Can you share what kind of batteries you have? We have solar, too, and would like to store it for nighttime use if the batteries aren’t too expensive.
@PitonView
They are industrial deep cycle batteries. It takes a crane to get them off the truck and into the garage. They cost us over $16K, at about $8K each; and the brand is Hawker. The last set before this one lasted us 13 years, the price remained the same. It is not a good idea to buy one and then buy another later, they need to b e the same age and work together equally. There are 24 cells at 2 volts each which equals a 48 volt system. We have 77 panels, that is 7 arrays. They feed into the system. The system is called Outback. It is a workhorse, well integrated, and is in use all over the world.
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Thanks! I’ll check them out. May be too expensive for us, though. We aren’t off the grid but I am hoping we’ll be more and more self-sufficient as time goes by.
If you are on grid you have a grid tie system, the utility company is your battery bank. That is how it is set up. You should check with your solar contractor to see what is possible for you. If you decide to go off grid you will also need a backup generator. We have a gasoline one as a backup to the 24K diesel. Those need to also tie into the system, and it is appropriate to have an automatic transfer switch. When the batteries get low, which they will, the system will start the generator to fill them. The rule of thumb for determining what size system you will need to run your house is to add up the wattage used by all your appliances and triple it. Again, talk to your solar contractor.
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