Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Getting totally confused here with all the info you get on solar panels - basically what I need to know is - how to run a house on solar energy, winter and summer, totally off grid with complete power the whole time. Is there anyone out there who has off grid solar energy that could advise us of any pitfalls we might come up against, and if its possible for us to visit and talk to you, that would be so so helpful - I'm getting bogged down by all the differing information I'm getting, and would appreciate any help

Not an expert here but I think you need to calculate how much kW per hour it takes to run your house, so count everything up (lights, washing machine TV etc).

E.G TV needs 0.5 KW/h, average time watched 4 hrs per day = 2 kW hrs per day.
Average these calculations over a week (so if you do more washing at the weekends the power consumption spikes can be smoothed out).

Off grid would probably require storage batteries so another calculation there, I heard you should have three days worth of capacity. (i.e. if your panels don't generate then you can run your house for three days also helps with smoothing consumption spikes out).

All info is on the internet to come up with a general figure. I'm sure I may have confused things even more but like you say probably best to talk to someone who has done it already, also companies who install them (they may refer you to past customers).

Bottom line, don't skimp and make it future proof (e.g. if you decide to install a pool at a later date)

Hi, have not done the sums for a few years but here is some useful info cribbed direct from a couple of sites.

http://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/how-much ... ls-cost-uk
A 10kw system will cost about £20,000 to purchase and install,
A 4kw system will need between 10 and 20 solar panels,with an initial cost of around £7,000

The general problem is that the instantaneous requirements of "modern living" require a pretty high KW demand. ie a kettle alone is 2 - 2.5KW.
multiply this by everything in simultaneous use like oven, aircon, fridge, pool pump etc and you can see why the fuse rating of the average house at 60A is equivalent to 15KW loading.

The solar panel has not only to supply your daytime needs, but also to charge whatever storage battery system you are using for the hours of darkness, so you actually get a lot less to use than your rated solar output when battery charging is deducted from the total output.

Going "off grid" is a very green and commendable thing to do, but it will require some dramatic changes to lifestyle to reduce your overall copnsumption...and take a look at the battery requirements both is terms of cost, size and rated life.... it's quite interesting !

elkiton.
Nice to see you back.
How did the speeding go??

elkiton

Sorry to disagree

We have been 'off-grid' for some time now.

With a correctly installed system you do not need to change lifestyle, in fact you can be more of a power user than ever before!

Last night we used 2 aircons, almost continuously, fans, oven for 2 hours, lights, fridge freezer, tv, washing machine, pool lights, outside lights, etc etc, all without a murmer from the batteries,.... oh,.... and no Kibtek bills to worry about!

It does seem to go against the grain to leave everything 'on',.. but that is what a good system gives you!


(helendj have PM'd you)

owl

Owl,

Thank you so very much for your time, and for the information you have given to my husband and I. It was a fantastic eye opener for us, but more than that it has stopped us from going with an insufficient system which would cost us a lot of money down the line. We both really appreciate your help and advice - it was lovely to speak to people who know what they are talking about!!!!

Many many thanks