Mixing solar panels

phemens wrote:

BFL13 wrote:
Having your own land like that lets you park so you can tilt the panels South. The stick house can be built with the roof slanting the right way too. At our seasonal off grid, I beat that by using a ground based solar set that I could aim, so it didn't matter which way the trailer was parked.

You want the fridge on the North side, the panels tilted South, and the awning on the sunny side. Of course your RV will have the fridge on the wrong side!

Plan for the house is to have the solar array on a tracking mount to follow the sun. Boss has dictated that the house will be build to consider view first, practicality 2nd ;)

And remember, the boss is always right.

A lot of times you are but remember rule no. 1 above.

phemens wrote:
Plan for the house is to have the solar array on a tracking mount to follow the sun. Boss has dictated that the house will be build to consider view first, practicality 2nd ;)

Trackers are not much use unless there are space constraints. They use a fair bit of energy and don't do well in winds. They are also expensive.

Far better to use that money for more panels set at the ideal winter angle.

No space constraints for sure. If not tracking then arrays that I can easily access to keep clean. I have a whole education on home solar ahead of me ;)

phemens wrote:
No space constraints for sure. If not tracking then arrays that I can easily access to keep clean. I have a whole education on home solar ahead of me ;)

I would start with a floor plan that satisfies your partner. Next a passive solar design. The fewer mechanical systems the better.

The eco house in Regina had back up heating consisting of a natural gas fired 40 gallon water heater. It used evacuated tubes for space heating, and the windows had a wide gap where Styrofoam peanuts were blown in at night--and then sucked out in the morning. There were no north facing windows. They did use an air to air heat exchange system.

There were two water heaters "in series" the first one only had the pilot running to preheat water.

Will you go 100% electric? A ground heat pump system would be a nice but expensive feature.

I have a triple mini split heat pump in my condo. I've never needed the heating part, but it is unbelievably efficient. My current consumption is 4.3 kwh per day. I suspect most of that is the fridge. I do have a dishwasher, microwave, and induction cook top with a resistance convection oven. My space heating and water heating costs are hidden in the condo fees.

The very first geothermal house in Saskatchewan is near the Manitoba border--and the owners are piano tuning clients of mine. It was monitored for more than a few years by the National Science Counsel from Ottawa. At that time two wells were bored. One for drawing hot water and one for injecting the water back down. Current technology uses a field system that is buried at two layers about ten feet below the surface. I have one client who has the newer system. It is NOT cheap. The mechanical components take up a fair size room.

None of these installations included solar electric generation--but the more modern heat pump folks plan to do so.

I quickly scanned n didnt see the answer I am thinking.

A residential fridge is hugely inefficient. If you have a few bucks, and plan to do RVing in the future also, then reconsider all this.

You have plenty of solar for a vehicle compressor fridge, by this I mean the Danfoss-style compressor unit (Engle, ARB, Dometic, Iceco etc). These are made to run off batteries/solar, and the compressor is advanced and uses very little power compared to a house fridge of similar size.
Using a house fridge will suck the batteries low over-night and this will shorten the battery life, and cost more money down the road.

Save the cost of extra panels ($300??) and put it into a unit with the Danfoss compressor. I think someone mentioned a retro-fit for a compressor to fit into some propane RV fridges, this is good as the typical Dometic compressor is a chest style, but there are options for front opening also.

The nice compressor models with two compartments (can be freezer and fridge) are expensive, but no need to point out the benefits anymore given the current social disruptions out there.

I have a big, two door chest, with two GC batteries, and lose very little battery charge overnight. Batteries are topped off before I get out of bed from 200 watts solar.

The compressor might run 7-10 mins per hour and pull 3-5 amps max, I think around 3-4 is typical. A residential fridge would run through an inverter with its own power loss and draw much more power.
Residential fridges are not made for being driven around a lot, though they can hold up it seems, but the vehicle fridges are used and abused by off-road Jeeps all the time with no issues.