Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed the video. If you know anyone who is interested in DIY Solar Power, it would really help us out if you shared this video and spread the word on what we're doing. Thanks a bunch and we'll see you on the next one! 😎
The best way to get the KW reading is to read your house electrical meter, it will show you the amount of energy used. In summer it will show for a household 1KW and in winter it may show 2 or 3 KW as per your heating of the house.
I knew next to nothing about electricity and solar power when I found your videos. I had just researched enough to know what watts, volts and amps stood for! That and the basic components of an RV solar system, panels, controller, battery and wires. Your video explanations are so clear that I learned what I needed to know to make a wise purchase when I am ready to do this. I know that I will not install it myself, but I wont be in the dark as a consumer. You are a born teacher! Thanks so much for taking the time to share what you learned from your research and experience in installing your system.
I realize this video is 2 years old, so don't know if it's getting much attention. I wanted to share what I did. I came at the sizing approach from a different direction. I have 5kW generator that will run all loads I have except HVAC, Water Heater, Range. Etc, Basically the only 240 V I want to be able to power is the well. I could run everything including the well with the 5kW generator. This gives me an idea how big the inverter needs to be. By turning off the big loads and taking electric meter readings I could come up with an actual daily use without looking at every little load. I ran between 4 and 5kWh day.
I don't need any of the information in this video but have to say you did a great job putting the video together. Looks like the work of a professional. Well done.
I ended up with 400W or solar and 430 AH of battery and only ended up starting the generator once over 3 months. And that was to run the A/C. The cost for solar is modest though if your rig already has a generator that runs off of the vehicle tank, then the convenience of solar may not be there. Even though we ran a lot of stuff off of the battery including electric appliances and an induction burner, it was rare for the batteries not to be fully charged by mid afternoon. Of course, this was during the summer. I'll be interested to see what you chose for components. Good job on the video.
This tutorial was very realistic for me I can clearly understand that I am throwing money and energy away in my home. Using an off grid solution is exactly like planning for a life at sea where there can be no room for excessive consumption.
Very good info. When I started learning solar I kept combing back to one issue. Battery weighs approx 75lbs times four. And you can only drain it to 50% so I’m carrying around half a battery I can’t use.. so search was on for life of battery and excess weight that’s useless cost compared for that and extra fuel used. In 15 year period about 5 grand so after meeting a solar expert we talked about one batter and 48 volt system with charge controller etc 12k and 25 year battery life I can drain to literally 0 and can run the a/c 4 hours a day on solar or not run it and can last four days with not needing to charge that one battery. Yea a ton more $$ up front but long term much cheaper
@2:46 When doing the calculation, your both over and under measuring, especially with power transformers like the Apple charger, or other wall wart charger. You see, a device often does not use 100% of the power rating of the transformer, but the transformer is not 100% efficient. So, if your output is 500 watts, and your 90% efficient, then your input is actually 555 watts. Except, since your device is not using 100%, your actual load is less. Instead of looking at the adapter, look at the device and see what the device actually needs, not what the transformer produces. My laptop is 65 watts, but my charger is 90 watts. So, using the method outlined, I would be over sizing by 25 watts (ignoring the fact that it is not 100%, etc). My over may need 3000 watts, but once it reaches temperature, it stops drawing. So, if I am cooking for 3 hours, I won't have this 3000 watts load for all 3 hours but may only have it for 30-40% of the time (with peaks of 100% and off peaks of 0%).
Wow that really helped me understand how to figure my solar needs. Thank you. I'm really looking at flexible solar panels because they weigh so much less but I understand that they are not as, should I say, reliable as the rigid panels. Hopefully that will improve.
My current Excel Energy utility bill shows my daily and monthly kwh data so I presume going through the spreadsheet exercise is not necessary, but very interesting to see how to calculate. Thanks.
That was a wonderfully informative presentation! I had already began my list and this video gave me some good ideas to simplify it! Great website also! I love how simple you made it....ANYBODY should be able to figure out their needs! I have a Toy Hauler, so a generator certainly is an option, HOWEVER there are too many times (& places) that I don’t want a noisy generator interrupting my peace. You did a great job putting this all together! I look forward to the upcoming videos!!! Thanks bunches Michael (and Jenny for “taking one for the team”!) Lauri
I love your video explaining solar sizing and set up. I took so many notes. I'm in the design stage of a bus conversion and a concept I've come up with is a tilting mechanism for our many roof solar panels while we are boondocking. My question is whether, in your opinion or any research you have done or come across, of the added benefit of tilting 8 to 10 panels to more directly face the sun vs. a flat fixed location on the vehicle roof? Thanks for your time and again, your videos are very informative!
