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Our off-grid system & life

19K views 146 replies 27 participants last post by  Denton 
#1 ·
Hi, this first post will be a pretty much non-technical brief summary about why we did what we did.

When I met my husband (2015) he'd already had and lived on the 8 acres for about 6 years, built a small one-room cabin by hand out of scrap lumber, donated windows, etc. He hauled water from a lake nearby, filled drinking water jugs at friends, and for power - propane stove for cooking, woodstove for heat, a little windmill up on the high spot that had recently seized up (high windstorm), an old generator to charge up 2 car batteries, and a 1000w inverter to run a couple lights and a TV for a few hours a day. We lived like that for a year; loved it.

Our second year, we decided to make this place our permanent home...and to 'improve' it to make life a little easier so we could stay here when we got really old & feeble, lol, in our 60's now. Briefly considered having power run in - but it would have been over $35K for this far out, so nope. Mostly though, just wanted to stay 'un-hooked', so stand alone system was the choice.

First was to have the well drilled - so we'd know depth & therefore pump requirements... and what kind of power was needed to run it. Ended up at 200'. Too many options/choices...and my knowledge was general rather than deep enough to make a good selection - so I called in a pro to help design based on our needs. Over the summer of 2016, we built an addition on to the cabin and incorporated a 'power room' in that, for the battery bank (16 Rolls 6v, 428AMH, configured for 24V) and all the component parts. Also built a treated 4x4 framework for the 9-panel array (crystalline, 235w each), which is 100' up above the cabin.

Though comfortable doing all the house wiring, etc, we decided to have this system installed by a pro. We did all the build & trenching; he did the hookup. Also having him come up once a year to give everything a good check-over; we maintain the 2 ton (lol) worth of batteries, checking every 6wks for h2o levels, topping them off, and if they need to be equalized we do that then. Been over a year now, so far all good.

It was likely an over-build. I dont care, even though the pro said we could get by with a smaller system. The main thing was and is - sufficient watts coming down the hill to keep an oversized battery bank charged (it only dropped once below 90% after a week-long rain last summer, so we fired up the gen to top them up) to meet our needs.

Our needs? 220v Water pump. Efficient (480kw/yr) GE fridge/freezer <-and that can be shut off, if needed.
Our extras? Lights, TV, Washer(110), fans
Our biggest surprise? There was so much power coming down in the full sun over this last summer that we were able to use a stand up window vented air conditioner - for the few days it got over 90 up here - and the batteries didn't drop off 100% while using it.

I'll post some pics later, and happy to answer any questions. I think I still have the spec sheet somewhere on everything in the system, and can post more particulars if anybody wants.

And since you're probably curious as hell - the 'parts' ran just over $12K and the 'labor' was $4K. The labor included not only the install - but the design, ordering, receiving, hauling everything way up here, and working with us to do it spread out over several months...as we got the needed infrastructures built.

All comments welcome.
 
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#60 ·
After operating my solar system for 2 years, I am ashamed to say I took my first set of S.G. Readings on my batteries today. Thankfully the seem ok. Not great, but not bad. I am ordering a better hydrometer today. More research backs up John’s advice that I have too few panels for my battery bank. So this afternoon I am cutting out 2 of the 6 batteries. Short term I will be devising a system that periodically rotates out 2 of the batteries but balances the wear on all 6. Eventually I will probably buy 2 more batteries and and have 2 banks and alternate their use. Thanks to all for your input cause “ I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” Please keep us posted MountainGirl.
 
#62 ·
After operating my solar system for 2 years, I am ashamed to say I took my first set of S.G. Readings on my batteries today. Thankfully the seem ok. Not great, but not bad. I am ordering a better hydrometer today. More research backs up John's advice that I have too few panels for my battery bank. So this afternoon I am cutting out 2 of the 6 batteries. Short term I will be devising a system that periodically rotates out 2 of the batteries but balances the wear on all 6. Eventually I will probably buy 2 more batteries and and have 2 banks and alternate their use. Thanks to all for your input cause " I didn't know what I didn't know." Please keep us posted MountainGirl.
Hi Chiefster. Hope your plan works for you! I'm a tad disillusioned at the moment and don't like the feeling of having to depend on someone else (Randy) to manage this. I applaud you for building your own and being able to make the changes to your system as you discover better ways of doing. Frankly, if it wasn't needed to run the well pump, I'd put the whole thing on Ebay. I'm about ready to tear it all apart, find out how it all works, and then put it back together and see if everything runs! Better, maybe, if I remember its not a '67 Chev with a 327, 4bbl Holley carb...and just keep my pickin hands off of it. :-D

I threw the switch on the panels. Soon as (something) looks like 80% I'm going to fire up the generator. We'll see what that does.
 
