Off Grid power guidance

[Jesse Jaymes]

Man Card should be revoked. Life long Electricty-phobe. Just never wanted to tackle learning it. My wife and I bought a really neat, small but modern/brand new 500sw ft cabin. It's 80% finished. Maybe 90%. It's completely wired for On Grid. We love the idea keeping it Off Grid. Only think remaining to finish is figuring out water. Ceiling insulated, but need sheeting. Completely wired like a modern house with light fixtures and switched. Start the generator and plug it in at the fuse box and we have a "normal" home.

We heat with wood stove and light after sundown with oil lamps.

All I really want it to be able to run a few low watt LED lights in the fixtures (as far as electricity). Wearing a headlamp non stop after sundown gets old.

As popular as Off Grid seems, and YouTube is full of examples.....we really don't need anything like that. Was really hoping it would be simple to buy a 2-3 panel "kit" and a pair of batteries and Go. But I am intimidated on how I could run two panels as example......into batterries, and wire that BACK INTO the breaker panel? Possible?

Probably not articulating what exactly we are trying to accomplish. Essentially taking a "tiny home" of sorts that was made/built to run on conventional power, and "retro" it for solar battery power.

Making this way harder than it should be?

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

It’s not going to be efficient if you’re talking about using 120v fixtures even with low wattage LED bulbs. Any time you go from 12V to 120V or vise verse you’re wasting significant stored energy.

It would theoretically be possible to wire in inverter powered by batteries into the panel, but it would require lots of flipping breakers each time you go back and forth. If the fridge tries to kick on it will either overload the invertor or you’d need such a large one it would draw the batteries down quickly.

Running separate 12V lights and fixtures is going to be way more efficient. How labor intensive the install is depends on your ability to tolerate visible wiring and inline switches.

If this is a part time vacation/hunting setup, I’d just go with the cheap Harbor Freight kit, it’s a redundant system anyways. If you’re living in it full time I’d probably opt for better quality stuff.

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If I understand correctly and you’re running the generator most of the day anyways, you really don’t need solar. A 12V battery or two will run the lights all night and you can just keep it connected to a charger plugged into a wall outlet that will keep the batteries full through your day of generator use.

6V golf cart batteries paired up in series are the way to go for economical, long term battery capacity.

 

[cuerro viejo]

While I can’t help you with solar hook up or even an estimation it’s really easy to wire up your main panel to accept generator.

will my cabin is only 320 sf I can run it off a honda 2200 with aux tank for a few days, assuming I’m smart during day. Light now a days with all the LED lights is easy.

 

[cuerro viejo]

While I can’t help you with solar hook up or even an estimation it’s really easy to wire up your main panel to accept generator.

will my cabin is only 320 sf I can run it off a honda 2200 with aux tank for a few days, assuming I’m smart during day. Light now a days with all the LED lights is easy.

Oops disregard I missed part you are already plugged into panel and running Gen

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Yea....didn't explain well. I hope to NEVER use a generator. We have one. And plug it INTO THE PANEL on occasion. Which is to run a vacuum or power tools. This is a cabin we spend a weekend or two per month in. A week straight on occasion if I am up there hunting or fishing. There is no Fridge. If there is something in the future, it will all be propane based.

 

[EastMT]

My parents ran a 2500 sq ft on a large panel, but they installed some 12 volt led lights for energy savings, like lamp, wall sconces, etc. when they didn’t need full house lit up. Saved a lot in their battery bank. They had to power up the generator to run the well and fill the water holding tank, big power tools, occasionally during short winter days for a few hours a week to top of the battery bank.

Maybe a double deep cycle 12volt battery set up on a solar trickle charger hooked up to a few 12 volt lights used sparingly?

Nothing worse than off the grid listening to the hum of a generator!

 

[11boo]

I’m a sparky. A battery or two, at least 100w PV and a solar controller will get you plenty of light and power for charging devices.

do not try and run it thru your electrical panel. get some 12v lighting and whatever else you want, run appropriate sized and fused wires where needed from battery or solar controller.

