niggles Posted April 22, 2016 Hey folks, i am preparing to set up my new home fully off the grid. I just managed to get some brand new solar panels for a steal (there are more panels available if anyone wants them, message me) anyhow Inow have 23x canadian solar 305w panels. so thats 7kw By my calculations that should easily be enough to run the stuff Iwant to run.. however not having any experiece with solar im looking for advice on batteries and controllers. Anyone know what kind of batteries and how many i shoud get? what sort of controller would be best? Let me know! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
briliant_botanist Posted April 24, 2016 I'd definitely go with Gel Cell Deep cycle sealed battery's linked in parallel banks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niggles Posted April 25, 2016 Ive been fooling around with a solar power calculator to try and figure out my requirements, heres what it spat out. Any reason why you suggest the gel batteries? Im no expert but from my reading the AGM batteries sound like they might be more suited to an off-grid scenario location: New South Wales 2480, Australia Using data from Coolangatta Aws Aut weather station Min. solar irradiation per day 2.81 kWh / m2 Average solar irradiation per day 4.51 kWh / m2 Max. solar irradiation per day 6.18 kWh / m2 Energy Energy usage (per day) 12.48 kWh Maximum (Peak) load 450 W Power from other sources (wind, hydro, etc) 0 Ah a day at 48 V Solar System System voltage 48 V Current required (factoring loss) 292 Ah at 48 V Solar Panels 36 × Suntech 130Watt 12Volt Poly-crystalline Solar Panel Solar Charge Controller 2 × Plasmatronics 40A Multi-voltage Solar charge controller Inverter 1 × Latronics Sinewave Inverter 600Watt 48Volt Days of battery backup 1 days Battery depth of discharge 40 % Battery bank required (factoring loss) 730 Ah 16 × Trojan Flooded Lead Acid Battery 6V 372Ah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BedOSpines Posted April 25, 2016 Imo NiFe batteries are the go. The amg a great till they explode. These batteries last for yonks and don't explode when you overcharge em. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niggles Posted April 25, 2016 ohh they do seem like a good option - fully recyclable too! I like the sound of them i will investigate further. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brooa Posted April 26, 2016 out of curiousty what max demand/daily kw/h usage are you thinking? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SJack Posted April 26, 2016 What type of inverter are you looking at and whats your ball park budget? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niggles Posted April 26, 2016 ok so i dont think i will have that much usage, i know i want to run a pump 24/7, and i would love to have a floatatio tank to use each day, but i think that might be a bit intensive on the power. so I am working on the assumption of about 10kwh a day. I am unsure of the charge controller/inverter i want to use. seems like i really need to decide how im going to lay out my panels before i can really decide which device will handle the juice. Iws going to have worked all this out already but having lost my phone i haven't been in contact with my buddy i was doing the design with. New phone today. hooray! contact again soon... as for budget... unsure. theres $15k i am willing to put towards it, wouldnt want to spend any more than that in an ideal senario. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