Very informative. I have been wondering how RVers know what they needed in solar panels, batteries, inverters, etc. You have made it quite simple in this video. Thank you!
just wanted to do a shout out on how good your videos have improved, you can tell the last three years have weathered your confidence levels well, your instructions are really informative and i think realistic and not contrived like a bad reality tv show series. I look forward to your January start and the places you two end up going too. I predict that you two will hit 100k subscribers by this time next year if you keep up the good quality video that we've been accustomed to watch. Have a great Christmas with your family and happy trails next year....
Just found your channel AWESOME!!! We are newbies to the solar world but want to go totally off grid. We do not use any 220 lines in our house no TV,cable ect. Getting a sundanzer freezer. So basically lights and kitchen appliances will need power. We use wood yo heat. Trying to figure out what we will need. Of course the solar company in our area is pushing the biggest most expensive system.... what do you think ? We are in the south western county of NC in the mountains. Our house faces south on one end. Panels will work on the roof...... thank in advance
That is better, I was thinking the same question. Why so much math when you can use the bill, and cut it in half for the location you will be using. Better no?
1:55 or you can look at your electric bill and it will tell you how much you use. I used 15,911kw last year. Divide that by 365 and presto, took seconds.
The second of your solar videos I've watched and just want to say you're the best! You make everything so clear I don't feel overwhelmed anymore. Thank you and keep those videos coming!
I am just getting into the solar panels which I have four panels 25 watts each Hundref Watts total wired in series I believe each panel has it's own wires which plug into a 4 way that plugs into my controller. When i install my four 6 volt batteries in series and parallel then connect my modified inverter to plug in my 30 amp RV will I do any damage to the inverter in the RV? My inverter is a 1000 watt. Right now before I got solar I just hooked up my 1000 watt modified inverter and plug my RV into it and leave my truck running to run coffee pot and tv in mornings
Being new to RVing and diving into it by building my own van conversion I literally have know way of knowing how much power I'll use per day. My biggest power draw most likely will be my cooler/fridge, computer and TV all of which I hope to run on 12DC. My plan is to live full time and I will be solo but since my activities include various mountaineering activities year around as well as self contained bicycle touring i'll also be traveling/staying in all weather/temperature conditions. So since living in an RV is not the same as unlimited power usage in a house I'm lost right off the bat. My best guesstimate based off watching CZcams videos would be around 400W panels but I'm not sure if I'll have the room on my Transit van, any suggestions?
I have 90Watt t.v. I want to use it for 15 hours a day off grid in an area that has 6 hours of full sun everyday. What solar size I need 'exactly'? What battery size I need 'exactly'? What controller size I need? And what invertor size I need? Being tight budget, I need exact sizes for each. If somebody can help me, I would be thankful in advance.🙏🙏🙏
Great video Michael! That sizing chart will help for sure. Still deciding between another 5k gen for the fiver and a full set of solar. Decisions, decisions!
Thanks for the video I had a question regarding consumption of a refrigerator, the plate says 350 Watts but after a week on The Kill a watt meter it shows 1.5 kilowatts per day. Which is around 63 watts an hour.
The calculator seems to be way over-sizing the battery bank. 800 plus amp hours? For about 120 AH of daily needs? Even with loses, a bank about half that size will keep you powered for the better part of two days.
+Dan & Jen Nevada Hey guys! I definitely think it does too but I also tend to think it accounts for “worst case scenario” which is always good to do with solar. I will show what we’ve installed in a future video to give people an idea of what has worked for us 🌞 Thanks for watching!
Wouldn't be easier to use your electric bill's Kwh average over the last year to determine the size of your solar-electric system? During some months, you may "over-produce" and feed that excess power to the grid, and other months you'd "under-produce" and draw power from the grid. Ideally, this would result in "net metering". And if your electric company has an "average payment plan", your power bill should be next to nothing.
Good afternoon Can you please advice me on what will be required to install a 150kwp, 50kwp and a 3kwp each solar power ? How many inverters, solar panels, batteries charge controllers and other requirements? Counting on your advice and quick response Thank you.
