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Kingston Solar Power installation.

  • Author: DigitalMind
  • Filed under: Solar Power and Off-Grid Living
  • Date: Jan 15,2008

Solar Power is the future. I’ve posted many things about this that have all lead to this moment. This small solar power installation cost about $600 for EVERYTHING except my time.

Sharon and Calvin's House Basically, as you know, my sister and her hubby have a nice new small house in an outskirt of Kingston, Ontario, and have been living with no electricity and no plumbing for over a year now. This is a mostly by choice I must add, since they want to live a simple life. They are both very “green” people and don’t like the idea of needing to chop down tree’s to get regular grid power installed. Despite all this, I want my little sister to have light in her home, and be able to run BASIC electric devices if they want too. (And to a point, they do)

This weekend was the weekend I put all the things i’ve been learning about for the last 3-4 months to use !

Here is the breakdown for my last 3 days. I’m TRYING to put details in order to help other people who may want to do a SMALL solar setup.

Click here to read the post about what specific hardware i’m installing. The only thing not mentioned is the 300 Watt Xantrex inverter I got at Canadian Tire.

Friday Night :

Battery BankIt was already too dark to start installing the panels outside, or even to decide WHERE to put them, so I decided to see how much I could get done inside with the light that was currently available.

  1. I put the batteries in their container, and connected the 2 together in series with a #1 Car Battery Cable from Canadian Tire that cost $14. The connectors where already on it that fit the batteries I got them, so it was convenient. So 2 X 6 volts 225 amp/hour Deep Cycle batteries connected in series = 12 Volts 225 Amp/Hours.
  2. Inverter and CableI connected the 300 Watt Xantrex Inverter (Also from Canadian Tire) to the batteries using #10 Cable. (This is plenty for the small loads it will be drawing)
  3. Then came the part I was worried about. When the house was built, it was all ready to have electricity. (All the wiring was installed, along with the sockets and fixtures. The only thing missing was the installation of grid power) So I had to connect the inverter to the existing fuse panel. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT:Fuse Panel With Grid power, the Neutral cable is linked with the Ground. When using an inverter, the positive, neutral, and ground cables must NEVER touch. So using a multimeter set on a continuity test, I had to fiddle with the panel until I found a big screw that when taken off removes the neutral bond to the ground. So basically : I checked for continuity between the NEUTRAL ( in my case, black) cables and the copper uninsulatedFuse Panel with Inverter ground cables in the fuse panel. Sure enough, there was continuity, so I fiddled until I found that screw that connected the ground to the neutral. PLEASE NOTE : There was NO power in this panel, so it was “ok” to fiddle. Don’t Fiddle with electrical panels that has ANY kind of power going into it if you don’t know what you’re doing. Once I was confident the neutral and ground cables where never connected together, I plugged the cable between the inverter to the input of the fuse panel. I backed away as far as my arm would let me, shielded myMy Sister happy to have light! eyes, prayed to the techie-gods, and then turned on the switch. Woohoo nothing blew up ! !!! I started plugging in light bulbs and testing the switches, sockets one by one. Everything was working!! My sister was happy .. :)

I expected to spend HOURS AND HOURS on this part, but it took an hour or so. I called it a day, and spent the night chatting with Sharon and her hubby.

Saturday “Morning” :

The MorningTo me morning starts at around 10-11. Before that, it’s coffee time. :) (Although I did go outside to check out where the sun was shining when it popped out from the clouds) Sharon and I went to the hardware store to get supplies to build some sort of pole mount for the solar panels that we decided to install in the backyard. This took alot of time, we had to go to 3 hardware stores, and the furthest one was a good 40 minute one way drive from their house. We got back from the stores at around 2:30pm. I missed out on alot of sun time there, but I had no choice, I couldn’t do anything without the materiels.

Solar Panels on BracketI made the pole mount for the solar panels out of long, L shaped kind of brackets with holes in them. (Sorry, really hard to describe, but you see what I mean when you look at the picture) . These brackets are great and made my job alot easier. I made a kind of big I shaped form with the brackets that I mounted the panels onto.

