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GSpotter
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: A small town near Wolfsburg, Germany
 
2021-08-11, 13:16

In my case, the "calculation" was rather simple: As we didn't have much room on the roof, it was more a "take as much as we can get"-approach. As I followed the lead of my friend and didn't do much additional research, the system provider was set. Due to the smaller number of our panels, the mini-system would have been enough for us, but we wanted the better functionality of the standard system. This decided the size of the battery (there is only the option to a 2nd battery, but this doesn't make any economical sense. In the summer time, the current battery is enough to supply energy for the night, but in winter time we do not have enough sun hours (I just realized that I live more northern than Calgary) to fill the current battery.

There are cheaper solutions on the market, especially when you combine components from different vendors, but I preferred the all-in-one solution. So, if I have a problem, there's only one responsible party which cannot point to others ...

If you do not live in a very sunny area in a much more southern area with less daytime variations than me, trying to be completely self-sufficient might be at least financially not be the most effective way. Normally, when using a battery, the "sweet spot" for self-sufficiency is more in the 70-80% region.

Another point if you would go off grid: You would then probably generate more energy than you need and without feeding it into the grid, it would go to waste.

Edit: BTW, the system looks like this:

My photos @ flickr
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. -- Benjamin Franklin

Last edited by GSpotter : 2021-08-11 at 13:39.
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