Off Grid Solar Kits?

[copperrein]

I'm looking to get my toes wet with solar so I'm hunting for a decent beginner kit of about 400w that allows for expansion. I'm seeing a lot on the Renology kits...but some of the reviews aren't great. I'm handy and understand basic electrical. I really want to be able to just keep adding lights and pumps and all the sweet gear available to growers without jacking up the electric bill any more than I already am.

I'd prefer to keep the total cost for the initial system to under $1000. I'm really focused on expandability of the system in terms of panels. Where I'm having trouble is amps. The controller determines how many panels I can add (as I understand it, correct me if I'm wrong). I also think I understand that on the other side of the controller is the charger and battery bank which can just keep getting expanded without as much concern for what the system can handle.

Are all these cheaper off grid kits crap or has solar gotten this inexpensive since the last time I looked?

Any and all help is appreciated. (mods: I was going to put this in the eco-friendly products section but since I'm not talking about a specific product I felt this was a better place)

 

[TorturedSoul]

Maybe go here:

Any electricians help regarding off grid solar power lighting

If I want to run an 800 watt draw Led grow light from solar directly to an inverter without battery banks to save money on elec what would be the basic slightly overkill setup I would need . Brand of inverter or panels I'm not fussed on just the specs of inverter and how many panels I would need...

www.420magazine.com

... and ask Bo and Emily.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Here's some food for thought,
I have 400w of panels, average input to battery in full sun is 350ish watts
I have a 30a solar charger, charging a 200ah 12v battery, and a 100ah battery for the fans.
The most amps I've seen coming from the mppt charger is around 26 amps in full sunlight in summer. (I need more panels to get the full 30a the charger is capable of).
I run a 180w 12/240v inverter that runs a 108w cob light.
I also have a couple of pc fans and a car blower for ventilation that are powered by the 100ah battery.
In summer I have enough power to flower lol. In winter I'm shut down unless I run a generator, (or run an extension lead to the neighbors house haha).
It's expensive to do and sometimes stressful (ahh no sun, my poor batteries) but it's all I can afford right now. It's cost me around 3.5 k.
I'll admit it's a very basic setup but you can imagine how expensive it can get to run bigger lights. I'll tell you now, very expensive.
I plan to double my panels and ideally I would like to get a 400ah lithium battery but hoowee, the price. 3k.
Did I mention it is expensive? Yes.
But it's doable for me in the future to upgrade to a bigger system capable of running a 200 watt light. Hopefully battery technology gets better so batteries get cheaper.
Eventually I intend to run more than that but I expect it to be in the region of 10k.
Some people think nothing of dropping that much on a TV or a hobby or whatever, each to their own. I like the idea of using the sun to grow indoors so I'll spend my $ on that instead of something else.
That's my 2 cents anyway. Thanks for listening.
I need a puff after that

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Just thought of something else, I bought the best solar charger I could afford (victron) because the charger looks after my expensive batteries. Beware, a cheap charger could fry your battery. Another good brand is morningstar.

 

[copperrein]

Here's some food for thought,
I have 400w of panels, average input to battery in full sun is 350ish watts
I have a 30a solar charger, charging a 200ah 12v battery, and a 100ah battery for the fans.
The most amps I've seen coming from the mppt charger is around 26 amps in full sunlight in summer. (I need more panels to get the full 30a the charger is capable of).
I run a 180w 12/240v inverter that runs a 108w cob light.
I also have a couple of pc fans and a car blower for ventilation that are powered by the 100ah battery.
In summer I have enough power to flower lol. In winter I'm shut down unless I run a generator, (or run an extension lead to the neighbors house haha).
It's expensive to do and sometimes stressful (ahh no sun, my poor batteries) but it's all I can afford right now. It's cost me around 3.5 k.
I'll admit it's a very basic setup but you can imagine how expensive it can get to run bigger lights. I'll tell you now, very expensive.
I plan to double my panels and ideally I would like to get a 400ah lithium battery but hoowee, the price. 3k.
Did I mention it is expensive? Yes.
But it's doable for me in the future to upgrade to a bigger system capable of running a 200 watt light. Hopefully battery technology gets better so batteries get cheaper.
Eventually I intend to run more than that but I expect it to be in the region of 10k.
Some people think nothing of dropping that much on a TV or a hobby or whatever, each to their own. I like the idea of using the sun to grow indoors so I'll spend my $ on that instead of something else.
That's my 2 cents anyway. Thanks for listening.
I need a puff after that

