Is this a good solar panel for home use?

I am looking for solar panels for home use. Not sure how many watts I need. Also need to make sure it's safe. I'll have it inside my home, and I've heard that sometimes these batteries catch fire. Need to avoid that.

Also need something that a neophyte like myself can setup reasonably easily. I want to mount it on my garage roof without making holes in the roof, if possible.

I was looking at this setup. Is this a good way to go?

Complete DIY Solar Panel Kit - 1,200 Watts Solar + 3,000W Pure Sine Inverter / Charger 120V Output | 24VDC | [DIY-10]

 

1st thing would be to calculate the watts you need. That determines the size of your system. What do you plan on powering with the solar setup and what is the function of your setup (primary power, backup power, hybrid, etc).
There used to be an excel sheet on this site (years ago, not sure if it's still here) where you could plug in what you wanted to run from your battery system and it would help with the sizing.
As far as mounting I'm not sure how you can mount to a roof without "making holes". What is your roof material (asphalt, metal, clay, etc.)?

 

My view is , overpriced and wrong voltage to harvest , where is your town ?
crappy panels . 500 watt high voltage panels cost me 350$ each way better.
Sloth

 

The problem with buying stuff online if you don’t know what you’re getting, if you know very little about electricity you are even further in the hole you need to learn something about the electricity you’re gonna be playing with when you get a piece of equipment . If do you know how to test it before it’s too late your stuck with it.
most of my equipment I bought are used but I tested it before before I got home to make sure that it was actually putting out what I was supposed to .
solar panels don’t all have to match but they do have to produce more voltage than The battery bank voltage in order to charge it.
I built the battery bank first, then as time went buy I got controls and solar panels, and even a small wind mill.
As batteries wear out I get new ones ,better ones , and keep on improving my system a little at a time.
My advantage is that I learn by doing things my self.
I built my system on a trailer I built for my self as a workshop with the battery bank below deck the panels on top and wind mill as well( I can lower it for travel.)
I may build on it an awning to install more solar panels, and more below deck storage for more batteries.
I am still tied to the grid but my bill is about $20. Average because I run heavier equipment than my system can handle presently.

 

Looks like no name chinesium dog shit to me.
You probably want to try and find used mono crystalline panels that were on some ones roof, morningstar mppt charge controllers will give you around 30% more peak power and up to 50% more total power, a pure sine wave inverter appropriate to your application because big cheap inverters suck power at no load, batteries appropriate to your use and application a high power 240v battery charger and a generator, a good generator.

Batteries catch on fire when a cheap charge controller or no charge controller is used.
Those panels look weak, a hard gale would fold them up and rip them off the roof.
I have real panels, Samsung "made in usa" with Korean solar cells, they took 100mph gusts in 2020 no problem.

 

The cheapest way to get panels is from eBay, look at what you are paying per watt including shipping, it should be less than 50 cents.

You want good equipment that you can pass down to your children, this is what I use:
Schneider Electric Conext XW MPPT 60 Amp Charge Controller ($500)
Schneider Electric Conext SW 4024 3,400 Watts, 24VDC Inverter 120/240 VAC ($1400)
Schneider Electric Conext XW+/SW System Control Panel (SCP) ($250)

You can get deep cycle lead batteries anywhere but the batteries with the longest lifespan are Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4. You can get LiFePO4 batteries from eBay or there is a company called Battle Born Batteries that makes them.

 

Look at you're batteries as the heart of your power needs, every thing else feeds into them and from them.
the healthier the batteries the healthier the system.
lithium batteries are the current popular battery, but leave room for the newer battery coming available. but don't wait till then.
I started with glass mat wheelchair batteries and moved to lead-acid deep-cycle 6-volt golf cart batteries and they are serving me well these last 40 years. I didn't even have solar when I started, they were purely as a UPS for my computer.
I hope to move to the graphene battery when it becomes available but that may be some time yet.