#68 ·
Wow.
Okay.
Need to read this a couple of times for it to absorb.

We're heading into the closest city tomorrow to pick up a few things while we still can; will buy a DC voltage clamp meter. Resting voltage - means we shut off the whole system (so there's no load); can do that this weekend coming (Or maybe the EMP test on Nov4th will do that for us, lol) or probably wait until we get this understood a bit more. I'll send a few pics of how they're set up after we get back up here later tomorrow. Glad you think I can do this. There's a lot I can do and do well. This??? Dunno. Kinda scares the bejeezus out of me.

Back soon, & thanks again
 
#69 ·
.............We're heading into the closest city tomorrow to pick up a few things while we still can; will buy a DC voltage clamp meter. ...........
DC voltage clamp meter? Never heard of such. Yes, a DC ampere clamp meter, but not voltage.

FYI, DC ammeters are fairly rare critters. You're not going to find any at Home Cheapo, Blowe's and Untrue Value. Plenty of AC ammeters, but DC ammeters you'll likely need to go to an electrical supply house or order online.
 
#75 ·
What we've decided to do is just relax about this a little bit. With the panels shut off since yesterday, the Trimetric read had dropped down to 82% by the time we got home a few hours ago. Fired up the gen right away (up to 92% now) and will let it run till fully charged. Then...it's back to what we usually do, only will make sure it gets a good drop/charge at least once a week, until we figure out if re-configuring is the way to go. Will keep closer watch on SGs, picked up a better filler in town, Tom says he has a volt-meter that will work, and we got 6" of snow in the last 24hrs. :)

Such goes life on Peaceful Mountain.

Bird Vertebrate Natural environment Branch Accipitridae


Thanks everyone for all your input, most appreciated!
 
#76 ·
MountainGirl. I love this website. I learn so much here. That said:
As I posted a couple days ago, I checked my battery SG and the readings were fair, but not good (not equal). I panicked thinking I was damaging my bank. So more research and reading. I have CROWN golf cart batteries and CROWN recomends at least a 10% charge rate. (We already covered this). So I charged the bank from my grid powered charger, equalized the bank from my panels, corrected the water level, AND LEFT THE BATTERIES REST OVERNIGHT. Then I retested the SG. All cells measure very very close to equal now. ????

So I have decided to just continue as I have been doing for 2 years. No disrespect to John (I very much appreciate his input). I will start to pay much better attention to the battery bank. Test monthly and keep records. And if I notice unequal readings I will repeat my labors of the last 2 days. But basically, I’m with you. For now pay closer attention but just continue the course and see how it all plays out. If my bank needs replacing prematurely I will be kicking myself in the a—! But for now I’m going to quit stressing. Enjoy your early snowfall!
 
#77 ·
I have CROWN golf cart batteries and CROWN recomends at least a 10% charge rate. (We already covered this). So I charged the bank from my grid powered charger, equalized the bank from my panels, corrected the water level, AND LEFT THE BATTERIES REST OVERNIGHT. Then I retested the SG. All cells measure very very close to equal now. ????

So I have decided to just continue as I have been doing for 2 years. No disrespect to John (I very much appreciate his input). I will start to pay much better attention to the battery bank. Test monthly and keep records. And if I notice unequal readings I will repeat my labors of the last 2 days. But basically, I'm with you. For now pay closer attention but just continue the course and see how it all plays out. If my bank needs replacing prematurely I will be kicking myself in the a-! But for now I'm going to quit stressing. Enjoy your early snowfall!
That's the way to do it.. Stressing over every .005 SG reading is too unproductive but occasional checking and cycling is the trick.
 