Allow for shade on the PV panel, like have enough wire to get it in the sun. Are you planning on mounting it permanently?

 

[204guy]

If you're not sheeted I'd probably run an isolated 12volt DC system dedicated to lightning. You could be as basic or fancy with switching as you want. Use 2 6volt golfcart batteries in series. Maintain/charge it with a solar system of some sort. Keep a 110v charger around to charge batteries with the generator if needed.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Beendare]

There are off grid power systems designers......talk to a pro, its worth it in the long run

....

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

RE: Pro.....I'd gladly pay for site visit and consult. No clue what parameters to google.....and extreme NW MT is not terribly overrun....we have one well driller company that services 5 counties. Thinking a dedicated professional in Libby or Troy MT is gonna be hard to find, but I'll continue the search.

Interior is completely sheeted and finished. Ceiling/insulation is only exposure remaining.

 

[Elk97]

I installed a couple of panels and an MPPT solar controller on our boat and it's the best thing we've done to it. Check out Northern Arizona Wind and Sun, they have a lot of resource stuff and I think you can get them to help design what you need. Good prices on everything too. Not affiliated with them, just satisfied customer.

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[Ddog]

FB has quite a few groups dedicated to off-grid living full-time or otherwise. Most have very helpful folks and of course a few d-bags here and there.

 

[11boo]

That is not really a hard job. Just stay clear of the existing wiring.

Figure out the PV panel size needed, and where to place it. Allow for an additional panel if you end up needing more. Panels can be mounted anywhere that gets plenty of sun, or left portable so you can lock them up when not in use.

batteries/fuses/controller can be in a closet (sealed batteries, vented need to be in a ventilated area)


the wiring will all be easy, only a pair of them and you don’t have the worry of electric shock vs AC power, they do need to be fused proper right near the batteries. Many choices for some sort of power distribution with built in fuses/breakers.

Allow for expansion of your 12 v system, if you do this you’ll find you may want more lights and 12v powered things, like USB outlets.

you can always dip your toes in slowly with some portable system and a small 12v battery. As an electrician,
I would be getting some wires in the unfinished parts of the cabin before drywall. I would also be fishing those wires down the finished walls into a j box, or completely under the cabin and pop them up at the battery location.

light switching can be done via a conventional switch( more fishing wires into closed up walls) or with a remote control.

I run power and lighting in my wall tent in a similar fashion.
Controller and power are in this box, battery in a box nearby.

 

[11boo]

IDK why it doubled my pics lol. You get the idea, my solar is a 90w panel with a 100’ of cord so it can get full sun.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

With only the ceiling exposed, I am guessing I can still run a few wires before we sheet it. All I really need is three lights. And the bathroom is still raw and exposed, so I can run whatever I want in there. Think I have a basic concept of what and how I can do things....IF....I am going to run a Stand Alone solar powered lighting system and not attempting to wire/connect to regular internal wiring/fuse panel.

 

[11boo]

Perfect opportunity to pre wire for at least 12v lighting at least. Think of it like a camper. Low draw LED lights, a battery or 2 and a couple hundred watts of solar, less than 1k$ for good 12v power.

 

[KSK]

12V LED strip lights with a small 12V 8 amp rechargeable battery.

 

[11boo]

12V LED strip lights with a small 12V 8 amp rechargeable battery.

He could easily pull that off dirt cheap.

 

[Diesel]

I live off grid.

204 Guy, and others, are probably giving the best approach for what you said you wanted.

I would not disrupt the system already in place because you may want to sell in the future, just add the battery part separately.

BTW, I wired my place with both options in every room. You never know what your needs will be in the future.

Best wishes for the desired outcome.

 

[Middleofnowhere]

My wife and I lived off-grid for two years. We used an Outback system. We only had to run a generator for the well pump. Microwave, washer and dryer, wife’s hair dryer, etc.

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