Going Solar..Help

Discussion in 'Off Grid Living' started by beckland farms, Apr 23, 2015.


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  1. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    I live with a wood airtight that in the winter it heats the house & each shop has one or a pellet type (pellet type needs power )to run while the wood ones have Caframo fans to move air . The link of the stove I put up is for off grid homes that shows you are caring for a wife , quality & ease .Propane heat is expensive while cooking it's cheaper than solar in the winter & if you're a die-hard watt geek , induction cooking plate in the summer to save money on LPG. Pellet stove i moded to burn my wood waste chip I make , messy but it's in a shop. house wood stove heats water in winter , summer it's solar via a solar collector .
     
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  2. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Beck, until you have some better idea of the electrical loads you will have, looking at hardware will just waste your time. Regarding those BHAsolar kits, remember that the rating is based on full sun production. Another way to say it is heavily optimistic.
     
  3. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    WAY heavily optimistic.
    BUY stuff from NAWS / Midnight boys/folks Please , China /eBay I will post my story's when international court is done.


    I posted the kill-a-watt link from Harbour freight , buy one and stop dreaming till you do & figure some numbers
    Sloth
     
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  4. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Also, go with a pure sine wave inverter as opposed to modified sine wave. Much more efficient, easier on motors and tend to have lower idle losses (that I have seen)

    With some prudent shopping, you can get a larger system for less than the "kits". For example, I just received 1kw of new Sharp panels for $400...
     
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  5. Mike

    Mike Ol' Army Sergeant Monkey

    It still doesn't lke me well enough to post, lol. That's ok. I opine well enough in here as it is.

    One thought. Invest in LED bulbs, either 120 or 12v, as they reduce the amount of current draw significantly. I like the new ones. Good light, way better current pull.
     
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  6. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    @beckland farms , I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on installing solar at my off-grid hunting/vacation cabin. We do not live there full time, so our energy needs have been scaled down from what you might need.

    We have lights (120V LED & 12VDC LED), Ceiling fan (12VDC), and battery charges are about all we run directly from our battery/solar system. The dorm style fridge and window A/C unit are run from the generator. We can run the fridge from the battery, but currently we don't as it's too much of a draw, so once or twice a day we'll run the generator for an hour or so to cool it. When the generator is running we also hook up the battery charger to top off our battery.

    Cooking is done with propane or over an open fire outside.

    See the attached PDF for how I am calculating my system needs. I found this on the net somewhere a year or so ago so I can't take credit (good or bad) for it.
     

    Attached Files:

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  7. T. Riley

    T. Riley Monkey+++

    It's not rocket science. You can figure it out. Get on the Internet and read and I agree, get a watt meter. I had 6 ceiling fans with 4 25 watts bulbs each, 600 watts just for them. Replaced them with LEDs @ 4 watts each. The six now burn 92 watts total with better light. There is a lot you can do to reduce the drain.
     
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  8. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    kckndrgn , posted PDF ~very close and good info .
    You know Midnight just has out there Brat CC .
    I picked them up today while I was visiting the folks
     
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  9. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    S'pose if u got a stove always burning you might as always have a pot of water charging somethin...
    BioLite KettleCharge - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available
    [​IMG]

    • Powers most USB-chargeable devices, including tablets.
    • Made from stainless steel, aluminum, and high-temperature plastic
    • Includes an insulated USB extender to keep cords away from the heat.
    • USB power output of 10 Watts (5V, 2A).
    • Lithium iron phosphate battery with 1250mAh capacity.
    • 15 minutes of charge provides approximately 5 hours of talk time, 5 hours of video, or 20 hours of audio (output varies by strength of heat source).
    Power Practical PowerPot V - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available
     
  10. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    You can't post links either?
    Joined:
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    @melbo @BTPost @sec_monkey @Motomom34
    Please check this members permissions....if it's "end user error" - let me know and I can walk him through how to post links/pics.
     
  11. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    It takes an Admin to fix Permissions... With Melbo being out of town try Sec Monkey or Ghrit
     
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  12. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Cheapest solar lihgt
    Dollar store yard light, print jare

    Remove spike from yard light put in jar, screw on ring, set in sun. Intel $2 light
     
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  13. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    I live off the grid and have a propane frig and cook on a propane stove, these are the only uses of propane, that is supplied by a 1000 gal tank.. I have to have that filled about every 2 to 3 years.. Oh, and those LED christmas lights work great for general lighting.. Have them stapled to the overhead..
     
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  14. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    When I pulled my small Travel Trailer on to the remote property (powered with solar, no grid available), first thing I did was replace every incandescent bulb with LEDs for interior lighting. They're available in warm white so they appear very close to incandescent. A little bit of math and current measurement and I figured that I could run 5-6 LED bulbs for the power it takes to run one incandescent. A bit costly for the LEDs, but when you're out in the sticks on limited solar you need to do everything you can to prevent a run down battery stack. LEDs are the way to go if you're on solar.

    Pure sine inverters - yes. The one I have is only 1500W. But it runs everything on the Travel Trailer including a toaster and microwave (not at the same time), laptops, cell phone chargers, a small stereo and a 24" flat screen. The only exception is that of the air conditioner. Gen set takes care of the A/C when it is rarely needed. I've had bad experiences trying to run a microwave off of modified sine wave inverters. The microwave buzzes loudly and does not heat very well. It probably damaged the microwave (not the one in the Travel Trailer).

    For determining the state of charge for your flooded batteries, purchase and learn how to use a temperature correcting hydrometer. I bought one at a local hardware store a few years ago for 7 or 8 bucks. Well worth it. You can use it to determine whether or not you need to equalize the charge on your batteries.



    Just my $.02 worth.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2015
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  15. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    @Mike @BTPost @sec_monkey @melbo
    I had a look at permissions, and can't see any difference between Mike's and any other member's permissions. I gotta wonder if there isn't something else at the root of the problem.
    Apologies for the side track.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2015
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  16. You all have been a world of information. I guess propane wouldn't be bad if I only use it for basic appliances and that's all. I can see the over all cost would be a lot less than I was using before I went off the grid. So I should get over that fearbecause I've done some research and it would be minimal usage. Thanks Don't for helping to put my mind at ease.

    I love alone and am an ass About electric usage even when I was on the grid. Today I will spend some time writing down everything that I would use in a max given day. So I can get o calculating. I'm ready to buy solar. I will have to do it in 3 steps to get to the max amount of panels needed but I can start with the first set now. As I go asking today I will post what I need to make this system and hopefully get input from all of you wonderful ppl. Thanks isn't enough for how much you have helped me.
     
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  17. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    Thank you sir.
     
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  18. I completely see how utilizing propane for a few appliances is a huge plus in helping with the solar usage. I calculated both ways and found a major difference. I'm looking right at 0.65 kWh usage per day. I could run off of a 800 watt system with propane usage on just a few major appliances.
     
  19. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    Find an old travel trailer someone wants to get rid of and gut it, lights, reefer, stove and oven...
     
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