Many of you have inspired me to put out a short video of my system since there is a lot of interest as of late. I’ve been on and off the grid for the last 25 years (depending on where I have lived), and my past experience has led me to this latest system. What makes a big difference here is that I opted for larger PV arrays and inverter, with a smaller bank of batteries. The concept is that all our heavy loads such as water heating, heavy cooking, washing, air compressors, etc. are all run during the day. At night when we live off the batteries, we are only using lights, TV, computers, microwave, and the water well when we have a shower. Typical mornings see our battery bank with only a 5% depth of discharge.
At night the 50 gallon water has enough water stored for 4 people to have a decent shower. I removed the 4500w heating elements from the water heater, and replaced them with 2000w elements. Yes, it takes two hours for water to get hot instead of 30 minutes, but heck – it’s free! I had considered purchasing a solar water heater for heating water, but they don’t work THAT great in the winter (I have owned three models before this system). PV panels have a higher efficiency in cold weather (they work on light, NOT heat), so we get the same amount of hot water in the winter as summer. Besides, when the water is hot, all that extra electricity can be used elsewhere. When a solar water heater gets the water hot, it is done. The energy can’t be used anywhere else. Also, the cost of the extra PV panels is less than the cost of a solar water heating system. A conventional electric water heater is easy to find parts for, and can be completely replaced by a new one at the local hardware store.
I use two split-system heat pumps on the home for heating and cooling. I can run the Senville even while the system is heating water. Once the water is hot, then the Klimaire is fired up if needed.
If we have a very cloudy day, we still get several hundred watts of power from the system. The wood stove provides home heat and hot water in those cases. The hot water circulation pump only uses 35 watts, and the air circulation fans use 32 watts to circulate heat from the wood stove throughout the house. Clothes washing and heavy cooking are procrastinated for another day. That leaves plenty of power left over to get the batteries completely recharged.
Contact me for any information.
Post time: Feb-08-2017