Solar Basics/Planning (i.e. how much solar do I need?)

The very first step in solar is defining what you want to run and for how long while you’re not hooked up to power.

For simplicity, solar doesn’t really run anything. Things run from your batteries, solar is basically there to recharge them. So, the first step above will define the battery bank that you need to have.

You then size solar to the battery bank to what you want to be able to run and decide how many days you’re OK going without sun and having to resort to a backup recharging/power source (aka generator).

Then once you know the size of battery bank, you get an appropriate number of panels and solar charger/controller to recharge the batteries.

And finally, part of running things is the addition of an inverter so that you can run 120v items (aka things with a household plug on it).

A good group to join for help and information is:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2589581644599315/?ref=share