Off-grid Calculator Solar array

8/14/2019 Off-grid Calculator Solar array

1/10

Solar Panel Array Sizing

Determine the size of the solar panel array you will need.

Step 1:

Step 2:

or

Step 3:

Welcome to the Alternative Energy Store Calculator. This calculator isdesigned to help you size a system for off-grid use.

Start by filling out the first tab, titled Solar Panels. This tab will calculate howmany Solar Panels you need, based upon you load(how much electricity youconsume).

Once you've completed this tab, move on to the other tabs labeled Charge

Controller & Battery Bank.

How many kilowatt-hours (kwh) does your

home/location use per month?

(This value is usually printed on your electric bill. If you don't havea bill, or don't know your consumption, click on 'load calculator' atthe top of this page to go through the steps to determine thisvalue.)

kilowatt-hours permonth

You need to determine the minimum number of sun hrs

per day during the winter.Select the State-City Closest to your location (currentlyonly US states are provided)

Minimumsun-hoursfor thewintertimes

Manually enter the minimum sun-hours for your location.

The total wattage of Solar Panels that youneed is:

MA-Boston


2/10

Step 4:

Solar Charge Controller Sizing

This calculator helps you size the solar charge controller(s) needed for your system.

Step 1:

(taken from the previous calculation of solar panels)

Step 2:

Choose the voltage of your battery bank:

Step 3:

Amps

This value takes intoaccount losses due tosystem inefficiencies.

How many solar panels do you need? That depends on the panel

you choose.Select the wattage of the panel your interested in, andsee the results below:

2005 Alternative Energy Store - www.AltEnergyStore.com

| Solar Panels | Charge Controller | Battery Bank | Load Calculator |

| Solar Panels | Charge Controller| Battery Bank | Load Calculator |

Charge Controller-Used between your solar panel array and your battery bank, charge controllersoptimize how your batteries are charged and prevent current from going back through the panelsfrom the batteries during the night time.

You will need a charge controller(s) that can support atleast:

125

12


3/10

Battery Bank Sizing

This calculator will help you size the battery bank for your system.

Watts

Step 2

Step 3

Results

Amp Hrs

Select a battery voltage:

amp-hrs

volts

| Solar Panels | Charge Controller| Battery Bank | Load Calculator |


Wattageof solar

panelarray:

How many days of backup power do you want in caseof cloudy/rainy days?

What is the lowest temperature your battery bank willexperience?

DegreesFahrenheit

Select a batteryamperage:

Amp-Hour capacity ofthis battery is:

Voltage of thisbattery:

Batteries per row (inseries)

350

8


4/10

Load Calculator

Name: Date

Appliance* Qty Hrs/Day

1

2

3

4

5

67

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Number of rows inparallel

Total number of thesebatteries you willneed:

Total Amp-Hours ofthis Battery Bank is:

Amps-Hours

*All calculations assume only a 50% discharge to yourbatteries to optimize battery life.



| Solar Panels | Charge Controller | Battery Bank | Load Calculator|

To use this form, simply list all of your appliance that use electricity. Theseare items like Refrigerator, Range, computer, stereo, lights etc..

For each appliance, enter the number of that appliance that you own (Qty), thepower is uses (Watts) and the number of hours a day (Hrs/Day) you use theitem.

We have a provided a list of common appliance and their power consumptionat the bottom of the page.

Use this form if you don't know what your power consumption (kilowatt-hours)is.

Watts(Volts xAmps)

WattHrs/Day


5/10

15

16

17

18

19

20

Watts

The browser does not support JavaScript. This calculator will not work. Please access the web page using anoth

Total WattHrs PerDay:

Total Kilowatt Hrs Per Month (30Days):

(write down this value and enter it into Step 1 of solarpanel sizing calculator)


*Help! I'm not sure of the wattage of myappliances.

Select the appliances from this drop down menu. To the right willappear typical wattage values for the appliance you selected.However, for the most accurate information look on your applianceto find its wattage rating (or it amperage rating and then multiplythat by its voltage to approximate its wattage).

Stereo


6/10


7/10


8/10


9/10


10/10

Documents

Off-grid Calculator Solar array