I got a fence post and drilled a hole through the CAP to put in a really long bolt that was mostly inside the post but stuck out through the top of the cap. This gave the panels theThe Pole mount ability to turn. Another note : the big bolt type thing gave me a hard time, it was moving and making the whole mount sway and wobble. (The mount, not the pole) I simply compacted sand in the pole, THEN put the long bolty type thing through the sand and back onto the top of the pole. The sand was just what it needed to keep it in place.

We also got a bracket for the pole that is technically meant to be able to hold it upPole in the Rocks without having to dig. Instead, for extra support, I dug a 2ft hole and put the mount down there. The pole sits into a fixture for it on the mount and is secured with a bolt that holds it in place. I put a few big rocks right onto the mount, and then buried it.

The aluminum rack simply sits in the bolt sticking out of the pole and is kept there with a butterfly nut. How much you tighten the nut is what makes the angle. It wobbles a little still, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere. In high winds in might turn the direction it’s facing on it’s own, but the nut can easily be tightened MORE so that it can’t move ATSolar Panels on Mount ALL and faces directly up if needed. It’s not the ideal, but I only had a few days. I’m happy with it. :)

That’s pretty much the extent of what I got done that day. It’s winter and it gets dark really fast now, but atleast now they have a floodlight that works in the backyard that helped as it was getting dark and we were still “trying” to work. This took alot longer than I thought it would, but i’m on a learning curve. :) Backyard picture taken with no flash

Sunday :

I was originally planning on leaving today, but the combination of needing to work during sunny hours, and my hatred towards mornings slowed me down somewhat. I decided to leave on monday in order to not rush myself and get it done right.

The TrenchSunday was Trench diggin’ day ! It’s about 70 feet between where the panels are located, to where the batteries are. Luckily most of that I can run the cables along the house, attached to the lower part between the concrete foundation and the sidings of the house. It’s not too obvious. The rest however, needed to be buried. (About 25 feet) So I dug my trench and stuck the cables in there. I would have liked to put a pipe, but I didn’t think of that the day before when we were at the hardware store. It’s a bummer because i’m sure those cables will need changing when they get a couple of extra panels. I guess i’ll just re-dig it ! :) It actually took most of my available work hours to dig this trench, as some of the earth was still frozen, and there were lots of rocks and old roots in the ground.

Ron and FrancineSharon’s in-laws came by and had supper with us that night. They seemed quiet happy to see that their kid’s finally have some light in there ! :) (Honestly, I think the people that care about Sharon and Calvin -  aka the inlaws, myself, my mother, -  may be more happy and comfortable knowing that they have power than they do ! Still .. i’m selfish .. I did all this for myself. It’s just too techie to resist. :)

Monday :

Today was to finalize. I attached the cables to the house to make it nice and clean looking. I FINALLY connected the solar panels to the cablesCharge Controller and Multimeter I ran and to the charge controller. I connected a permanent multimeter onto the batteries so that they can have an idea of what state they’re at. Everything was working perfectly. So I packed my bags, and made the 3:00 bus back to Montreal.

The rest of the pictures from this trip are here.

If you’re interested in Solar Power you should also read about :

  • How to make power from the wind (Wind Generators / Turbines)
  • SolarSuno Solar Power Installation in Spain
  • Calculating your power consumption
  • Solar Power Basics
  • Figuring out how many solar panels you need.
  • Choosing Batteries for your Renewable Energy System

If you’re looking for LOTS of information on solar power and wind power systems, you might consider buying these sets of e-books that are filled with tips and tricks for solar power.

Special thanks to the people at fieldlines.com !

UPDATE (2010) : The system has performed perfectly.  They’ve decided to upgrade in a major way.  Click here to read about the new solar power installation!


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47 Responses for "Kingston Solar Power installation."

  1. Olbor February 12th, 2008 at 4:02 am

    Nice! Thanks!

  2. Mister March 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    Nice Site! Thanks!

  3. DIY Solar Power Install on the Cheap - Hacked Gadgets - DIY Tech Blog March 28th, 2008 at 6:28 am

    [...] you think that installing solar power in a house has to be expensive? This article shows that it is possible to do it yourself on a small [...]

