Just looking for confirmation of my off-grid solar energy design (or suggestions for improvements).
I am completing my first year totally off-grid in my 12x16 tiny house. My solar system is designed around "sets", so I'd best tell what is a "set": 4 100-watt (5.29 amps each panel) Renogy mono solar panels on a 4x8 on-the-ground frame (actually on-the-concrete-foundation, not on the ground). All 4 panels are wired in parallel to a Renogy 30-amp charge controller. The charge controller connects to 2 or 3 Napa dual purpose Marine/Deep Cycle batteries (the bigger of their two models); I think I will drop down to 2 batteries per set.
I have two sets in operation (currently a total of 6 batteries). All batteries feed an 800-watt Cobra inverter (not sine wave). All my equipment is 110-120v, 60 cycle AC. I already have a 3rd set, but never installed it because I never run out of electricity (my computers and Internet run 24-hrs (never turn off) and my LED lighs burn all night. I cook my dinner every day in a 2-quart crock pot (90 watts maximum draw). My batteries never drop to discharge level (10.5 amps, according to the Cobra inverter manual). This system runs unifomly, even during an entire week of rain (no direct sunlight for 7 days).
I now want to expand the system to accommodate a 230-watt Excalibur food dehydrator that will run an average of 4-to-8 hours every day. I have a very large organic garden from which I want to grow all my veggies for the rest of my life (I'm 75 and dehydrated veggies are good fof 25 years). At this stage of planning, my finished solar system will include 4 sets and 8 batteries.
Is there a way to improve this design? The formula that Ihave been using for planning starts with expected AC watts needed:
(ACWatts / 10) * (1.1 fudge factor) / (DC Amps from sets) = number of sets needed
(800 / 10) * 1.1 / 5.25 = 16.8 solar panels or 4 sets as defined above.
A lot of what I'm doing can be seen on my YouTube channel (user name Al Olmstead).
Suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Design Confirmation
Re: Design Confirmation
Are you still around? Like to hear any updates