Even + to + and - to - loop(s) could do that easily, right?
You will want to have a better measurement of your load during hours that you do not use any charging. What typically catches people in the Winter months, that rely on solar, is the longer period of no charging input due to short days. Also there can be an increase loading as more lights and other things are used.
???? I'm confused.
With refrigerator, freezers and heat running for two months we averaged about 6Kwh per day. We weren't charging anything and the system I am designing is essentially for use overnight while we are sleeping, i.e low occupant usage time.
Based on your numbers at 6kWh per day you can assume an average of 6000wh day/24h= 250wh each hour. How long is nighttime? 12 hours? Therefor you have 12h X 250wh/h=3kWh use from battery. Now when charging you need to supply that back plus carry other loads during charging time.
I'm confused again, if I have three 5kWh batteries (15kWh) wouldn't that last overnight or even two or three days based on a 6Kwh usage per day, let alone over night (be it 6-12 hours)? Is there something I'm missing? Again, I'm charging the batteries back up the next morning with either a generator or grid power, or eventually solar too.
Sorry about confusion. Certainly if you have enough battery to make it you have enough. Do not forget to account for extra loading based on inverting DC to AC.
That's cool, I just want to have enough juice to get through the night mostly and not have to run a generator at night when sleeping/
Nice that’s split phase.
…by incorporating solar sooner than later even your:
…would be ~40-50% offset by running, say, a dozen 300W panels and plumbing through the inverter set up to be prioritized
Hi, I am not looking so much for a recoup or pay back, just saving run time on a generator and me having to get up at night to start a generator. Plus, when the you-know-what hits the fan I'll have some power rather than no power at all other than a twenty year old generator droning on for hours on end. Stealthy power usage and generation may come in handy.
…requires panels.
That’s a very fortunate situation to be in.
For what you wish to do, you should be fine. My only modest concern is the starting current of the well pump if a fair number of other loads are also on (fridge, freezer, furnace motor, etc.), as many well pumps can create a very large draw for a second or two. I don't think we yet know whether/how well the 6000XP can handle that in terms of real world experience, although I seem to recall Will testing one with a car lift. It's a small worry to me, but worth noting. Please report back on how you like the 6000XP. I'm considering two of them for a new house in Waldo county later this year.
I am saving my $$ for the build.
I think you and I are having some of the same things to ponder for new builds. I think my use is going to come in at about 10 kWh per day, but may be as low as 6 some days, when in "not using the mini-splits" season. Personally, I'm planning on either Victron or EG4 6000 XP. If I go with the latter (starting to lean that way), I'll go with two of them and may buy a third to keep as a spare, simply because they're not expensive and I learned from the Covid supply shortages (two is one, one is none).
You said "I can pay for a lot of battery-recharging propane before I equal the cost of an additional battery bank", but the last couple big storms around here a few years ago there was so many trees down that main and secondary roads were impassable and power was out for three or four days, no one was delivering propane or anything and people ran out of propane. I have a good old gas generator and we were fine. I'm adding layers and redundancies and I agree "two is one, one is none".
We have two 500 gallon tanks for the generator. When full, we can last 47 days. I use same tanks for the garage heater and some other light use things. I checked yesterday and we were down to 64% in one, 72% in the other, so a bit over 30 days of generator fuel. Time to get the truck out for a refill. When I hear of people getting down to a few days supply I just scratch my head. Suburbia this ain't.
