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My "Off Grid" home solar system

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Ok ... A few people have asked about my solar system so I thought I would give a few details .

9 years ago I purchase a piece of Island Waterfront property in Bocas Del Toro ,Panama .The area get 300 inches of rain a year and this property is right in of the Rain forest . The last power line is about 3/4 mile from my property . It does not really matter anyway as the local island generators do not produce enough KW's to supply the needs they already have . Lots of "Brown Outs" and complete power failures .
Besides that , it was going to run me $42,000 dollars to run the power line with no guarantee that I would even have power .

One of my past lives in the 70's was a Solar licensed Contractor and Designer though we mostly only did Solar heated Hot Water heater type stuff back then and only as a addition to our overall construction company that I owned .

When I returned to the states I decided to research "Solar Electric " to see what progress had been made , techology wise in the last 20 plus years . OMG ! What an eye opener! The new techology is coming out so fast its unbelievable .

Anyway we were real fortunate to have a very large Solar supply company right here in our town in California . Twice a year they put on a class on Solar electric power 2 day glass on the Concepts,power needs and how to calculate them ,survey site , installations , and maintence of different systems is dicussed . You actually build a complete system the 2nd day . The class is restricted to about 20 people and they have a waiting list . Yes , it is that good .

My House in Panama is quite large . 5 bedroom /3 bath 7500 square feet . I already knew that I wanted as much gas(propane) appliances as I could find . I determined that 220 power would not be needed . So with that in mind , I calculated and determined that I wanted a 2500 watt system minimum with Generator back up and with every safety feature I could buy . You blow a part in Panama ,its not like you run down to the local hardware store and fix it ,

I weighed the cost of bringing everything from the United states or attempting to find a Solar contractor/ dealer in Panama . I got lucky . We have a dealer in David (250 miles away) that services and installs many systems in my area . He handles the same brands I wanted and can address any repair or warranty issues there , He is a licensed repair facility .

When he came to my home under construction I already had the typical 120 VAC wiring installed as in any home in the U.S. along with a Fused Breaker Power box at the site where I determined to install the solar batterys and inverter which was a nice cool dry ventilated area off the laundry room . I had everything ran in conduit including the runs for the Solar meters , solar panels , Wind turbine and Lighting rod arrestors .

In Panama we have extended periods of rain with no sun .I wanted the ability to have 12 days of reserve power in my battery bank . In a typical system , batterys are never allowed to completely drain and a "Controller will shut off battery power once it hits a certain percentage of battery use . Usually around 50 % . I also needed a back up system for power and decided that a wind turbine mounted to the house roof would be a good back up . I also planned to interface my 3500 watt generator into the system .

It took 2 days to install the system as per my wishes . Heres is what we came up with :

8- 125 Watt 24VDC BP solar panels
8- 6VDC Rolls batteries
1- Air X marine grade 400 watt wind turbine
1- Pro Star 60 amp Charge controller
1- Trace DR2500 24DCV inverter with battery charger/ Generater override
3- separate Lighting arrestors tire to 3 ground rods
2- Pro star usage meters, one on the the main floor and one down below that allows me to shut the system down or check batterys/ wattage input/ wattage output .
3 -additional inline fused breakers incase of a direct lighting stike on the wind Turbine .
1- 24DCV Shurflow 2 head water pump for the 2600 gallon rain water roof collection system . It kicks on at 40lbs and shuts off at 60 lbs.
1- 3500 watt gas generator interfaced into the system .(Bought separate from solar package)

So how does it work ??? Very well !!! Other than maintaining the battery water level every couple of months and checking connections every year there is very little maintance . I did have the contractor stop by and check the whole system for efficency last year but he found the system as good as new and even the battery's are still in perfect shape

I have never been able to get total battery usage to less than 78 % of full , no matter how many lights or fans we have left on .Usually by noon the next day all battery's are 100 % again . The wife use to engage the generator whenever she did laundry but one day decided to try the system without it . It worked perfect with very little battery drain . since then the generator is seldom ever used .

The wind turbine is usually in a lock down mode as it is seldom needed . It can sense low battery's and if called apon by the controller will engage and start producing wattage if we have sufficent wind speed .

