Hey all,
For more information, please visit JM.
I am new to solar and looking for help setting up a small solar and battery system for my home. I have read lots of good info on this forum but am still fuzzy on what system will suit my needs.
Our household uses approximately 10-12 kWh/day. Our goal is to reduce our reliance on the grid and eventually go off-grid. I am looking at a 6.6kW solar system with a hybrid inverter, but am confused about battery size and whether a 10 kWh battery is enough for overnight.
Also, if you have any recommendations for trusted brand names (panels, inverters, or batteries), that would be appreciated. I seen Fronius, Sungrow, and Tesla as options, but am not sure how they stack up against each other in long-term value.
Lastly, do you use monitoring tools or apps to see performance and Servicenow , is that worth the spend?
Thank you for your time and consideration! This forum has already been very useful, and I would appreciate insight into what others with similar setups have experienced.
martinanderson
Hello there,
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Small Solar Power System.
It is a loot of talk about this. It depends.
How big is your budget? It doesn’t came just to inverter, batteries and PV. You also have to consider the mounting structure, the DC/AC cables, protections, communication with Ethernet, your location, irradiance and azimuth angle. You want to DYI or ask an installer to do this for you, etc.
What are your household applications? single phase or 3phase. What kind of loads you have during day and night. How often you use your loads.
Is your grid stabilized?
And most important, what are your energy prices and the total monthly electricity cost? If its lower than 100EUR/USD per month is not fully worth it.
If you can apply for govement discount, etc.
If you are just looking for brands. TOP inverters are VICTRON, SMA, FRONIUS MID range Huawei, Sungrow, SOLAX, very cheap ones don’t bother it’s a headache.
For batteries there are many brands on the market, but first you have to make sure they compatible with your inverter brand. Victron is compatible with any battery, other brands are compatible with BYD, TESLA, Pylontech. Huawei/SOLAX are only compatible with their own batteries.
For PV always look for the almost latest technology, right now TOPCON is the best and noncrystalline N-type the good choose.
Mounting structure most common and known is K2.
But all these questions can answer a good installer, check with your registered installers in your area. Look for how many projects they had and ask for customers reviews.
The company is the world’s best perc solar panels supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.
Solar Power for Beginners
Trying to work out what exactly you need for a solar power system can be daunting. People may end up spending a small fortune and still not have the power they feel they need. They get a number of things wrong (no wiring a panel up to a car battery isn't going to cut the mustard).
You don’t need to invest vast amounts of cash if you don’t have it. But you do need to understand some basics. The trouble is information on small off-grid solar systems is curiously hard to find, or at the very least plain confusing. Here I've cobbled together an idiot's guide to small, cheap solar systems in an attempt to shed some light on the strangely nebular science of solar power.
Basic Solar Power Equipment
There are four main parts to your solar system:
Controller (top left), inverter (middle), battery (bottom), fuse box (right)
1.Solar panels. These draw in the sun’s energy for you. The more efficient your panel, the more energy they absorb.
The two main types of solar panel are Monocrystalline (black) or Polycrystalline (blue/dark blue). There is still much confabulation about which is better and you can follow that debate
here if you like.
2. Batteries. These store the power collected by the panels. The more you store, the more you can use when there’s no sun.
Don't use car batteries! They are designed for a totally different job (giving a car engine an oomph of power for a short amount of time). You need deep cycle batteries, and they are getting cheaper so that's good news. Again you are faced with a choice. Lead acid? Gel? Lithium? You can use any of these in your solar system though lithium are unquestionably the best at the time of writing, but also the most expensive. Read about the pros and cons of each
here if you are so disposed.
3. Regulator (controller). This is the brain of your system. If your batteries over-charge or over-drain, their longevity is severely reduced. The regulator controls how much your batteries can charge. When they reach their optimum limit (preferably about 14 V) the regulator stops power coming in from the panels.
4. Inverter. Batteries pump out power at 12V. The inverter converts the 12V into a voltage suitable for your house-hold appliances (usually 220V or thereabouts).
Watt? You Don't Know an Amp from a Volt?
So you've got your basic solar power equipment. All well and good. However, trouble brews when you want to use appliances that need more power than your system can handle. This is where a cursory amount of electrical knowledge goes a long way.
Volts = Electricity’s equivalent to water pressure. The higher the voltage the more electrical current flows.
Amps (current) = Electrical flow rate
Watts = Units electrical power is measured in.
Voltage multiplied by amps = Watts.In my mud home in Turkey, I used a small inexpensive system (cost a little over sterling back in ) with two 160 watt solar panels, two 200 AH batteries, a 600 watt inverter and a 20 amp regulator. But what does that mean?
1. I couldn’t use any appliance, or group of appliances that are over 600 watts. The inverter couldn’t handle it (actually better to stay below about 300 watts).
2. I couldn’t use any appliance, or group of appliances that burned more than 20 amps. The regulator couldn’t handle it.
3.There is a finite amount of power stored in the batteries. For the health of the batteries the system functioned between 10.5 and 14.5 amps. That meant I had 4.5 amps to play with when the panels weren’t sucking in light.
Basically, appliances of less than 50 watts are what I looked to use. As a general rule, small motors and battery chargers got the green light. However, anything that heats is a power-eater. I gave away my toaster.
What I could potentially use:
- Laptop computer
- Normal computer
- Printer
- CD player
- DVD player
- Speakers with subwoofer
- Mobile charger
- Power drill battery charger
- Power sander battery charger
- Power jig-saw battery charger
- LED lights
- Normal lights
- Standing lamps
- Lava/Tesla lamps, should I so desire...
- Epilady (This is mighty fine news)
- Electric razor
- Small mini-bar type refrigerator
- Television
What I couldn't use:
- Air conditioner
- Kettle
- Toaster
- Electric hob
- Washing machine
- Large refrigerator
- Freezer
- Iron
- Curling tongs and hair straighteners
- Blender
- Cappuccino machine
- Waffle maker
- Vacuum cleaner
- Immersion heater
- Dishwasher
- Hairdryer
- Electric fire
Wavy hair and waffleless breakfasts are two of the sacrifices you'll have to make if you run a small 12V solar system.
Is a small system worth it?