Solar Setup for a House

Lew Skannen

Lew Skannen

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I have a couple of questions.

Firstly, how many batteries would one need to power a house for at least 1-2 days - including the geysers, stove, TV's, fridge, computers, etc.

Secondly, how many solar panels would one need to to charge all those batteries?

Thirdly, how long will it take solar panels to charge all the batteries?

Lastly, what costs would one be looking at setting up such system?
 
Firstly, do an energy audit to determine your monthly usage and peak demand. Get an efergy electricity meter.

Secondly, use 1 to properly size your system.

Thirdly, this can be determined by 2.

Lastly, determined again by 2.
 
Quick answer on cellphone: To answer that you first need to arrive at a pretty accurate sizing of your daily usage in kilowatt/hours and your peak load in kilowatts. You also need to get a good understanding of your power needs for each hour of a 24h day, mainly because solar pv is good for maybe 5-6 hours a day and the rest must be supplied by battery when the sun doesn't shine.

Running things like electric geysers, tumble dryers, washing machines and stoves can draw a lot of power. How much varies greatly from household to household.

I have 55 x 240W panels, 48 batteries, and a 12kW grid-tied inverter. My hot water is generally made by a heat pump which draws less than an element geyser. We cook on gas. This is only just-just enough to see me through a day.

No-one can say what your system sizing should be without you first saying how much power you need in each 24h day, and when in that day you need it
 
Arthur said:
Quick answer on cellphone: To answer that you first need to arrive at a pretty accurate sizing of your daily usage in kilowatt/hours and your peak load in kilowatts. You also need to get a good understanding of your power needs for each hour of a 24h day, mainly because solar pv is good for maybe 5-6 hours a day and the rest must be supplied by battery when the sun doesn't shine.

Running things like electric geysers, tumble dryers, washing machines and stoves can draw a lot of power. How much varies greatly from household to household.

I have 55 x 240W panels, 48 batteries, and a 12kW grid-tied inverter. My hot water is generally made by a heat pump which draws less than an element geyser. We cook on gas. This is only just-just enough to see me through a day.

No-one can say what your system sizing should be without you first saying how much power you need in each 24h day, and when in that day you need it
Click to expand...
What was your all in cost to install that?
 
Just under R300K six years ago.
Load shedding just kicked in. I know that because I'm on an upstairs balcony overlooking the town and it's just disappeared into the void. Wife is watching TV downstairs and I'm doing mail. Life uninterrupted by Eskom.
 
Arthur said:
Just under R300K six years ago.
Load shedding just kicked in. I know that because I'm on an upstairs balcony overlooking the town and it's just disappeared into the void. Wife is watching TV downstairs and I'm doing mail. Life uninterrupted by Eskom.
Click to expand...
Very nifty, but very pricey
 
Arthur said:
Just under R300K six years ago.
Load shedding just kicked in. I know that because I'm on an upstairs balcony overlooking the town and it's just disappeared into the void. Wife is watching TV downstairs and I'm doing mail. Life uninterrupted by Eskom.
Click to expand...
Yikes, expensive setup but totally worth it :thumbsup::)
 
Thanks everyone, some great advise and recommendations!

Sounds like a great setup you seem to have there @Arthur! If I may ask, how long does it take the panels to charge your system?
 
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