Thank you! I would also rather spend my money on grow-related stuff and solar is a hard long-term goal. The way it's sounding to me is get the best charge controller I can afford and go from there. Are most units upgradeable in terms of number of panels and batteries I can add? I know each unit will have limits but most of the stuff I've looked at doesn't say if I can keep adding panels. I suspect it's one of those things they don't mention because it's either standard or not and they expect the customer to already understand.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

EDIT: Oh! I will also eventually add wind gennys to the system as well since wind is one resource we have an excess of. Know anything about those?

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Thank you! I would also rather spend my money on grow-related stuff and solar is a hard long-term goal. The way it's sounding to me is get the best charge controller I can afford and go from there. Are most units upgradeable in terms of number of panels and batteries I can add? I know each unit will have limits but most of the stuff I've looked at doesn't say if I can keep adding panels. I suspect it's one of those things they don't mention because it's either standard or not and they expect the customer to already understand.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

EDIT: Oh! I will also eventually add wind gennys to the system as well since wind is one resource we have an excess of. Know anything about those?

Not sure about wind turbines as I've never had any experience with them.
Quality controllers (mppt) allow additional panels (to a specific limit, calculated by the manufacturer)
If you keep adding panels to any controller, sooner or later the controller will overheat. There is a limit.
Batteries are a different story. If you have too many batteries and not enough power to recharge them regularly, they will die very quickly. Similar thing with a small battery and too much power getting pumped in. It will cook. A good controller will divert excess energy to another battery or water heater, or it will dissipate the excess power as heat. That's why you see big heat sinks on powerful charge controllers.
You must try to charge batteries to float every day if you can (AGM or flooded), lithium is more forgiving, as long as you put back in what you take out. Hence why I want to upgrade to lithium sooner or later.
Battery manufacturers specify ideal and max amp input when charging. Depending on the batteries and your solar capacity, you would likely aim for closer to the max if you could. But you really have to do the math if you want to make it work for your particular requirements for the least money possible. It's complicated, but doable. I lost track of the hours I spent researching before I purchased. A good place to get easy to understand info is handybobs solar blog or there's an RV one I can't remember the name sorry.
If you feel confident in your mathematical ability, you'll get the hang of it. Hope I haven't bamboozled you lol.

 

[copperrein]

Not sure about wind turbines as I've never had any experience with them.
Quality controllers (mppt) allow additional panels (to a specific limit, calculated by the manufacturer)
If you keep adding panels to any controller, sooner or later the controller will overheat. There is a limit.
Batteries are a different story. If you have too many batteries and not enough power to recharge them regularly, they will die very quickly. Similar thing with a small battery and too much power getting pumped in. It will cook. A good controller will divert excess energy to another battery or water heater, or it will dissipate the excess power as heat. That's why you see big heat sinks on powerful charge controllers.
You must try to charge batteries to float every day if you can (AGM or flooded), lithium is more forgiving, as long as you put back in what you take out. Hence why I want to upgrade to lithium sooner or later.
Battery manufacturers specify ideal and max amp input when charging. Depending on the batteries and your solar capacity, you would likely aim for closer to the max if you could. But you really have to do the math if you want to make it work for your particular requirements for the least money possible. It's complicated, but doable. I lost track of the hours I spent researching before I purchased. A good place to get easy to understand info is handybobs solar blog or there's an RV one I can't remember the name sorry.
If you feel confident in your mathematical ability, you'll get the hang of it. Hope I haven't bamboozled you lol.

Nope, the math is easy... It's learning all the new slang and verbage. Thank you so much! You gave me great info

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Nope, the math is easy... It's learning all the new slang and verbage. Thank you so much! You gave me great info

Happy to help.