Solar is a battery charger. Lead acid batteries can only accept so much current at once. The sun is not out 24hrs a day to fill them up. The amount of solar is irrelevant until you get lithuim batteries. Once you get lifepo4's, you can charge them in an hour from a generator making solar kinda redundant.
Would it not be easier to just look at the KWH in your current electricity bill and just divide it by the number of days covered by the bill, to get seasonal differences in the calculation look at the last 12 months calculate the total KWH used and divide it by 365. Add 25% head room for additional equipment you might purchase that should be a pretty accurate calculation or am I missing something?
Simply reading the rated power consumption off of the device is not an accurate way to determine actual average power usage. For example, a fridge/freezer combo might have the peak rating on it but to plan for solar, you would be more concerned with the average power consumption. What would you type in for # of hours of use for a fridge/freezer into your calculator? How would someone know how many hours it actually runs? Some people might just type in 24 hours for that and if they use the peak wattage rating of the fridge, that estimate will be WAY off, telling them to buy many more solar panels and getting a much larger battery bank than they really need.
The refrigerator I have, states the energy consumption is 313 kWh/year based on standard test results for 24 hours. I then multiplied 313 kWh by 1000 (conversion to watts) giving me 313 000 watts, then I dived that by 365, which gave me 800 and some change watts .. to run a 157 liter refrigerator and its 73 liter freezer over a 24 hour period? Does that sound right?
Those calculators don't actually work, due to the fact they are average. If you have summer and 8 hours and winter 2 hours, then the average is 4 hours. Then adding say 100w panels in summer you get 800wh In winter you get 200wh. This means that your winter power will fall short, and depending where you are that can be around 70 days of falling short. A 5 day battery reserve isn't going to help, you need a generator. If we use winter calculations you would need five times the solar panels to make average power. I don't think anyone would want to do the battery storage... 70*2kw 140kw battery! (Three Tesla car batteries). Then to power to charge this! A good way is to zero your use on battery in spring... So if you have 6 hours of sun. And you use 400w for 4 hours. That's 1600kw. But if you start with 400w panels then for 4 hours the power is zero. But if we have 1600kw battery, and we have 800w panels the. We can charge the battery and use the power, or use 400wh for 8 hours. We don't need to over do the solar, as we can only use what we use and what we can store. The time shifts for summer with 8 hours of sun gives us 8 hours of use and a further 4 on the battery totalling 12 hours. We shift again to winter, and we get 2 hours of sun. So our 4 hours becomes 2 hours and 800w. That's 50% of the battery charge. So in two days you get 8 hours of use. Or four hours per day. But we double the panels and get our 8 hours per day. Hope that makes more sense as average just won't work out especially for winter or different places, that redundancy will be dead before you can make good power. I've a 800w array making around 30watts for most of the day and around 120-140watts in winter in the sun hours. (Here winter sun is 400wm2)
I am trying to work out my solar needs for a camper conversion. In the spreadsheet should I be finding the Watts for the chargers or the devices themselves? They have different values. Help!
Hey am I missing something here, On the load charts presented in the output wattage column, it's like he has been presented with the correct wattage first and worked backwards on the P=VI formula with all different voltages except the voltage will be fixed at what ever voltage the system is -240v/110v/24v/12v
Thank you for this video but I realise everything everything u running are DC what size inverter will I need for this will it be the same amount of total wattage per day used?
STUPID QUESTION: If there is another geomagnetic solar storm like the Carrington Event in 1859, then what will "Plan B" be for those of us who are in electric cars & using solar in our homes? (Please direct me to the video if you've already addressed this issue on another video?) Is there a Faraday Cage large enough to protect a hybrid or electric car by any chance? Thanks!