 

I'll look into Schneider Electric and the LiFeP04 batteries. Thanks for these recommendations!

 

I found this video which kind of describes the basics:


Is there a "For Dummies" version of how I might put this together to get it up-and-running? I'm pretty green to all this stuff.

 

Found this video too:

 

Not the same system, but this might be similar to how you would set up Schneider:

 

That kid above has a website:
Mobile Solar Power: Made Easy! DIY Off-grid Solar Power!

 

Do not, do not do not do not buy a power wall or power wall knockoff.
You want as much open source, off the shelf stuff as you can get, minimum proprietary.

How much power do you need, how much stuff do you want to use?
I say:
12v systems are for the minimalist, for camping, charging a cell phone, a few lights that get used a little, bigger stuff gets used the bare minimum in a 12v. They're just not intended to run long duration higher demand loads. Forgetabout "my vehicle uses 12v so should everything else".
Realistically expect low single digit KWHs, like 1 or 2 a day from a 12v system. 12v struggles to keep up with powering a 120v refrigerator or freezer.
If you want more go 24v.
Lots of stuff is made to take advantage of 24v. Lots of 12 and 24v stuff out there that does both 12 and 24v. Most of the panels out there are more appropriate for 24v than 12v. Inverters get bigger. Charge controllers get bigger. Now you are talking about a system that can handle several kwh per day, you can get refrigerators that run 24v.
There's 36v, pretty much only for tugs and forklifts, stay away from 36.
If you need more than 24v, go to 48v. Now you can go just about as big as you want. With a 48v system you could do a whole house system on that. About the only things you don't want to run off 48v is central A/C, electric clothes dryer, large electric air compressor, large welder you could but I wouldn't recommend it. The only thing that's really hard to run off a 48v system is an electric vehicle, then you simply need a few hundred kwh of battery capacity. It's doable if money is no object.

 

I was thinking about needing electricity for basic stuff. Just lightbulbs, computers, maybe a freezer or refrigerator, maybe an electric heating unit. Just for a single room. Not for a whole house.

I want to pull the trigger on this, and buy the equipment, and get it installed, but I think I'm suffering from analysis paralysis. I learned a lot of the basics from the video that the kid above provided, but I realize this stuff gets complicated pretty quick. I need something that is mostly plug-and-play. I'd be mounting the solar panels on a roof of my garage. Probably have room for about 10 -20 panels. Not sure if I need that many.

I watched the Schneider videos. That setup looks pretty complex. If there is a good user manual for assembly I could follow the instructions. Not sure how user friendly that product is. Essentially just looking for something that is reliable, safe, and has enough power for common stuff in a single room.

 

I use Square D breakers for my DC wiring, they are rated for DC, cheap and available at most of your big box home improvement stores.

I put one small breaker box between my solar panels and charge controller.
A second breaker box that ties the controller, batteries, DC lights and inverter.
A 3rd breaker box on the other side of the inverter for the AC wiring.

 

Those breakers are only rated for 48v.

 

Due to working, ect, I don't have time to do the research necessary to learn about this project thoroughly. But, I was thinking, due to inflation and shipping issues, it might make sense for me to just order the equipment now, and assemble it when I get some free time down the road. If I were to just order the Schneider equipment, is that everything that I would need to install it? I was also wondering if there are companies that set this stuff up for you. I always prefer DIY, but I'm just not sure I have the bandwidth to learn about electricity now. Seems pretty complicated. Looking for a quick solution and dirty solution for this. I can spend the $$.

 

I called Schneirder Electric. They were very helpful. He's sending me all of the user manuals for the equipment listed above. Also, they have a tool for finding local installation people to assist with setup, which is helpful. I'd prefer to DIY on this. If the manuals are good enough, I'll probably just go that route.
Adding # for my own future reference: 1-833-391-8640

 

Schneider is solid.

If you want to go fully off grid how many kwh do you use per month over the course of a year?

For me I know I would need at least 20kw of panels and around 100kwh of batteries.