#79 ·
I'm bumping this up, after reading through the whole thing.
@paulag1955 - for some reason, I thought you might enjoy seeing it; and Chiefster - you might get a kick out of it too. LOL
And maybe some of the new folks might find it interesting as well..just so you know how crazy we are. Start at the first post. :vs_smirk:

For an update, and some of it will only make sense to some here, we left the battery bank wired up in 4 strings, and it's doing just fine. Had to replace a faulty inverter fan in the 2nd year (still under warranty, no cost to us) and the system is still meeting all our needs. It might be the over-build meant less stress on things not having to work so hard; and in the heat of summer there's enough power coming down to run an air conditioner at night. Also - we switched out the propane HW heater last year for a 20gal 110 unit, and in the low-sun winter just switch it on when we want to shower/whatever, it takes less than an hour to heat up, and if the batts drop below 90% start up the gen. Not having to plow out to run down to fill propane tanks is a gift!! Tom maintains the battery bank, Randy still comes once a year to check everything out, all good.

And, as always, if the whole solar system goes belly up - we'll be just fine.
The hand-pump was installed last summer so we'll always have water; we heat with plentiful wood; game abounds.
Life is still good on Peaceful Mountain.

Hey @Chiefster23 - any major changes on your mountain since your last post here?
 
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#81 ·
No changes to my system in a while now but some may be coming soon. I have 1000 watts of panels going into a charge controller max rated for 1000 watts. With the crappy winter weather I’m getting squat from my array. So I’m considering adding a couple hundred watts more panels to be used fall thru spring and switched out in summer so as not to overload the controller. My batteries are five years old and getting tired. Their replacement is going to be a nice sized bill.
 
#82 ·
No changes to my system in a while now but some may be coming soon. I have 1000 watts of panels going into a charge controller max rated for 1000 watts. With the crappy winter weather I'm getting squat from my array. So I'm considering adding a couple hundred watts more panels to be used fall thru spring and switched out in summer so as not to overload the controller. My batteries are five years old and getting tired. Their replacement is going to be a nice sized bill.
We have 2115 watts of panels - and even on the brightest noon summer day, I never saw more than 2k coming down. Line loss? Rating overstatement? Who knows.
Yeah...the battery replacement will be tough here. Gotta start saving up for it. Doubt we'll get the 10years I was hoping for. :vs_laugh:
 
#86 ·
Thanks for bumping this thread @MountainGirl, I searched back through a couple years of posts when I joined but somehow missed this one entirely. Great setup, and not just the solar power but the whole offgrid home solution. Reading through it was almost funny how much our homes have in common; amount of acreage, generator selection, wood heat, propane appliances, batteries, 24v system, well hand pump, and even how you guys started out on the adventure. We got a couple years on you, offgrid since late 2006, wouldn't worry much about the banned guy's comment's on your batteries (or the config) either - ours are still the originals and every year since about 2013 I tell the wife "we'll need new batteries in a year or two", but they just keep going, and going, and going like the Energizer bunny :)
 
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#92 ·
Maybe when all this sorts itself out, however things go, the Mods/Admin could delete posts #... 93, ..., 95, any new related ones, and this post - to clean up the thread? It would be nice to get back to topic without having all this on it.

Thanks, most appreciated. :vs_wave:
I'm crushed! :vs_frown:
 
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#94 ·
Actually, this is a blessing. I joined a forum a few weeks ago where we actually talk about the hobby in question and not the forum members. I like this new radical forum and it's more mature members.

So delete my handle and threads all you want--I don't want to be associated with you either.
 
#95 ·
As I explained to you the last few times you said this, we aren't about "deleting" accounts and all associated posts as it makes responses disjointed.
Mature? You mean like your nonsensical post about a black limo in this thread? That is merely one example of immature and, convoluted and unneeded and unwanted responses.
Good luck with your new forum. Don't act like you did at this forum and you might now wear out your welcome. If you do, you'll still have your mall friends, your coffee shop buddies and your bikers buds.
 
#105 · (Edited)
Here we would be discussing matters of high importance like @Denton chasing butterflies while naked in a field of flowers and the tourist would interject some such nonsense like how sharp his knives are, the food court at a mall, black limousines, aunt Clara, or making creepy comments to the gals. When I did actually read his posts I always found myself scratching my head and asking WTF?????

Adios amigo.
 
#108 · (Edited)
Chico obviously has mental issues. I don't say this to be mean or attack him. But from his chaotic and obsessive posts it seems pretty sure that the man has problems. But I hope he stays gone. Stalking and creeping out our female members is NOT acceptable.
Yes pretty much crossed the line Pming the lady folks here pushing his phone number.

Ummm thought he was married? Maybe his wife needs to keep a better leash on him? Oh wait maybe she is club property?

C.C. Rider, see what you done now
 
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