Hello. great video. I have three s/panels 180w combined - a 2000w inverter and 5 batteries 410ah. I power a tv. DVD and l.e.d lighting... Q. am I over doing it a little? I live full time in a converted long wheel base van all yr round in the UK.
you forgot to mention about the inrush current in devices like Air con and the likes where the application draws a larger amount of current when operated in the beginning
Good Morning. I’m going to install 2 new 200W solar panels. The question is Parallel or Series. I have heard the Series is not as good because of shading you lose some of your power. Yes the Amps are around 10Amps with 40 Volts and Parallel the Amps are higher at about 20A and the Volts are lower at 20V . All so I read some ware the solar panels need to have a voltage around 20 to 30 volts above the battery voltage Do you have any thoughts on this. Thank you Jack
Should not WHEN you intend to use units also be considered, for large units, such as Residential central air conditioning all night in a hot humid Florida summer, or an oven/stove in evening, or electric heat thru the night? Is there instances for sizing, that one must work backwards? Such as these, then figure how much energy storage is needed and they from there, back up to buffer of days with no solar potential to run stuff and THEN to the array total wattage? along with other less amp usage all whcih could kick on at various times, such as Water Heater or other stuff, especially after sundown. I suppose it is advantagous to control certain usage to peak solar potential timeframes, such as if you have a shop and want to run a table saw and air compressor or arc welder or other big amp draw... do it in day and do not allow range, or other items to run, such as water heater or AC maybe, to balance out and not overdraw ... all to reduce battery storage cycling and usage. PS: I am just trying to learn all this and it gets confusing. I prefer chemicals over electricity stuff.... I avoid such SHOCKING material. I also wonder when battery storage will take quantum leap forward, as it may. or whether we shall ever see super-capacitors for such long term energy storage of coulombs
Hi.. I need help please. I'm a tinyhouse person, I didn't build it. It's grid tie exception is toilet. I'm planning on getting 5 x 480w panels, I have an eccoflow delta 1300 to power the house (fan, fridge, occasional lights) how can I put the panels up and wire it to my house w/o pulling out the current setup? Also I'm thinking of doing 48v sys
Hi! You are the dude, i want to ask.. I'm going to buy fev 285w PERC- panels, they told me, Perc-panel is the best. Is that so..? I'm beginner, but very exited to learn more about solar power! Could you help me..?
Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed the video. If you know anyone who is interested in DIY Solar Power, it would really help us out if you shared this video and spread the word on what we're doing. Thanks a bunch and we'll see you on the next one! 😎
All I know is winter I used 6.78 kilowatts and summer 7.5 kilowatts, please tell what I need for my inverter and batteries bank, thanks
On the online calculator you used, there was this part '3 String Configuration' in battery connection. What does it mean?
hi, I'm interested in DIY SOLAR POWER asap. Thanks for the previous uploaded videos.
How can I get your contact information?
Wouldn't it be easier to call the electric company to get the monthly usage over 1-2 years and average it out?
The best way to get the KW reading is to read your house electrical meter, it will show you the amount of energy used. In summer it will show for a household 1KW and in winter it may show 2 or 3 KW as per your heating of the house.
I knew next to nothing about electricity and solar power when I found your videos. I had just researched enough to know what watts, volts and amps stood for! That and the basic components of an RV solar system, panels, controller, battery and wires. Your video explanations are so clear that I learned what I needed to know to make a wise purchase when I am ready to do this. I know that I will not install it myself, but I wont be in the dark as a consumer. You are a born teacher! Thanks so much for taking the time to share what you learned from your research and experience in installing your system.
At last! Someone did a video that explains things in the absolute simplest and DETAILED terms. Thank you!
I realize this video is 2 years old, so don't know if it's getting much attention. I wanted to share what I did. I came at the sizing approach from a different direction. I have 5kW generator that will run all loads I have except HVAC, Water Heater, Range. Etc, Basically the only 240 V I want to be able to power is the well. I could run everything including the well with the 5kW generator. This gives me an idea how big the inverter needs to be. By turning off the big loads and taking electric meter readings I could come up with an actual daily use without looking at every little load. I ran between 4 and 5kWh day.
I highly appreciate your comprehensive explanation! It is very smooth. You are a very good Teacher
Very helpful. Prior to this I thought that one would just have to guess what to use if you were not a solar installer. Thanks for the video.
Awesome! Glad it helped 😊
I don't need any of the information in this video but have to say you did a great job putting the video together. Looks like the work of a professional. Well done.
good day this video is very helpful to me. to learn what system i will be needing for off-grid system. the next step is cost and budgeting
I ended up with 400W or solar and 430 AH of battery and only ended up starting the generator once over 3 months. And that was to run the A/C. The cost for solar is modest though if your rig already has a generator that runs off of the vehicle tank, then the convenience of solar may not be there. Even though we ran a lot of stuff off of the battery including electric appliances and an induction burner, it was rare for the batteries not to be fully charged by mid afternoon. Of course, this was during the summer. I'll be interested to see what you chose for components. Good job on the video.
ahhhh the Metric System, simple precise and beautiful!
