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Old 01-17-15, 08:24 PM   #1
shadowaxe356
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Default Newbie planing system, Need help! 31kw system?

Hello, my Name is Tyler and I'm from Ohio. Well I’m saving up for a solar system, at fist I would like this to be a grid tie, then work in a battery back up down the road and I have the numbers for what my finished product will need. I will be mounting these in a side yard; I most likely will not need help with the mounting of the panels. The only question I have for that would be, is it true that I want to slant my panels according to my latitude and longitude? Also if I’m trying to run my whole house should I go 24V or 48V? I know the higher voltage allows for less resistance threw the wires but that’s about all I have on that information.
My Arrays will produce roughly 25,000w if my estimations are correct. I run about 3,000kw a month (There are many factors that go into this, I don’t own the house I’m in and I cannot make changes to anything that the house uses for sewage and the sub pump is only like 15gallons so it kicks on a lot. I also have a second family in this property, somewhat like a duplex) If I need 3,000kw = 3,000,000w that’s 100,000w a day for 30days, I live in Ohio so the average is 4.2 I like to round down on numbers like this so I went to 4 hours for 25,000w an hour. Are these calculations correct? I have worked with construction and rewiring (from breaker to rooms) in a few houses but I don’t know a lot about electricity. I would like to go with micro inverters but due to me having to get 125 panels (200w or 59, 425w panel) it will get costly fast. My next question is can I have a pure sign wave inverter and have a few panels with micro inverters and just add on as I acquire more currency?
Now to my charger controller questions. I read that each controller takes so many amps. So I read that to get the amps that your running you need to use this formula (amps=watts/volts). So If I need a system for about 32kw (25kw x .25=6,250 + 25kw= 31,250kw) and I take that with a 24v system its 1,303Amps? (For 24V its 652Amps) Would the amps be the same for the Inverter as well?
Lastly I need to know where some people buy there equipment at, I have searched all over and I found some panels at a cheep price of .28/w and .48/w at sunelec(dot)com Sun Electronics. There’s been some bad reviews of this place from the past but that was about 4 years ago and now they hold a A+ rating on another site I found. I would really like to get the panels for under $1/w if possible, or if there are any kits that will match my needs that would be great too. Thank you for all your time!

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Old 01-19-15, 05:16 AM   #2
OffGridKindaGuy
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First off, Welcome!

You may want to look at this site and recalculate your findings. December is the worst month to work from. If you design from there, things will work..

Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times around the World - Gaisma

"Average" is year round. Reality is 1.32 hrs./Day during mid winter in Ohio. It's the only time of the year that I need to run my back up generator..
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Old 01-23-15, 05:07 PM   #3
sandfox007
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Good day, Most modern houses only have a 100 Amp service panel.
My first house from the 50's had a 60 amp panel.
My current abode runs on one 15 amp breaker at 120 Volts.
The off-grid system to power my place has 4 250 Watt 30 Volt panels (used for grid tie systems but are the least expensive I can find at $285 each,
a charge controller (Morningstar), AC 15 amp breaker and DC disconnects,
a battery bank (4 marine 12 volt deep cycle again not perfect but cheap to start will have to replace)
and a 2200 Watt inverter (kijiji for $80 out of an oil field truck)
I have an old 4500 Watt Onan generator converted to propane. A cheap gas generator 3500 Watt as back up.
Furnace, hot water heater and stove are propane, wood stove as main heat source. Water pumps are 12 volt, Washer no dryer use clothesline.
1 desk top, TV, stereo, 3 laptops cell chargers and routers, power tools as needed. What else do you need?

What are you running that requires so much power?
First suggestion do an energy audit on the whole place. Get a
P3-Kill-A-Watt-Electricity-Load-Meter-and-Monitor seen them for under $20 on Ebay
Go through your last 6 months power bills (a year would be better)
You need to become the EXPERT on what everything draws for power.

Put everything into a spread sheet ( open office or Excel)
Figure out what every appliance costs to run every day/month/ year
Find out your top 3 energy hogs and seriously consider all alternatives.
Find someone local that has put in a solar PV system and have a couple of discussions.
ask lots of questions and listen to any problems that they have had.
Talk to the nearest PV installation company and discuss your needs and what you want to do.
Alway get more than one quote for anything from multiple suppliers ( wild mark ups on some of this stuff, shop around
be cautious lots of scams out there.)
Look at solar heating solutions.

Grid tie (cringe) you have to talk to your electric provider they will have a large document on THEIR requirements for you to
sell them power. Usually they also have a list of inspection requirements and a list of who can tie you into the grid.
Lots of legalese and cutoff/safety shutoff's, certified master electricians etc.
You are the producer/power company know your equipment and what requires maintenance.
Know what can and does go wrong with your system, corrosion, bad connections, water infiltration, rodent damage, bird poo/nests,
leaves, snow etc. Possible fires and how to prevent them or at least minimize damage to house and equipment.
A small list of resources in this forum to check out tons more out there & of course this forum.
Good luck

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