Off Grid Solar System Design: 4 Easy Steps + Diagram

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In this video, I'm going to show you how to design an off-grid solar system step by step, including how to calculate your energy needs, select the right components, and understand the wiring diagram. This guide is perfect for anyone looking to design and size their own off-grid solar system for a remote cabin or similar application.

First, we will calculate your daily energy needs by determining the watt-hours for each appliance you plan to use. For example, let's say you want to run certain appliances; we find out the power of each device, multiply by the time the device is on, and add these figures together to get the total daily energy consumption. For this system, we have a total daily consumption of 720Wh.

Next, we need to calculate the size of the battery. If we use lithium batteries, we can use 100% of their capacity, whereas lead-acid batteries only allow 50%. Lithium batteries have an efficiency of 95%, while lead-acid batteries have an efficiency of 80%. We also need to account for the inverter's efficiency, which is about 90%. Additionally, we need to ensure three days of autonomy to cover periods without sunlight. Using these factors, we calculate the battery capacity needed. For a 12V system with small appliances, we will use a 12V 800W inverter, resulting in a 200Ah battery. I recommend using the Redodo battery because it's construction is well made with quality components. I trust this brand. They have several options like low temperature protection and two BMS options. One 100A BMS and one 200A BMS. You can have an inverter of 1280W or 2560W.

Then, we determine how many solar panels are needed. We start by checking the sun hours for our location; for Houston, Texas, this is 3.5 sun hours in December. To recharge the battery in one day, we divide the battery capacity by the sun hours, giving us 730W of solar power needed. We choose three 250W solar panels to provide a total of 750W.

Selecting the right charge controller is crucial. We divide the total solar panel power by the charging voltage of a 12V battery. For three 250W panels, we need a 52A charge controller, such as a Victron 150V/60A.

The wiring diagram for the system includes wiring the three panels in series, adding a breaker before the charge controller, and connecting the charge controller to the 12V 200Ah battery with an 80A fuse mounted on a Marine-rated battery fuse terminal. The inverter is attached to the same fuse, using 6 gauge welding cable for the connections.