[NSW] DIY Solar for Rental Accomodation - How to Build Solar for Home Use with or without Battery Backup?

LJavin on 24/09/2023 - 21:38
Last edited 25/09/2023 - 10:34 by 1 other user

I live in a rental Strata Property with no option to install Solar on Roof. With price of electricity going high just want to build a DIY solar (off-grid) to get at least 2000W to run AC in summer without the stress of electricity Bill.

Need opinions if anyone has built this type of solar setup using 400 watt solar panels with 3 or 5 KVA inverter. I have searched BLUETTI Portable Solar that is also an option but high watt costs more than 5k. The aim is to build a scalable solution that can be expanded in future with additional investment. I know some will say that the build cost recovery will take time but at least I will get some benefit.

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  pegaxs on 24/09/2023 - 22:11

  You won’t be able to do it. A 2kw system is going to be about 10 or so panels. Where do you plan on putting them? On the roof?

  And you need to look at the amount of watt hours your AC is going to consume and how much your back up battery can supply and then you need to cross reference how much your solar system can produce.

  Then there is your insurance and your strata being pissed that you have 30kWh of battery storage in your unit.

  You are not going to be able to build an off-grid solar system big enough to both be able to power your AC and be portable enough to hide from the nosy neighbours.

  A better alternative is to just buy a bunch of back up battery supply units and charge them up at night when on off peak power for the cheaper rate and then run your AC off them during the day.

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  diceman99 on 25/09/2023 - 02:46

  Good on you for thinking about it.
  Well I'm no expert but I would think to start off you would have to size an aircon unit.
  How many watts will the aircon draw, what is startup load of the aircon unit.
  Then you will have to size the solar array to power this aircon unit.
  Then you will need a correctly sized inverter to transform dc to ac. Then you will need a solar charge controller to stabilize the wattage supplied to the aircon. These stabilize the output with the use of batteries.
  The more I think about it the less feasible it would be with something with a high draw of wattage such as aircon. I would think these things use at least 2000watts. To size a system just for aircon seems price prohibitive.
  If you want to tinker with smaller wattage requirements and less equipment try a DC ceiling fan running directly off a solar panel. A buck converter could stabilize the output to the DC motor as well

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  CheapandUsed on 25/09/2023 - 08:15

  I saw a video on YouTube which I can't seem to find again. Someone put together a solar system on an A-frame in a box trailer, this gave it some height but was easily moveable when needed.

  Assuming you are renting a house, the A-frame could be an idea. Would allow easy connection (the panels are live all the time, so can be quite dangerous), could possibly shelter the inverter on the A-frame too then run a powercable into the house somewhere non-destructive.

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  brad1-8tsi on 25/09/2023 - 08:32

  5kVa system? I'd like to see that!

  Do you intend to charge up the batteries and then plug the AC in to your own inverter running it as a separate and stand alone system? You will get away with that.
  There is no way strata will let you DIY into their mains without having an electrician supply a CoC.

  If you DIY the materials etc it is really difficult to get the REITs.
  Look for someone giving away old panels from one of the 10yo 1.5kW systems. They'll probably be around 180w each. You'll need a solar controller, batteries and an inverter with a surge rating big enough to kick start whatever AC you have. Basically a high capacity camping setup.

  When you price it out (I'm guessing around $5k-$6k, it's probably easier to invest the money in A200 or VAS and use the distributions to pay the power bill

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  KaTst3R on 25/09/2023 - 09:31

  Depending on the orientation of where you want to put the panels and amount of shading around the property, you will need more panels to make up for the loss in efficiency. Even at most optimal condition, the panels wont get 100% of its stated capacity. This is likely to be a very costly and difficult exercise.

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  GordonD on 25/09/2023 - 12:37

  There is only one practicable way to get solar on a rental property.

  That is to persuade the landlord that it will increase the value of the property more than it costs, and justify the rent being increased.