagine my shock when he pulled his head out of the books after all that time and asked "but why would you want to do this in the first place?" Now I am fighting to convince my HOA to let me cross 25' of creek so I can install real electricity. 4 months and counting.

Your main problem, as has been pointed out, is your load of 500W. That's significant. If you just wanted to power a few light bulbs, it would be so much cheaper than just wanting to power a furnace blower.