It's been awhile since I last posted on this blog. We have been quite busy with our PV and electronics businesses, not to mention all the chores.
Anyhow, now that we are fully gridtied with more than our annual electric needs, I decided to develop a DIY kit for either grid backup or totally offgrid use. I knew it had to be kept simple, conservative, yet as a high performance system with quality parts. It is a 1500 watt PV rating, 48 volt 10KWh battery pak, and a 120VAC 2400 watt continuous inverter. We supply the solar specific parts, you supply the muscle and commonly available wire, gear, and hardware. It will provide about 5KWh per day on an annualized basis here in West Virginia. That may sound not like much, but if you are in survival mode or never had grid power, you'll manage. I have installed a six circuit transfer switch to run critical loads. For us, that's preserving food, a few lights, and satellite tv. Others may have different priorities. But how about water with only having 120VAC? In our case we have a spring fed cistern just below grade. This allows use of a 120 RV-type pump hooked in parallel to our regular 240 pump. If you have a deep well or city supply, you too could bury a cistern or two and fill 'em up when things are rosy. When things go down, use a similar parallel pump system. If you have a site that allows the tank to be planted up hill, you could rely on gravity to return the pumped water. Think of it as a hydraulic battery system.
This kit allows you to get involved in some fun stuff and you may be amazed how easy you could make such a useful infrastructure. We intend on using some fraction of the power every day to keep our batteries exercised and in good shape. We'll also reduce our power demand to boot. If you are interested in learning more go to diy-solar-kit We also will provide technical resources to help you through the project or to evaluate if this deal is for you.