This video is the best info I’ve found. Looking to solar power a tiny home. I’ll be using this!! Thank you!!
This tutorial was very realistic for me I can clearly understand that I am throwing money and energy away in my home. Using an off grid solution is exactly like planning for a life at sea where there can be no room for excessive consumption.
I'm working on installing solar on my RV I just bought and your videos are such a big help. Thank you so much your videos are helping tons 😊
Very good info. When I started learning solar I kept combing back to one issue. Battery weighs approx 75lbs times four. And you can only drain it to 50% so I’m carrying around half a battery I can’t use.. so search was on for life of battery and excess weight that’s useless cost compared for that and extra fuel used. In 15 year period about 5 grand so after meeting a solar expert we talked about one batter and 48 volt system with charge controller etc 12k and 25 year battery life I can drain to literally 0 and can run the a/c 4 hours a day on solar or not run it and can last four days with not needing to charge that one battery. Yea a ton more $$ up front but long term much cheaper
I am currently trying to determine if I can do this myself and your videos are immensely helpful! Mucho thanks!!
Thanks duet justus for teaching us how to compute.
Thank you for this video. I understood everything you covered ( which is a first). Now I feel like there is hope for me yet.
Dude, best video ever for newbies (Like me and my dog-Rascal B. Ornery) understanding this!!!! You Rocked this one! yes, you did do it Justus!
Very helpful!!! I actually understand this stuff within a day by watching this video
This information is so valuable to newbies like me. Thanks so much for the great video.
@2:46 When doing the calculation, your both over and under measuring, especially with power transformers like the Apple charger, or other wall wart charger. You see, a device often does not use 100% of the power rating of the transformer, but the transformer is not 100% efficient.
So, if your output is 500 watts, and your 90% efficient, then your input is actually 555 watts. Except, since your device is not using 100%, your actual load is less. Instead of looking at the adapter, look at the device and see what the device actually needs, not what the transformer produces. My laptop is 65 watts, but my charger is 90 watts. So, using the method outlined, I would be over sizing by 25 watts (ignoring the fact that it is not 100%, etc).
My over may need 3000 watts, but once it reaches temperature, it stops drawing. So, if I am cooking for 3 hours, I won't have this 3000 watts load for all 3 hours but may only have it for 30-40% of the time (with peaks of 100% and off peaks of 0%).
Thank you very much for the helpful info. That makes total sense. 😎☀️👍🏼
Wow that really helped me understand how to figure my solar needs. Thank you.
I'm really looking at flexible solar panels because they weigh so much less but I understand that they are not as, should I say, reliable as the rigid panels. Hopefully that will improve.
My current Excel Energy utility bill shows my daily and monthly kwh data so I presume going through the spreadsheet exercise is not necessary, but very interesting to see how to calculate. Thanks.
That was a wonderfully informative presentation! I had already began my list and this video gave me some good ideas to simplify it! Great website also! I love how simple you made it....ANYBODY should be able to figure out their needs!
I have a Toy Hauler, so a generator certainly is an option, HOWEVER there are too many times (& places) that I don’t want a noisy generator interrupting my peace.
You did a great job putting this all together! I look forward to the upcoming videos!!! Thanks bunches Michael (and Jenny for “taking one for the team”!)
Lauri
🌞🌞🌞
This is what exactly I was searching brother.. Thank you so much
the first solar system i think didnt take much planning as you suggested. He just said let there be light!
Wow! That’s great advice for how to think about what size of system you need. Thanks!
I really like your videos as you make it easy to understand. Thank you
This is very helpful....thank you so much.....
I love your video explaining solar sizing and set up. I took so many notes. I'm in the design stage of a bus conversion and a concept I've come up with is a tilting mechanism for our many roof solar panels while we are boondocking. My question is whether, in your opinion or any research you have done or come across, of the added benefit of tilting 8 to 10 panels to more directly face the sun vs. a flat fixed location on the vehicle roof? Thanks for your time and again, your videos are very informative!