  4. DigitalMind March 28th, 2008 at 9:26 am

    Cool this was added to hackedgadgets.com .. Thanks !!!

    If anyone wants more detailed information regarding this Solar setup, such as what it cost me, send me an email …
    digital mind @ techienation . com
    (Remove the spaces)

  5. George March 28th, 2008 at 9:50 am

    This was an awesome article, I really can appreciate a project like this! And in the future you could make some improvements to the panel mounting and cables and it would run forever! That is great. Thanks for posting this. I did also see this on Hackedgadgets.com

  6. DigitalMind March 28th, 2008 at 10:04 am

    George : Yeah I plan on changing the cable between the panels and batteries in the summer (I installed this in DECEMBER, in CANADA, got lucky there was almost no snow at the time) The pole itself is remarkably solid !

    Thanks for leaving a comment !

  7. Brian March 28th, 2008 at 7:19 pm

    Nice writeup! I am a bit concerned about your splitting of the ground and neutral, though. Why do you say you must split them when using an inverter? You may be putting your sister’s safety at risk by doing so! I work as a technician for a company that builds (among other things) military and commercial DC-AC inverters, and neutral and ground are *always* tied together inside the inverter unit. I have also poked my head into several models made by other companies, and again the neutral and ground are tied together. For your sister’s sake, I hope the Xantrex power inverter you bought is built this way, otherwise do her a favor and reconnect the ground inside the panel!

  8. Richard March 28th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    Brian, the way that most invertser slike that work is that internally they step the 12v up to a positive and negative rail that is half the peak voltage, and then they drive both the neutral and live off h bridges from those rails. If you measure either side to the chassis you will have 60 or so volts RMS, because the 2 are out of phase that gives you the 120 between the 2.

    Connecting either side to ground will cause a short on that side so in any case, a ground vault will shutdown the inverter (Or blow it up in the case of a small cheap one like this) – only saftey concern is with incorrectly wired equipment that has neutral and earth reversed on it, but that wouldnt work in a place with a GFI breaker anyway so the chances of it these days is very remote.

  9. links for 2008-03-29 at toshism March 28th, 2008 at 7:39 pm

    [...] TechieNation.Com » Blog Archive » Kingston Solar Power installation. (tags: solar energy power house) [...]

  10. Not Green IT again! : SimonStapleton.com July 14th, 2008 at 2:04 am

    [...] our house on solar panel, we could recharge all the spare batteries we like! Take a look at the wacky project Jason at TechieNation has taken on – and it seems to work! Jason is one brave guy but could be a [...]

  11. How to: Harness Solar and Wind Energy | Hack N Mod - Amazingly Cool Hacks, Mods, and Projects September 7th, 2008 at 12:21 am

    [...] check out this detailed tutorial for an example of the steps you’ll be [...]

  12. Ritesh October 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    Hello,

    I am doing master’s program in electrical from California state university los angeles. i also have great interest in solar panels and all and i want to learn and would like to install this system in india at my home but before that i have lots of questions about this system like the avg consumption of electricity of my home is 33kw and as yo stated that i’ii have to use around 10,000 panel…so please tell me about the cost??….the solar will charge the battery first or we can directly connect it to the equipment??

  13. Ritesh October 18th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    10,000 watts panel.

  14. DigitalMind October 18th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

    Hi Ritesh, welcome to TechieNATION. Get ready to have a bunch of numbers thrown at you, but first, please clear a few things up for me. Your average power consumption is 33kw over how much time ? A day, a week, a month ???

    Also, if you had to guess, how many hours of sun do you get on average PER DAY where you plan on installing these ??

  15. Jake October 27th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    Where did you purchase the panels and what made you choose that company? There are tons of companies out there claiming they have the cheapest solar panels, so how did you filter out the best choice? do you just figure out the average price per watt first and then times that number by the number of watt panel to see if a particular company is competitive?

  16. DigitalMind October 27th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Hi Jake,
    Yes exactly. Divide the price by the amount of Watts and compare each manufacturer’s panels price per watt. That’s the best way to judge. Once you have the best deal, I’d go online and look for reviews of that manufacturer just to be safe. Although to be honest, I haven’t heard of any solar panel manufacturers that are flat out BAD.

