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Off Grid Solar Power Systems

By admin on August 28th, 2011

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The best thing about solar power is that it has an unlimited potential. Learn how to build off grid solar power systems, easily and save 00's on utility bills forever. You just need to know how to make your own renewable energy source and today I am going to tell you exactly how to build your own solar power systems for electricity.

If you want to learn how to build off grid solar power systems, you'll need to learn some basics on how exactly do solar panels work. This way, the entire procedure will be much easier to handle.

The process starts with solar modules. They are the main components exposed directly to sunlight. Their main function is to convert the sun's energy into usable electrical power for your home appliances. To get them correctly installed, solar modules are to be mounted on a steel frame and positioned on your roof top.
Power produced by the solar modules is converted from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) through a inverter. Usually, Alternating Current (AC) is the usable electrical power that we need to power the home appliances.

Next, the electrical power transfers from the inverter to the electrical service panel. The electrical service panel is used for distributing the electrical power to different parts of your house or office for use.

If you want to use a grid tied solar power system, the unused electrical power produced by the solar panels will then be brought into the grid all the way through the utility electric meter. As a result, the meter will be made to spin backwards and this establishes a credit with the utility company in offsetting future usage. This method is known as Net Metering and is completely approved by State Level Electricity Policy.

Learning how to build off grid solar power systems isn't really a difficult task. You don't require many skills beyond being able to handle wiring & basic tools with care and safety measures.

The components needed for constructing solar panels include:-

1. Solar Cells
2. Sheet Plywood
3. Copper Wire
4. General Tools (Drills, screwdrivers, woodwork glue etc)
5. Clear PVC Sheeting

All these components can be easily picked up by you from the local hardware store. Photovoltaic cell is the only component that you might have to search online and it can be found easily on eBay.

Quality directions that are easy to follow are vital to find when trying to build your own solar power systems. This will make the building process less stressful and make you happier that you made the choice to do it yourself. Online is just one of the places you are able to find some of these manuals. We have reviewed the best guides available to help you to learn how to build your own solar panel system for electricity. Go ahead and check them out NOWaalearn how to build off grid solar power systems and STOP paying for electricityaFOREVER!

10 Responses to “Off Grid Solar Power Systems”

1. J.R. says:

   August 28, 2011 at 7:48 AM

   Thinking of buying a cabin that’s “off grid.” Anyone have experience with solar power living?
   I’m specifically wondering what kind of maintenance is involved with solar systems that power off grid homes. We would only be at the cabin a few days a month most of the time…except during long vacations. Is it even possible to maintain a total-home solar system in this kind of situation?
2. Jsnub says:

   August 28, 2011 at 10:14 AM

   If I use 1000 kwhs a month in electricity what size off grid solar power system do I need?
3. T.O. says:

   August 28, 2011 at 4:36 PM

   Since you said you were specifically wondering about maintenance, I will assume that you have already researched what size system you require as a result of the total power you need, the latitude of where your cabin is, the total average hours of sun available through the various seasons, etc. The primary maintenance concern is your battery status. To compensate for overcharging I will assume you are using a charge controller. During hot weather your batteries will need more water (distilled only) than in cool or cold weather. To keep rodents away, spray the wiring with peppermint oil. Make sure battery cable attachments to the batteries are coated with an acid preventative. If you do indeed have a total home system it will be quite large. I have a system I have used for 5 years to supply my requirements except heating, hot water and cooking. For that I use propane. I use my barbecue (propane) as an oven when needed (great to cook pizza…better than a regular oven…use the upper warming rack). I use a 12v refrigerator from Sundanzer…..works great even in very hot climates…115 degrees. I have 6ea. 75 watt panels that I tilt twice a year in spring and fall. If you have a large family, use hair dryers, microwave, basically anything with a heating element or constant use motor…then my size system would not work. But I do run my stereo or TV 12 – 16 hours a day when I am there. I generally make meals that do not take hours and hours to cook to save on propane. If your system is oversized or you do not go and use your system monthly then rig something up to use a little power so that your batteries will not always be at 100%. Any other questions, just ask. Good luck!
4. dt says:

   August 28, 2011 at 5:28 PM

   How do solar power systems for your house both on and off grid work mechanically?
   Here is how I understand it so far:

   On Grid:
   -the sun hits the solar cells
   -the solar cells produce energy from the sun
   -the energy from the solar cells is then sent to the grid
   -the electric company and fed pay you for surplus energy that you create

   Off Grid:
   -the sun hits the solar cells
   -the solar cells produce energy from the sun
   -the energy from the solar cells is then sent to batteries slowly
   -the built up energy from the batteries is then sent to an inverter that converts the energy to be compatible to your house
   -the energy from the inverter is then sent to your appliances

   1. For “on grid” can you hook it directly from the solar cell panels to the grid or do you need a inverter or something?

   2. How much are inverters and are there different kinds?

   3. What kind, how much are, and how many batteries do you need for “off grid”?

   4. How do the solar cells create energy?

   5. Can you buy lights and appliances and so forth that will hook directly to the solar cell panels without an inverter that are already set to take that type of energy? or directly from batteries?

