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Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?

#6
You can make your own extremely easy.

1kWh is about 85 Amp Hours. You'll need at least a 160Ah battery if you don't want any extra storage. Usually you will need to at least double that for days when you don't have much sun. I would suggest you need at least 400Ah worth of batteries.

Then you have to figure out how much sun your panels are getting to determine if you can fully charge your batteries in that time for the rest of the day.

You'll most likely only need a few 100W panels. This means you'll be looking at Size? Well expect this entire thing to weigh around 500lbs!

Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?

#7

You can make your own extremely easy. 1kWh is about 85 Amp Hours. You'll need at least a 160Ah battery if you don't want any extra storage. Usually you will need to at least double that for days when you don't have much sun. I would suggest you need at least 400Ah worth of batteries. Then you have to figure out how much sun your panels are getting to determine if you can fully charge your batteries in that time for t…

What about those batteries, is lithium an option?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?

#8

You can make your own extremely easy. 1kWh is about 85 Amp Hours. You'll need at least a 160Ah battery if you don't want any extra storage. Usually you will need to at least double that for days when you don't have much sun. I would suggest you need at least 400Ah worth of batteries. Then you have to figure out how much sun your panels are getting to determine if you can fully charge your batteries in that time for t…

What about those batteries, is lithium an option?

Get your wallet out. Your tissues, too, because what you're about to see is going to be eye-watering:

https://battlebornbatteries.com/

I looked at them for RV use, though, and folks seem to be happy with them. Too rich for my blood, I ended up going with AGM for now.

Oh, and they have kits, too. Just add solar panels:

https://battlebornbatteries.com/product-category/battle-born...

Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?

#9
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about those batteries, is lithium an option?

Get your wallet out. Your tissues, too, because what you're about to see is going to be eye-watering: https://battlebornbatteries.com/ I looked at them for RV use, though, and folks seem to be happy with them. Too rich for my blood, I ended up going with AGM for now. Oh, and they have kits, too. Just add solar panels: https://battlebornbatteries.com/product-category/battle-born...

Wow. ~$1k/100ah for those babies. Dang.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best small off-grid solar kit today?

#10
post #4

Researched this recently and came across this which appears to be the best solution in the field currently, though price prohibitive. http://solarips.com/power-tower/

Wonder how pricing compares with http://www.jouleboxpower.com/. The batteries seem to be the large cost in these energy storage solutions. Removing them and using hydrogen in propane tanks may reduce costs significantly.
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