    The panels I used for my small solar power install in Kingston were from Canadian Tire and cost about $80 per 15 Watt Panel. (They were on special at the time) So $5.30 per Watt.

  17. oral November 19th, 2008 at 8:21 am

    checking checking 123

  18. DigitalMind November 19th, 2008 at 8:23 am

    How is your solar and wind research coming along ?

  19. oral November 19th, 2008 at 8:57 am

    hi digital
    i tried sending a comment earlier but it went astray
    anyway remember when i said i was checking ebay for a motor to build a wind turbine ? well i have changed my mind and bought a wind turbine and some panels from ARI
    i have not completed the setup just yet however i wanted to test the inverters to see if my refridgerator could run on the 4 100AH i connected in parallel and connected to a 1500 watt pure sinewave inverter
    the strangest thing happened , whenever the compressor on the fridge wants to engage the inverter shuts down momentarily with a low voltage warning so i initially thought it was the batteries and i was getting confused as, based on my calculations four batteries ideally should be able to deliver 4800 watts at least for 1 hour and with the rating of the fridge being 450watts i at least should get 10 hours
    i connected a voltmeter at the inverter dc input and realized that the voltage fell to 8 volts each time the compressor attempted to turn on in doing my investigations i realizes that there was a significant voltage drop along the line carrying the dc current ( it is 8 feet long)
    at the inverter connection the voltage measured 8.9v but at the batteries it measured 12.58volts.
    this situation really boggled my mind
    what are your thoughts

  20. DigitalMind November 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    Hi Oral,
    I’m glad you posted your experiences with this. 12 volts is hard to carry along cheap wire. You need REALLY good and expensive wire. I paid about $5 per foot for the cabling between the batteries and inverter. I think I used 2 guage wire. Basically, go to the electrical section of your store, find a guy who knows electricity, and tell him you need to carry 12 volts and 150 Amps. (Plain old electrical cable that’s usually used for 120 volts will NOT due) The reason I say 150 amps is because you have a 1500 Watt inverter. 1500 Watts divided by 12 volts = 125 amps.

    What kind of cable do you currently have between the batteries and inverter???

  21. oral November 19th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

    i am a little ashamed of myself as i should know better
    actually i used a piece of old jumper cable(with the ends cut off)i had ,my view was that a jumper cable should be able to carry a significant amount of current afterall to start a car requires a lot of current ! but i did not remember that i had retired this cable as it just could not start anything even though an ohmeter put accross the ends will give continuity and a voltmeter will read the voltage accurately in an open circuit but it just could not carry the current
    i am going to buy new cables tommorrow
    i think i will use 2awg and also try to shorten the run
    i am not yet set up i have only setup a few components on the backboard i could send some pictures or wait until everything is set up most of the items are coming from the states
    lastly is it normal for the inverter to arc when connecting the battery wire even though it is turned off? i am using two 1500watt pure sine

  22. DigitalMind November 19th, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    It’s ok. Jumper cables was a good start, although maybe not for a fridge. I’m glad you figured it out!

    I always saw a small spark when connecting the batteries to the inverter. Always freaks me out. I guess it’s normal.

    What do you mean you’re using TWO inverters ?? (one for fridge and one for other stuff that you turn off when not needed?)

    Pictures will be great once you get something up and running !

  23. oral November 20th, 2008 at 6:36 am

    the two inverters are actually by accident ,i was trying to get a 3000 watt pure sinewave inverter but my supplier was not able to source one so he suggested two 1500 watt
    i gave it some thought and decided to go ahead as my reasoning was i can run the fridge and microwave exlusively on one and the other circuits ie the tv’s and lights etc on the other ,only problem is i would need 2 transfer switches and two circuit breaker panels
    that way if mother nature does not feel like giving a lot of energy on a particular day i can always shut down one part of the system to lessen the load on the batteries
    i want to set up the wind turbine next week as i do not want to miss out on too much of what we call in jamaica “christmas breeze” it tends to get very windy this time of year

  24. DigitalMind November 21st, 2008 at 10:05 am

    Since inverters do have power losses when on EVEN WITH NO LOAD on it (meaning the inverter is on but it’s not powering anything) it’s not a bad thing that you have 2 inverters.