   6. Are solar panels basically just a bunch of solar cells hooked together?

   p.s. if I am wrong please correct me, if you know of resources that teach this particularly with images that would be great.
   7. Also, I forgot to ask can you explain the types of energy and why they need to be converted by an inverter? For instance ac or dc and the different watts and volts ect?
5. littlerobbergirl says:

   August 30, 2011 at 3:45 PM

   depends where you are. thats a lot of electric! i would start by trying to reduce consumption.

   A 1 kilowatt peak system will generate around 1,500 – 2000 kWh per year in a sunny climate (e.g. cal.) and about 750 kWh/yr in a cloudy climate (e.g. england), so you might need a 10 or 15 kWpeak system.
6. mangomuslei says:

   August 30, 2011 at 11:34 PM

   Do you live Off-the -Grid? Solar Power?
   Do you power your home mostly with solar power? What system do you use? How many solar panels and how many kwh/mo does it produce on average? My hubby is interested in “converting” us to solar power…any info would be appreciated!
7. donfletcheryh says:

   August 31, 2011 at 4:52 AM

   On grid, yes you do need an inverter to send power to the grid, in fact you will require a standardized control module that will shut off your supply to the grid if the grid is powered down, it will not allow your system to send power below the voltage on the grid, or out of phase with the grid.

   You can have batteries even while on grid, to keep your own home powered up while the grid is down,

   The size of inverters you need is based on your generating capacity if you are on grid, but will be significantly greater off grid. When you use batteries they increase your amperage compared to just your panels.

   Panels are an array of cells.

   Photo voltaic cells have a semiconductor that allows electrons to flow only in one direction, and for instance aluminum foil plates that kick electrons out, ready to travel in which ever direction they are allowed.

   Alternatively concentrating thermal collectors create steam to power a steam engine of some kind, often a turbine. In places that have lots of clear sky concentrating thermal collectors are very effective.

   Direct current dc moves in one direction, the way a battery and a solar panel create it.

   We have designed and built our houses and factories etc to use AC, because AC converts from one voltage to another readily, and converts to DC.

   Voltages both AC and DC are all open to design criteria. Normally solar panels will deliver some multiple of 12 volts to the battery or to the inverter. Mostly 12 and 24 but this is not cast in concrete.

   How much battery power do we need off grid? If we move all of our power use to daytime, not much. We can do a lot of that.
   But almost always we design things to allow us to ignore the fact that we are using solar power.

   Battery storage can be as costly as solar panels when we plan to use all of our power from batteries. To cut down on costs we use too few batteries but add more as we find that to be needed.

   Inverters need to be large enough to carry the largest concurrent load, which again can be reduced by having intelligent load switching mechanisms, but it is more economical to buy a single inverter large enough to carry most of our loads and a second that stays shut off until it is needed.

   It does not make sense to try to go for all DC appliances. It does not make sense to heat water with solar electricity if we can use thermal solar.
8. whsgreenmom says:

   August 31, 2011 at 6:21 PM

   I have recently installed a PV system that is tied to the grid. It is a 3.75 kwdc system, I think it is 18 panels. I chose to maximize my rebate and consider adding again in the future and get an additional rebate, so I didn’t zero out my bill. I paid $16K for the system with a breakeven of about 6 years. My meter runs backwards whenever the sun is out, and I seem to be producing about 30-35 kwh per day.

   I suggest you ask a licensed solar contractor to give you a no cost no obligation quote. They should be able to tell you what your potential is depending on where you live, roor orientation, space, shade and electric rates. They should also be able to give you information about working with your utility, not all utilities allow the meter to run backwards. They should also be familiar with any available rebates. You should be able to get your usage history from your utility to help decide what size system is best for you.
9. George Berz <<<<< says:

   August 31, 2011 at 6:47 PM

   I have a grid tie solar power system how do i keep power when the grid goes down?
   Now my panels connect to a grid tie invertor that makes 240 ac and feeds that back into the utility grid, but if the grid ever fails my system goes off line to protect islanding, I want to figure a way to still have power during the day (no batteries) so I was thinking if there was a way to shut off the main breaker to the outside world and install somehting to make the inverters think the grid was active so they would produce power…. I dont know like backfeed a very small generator and let the panels sync to that? I would prefer some form of puseodo sine wave generator thinggy to trick the inverter into producing power