Off Grid Solar Power - Why a 600W System Isn't Enough.

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1. Your panels aren't going to produce a lot if batteries are charged. Float mode. Up your battery storage
2. sounds like you need to add a couple of windmills to your system as well to compensate for the over cast days
3. Solar is a disease, once you get interested, everyday you try to build a better mousetrap, speaking of clamp meters, a mate pointed out many of them only read AC amps and not DC amps and we bought the UNI-T version for about $60 and simply brilliant, cheers
4. panels are cheap. buy more lol
5. need to calculate it again.
6. I'm a beekeeper who has bought a wilderness shack where I keep my bees. I also have solar
   I only have 100 watts. I use it for lights and the radio. I'm adding panels. And moving up to your level.
7. Unless you set up your vertical title of your panels for adjustment through out the year your average output at best is going to be around 70% of their rated value.  A simple tilt adjustment that you can adjust every month or so will move you up 10-15% points.
   
   As far as cooling for the panels, I've been looking at some efficient 12v automobile radiator fans  than are thermostatically controlled for mounting on the back of the panels.  My little system gets quite hot, but haven't had a chance to test whether or not the efficiency gained for the power use would be worth it.
8. 9:18 : Interdimentional Portal ?
9. This was a flawed test. Your panel output was limited by the batteries intake. You need to have the inverter taking away any current from the charger so that the current from the panels isn't being limited
10. I've spent my money on reducing my energy use . and using electricity for resistance heating of water, cooking or for drying clithes
11. I hear the next generation solar panels are 5x more powerful! :)
12. If your hitting float I suspect other equations are at p[lay here... before you get more panels my I be of help? if it's not to late. I suspect your not properly sized with voltage in & out? Can you tell me the specs of your charger controller & panels. Plus battery set-up. Most systems don't get specific enough to each other & lose much efficiency. Peace Out
13. Solar is a beast to get right. If you are lucky enough to get components and wiring just right and factor in the area in which you live has humidity haze and clouds you might find that what you calculate to be the end result is really only about 50% of reality. The losses from dust on panels, wiring heat losses due to resistance, heat losses in components, battery DOD concerns, battery replacements, weather shifts and typical appliance requirements are staggering. Bottom line is if on paper you need $10k to build your system you better have $20k ready. I still love solar tho :-)
14. You should have suggested to people to go 24 volt or higher like you to keep wiring cost and amp draw down.
15. Joe, would adding some solar thermal panels not help with the washing as heating water is a big power drain. Assuming you can find a washing machine that can cope with preheated water. No need to store the heated water just use it as a preheater.
16. Hot solar panels should not be watered down with cold water. they could crack and may not show those cracks right away.
    Nice video.
17. Good video bud, awesome place in the world you have ended up, Enjoy, be happy !
18. Im going to buy a diesel generator also but really hate noise. will use it only as absolutely needed, power goes off a lot here, "la union, Philippines" sometimes for, and most often for about 8 hours but at times is a few days, I have even seen a 2 month blackout here. solar nice but you are right panels only seem to produce 50 percent of what they say in real world type application and then there is storage you should only use maybe 50 percent of battery so when you figure it all out you need double just to be safe or maybe even triple to be sure. My first attempts used the "claimed" power ratting of everything and it was a qualified fail, but I did learn a lot.
19. battery's do get costly, luckily I have a source locally to get some made in China ones that seem to hold up been using some for about 3 years now and no drop in ability to hold a charge, it costs about 112.00 us dollars for a 12 volt 100 ahr one.
20. solar is frikin expensive and the numbers stuff is sold as does not translate to normal use amounts. like 600 watts = like 300 watts in real world, I got 800 watts panels and get about 400, wind turbines seem to be even worse from what I have seen on the net.