    This way the inverter for the fridge is always on, but the other for lights and such you only turn on when you’re home.

    Can’t wait to see the pictures !

  25. oral November 27th, 2008 at 1:16 pm

    hi digital
    this is the latest
    i have set up two 1500 watt inverters,charge controller one of two transferr switches and an auxiliary panel
    i am still awaiting the tower fittings to arrive so i can set up the wind turbine
    i have temporarily set up two 55 watt panels in parallel and now that i want to order additional panels from my supplier in the states i am informed that there are no more 55 watt panels they only have 54 and 130 watt
    what do you suggest ?
    i have pictures of the incomplete installation

  26. DigitalMind November 27th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    Hi Oral,
    The wattage doesn’t really matter, it’s all about the voltage that they output. You can mix and match panels of different wattages as long as they’re the same power output. So if you’ve got a 12 volt battery bank, and they only sell the 130 watt panels to charge 24 volt battery banks, then that’s no good. Often with wattages of over 100 watts they’re setup as 24 volt panels only. If you can afford the 130 watt panel and it matches with your battery bank, then go ahead.

    Do you understand what i’m saying ? (I’m not sure if I’m wording it right)

  27. oral November 27th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    i understand but the information does not match with what my supplier told me
    she said if i were to use the higher wattage panels there would be a significant loss in power from the 130 watt panel (ie if they were to be coupled in parallel with the others ) they would only put out the same watts as the lower wattage units (55 watts)
    what she suggested was i should set up a separate battery bank and have the 130 watt panels charge those exclusively and the 55 watts panels charge another set of batteries
    this is a situation i find unworkable for me as it would entail getting another charge controller a situation i am not too keen on
    what is your take ?

  28. DigitalMind November 27th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    I actually went out of my way to doublecheck this since you’ve been talking to someone selling them. She’s wrong. IF they are the same VOLTAGE, then you just connect them together and the total output in watts you get is the combination of all your panels. (so 55 + 55 + 130 watts output)

    What’s SHE’s talking about only makes sense if the panel she’s selling you is a 24 volt – 130 watt panel. In which case it would drop down to 12 volts and you would lose amps in the charging process.

    So basically :
    Adding panels together of different wattages is OK as long as they’re the same voltage of output. The panels wattage ratings just add up.

    Like I said in the previous comment though, most panels over 100 watts are made to charge 24 volt battery banks.

    hope this explains it !

  29. oral November 27th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

    yes and your effort is highly appreciated

  30. oral December 9th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

    hi digital
    i am just about ready to raise my tower however i have some concerns
    the tower is composed of two galvanised steel pipes the lower one being 20 feet and the upper portion 12 feet and the turbine weighs about 45 pounds . both pipes are coupled together with a coupling about 3 inches long
    my problem is i am very worried as whether the coupling or the threads can hold the pressure while being raised
    how is it normally done ? i am thinking of welding the coupling and both pipes as one
    what do you think ?

  31. Don December 10th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Hey there,

    Nice quick and simple installion.
    I\m in Montreal also and I\m doing some experiments charging batteries with some Canadian tire panels.
    Where did you find the golf cart batteries in Montreal ?

    Please send along your contact.

    Tnx

    Don…..

  32. DigitalMind December 13th, 2008 at 10:03 am

    Oral, without seeing it, I’d rather not advise on this. It could be very dangerous. What method will you be using to LIFT the tower ?

    Good luck and please send pictures to digitalmind @ techienation . com !!

  33. DigitalMind December 13th, 2008 at 10:10 am

    Hi Don,
    let me know if you need any help. It would be my pleasure. Free help in exchange for permission to take some pictures and blog about it. :)

    I bought batteries from Batterie Universelle. I called lots of batterie places and these guys has the best prices and offer excellent service. I highly recommend them.

