Bringing utility company power lines
into a remote area or running a gas, diesel or propane
generator 24 hours a day can be a costly proposition. Bringing
power lines in from a utility company can cost hundreds or
even thousands per foot depending on the area.
With solar and or wind generating systems, not only can you
reduce the initial expense of installing power at your remote
site but you also eliminate the ongoing expense of a monthly
electric bill.
Among the benefits of installing an
alternative energy system for your remote site are:
1. In many cases there is a
significant reduction in the cost of bringing power to your
remote site, when compared to what the utility company will
charge.
2. No ongoing monthly bill from the
utility company.
3. Cleaner power from a solar and wind
generating system that is free of surges, spikes, brownouts
and blackouts that can damage or
shorten the life of appliances..
4. The ability to run regular
household appliances without having to listen to the constant
drone of a generator and tremendous savings in fuel
costs from not having to run a generator 24 hours a day.
5. Not having to bring in ugly power
poles that spoils the natural environment, thus enhancing the
beauty and resale value of your property.
There are several different
configurations that are popular with today's modern cabin and
off grid home market.
The first type of system is the
DC Only System.
In this type of system a renewable
charging source such as a solar array or small wind generating
system is used to maintain a charge on a storage battery or
batteries. This type of system is primarily used in small
cabin applications. All of the appliances used in the cabin
must be rated for DC use only. Although there is a pretty good
selection of DC rated appliances available from RV supply
houses, these types of appliances are typically more
expensive.
There are seven key
components in a DC Only System:
1. A solar module or modules and or
wind generator sized appropriately to supply the amount of
energy needed for a single day's consumption. (the solar or
wind system can be sized smaller so long as there is an
alternate charging source such as a generator with battery
charger capable of supplementing your power production so that
the batteries are brought back to a fully charged state for
the following day's consumption.) For
more information on solar modules click here
2. A mounting kit which permits the
solar module or wind generator to be mounted to the roof or on
the ground near the cabin. Solar modules can be mounted flat
or tilted. Additional performance can be gained when mounted a
solar module on a rack that can be tilted so that the module
is pointed directly at the sun a noontime.
3. Sunlight resistant wire, which is
specially designed wire, typically 10 gauge stranded wire
which has a protective sheath that is designed to withstand
many years of exposure to the elements without deteriorating.
4. In the case of a solar module, a
charge controller is needed to prevent the over charging of
the batteries and to prevent the batteries from draining back
into the modules at night. (In most cases a charge controller
is built into most small wind generators, so that an external
charge controller is not necessary. In most installations, a
wind generator is connected through a 50 to 60 amp fuse
directly to the positive terminal of the batteries.)
5. A protective fuse and fuse holder,
typically rated at 10 to 50 amps depending on the number of
modules that are mounted on the cabin. The fuse should be
mounted as close as possible to the battery bank and connected
to the positive battery post.
6. A fused DC distribution panel which
allows you to distribute 12 Volts DC throughout the cabin with
direct connection or female cigarette outlets to the
appliances.
7. A bank of true deep cycle batteries
that is of a sufficient size to accommodate the number loads
that will take power from the batteries without discharging
the batteries below 50% in a single day's usage. (Remember to
prolong the life of a deep cycle battery, they should not be
discharged below 50% of their rated capacity and should be
recharged to full capacity every day, so that they are ready
for use during the next day's discharge cycle) For
more information on batteries click here
The second type of system is
the DC/AC System Without AC Powered Charger.
This type of system is exactly the
same as the DC only system except that an extra component
known as an Inverter has been added. and the cigarette lighter
outlets are replaced with regular household AC outlets. An
inverter is an electronic device that converts DC electricity
which is that type of energy that is stored in your RV's
battery, into AC electricity which is the kind of energy that
is needed to run typical household appliances such as
microwave ovens, fans TV's, computers, power tools etc.
In addition to the
components listed above, there are four key components
involved in installing an inverter in a DC/AC System Without
AC Powered Charger.
1. A DC to AC inverter capable of
producing enough continuous power to run all of the appliances
that you might have running simultaneously. And a high enough
surge capacity to start your largest inductive load such as a
motor, microwave or other load that contains a large
transformer or coil.
2. Inverter DC cables (positive and
negative) appropriately sized both in diameter and length. It
is recommend that an inverter rated at 12 Volts @ 1500 watts
or greater use a 4/0 (pronounced "4 Ot") cable no
longer than 10 feet in length.
3. An appropriately rated DC fuse or
disconnect. Again the DC fuse or disconnect should be mounted
as close as possible to the positive terminal of the battery
as possible. Please note: Never use a fuse or disconnect in a
DC application that is not specifically rated for DC use.
Doing so can result in damage to your equipment as well as
having the potential for starting a fire !