Great teacher
Very informative. I have been wondering how RVers know what they needed in solar panels, batteries, inverters, etc. You have made it quite simple in this video. Thank you!
just wanted to do a shout out on how good your videos have improved, you can tell the last three years have weathered your confidence levels well, your instructions are really informative and i think realistic and not contrived like a bad reality tv show series. I look forward to your January start and the places you two end up going too. I predict that you two will hit 100k subscribers by this time next year if you keep up the good quality video that we've been accustomed to watch. Have a great Christmas with your family and happy trails next year....
Excellent source of information
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for all your solar videos that has been very helpful.
Very nice and need every information
Very thorough/interesting - I think I could DIM! Thank y'all and God bless!
You absolutely can. I believe in you 🌞
Its good and thanks for helping out.
wow great video,thanks for the easy step breakdown. i'm new to this so this was a great introduction.
Just found your channel AWESOME!!! We are newbies to the solar world but want to go totally off grid. We do not use any 220 lines in our house no TV,cable ect. Getting a sundanzer freezer. So basically lights and kitchen appliances will need power. We use wood yo heat. Trying to figure out what we will need. Of course the solar company in our area is pushing the biggest most expensive system.... what do you think ? We are in the south western county of NC in the mountains. Our house faces south on one end. Panels will work on the roof...... thank in advance
what about just looking at your electrical bill monthly
I think this is for when you're only planning to run particular amount of things in your house on solar or you're on the go like him in his RV.
That is better, I was thinking the same question. Why so much math when you can use the bill, and cut it in half for the location you will be using. Better no?
It’s better to read your meter twice a day . Once during the daytime and once at night. That should tell you what u need.
Interesting information and very instructive.
Very useful and clear. Thanks. Greetings from Saudi 🌹
Hi do you have any information about sizing pv system based on intelligent techniques used to labview
Fantastic, so well explained. Thank you so very much.
Very informative
Awesome video. Thank you for your help in understanding what I need to do prior to buying solar
Very thorough instructional video. Nice.
1:55 or you can look at your electric bill and it will tell you how much you use. I used 15,911kw last year. Divide that by 365 and presto, took seconds.
The second of your solar videos I've watched and just want to say you're the best! You make everything so clear I don't feel overwhelmed anymore. Thank you and keep those videos coming!
Seriously, the best videos by far.
Biggest thank you.
WOW! This video was very useful! THANK YOU!
thanks a lot for your comprehensive explanation.
Hi Guys,
Very interesting thank you for making the great videos 👍
I am just getting into the solar panels which I have four panels 25 watts each Hundref Watts total wired in series I believe each panel has it's own wires which plug into a 4 way that plugs into my controller. When i install my four 6 volt batteries in series and parallel then connect my modified inverter to plug in my 30 amp RV will I do any damage to the inverter in the RV? My inverter is a 1000 watt. Right now before I got solar I just hooked up my 1000 watt modified inverter and plug my RV into it and leave my truck running to run coffee pot and tv in mornings
Being new to RVing and diving into it by building my own van conversion I literally have know way of knowing how much power I'll use per day. My biggest power draw most likely will be my cooler/fridge, computer and TV all of which I hope to run on 12DC. My plan is to live full time and I will be solo but since my activities include various mountaineering activities year around as well as self contained bicycle touring i'll also be traveling/staying in all weather/temperature conditions. So since living in an RV is not the same as unlimited power usage in a house I'm lost right off the bat. My best guesstimate based off watching CZcams videos would be around 400W panels but I'm not sure if I'll have the room on my Transit van, any suggestions?
I have 90Watt t.v. I want to use it for 15 hours a day off grid in an area that has 6 hours of full sun everyday.
What solar size I need 'exactly'?
What battery size I need 'exactly'?
What controller size I need?
And what invertor size I need?
Being tight budget, I need exact sizes for each.
If somebody can help me, I would be thankful in advance.🙏🙏🙏
Thank you
For home use, looking at the electricity usage on my bill would give me the total per day.
Very good video
Great video Michael! That sizing chart will help for sure. Still deciding between another 5k gen for the fiver and a full set of solar. Decisions, decisions!
Decisions, decisions indeed! If it helps, we absolutely LOVE the freedom of solar. Good luck.
Thanks for the video I had a question regarding consumption of a refrigerator, the plate says 350 Watts but after a week on The Kill a watt meter it shows 1.5 kilowatts per day. Which is around 63 watts an hour.