    Batterie Universelle :

    http://www.batterie.qc.ca/
    514-322-3311
    6290 Boul. Des Grandes Prairies,
    St-Leonard, Quebec, Canada
    H1P 1A2

  34. oral December 14th, 2008 at 10:39 am

    hi digital
    i have hoisted the tower and the pipe threads held up fine
    i used some of my employees as due to business being a bit slow these last days they were at the office just lounging about so i made use of them
    i will be sending pictures in the next couple of days
    i have partially switched over and now i am running the circuits that controll two tv”s and and all the lights (the fridge ,microwave and washing machine are still on the grid )
    this is my experience so far
    i ran the tv”s and the lights for about 6 hours and the following morning i had a 0.75 fall in voltage at the batteries ie the voltage fell from 12.6v to 11.85v i noticed however that the panels had a hard time bringing the voltage back above12v until i switched back to the grid even though no load was on (except the little current that is drawn by the electronics at idle )
    what are your thoughts

  35. oral December 14th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

    there is another issue i noticed the electrician connected the ground and nuetral together inside the panel i believe that this is not correct but he says that is how it is done normally
    but i still believe it it wrong

  36. DigitalMind December 14th, 2008 at 7:48 pm

    Hi Oral,
    That is how it is done normally, however you’re right to worry about this. Most inverters can’t handle that and it will literally fry it and it will be unusable. The BEST thing to do is contact the maker of the inverter or look in the manual. (If you tell me what model inverter you’ve got I’ll look for the manual and look it up for you) In my Kingston solar install above I disconnected the bridge between the ground and neutral. It’s very important that your entire system has only 1 real connection to the ground. As far as your other question about the power readings, I’ll get back to you soon with that. Too busy and tired at the moment to start doing the math.

  37. Pat Testing Equipment December 29th, 2008 at 4:43 am

    Latest technology is awesome and don’t know what to do when there are only clouds..??

  38. Computer Repair Service July 7th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

    We are looking at buying a house and renovating it, and were wondering about using solar or wind power to power much of our house. We will have a well, be on a septic system…

  39. Ossie Osman September 5th, 2011 at 1:31 am

    Hi Digital Mind

    I am new to this Green Energy ( Solar Power ) concept and was shocked to find out how little the Harbour Freight 45 Watt panels can do. I was given this as a gift and went ahead and , a bought a Charge controller, Inverter, and was calculating what Battery storage capacity I need together with Fuses between Solar Panels and charge controller, Charge Controller and Battery and battery to Inverter. I am not sure if one is needed between Inverter to power usage. I was planning to use this in my Camper at the cottage.
    This is what I have;

    1. Harbour Freight 45 Watt Solar Panels ( 3 in all ). Guess it is 15 watts per panel.

    2. Royal Power 12V DC to AC 400 Watts Inverter PI-400
    3.Solar Panel Charger Controller Regulator 10A 12V/24V

    While trying to workout Battery and Fuses requirement, I came out with the following results which means I only have power for 1 to 2 Light Bulbs. Where am I going wrong. Could someone help me out on these figures and what Fuses I would need.

    Calculations:

    Appliances Watts
    1 x 40 W Light Bulbs 40

    315W per day 45 W panel ( 7hr Sun )
    Usage watts per hour 40 watts 5 hrs a day = 200W per day/ 12 = 17 Ams/Day.

    Battery size required for 7 day cycle:.
    7 day 315W 2205 W hrs / 12V = 193/ 50%= 386 Amp hr battery.

    Does this make sense? This kit is only for two bulbs?

    Assuming these calculations are correct, I need to know what type of Fuses I would require and where can I get these from? Yes I don’t have to use Inverter in this case but since I have already bought one, I want to use AC power into the camper. This would be an experiment and if confidence builds up that may try a bigger project but seems an expensive venture.

    Will appreciate your help because the more I read on this subject, the more confused I am.

  40. DigitalMind September 5th, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    Hi Ossie,
    thanks for visiting techienation, and thanks even more for “showing your work” when asking a question.

    You’re right, 45 watts of panels is really not a lot. That’s almost the exact same size setup I installed at my sisters in the post above. The big difference here is that you’re setting up for a camper, and my sister was for a full time off-grid home.