4. An AC circuit breaker panel to
protect both the inverter's AC output as well as the loads
that are attached to the inverter. This standard AC type
circuit breaker panel should be mounted in between the
inverters output and the loads that are connected to the
inverter.
Inverter Types
Modern DC to AC inverters are very
reliable, quiet, and require virtually no maintenance. There
are two different types of DC to AC inverters in common use
today. The first is known as a modified sine wave
inverter. This type of inverter is very high in efficiency but
produces a waveform which is an approximation of the pure sine wave
waveform that is produced by the utility company.
A modified sine wave looks more like a
square wave that has been time shifted in order to produce the
energy content which is found in power produced by the utility
company. It's frequency and voltage is rock solid which
prevents the brownouts and spikes typically seen with utility
company power. Most appliances such as TVs, Lighting, stereos,
computers, inkjet printers and power tools run find on
modified sine wave power.
About the only appliances that you may
see a problem with are some Laser printers, some of the
cheaper types of battery powered tool chargers and some brands
of pellet stoves. In fact 95% of the inverters in cabins and
off grid homes today are of the modified sine wave type.
The second type of inverter is known
as a pure sine wave (See image
below of a sine waveform compared to a modified sine waveform)
inverter and you guessed it, it produces power that is exactly
like the power which is produced by the utility company,
without the spikes and brownouts of course. This type of
inverter produces pure sine waves, but at the cost of some
efficiency loss and at a much higher price. In fact most pure sine wave
inverters are typically priced at least 75% higher than their
modified sine wave counterpart and in some cases do not have
as high of a surge power capability than modified sine wave
units.
The third type of system is the
DC/AC System With AC Powered Charger and AC transfer switch.
This type of system is exactly the
same as the DC/AC System Without AC Powered Charger
except that an extra component known as an AC charger circuit
with transfer switch has been added. This type of system
includes either solar modules or a wind generator or both and
their associated components and it will include a DC to AC
inverter as described above.
Only this type of system has the
capability of also charging your batteries from a generator.
It also has the capability of passing the generator's power
through the inverter allowing you to operate your appliances
while the batteries are being charged ! The inverter that is
used in this type of system is known as a DC to AC
inverter/ charger with transfer switch.
In addition to the
components listed above, there is one other key component
involved in installing an inverter in a DC/AC System With AC
Powered Charger with transfer switch.
1. An AC circuit breaker to protect
the inverters AC input from the generator's or RV park power
output. This standard AC type circuit breaker should be wired
in between the generator or RV park power's output and the
inverter's AC input.
Important Never wire the
generator's power directly to the AC output of any
inverter. Doing so will result in damage to your inverter and
or your generator. Always wire the generator's output to the
inverters AC input though the inverter's internal AC
transfer switch. If you are using an inverter that does not
have a built in charger and internal transfer switch
then you must purchase and install an external AC transfer
switch when wiring the inverter's output and a generator's
output to the same AC distribution panel.
You may be asking, "Why would I
need an inverter that works with a generator when I just
bought solar modules or a wind generator ?" Well, in one
word "Weather". If you're staying at your
cabin or remote home and there's been no sun all week or
there's no wind, then it would be nice to have the backup
option of running your generator for a few hours so that you
can run your appliances the rest of the day in peace and
quiet.
Solar module brands that are
recommended for remote home use: Really any brand module
is fine for off grid use. All of the brands that Solatron
carries come with sturdy aluminum frames and include with 25
year warranties. Years ago monocrystalline cells were
preferred because they were slightly higher in efficiency but
nowadays due to technological advances, there are
polycrystalline cells on the market that surpass the
efficiency of their monocrystalline cousins. For more of an explanation
of the difference between Monocrystalline and Polycrystalline
solar cells click here.
Inverter brands that recommended
for off grid use: You can never go wrong with the Xantrex
line of products which include Trace Engineering, Heart
Interface and Statpower branded products. Trace Engineering
and Statpower manufactures excellent sine wave products and
Trace Engineering and Heart Interface both manufacture the
preferred line of modified sine wave products.
Charge controller brands that are
recommended for off grid use: Again Xantrex makes an
excellent line of charge controllers. Other preferred brands
are BZ products and RV power products both of whom manufacture
maximum power point tracking charge controllers which have the
capability of delivering up to 30% more power to the batteries
than is fed into the charge controller by the solar modules.
Click here to learn more about maximum power point tracking
charge controllers.
Remote home systems can configured for
the occasional weekender all the way up to the full time
residence with a full compliment of AC appliances, water pump
and power tools. Let our expert technical technical help you
to design a system for your remote home that's perfect for
your needs. Remember there is no charge for this service.
Just give us a call
1-888-647-6527 were here to help.
Click
here to learn more about alternative energy