No, not 63 watts. It is "63 watt-hours per hour". It is still a 350 Watt appliance
Love solar
I like your eplaination... think it will help me later.
The calculator seems to be way over-sizing the battery bank. 800 plus amp hours? For about 120 AH of daily needs? Even with loses, a bank about half that size will keep you powered for the better part of two days.
+Dan & Jen Nevada Hey guys! I definitely think it does too but I also tend to think it accounts for “worst case scenario” which is always good to do with solar. I will show what we’ve installed in a future video to give people an idea of what has worked for us 🌞 Thanks for watching!
It told me I need 35,000 Ah of battery for 83 kWh usage. That's 179 batteries
Hi love your videos easy to follow, Can you use different size solar panels to make up your wattage
Thank you. Very easy to follow. Appreciate it very much.
Thanks heaps mate!!!
This would have to be the best explanation on solar set ups and needs on the net.
You have a sub right here :)
Hi ok I need to make a appointment for 3yr from now on the solar
Wouldn't be easier to use your electric bill's Kwh average over the last year to determine the size of your solar-electric system? During some months, you may "over-produce" and feed that excess power to the grid, and other months you'd "under-produce" and draw power from the grid. Ideally, this would result in "net metering". And if your electric company has an "average payment plan", your power bill should be next to nothing.
Exactly what I was thinking 3 minutes in.
This wouldn't apply if it's an off-grid system
Good afternoon
Can you please advice me on what will be required to install a 150kwp, 50kwp and a 3kwp each solar power ?
How many inverters, solar panels, batteries charge controllers and other requirements?
Counting on your advice and quick response
Thank you.
Add up your usage for previous 12 months
Divide by 365
Divide by 5.5
Thats the size of the system youll need.
I get the months and days, but what does the 5.5 represent?
Hours of sun on panels close to peaked
Solar is a battery charger. Lead acid batteries can only accept so much current at once. The sun is not out 24hrs a day to fill them up. The amount of solar is irrelevant until you get lithuim batteries. Once you get lifepo4's, you can charge them in an hour from a generator making solar kinda redundant.
Very very useful!!!
Would it not be easier to just look at the KWH in your current electricity bill and just divide it by the number of days covered by the bill, to get seasonal differences in the calculation look at the last 12 months calculate the total KWH used and divide it by 365. Add 25% head room for additional equipment you might purchase that should be a pretty accurate calculation or am I missing something?
Fabulous i love it. I have subscribed to your channel after watching few videos of yours.
Very informative need to watch more.
Simply reading the rated power consumption off of the device is not an accurate way to determine actual average power usage. For example, a fridge/freezer combo might have the peak rating on it but to plan for solar, you would be more concerned with the average power consumption. What would you type in for # of hours of use for a fridge/freezer into your calculator? How would someone know how many hours it actually runs? Some people might just type in 24 hours for that and if they use the peak wattage rating of the fridge, that estimate will be WAY off, telling them to buy many more solar panels and getting a much larger battery bank than they really need.
The refrigerator I have, states the energy consumption is 313 kWh/year based on standard test results for 24 hours. I then multiplied 313 kWh by 1000 (conversion to watts) giving me 313 000 watts, then I dived that by 365, which gave me 800 and some change watts .. to run a 157 liter refrigerator and its 73 liter freezer over a 24 hour period? Does that sound right?
Those calculators don't actually work, due to the fact they are average.
If you have summer and 8 hours and winter 2 hours, then the average is 4 hours.
Then adding say 100w panels in summer you get 800wh
In winter you get 200wh.
This means that your winter power will fall short, and depending where you are that can be around 70 days of falling short. A 5 day battery reserve isn't going to help, you need a generator.
If we use winter calculations you would need five times the solar panels to make average power. I don't think anyone would want to do the battery storage... 70*2kw
140kw battery! (Three Tesla car batteries).
Then to power to charge this!
A good way is to zero your use on battery in spring... So if you have 6 hours of sun. And you use 400w for 4 hours. That's 1600kw.
But if you start with 400w panels then for 4 hours the power is zero.
But if we have 1600kw battery, and we have 800w panels the. We can charge the battery and use the power, or use 400wh for 8 hours.
We don't need to over do the solar, as we can only use what we use and what we can store.
The time shifts for summer with 8 hours of sun gives us 8 hours of use and a further 4 on the battery totalling 12 hours.
