paradox Posted October 20, 2009 (edited) hey all, well i'm looking into buying some land. the property is well away from the grid & it's looking like an off grid solar system is going to be the most cost effective & practical option for electricity, as well as for ethical & philosophical reasons. the house site is on a ridge top which recieves a lot of sunlight throughout the day so in that regard it's ideal. the aspect is basically east, but the incline of the ridge is gradual enough to give the site plenty of north facing space. i'm just looking for any advice about systems, costs, sizes, power needs etc pretty much anything which will help me work out the best way to go. my power needs won't be enormous, heating & cooking should be taken care of by a fuel stove & or natural gas, will definitely look into solar hot water systems also. forseeably, my main priorities aside from basic lighting & the most basic household appliances will be running a home music studio system ie computer, amplifiers, synth & effects racks, keyboards etc i would also like to ensure that the system would be upgradable for the future if priorities change ie kids, larger scale studio options, irrigation systems etc i've been doing some research but you can't beat advice from people with first hand experience or really, any knowledge at all, so if anyone knows anything i'll be well keen to hear your 2c cheers Edited October 20, 2009 by xodarap Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
reshroomED Posted October 20, 2009 You need to start by working out what your total system load will be. This means adding up the wattage of all appliances you'll use multiplied by the time they'll be in use (in hours). All electrical appliances have a label stating their rated wattage so isn't too hard to achieve.This will tell you what size panel array and battery banks that you'll require. Let me know what you come up with and we'll go from there. Also I've an electronic copy of "CRC Press - Wind and Solar Power Systems" if you're (or anyone else for that matter) interested in a good read on the subject. ed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted October 20, 2009 hey Ed great info i woudo love to get solar system up and running here as well. if you could upload that read it would be neat thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coquero Posted October 20, 2009 Hi there xodarap, It all comes down to how much you are prepared to spend really... I've installed a few solar systems and a package worth around $30K will keep you living very comfortable without having to stress too much about your power use. Your hot water system and cooking appliances will have to be non electric. Definately do the calcs as Ed suggested so you can work out a price on your system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paradox Posted October 21, 2009 cheers ed, i'm just downloading a copy of that pdf now, thanks for the heads up. heres a link to the pdf on rapidshare for those interested http://rapidshare.com/files/48645153/CRC_P...wer_Systems.pdf i'll do a bit of a calculation soon to get a rough idea of what i'll need i've seen on a few sites they have a function just for this. ed do you do this for a living or something? i'll let you know when i know more It all comes down to how much you are prepared to spend really...I've installed a few solar systems and a package worth around $30K will keep you living very comfortable without having to stress too much about your power use. Your hot water system and cooking appliances will have to be non electric. yeah, well my only other options for power to the site would be running about 1km of lines up the mountain straight over another persons house which is out of the question. that or directional boring through solid sandstone for the same distance. due to the specific circumstances, permission to do that from that land owner is feasable but even still the entire operation will probably cost well over $50K, so with that in mind i did actually have $30K in my head as good figure i'd definitely be willing to pay for a decent solar set up. good insulation is going to be a major priority when building. a wood combustion heater will take care of heating. i'll have a wood fuel stove for cooking in winter & most likely have natural gas for cooking in the warmer months. i'll also be looking into getting a seperate solar hot water system at some stage or a natural gas hot water system. i feel i'd be happy to invest from the start in a large enough charge controller & inverter/charger etc so i can upgrade in the future simply by just adding more panels/ batteries etc & not have to fuck around & replace all the components... i wouldn't mind getting a little wind turbine going too, althought the property is pretty heavily forested so it might not be practical unless i can find a good position for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
reshroomED Posted October 21, 2009 Buggered atm, but put together a few relevent docs and uploaded them to rapidshare this AM. Will post further tomorrow. Files: The Solar Home Solar Power in Building Design Boatowner_IllustrElectrical Build Your Own Solar Water Heater CRC Press - Wind and Solar Power Systems homemade_solar_cells McGrawHill - Solary Energy Projects for the Evil Genius - 50 Projects Renewable Energy Conversion, Transmission, and Storage Simple Solar Homesteading Solar Cell Array Design Handbook Wind and Solar Power Systems Design, Analysis, and Operation Bath-house Solar food Dehydrator Solar Ice-maker Nicad Pulasr Battery Desulfator Homebrew Hydro Oversot Hydro Ram Pumps LINK (78MB .zip file) ed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paradox Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) ed you're a champ thanks man edit: those are some seriously cool books! can't thank you enough, thats gonna keep me busy for while! Edited October 22, 2009 by xodarap Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
reshroomED Posted October 24, 2009 Designed from the ground up is the best way to go by far. Use 12VDC appliances as much as possible rather than stepping up to 240VAC, as there's a lot of wastage in the conversion. Get a larger battery bank than you think you'll need, and be aware you will need (and use) a back-up genset. ed ps. If anyone wants any of those files separately, pm me and I'll sort something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paradox Posted October 26, 2009 thanks again ed. i can't really do those energy usage calculations yet because if this goes ahead it won't be for at least another 6 months before construction on any buildings starts & probably another 6 months-1 year (or more?) before the whole thing will be up & running so half the appliances i will be using i don't even have yet ie washing machine etc i will do my best to get together a rough idea of the total energy needs to get a rough idea of the size of system i'll need. i take it at this stage that would be better than nothing? or do you really have to be very accurate in order for it to be at all meaningful? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kindness Posted October 27, 2009 Make sure you look into whatever rebates you can possibly get... can't do the research for you right now cause I'm procrastinating enough on doing an assignment but here a place to start: http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-...wer-rebates.php Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
