Running Electricity Over Long Distance

[David M]

LOL, doubtful I can be of much help, but you will indeed benefit from your own experiences. Of course, there are a number of other PW ers that have invaluable experience and they graciously share that here. Am glad you didn't take it personally, just a pet peeve of mine to sometimes challenge Building Forum postings not based on hands on Hawaii experience. Note: I suspect your 9.2kw system would cost more than $90K, but that's based on 3 yr old numbers and doesn't factor in possible credits.

I guess I just don't really understand your numbers. Why would someone build a 9.2 kw system to generate 7820 watts (7.82 kw) on a daily basis? If I use your 2.9 hr factor, my 4.5kw system would average 13.09kw/day or 1.67 times the required 7820 watts. This leads me to think that 4 arrays of 4 165w panels (16 total) would produce 7656 watts - near the requirement. My experience tells me I know several off gridders using 8kw/day, but I only know 1 person with a system double mine. Nor do I recall any 48 volt systems with a 48 battery battery bank - I have 12, 1350 AH.

You might also guess, that while I truly advocate conservation and being mindful of usage, I'm totally opposed to the "You too, can have a 3rd world existence while living off grid philosophy".

Keep learning
David

Ninole Resident