We shift again to winter, and we get 2 hours of sun.
So our 4 hours becomes 2 hours and 800w.
That's 50% of the battery charge.
So in two days you get 8 hours of use. Or four hours per day. But we double the panels and get our 8 hours per day.
Hope that makes more sense as average just won't work out especially for winter or different places, that redundancy will be dead before you can make good power.
I've a 800w array making around 30watts for most of the day and around 120-140watts in winter in the sun hours.
(Here winter sun is 400wm2)
I am trying to work out my solar needs for a camper conversion. In the spreadsheet should I be finding the Watts for the chargers or the devices themselves? They have different values. Help!
Fiona Wright chargers, unless devices are plugged directly without chargers, eg 12v bulbs
Concise and no waffle
Hey am I missing something here, On the load charts presented in the output wattage column, it's like he has been presented with the correct wattage first and worked backwards on the P=VI formula with all different voltages except the voltage will be fixed at what ever voltage the system is -240v/110v/24v/12v
Thank you for this video but I realise everything everything u running are DC what size inverter will I need for this will it be the same amount of total wattage per day used?
Awesome video, great information
Yo the best boss thanks much
Rose are blue rose are red and this video is a 💣... Boom
Sir how can you tell what inverter to use if how many watts or voltage or Ampere of the solar
STUPID QUESTION: If there is another geomagnetic solar storm like the Carrington Event in 1859, then what will "Plan B" be for those of us who are in electric cars & using solar in our homes? (Please direct me to the video if you've already addressed this issue on another video?) Is there a Faraday Cage large enough to protect a hybrid or electric car by any chance? Thanks!
Hello. great video.
I have three s/panels 180w combined - a 2000w inverter and 5 batteries 410ah. I power a tv. DVD and l.e.d lighting...
Q. am I over doing it a little?
I live full time in a converted long wheel base van all yr round in the UK.
you forgot to mention about the inrush current in devices like Air con and the likes where the application draws a larger amount of current when operated in the beginning
That would be a whole other video ...
Good Morning. I’m going to install 2 new 200W solar panels. The question is Parallel or Series. I have heard the Series is not as good because of shading you lose some of your power. Yes the Amps are around 10Amps with 40 Volts and Parallel the Amps are higher at about 20A and the Volts are lower at 20V . All so I read some ware the solar panels need to have a voltage around 20 to 30 volts above the battery voltage Do you have any thoughts on this. Thank you Jack
Should not WHEN you intend to use units also be considered, for large units, such as Residential central air conditioning all night in a hot humid Florida summer, or an oven/stove in evening, or electric heat thru the night? Is there instances for sizing, that one must work backwards? Such as these, then figure how much energy storage is needed and they from there, back up to buffer of days with no solar potential to run stuff and THEN to the array total wattage? along with other less amp usage all whcih could kick on at various times, such as Water Heater or other stuff, especially after sundown. I suppose it is advantagous to control certain usage to peak solar potential timeframes, such as if you have a shop and want to run a table saw and air compressor or arc welder or other big amp draw... do it in day and do not allow range, or other items to run, such as water heater or AC maybe, to balance out and not overdraw ... all to reduce battery storage cycling and usage. PS: I am just trying to learn all this and it gets confusing. I prefer chemicals over electricity stuff.... I avoid such SHOCKING material.
I also wonder when battery storage will take quantum leap forward, as it may. or whether we shall ever see super-capacitors for such long term energy storage of coulombs
thank you for your lecture and how i can find that above software that you solve the example
Hi.. I need help please. I'm a tinyhouse person, I didn't build it. It's grid tie exception is toilet. I'm planning on getting 5 x 480w panels, I have an eccoflow delta 1300 to power the house (fan, fridge, occasional lights) how can I put the panels up and wire it to my house w/o pulling out the current setup? Also I'm thinking of doing 48v sys
I'd use input power rather than output power as input power is always higher.
Great information. Thank you.
Good, Duet! I need to do it.
Im a glass blower trying to go off grid and my kiln uses 1680 watts and I want to run it 8 hours a day every day.
Hi! You are the dude, i want to ask.. I'm going to buy fev 285w PERC- panels, they told me, Perc-panel is the best. Is that so..? I'm beginner, but very exited to learn more about solar power! Could you help me..?