We are about to put together our first real solar system. We want to get a system that will run 2 chest freezers. One is large, and the other is smaller. I will get the wattage tomorrow. I don't know where to start. Please throw all ideas at me. Don't mind making it a little larger if it doesn't cost much more.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes DUTY!" - Thomas Jefferson
Are you planning to run them full time from solar/battery power? Are they DC powered or AC powered? Are the two freezers near each other, or are they at different ends of the house? Do you plan to run them together from the same battery, or two seperate battery's due to distance? You say your first real solar system...do you plan to power any thing else?
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Full time, but will have a power supply from 110volt if it needs it. I don't want it to have to ever use the 110 volt help though. They are right next to each other in a small shed outside in our well house. I am thinking of building a rack over the shed to hold the panels. I would love to run other things, but it is not a priority.Originally Posted by Domeguy
I have a xantrex 40 amp truecharge2, that will be hooked to the battery and will kick on if the batteries get low. But like I said above I don't want it to ever kick on. I want this to run in a long term grid down situation.
Was thinking keeping them each on their own system, but don't really have a preference.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes DUTY!" - Thomas Jefferson
I think DG is our resident expert on Solar. I surely scribe to Home Power Magazine. They have articles on sizing systems all the time. You might check them out online and see if they have a archive section.
Another tip you may need to do. Get a "kill a watt" meter. It us in your wall socket, then you plug your appliance into it. Run it for a day and it will give you a true reading of power useage.
Battery Bank (multiple batteries) and an inverter are needed as well.
I can't find the stickers on the freezer, but one is a kenmore elite and the web site says it uses Kilowatt Hrs. per Year:306 and the other freezer is about half the size, but older. It is a woods model.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes DUTY!" - Thomas Jefferson
The Kilowatt will give you an exact reading. You can run it for hours or days and make your calculations from there. They are highly recommended to determine your total loads to size any type renewable power source.
Last edited by bacpacker; 05-16-2015 at 02:13 AM.
Thanks bacpacker, we are going to pick one up next time we are in town. Probably Monday.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes DUTY!" - Thomas Jefferson
I am really interested in following your choices here. Running our freezers are high our list of coverage needs.
According to the numbers domeguy came up with it is going to be to expensive to justify. He is thinking around 3-4k per freezer.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes DUTY!" - Thomas Jefferson
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