TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Off-Grid / Solar, Wind or Generator?

We did lose half a year or so but are slowly getting caught up with our construction project. I had originally planned to run all of the electrical off one main system but I have decided to divide the system up into two parallel, power production systems.

Main House
3 kW solar panels
2 Xantrex MPPT 60a charge controllers
2 Wind Turbines
1 Coleman Air diversion controller
3.5 kW PSW inverter
1500 Ah batteries @ 24 volts

Garage / Workshop / Outdoor Kitchen / Enclosed Patio
1.8 kW solar panels
1 Xantrex MPPT 60a charge controller
3.0 kW PSW inverter
1400 Ah batteries @ 24 volts

I took a long, hard look at my system, our lifestyle/usage (now and future) and this seems to give me everything we will need, including redundant backup without having to fire up the Yamaha 6.6kW generator.

Anybody else out there doing this???

Hmmm...

1. With the described set-up, you cannot use the wind power to charge the garage system ?
2. If the house system fails (inverter), how do you get power from the garage to the house ?
3. For the cost of the connecting wire between the house and garage, couldn't you leave one inverter in the box for a rainy day ?
4. And with all the Ah in a single system, wouldn't this allow more room for occasional high uses in either location ?

Originally Posted by Diver

Hmmm...

1. With the described set-up, you cannot use the wind power to charge the garage system ?
2. If the house system fails (inverter), how do you get power from the garage to the house ?
3. For the cost of the connecting wire between the house and garage, couldn't you leave one inverter in the box for a rainy day ?
4. And with all the Ah in a single system, wouldn't this allow more room for occasional high uses in either location ?

I considered those things Diver but...

1. We sometimes go several days at a time with zero wind
2. I will install a 6 gauge jumper circuit with manual, 3 way disconnects on both sides
3. Actually there are times I will need both; the washer/microwave running on the house system and me running table saw/power tools in my shop at the same time. I actually have an additional inverter, boxed and ready sitting on the shelf just in case.
4. I have sized the system to allow for that on both sides. A few days ago I came upon an opportunity to pick up 18 new, 6volt 325 Ah AGM batteries for less than half of list. They are not compatible with my house batteries to charge in the same system. Right now I am considering whether or not to pick up another 6 to give me over 1900 Ah @ 24 volts and then add on a few more solar panels.

I should also add that I found a supplier a couple of weeks ago in San Diego that gave me a killer deal on solar panels. As we are buying a large quantity for our abalone project they extended the same deal for my own personal purchase. They billed it to our Baja address = no sales tax either! (90 cents/watt - brand new / A grade)

I could see how splitting the systems would be an advantage if you are using tools that draw a lot of power on startup. I have my system supplying both the garage and house. If something is running in the house like the fridge, and I start up a larger saw, the voltage drop when starting the tool is definitely noticeable.

I had planned to try out wind power, but I've discovered that the cloudy days nearly always have low wind, it's normally sunny when the wind blows. When it's sunny, I don't need any additional charging.

My system is probably similar to yours Jeff, I just have one system to run the house and garage, but 2 inverters stacked so that one inverter sleeps and only kicks in if the primary inverters need a boost. I couldn't see the advantage in having 2 battery banks and 2 solar arrays, too expensive for me. For what you are doing Ron, I suspect you have thought it out and it does make sense. I'd like to see your set up some day.
Larry

I do a lot of wood-working and I can easily burn through multiple kW a day with my table saw / sander / band saw, etc. Not a problem on sunny/windy days but occasionally we will get several days of heavy cloud cover and little wind.

One of my (bad) habits is always looking online for "deals" with anything solar/off-grid related. Because of that "mañia", I had stockpiled equipment with the idea of it serving as backup. When I stumbled across the battery deal from a friend I realized that I had most everything plus some that I would need for a second system. That was when the light when on and I contacted the same vendor from whom we are buying several pallets of panels for the abalone project. When they agreed to sell them to me at the same price I just couldn't refuse. In fact I still may go back when I head up to the border again to pick up another kW of panels.

I should also add that my daughter and son-in-law are building a vacation place right next to us and the idea is that the garage system could power their place for when they use it a couple of times a year.

Wooo - the main advantage of the wind turbines in our situation is not so much the kW production during the day but what they add to the batteries after the sun goes down. They really do a good job of keeping my house battery bank fully charged. I rarely see the bank voltage below 25.4v when I check them early in the AM before the panels kick in. I figure that can only add years of life to the batteries.

Had a thought when reading about the hot springs there,,
how far would you have to drill to get enough heat for steam??
Seems to me Geothermal would be the way to go,if its near enough.