    Your calculations seems right, although I always measure everything in watts and not amp/hr’s. (easier for my head) ;)

    The thing is though, those calculations are based on that amount of power being used every day. I’m assuming you don’t spend every day in your camper ?? Lets say you just use it for a full week, once a month, that changes everything !! That would mean that you’d need a larger battery bank to power everything you need for that one week a month, but you’d have 3 weeks worth of time to have those 45 watt panels slowly recharge your battery bank for the next time you need it. You know what I mean ????

    Calculate how much power you need / want first (and how often you’ll be needing it) , and then we’ll do the math to see the size of the battery bank you need.

    Also, if you drive around in this camper, then you should get this little gizmo (forget what it’s called, but almost all RV’s have them, shouldn’t be hard to track down) that will charge your battery bank whenever the camper engine is on. This gizmo isn’t very expensive and charges your batteries way faster than a 45 watt solar panel.

  41. Ossie Osman September 6th, 2011 at 1:08 am

    Thanks for responding so quickly. I have a camper at the cottage which will be permantely fixed there and not move. The only time I will use it is when too many of us turn up at the cottage and we need room to sleep. Therefore most of the time it will not be used. But when we do use it the following will be consunption.

    Appliances Watts Hrs
    Satellite dish 30 5 = 150 watts
    TV: 25″ color 70 5 = 350 watts
    25 W lights 25 5 = 125 watts
    Total = 625 watts
    Approximately 600 watts per night there when camper in use.

    I am new to this and am trying to spend minimum to achieve this.

    Does this help.

    Rgds

    Ossie

  42. DigitalMind September 8th, 2011 at 10:12 am

    Ok, sounds good. The big question here is how many nights in a row would you be staying there and how much time in between people staying in the camper.

    For the sake of explaining what you need, I’m gonna pretend you only use it 4 nights a week. We’ll see how much time it should take to recharge your batteries so you can use it for another 4 nights :

    So 4 nights worth of power = 2400 watts. If we’re doing this on the cheap, we can say that we’re ready to drain your batteries up to half way. (best case scenario is that you don’t drain your battery bank more than 20%, but that would end up being expensive). So with that in mind, you need a battery bank of atleast 4800 watts.

    You said you have 45 watts worth of panels and that you get 7 hours of sun per day (lucky bastard). That means you add 315 watts worth of juice to your battery bank, daily. Sooooo, 2400 watts spent, divided by 315 watts added daily, equals 7.6 days to get the power back that you used. That’s really not bad for a place that won’t be used all the time.

    What kind of power do you have in the cottage ?? Is it far from the house?? You can always have a battery charger in the house with an extension cord that goes to the RV to recharge your batteries quicker.

    Take care, let me know !

  43. Ossie Osman September 8th, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    DigitalMind, thanks you very much have what just mentioned can be a backup plan ie Battery Charger.In fact I could draw all the power from the Cottage but I dont want to do that. I want to try out the Solar power concept and if convienced it can be done then I will slowing expand this for the whole cottage and say goodbye to Hydro company who are charging $ 45.00 just for delivery of power plus consumption and taxes.

    Given your above calculations.

    1. What kind of batteries and how many would I need for 4800 watts?
    2. What kind of Fuses should I use. ( Amps )

    a) Between Solar Panels and Controller through Combiner Box.
    b) Controller and Batteries.
    c) Batteries and Inverter.
    d) Inverter and Main Control Panel to Camper.

    The Controller and Inverter have their own Fuses. What are these for if we have to still fuse them.

    Final question. Do I have to Ground the Solar Pannels direct or can that be done through combiner Junction Box? Should the Charge Controller andf Inverter be grounded also?

    Rgds

  44. Ossie Osman September 29th, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    Hi DigitalMind, I am waiting for your response.

    Tks

  45. Gloria W September 18th, 2012 at 2:01 am

    Hi, DigitalMind. Are you still there? All the posts I see are dated 2011 and before. I really have been wanting to drop grid for some time, and maybe can put money onto it in the spring, but will need to do a lot of DIY stuff. Hope you’re still there, Gloria

  46. DigitalMind September 26th, 2012 at 10:24 am

    Hi Gang,
    I’m still here !! Post your questions in the comments and if I don’t answer shoot me an email digitalmind @ techienation . com (no spaces)

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