Posted by admin | Posted in Renewable Energy | Posted on 06-03-2009
Tags: based, lamp,path, lorentz ps600 solar powered water pumping system, photo, power, solar power water pumping system, voltaic
Realistic usage of all-solar system?
I'm thinking about buying this nice property with a one-room loft cabin for summer/getaways.. awesome in every respect except the fact that there's no electrical service for miles around. The electric company said it'll be $20,000 to get grid power over there, in addition to monthly bills.
Let's say I have a refrigerator, desktop computer, lights, water pump (not always on), washing machine (not always on), and some fans for hot days.
How much wattage worth of solar panels, and what wattage of inverter, would I need to comfortably power it? I'll have a generator that I can use, say, once a week to power the heavier stuff, but I'll be using the rest of it daily.
You are in a great position to set up an off grid solar system. With a few changes your $20,000 will easily power your entire cabin with solar energy.
There are a LOT of things that will determine how many watts of solar panel you'll need to power your property including your latitude, access to sun and the devices you'd like to power with the solar panels.
We use solar power on our boat in Mexico in the winters (link below) and the two things that take the most energy are the fridge and the laptop. All of the lights are LED which require very little energy and fans have a small energy draw. Bilge and water pumps are also run by the solar panels
It's impractical from a power standpoint to use photovoltaic panels to power a desktop computer, desktops use a LOT of power.
Switching your fridge and computer to super energy efficient models will have a big impact on the cost of your solar power system and I'd use the generator for the washing machine (and a solar water heater for hot water).
If you make those changes, and depending on your latitude, you'll be able to live comfortably with 500 to 700 watts of solar panel.
Below are some links to more solar info.
Amazing Solar Powered Water Pump System