Many people mistakenly think they need full sun to generate power but the new space age solar panels produce power even on cloudy days ,though not quite as much .

Total cost of my Solar system as installed ??? $12, 500 U.S dollars .

My gas appliances are as follows :
2 side X side propane refrigators
1- gas Dryer
6- burner Gas cook stove
Gas Tankless water heater

You walk into my home you will not know I am on solar . A solar home is eerie quiet ! I have every appliance you do in your home . Blenders ,toasters, Microwaves ,washer , blow dryers , radios , TV's and computers (If I want) , lots of outdoor lites and cieling fans all over the place , inside and out .

What I don't have is 220 VAC power ,though I could install it by changing the Inverter or adding another to the system . I have no reason to have it ,so why increase my solar package price if I do not need too .

Last thing I wanted to be brothered with ,was going down and always fiddleing with a solar system to maintain power . The new systems pretty much make then hands free on Maintance .
Besides I need my hammock time and looking at the pretty Island girls .:whistling:
Would I do it again ???? In a heartbeat !!!!!
I'll tell you about my 12VDC powered cabin on the next Thread .
Heres a pic of the little place in Panama :
 

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The Tourist

Banned
You have a lovely home.

There's 7,500 square feet, heh? This is the first dwelling I have ever seen that would take my mutts more than 20 minutes to destroy.

Oh, I'm not saying they couldn't do it, it's just they have little legs.

Was the home in that shape, remodeled or built from the ground up?
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
That's tremendous Al ... and it is beautiful!!!!! :respect: And at 12 1/2 grand it isn't too bad. I may have to start looking at it again.

I take it that's there's no a/c, just the ceiling fans but that's obviously enough. I'm amazed that you can get 12 days power out of 6 batteries. Battery technology must have really improved since I last looked at these things.

I can't wait to hear about the 12volt system at the cabin. That's got to be really interesting.
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
.

I take it that's there's no a/c, just the ceiling fans but that's obviously enough. I'm amazed that you can get 12 days power out of 6 batteries. Battery technology must have really improved since I last looked at these things.

quote]
The big house has 8 Rolls 6 volt batterys . I do not remember the amperage but they are big suckers .
Remember even on cloudy days I still can generate electric . Just not as much .
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Was the home in that shape, remodeled or built from the ground up?

I built the house from the ground up over a period of about 3 1/2 years . Eveything for it came by canoe . There is no roads and no Cars on my island . The house has 150 cubic yards of concrete in the foundation and lower concrete floor and it all was mixed by hand on site . No Tractors , nothing but manual labor . There are 360 linal feet of excotic wood beams in the roof system alone that required the men to go into the jungle , find the tree . cut it down , cut it rough sized into my desired sizes and lengths , transported by canoe from another island to mine and hand plained on site . It took months to do this .
 

The Tourist

Banned
Eveything for it came by canoe.

Oh, sure, you use a canoe! No swimming. Take the easy route...:whistling:

I must admit, I do like the open areas and simple beauty of the home.

My Dad was a woodworker, and as you know, it skips a generation.
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
My Dad was a woodworker, and as you know, it skips a generation.

That's a new one on me . I never heard that saying before ,

My Dad was also a woodworker /Contractor .Finish carpentery was his specialty .He use to make all the rest of us look like beginners .

Now you have me wondering if he really was my Dad ????:doh::yum::yum:LOL
 

The Tourist

Banned
That's a new one on me .

It's an old saying around here. And in my case, all too true.

My Dad was an engineer, and he had all of the best toys. Table saws, a drill press, a lathe. Every hand tool made going back to Noah. And a breast drill that dated back to 1918.

Fortunately, my Dad liked to grill outside on his barbeque. And boy could I make kindling...
 
What type of solar panels did you use exactly? How efficient are they? I know the most efficient solar panels operate at only about 40% efficiency.
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
What type of solar panels did you use exactly? How efficient are they? I know the most efficient solar panels operate at only about 40% efficiency.

You may wait a long time for a reply. Big Al is no longer active although we all wish he would come back. :flowers::flowers::flowers:
 
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