tdab
New Member
First off I want to apologize for my ignorance about some of this stuff! I would like to get ideas about a solar set up for my shop but most importantly I need to make sure I get the correct components. This will be off-grid with AC. My shop is 16x20 and has my home office in one corner. Its a tool/shop/wood working/hobby room on a concrete slab fully insulated with 110 run through out (currently from the house via extension cords!...woohoo). I built the entire shop by myself, every single nail/screw/drop of paint, etc. The only thing I did not do is pour the slab. Wasn't enough money savings for me to do it at the time.
I would like to get 6 to 8 (350w-400w) panels and 3-4 100a LifPo4's? I want to eventually run a 12k btu (or so?) mini split AC unit in the space. I have a 26 ft pontoon boat platform for the solar panels on the lake beside my dock about 50 yards away from where the batteries will be set up in the shop. In that area the SP's will start getting light at 8a and it will be in direct light until way after 5p in the summer. My dock points directly south - dead nuts. There is no shade and I can easily do a 25-30 degree angle if needed and not screw up my view from the house.
My first questions about this project are all the basics. What do I need to right size a system for the use of a decent A/C unit (1000w, maybe more) along with intermittent use of basic power tools, my home office set up (triple 30" monitors/laptop) etc. Maybe a small fridge but that is not really needed. The AC is the bear, the other stuff is not really that much of a big deal and would be sporadic at best. What and how many solar panels/batteries/inverter size would you guys recommend? 12V/24V? I assume I'd need some kind of regulator too. I would not necessarily need to run the AC all night. Maybe slightly into the night and back on when the sun comes up. Would love to hear someone that has a similar power requirement and what they did successfully.
I decided to do this for my shop after I had to move my garden to the end of my dock to keep the deer out of it. It was a major pain the ass to water everything so I set up a 12v battery/100w solar panel with a charge regulator. Then I got a 12v water pump hooked up along with an inline timer that pulls water right out of the lake through a filter 2 times a day for 2 minutes each run. It moves a lot of water and the pump has hose splitters on the end with reducers so everything gets watered at the same time. So far this was worked flawlessly "hands off" with the battery and solar so I'm ready to step up to a big boy set up for my shop. I hope I can DIY this for around $3-$4k all in. If you have time, I'd like to know what you think. I can post some pics if it would help. Thank, tommy
I would like to get 6 to 8 (350w-400w) panels and 3-4 100a LifPo4's? I want to eventually run a 12k btu (or so?) mini split AC unit in the space. I have a 26 ft pontoon boat platform for the solar panels on the lake beside my dock about 50 yards away from where the batteries will be set up in the shop. In that area the SP's will start getting light at 8a and it will be in direct light until way after 5p in the summer. My dock points directly south - dead nuts. There is no shade and I can easily do a 25-30 degree angle if needed and not screw up my view from the house.
My first questions about this project are all the basics. What do I need to right size a system for the use of a decent A/C unit (1000w, maybe more) along with intermittent use of basic power tools, my home office set up (triple 30" monitors/laptop) etc. Maybe a small fridge but that is not really needed. The AC is the bear, the other stuff is not really that much of a big deal and would be sporadic at best. What and how many solar panels/batteries/inverter size would you guys recommend? 12V/24V? I assume I'd need some kind of regulator too. I would not necessarily need to run the AC all night. Maybe slightly into the night and back on when the sun comes up. Would love to hear someone that has a similar power requirement and what they did successfully.
I decided to do this for my shop after I had to move my garden to the end of my dock to keep the deer out of it. It was a major pain the ass to water everything so I set up a 12v battery/100w solar panel with a charge regulator. Then I got a 12v water pump hooked up along with an inline timer that pulls water right out of the lake through a filter 2 times a day for 2 minutes each run. It moves a lot of water and the pump has hose splitters on the end with reducers so everything gets watered at the same time. So far this was worked flawlessly "hands off" with the battery and solar so I'm ready to step up to a big boy set up for my shop. I hope I can DIY this for around $3-$4k all in. If you have time, I'd like to know what you think. I can post some pics if it would help. Thank, tommy
