solar on/off grid installation
I just bought a nice pull behind camper and would like to install some solar panels on it to make it more self contained as well as tie the system into my home when it is just parked. I have tried to...
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Hi I have a grid tie system of 22 220w panels, it can produce in the neighborhood of 700 KW-450 a month from spring through winter here in South Carolina,
IF you are going to grid tie I would seriously consider The Enphase micro inverters...one sits behind each panel and can be easily added on too as you grow your system. It will take the DC solar panel and convert it to AC, Thus as your system grows you will not have a large headache as with a central string inverter. You can find my output on the Enphase web site as "Gavin's system" On good days I make about 30 kw
The Enphase system is all plug and play.
OK, on your camper you will need a charge controller, between your batteries and your panels, it essentially dumps or disconnnets from the battery any excess power....excess power or overcharging is a bad thing on batteries it will make lead acid batteries boil themselves dry and ruin them, much less the hydrogen gas that will need venting.
The Lithium batteries will die dead flat from a overcharge, so a charge controller is very important.
Another couple of things to consider:
A good inverter back to AC.
With a standard string inverter, if one row of panels is shaded from an obstruction as the sun moves across the sky, it will knock the whole row of panels out of production, but with a micro inverter only that one panel is affected while the others keep on producing.
Another thing is....and I really hate to be a buzz killer here for you is, that unless you really conserve power or live alone or maybe with someone else who is real frugal with power, a few panels..maybe 2-4 wont make hardly a differance in your power bill.
The reason I put in my own panels is that my energy costs are high here in the neighborhood of 18-20 cents a kw, its an old Co-op from the 1930's and until recently they had crappy service and didnt give a******about the customer, they acted all smug about reaming the customer each month, but with panel prices falling I thought it would give them a reaming too.... they were oblivous to the panel prices dropping and told me the adventure would be too expensive yada yada yada. Now they are scrambling as more and more folks on the same grid are doing what I just did a few years ago.
The threshold of "cheap power" is in the neighborhood of 10 cents a kw
I didnt do it to be a hippie or be an over the top "Green Person", it instead just made pure economic sense to do so and the added benefit was beating those jackasses at their own game.
All the best!
Gavin
IF you are going to grid tie I would seriously consider The Enphase micro inverters...one sits behind each panel and can be easily added on too as you grow your system. It will take the DC solar panel and convert it to AC, Thus as your system grows you will not have a large headache as with a central string inverter. You can find my output on the Enphase web site as "Gavin's system" On good days I make about 30 kw
The Enphase system is all plug and play.
OK, on your camper you will need a charge controller, between your batteries and your panels, it essentially dumps or disconnnets from the battery any excess power....excess power or overcharging is a bad thing on batteries it will make lead acid batteries boil themselves dry and ruin them, much less the hydrogen gas that will need venting.
The Lithium batteries will die dead flat from a overcharge, so a charge controller is very important.
Another couple of things to consider:
A good inverter back to AC.
With a standard string inverter, if one row of panels is shaded from an obstruction as the sun moves across the sky, it will knock the whole row of panels out of production, but with a micro inverter only that one panel is affected while the others keep on producing.
Another thing is....and I really hate to be a buzz killer here for you is, that unless you really conserve power or live alone or maybe with someone else who is real frugal with power, a few panels..maybe 2-4 wont make hardly a differance in your power bill.
The reason I put in my own panels is that my energy costs are high here in the neighborhood of 18-20 cents a kw, its an old Co-op from the 1930's and until recently they had crappy service and didnt give a******about the customer, they acted all smug about reaming the customer each month, but with panel prices falling I thought it would give them a reaming too.... they were oblivous to the panel prices dropping and told me the adventure would be too expensive yada yada yada. Now they are scrambling as more and more folks on the same grid are doing what I just did a few years ago.
The threshold of "cheap power" is in the neighborhood of 10 cents a kw
I didnt do it to be a hippie or be an over the top "Green Person", it instead just made pure economic sense to do so and the added benefit was beating those jackasses at their own game.
All the best!
Gavin
