Hello everybody. I qould like to take a moment to discuss how to set up a simple off grid set up for solar power. One of the biggest misconceptions about going solar is that the most expwnsive part of the whole set up is the solar panels themselves. But that is not true. When buying panels you can expect to pay around $1 per watt( give or take). My current set up consist of 3 100 watt panels and 4 240 amp hour batteries with a 30 amp charge controller.
The above image can be used as a reference to the number of amps each panel puts out. As ypu can see each panel puts out roughly 5 amps at peak hours. So with the 30amp charge controller i have i am able to have a max of 6 solar panels for a total of 600 watts per hour. This perticular set up is for a 12 volt system because each panel is 18 volts. With a 12 volt system you run each panel positive to positive and negative to negative(parallel). You may also run a 24 volt system with these by running positive to negative(series) on sets of 2 which will increase you voltage to 36 volts. So if we use the image above it has 6 panels that are 100 watts each on a 12 volt parallel syatem we will have 600 watts at 18 volts pushing out around 30 amps. However if we were to run them in series we would have 3 sets of 2 panels so we would get 300 watts at 36 volts pushing out 15 amps. This may sound like you are losing power by running the 24 volt system but you really aren't. Because all of this power has to be stored to be used later you can actually get the same or at least similar results from buth of these set ups it all depends on what your needs are. I travel a lot and when i am home it is usually only for a couple days. So i run a 12 volt system. With my 3 panels and 4 batteries i am able to spend my 2 days at home with lights a refrigerator a tv and my computer all working. I have one 2000 watt inverter and one 700 watt inverter to run my fridge and entertainment. However i have also run my house with plenty of 12 volt outlets( the kind cars have) that allow me to charge my phone. Or use my 12 volt appliances. But when i finish building my permanent house on my land i will have to run it as 24 or 48 volt because they are more stable and are able to run inverters that are able to hook directly to a hiuses fuse/breaker box. If you would like to know more about that please upvote comment and follow and i will be posting these informative off grid post regularly
