Ray there really is not much different thermal mass than any other modern well maintained home. These homes are 2 x 6 walls, R60 in the ceilings and common sense window coverings.
Pretty much standard offgrid for those who can afford it. They want to succeed in one the hardest climates. The Southeast US and the tropics for that matter are tuff. Easier to heat in Alaska I think. The Afternoon high heat is carried by the mini-split and a southwestern array. The morning recool, down from 77f, is the southeast array. Full on, a quality 1 ton is pulling 1400 watts or so when the variable speed compressor is at max rpm. The speed/power is controlled by the differential of programmed temp to actual. Short of that, on lousy days in cooling season, it is either the large battery or a genset. This system cooling strategy also works because I also lived in the tropics for a decade. Lot's of happy customers :) They love winter in the southeast. The mean season for now in the southeast, just like here in the Sierra with 700 feet of smoke visibility Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar "we go where powerlines don't" http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [1] e-mail [email protected] [2] text 209 813 0060 On Sun, 13 Sep 2020 13:25:08 -0600, Ray wrote: I was involved in Btu calculations in a previous life. Most HVAC folks over kill it, instead of really doing the detailed room by room calcs. My guess is that your systems are working because: A)There is really good insulation and air seal. B) there is enough thermal mass to carry the house through the high heat of the late afternoons. Ray Walters Remote Solar 303 505-8760 On 9/12/20 5:09 PM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar wrote: Hi Ray, They run at night set at 77f. We use a 1 ton, 12,000 btu and a 2nd spare for day use. The spare is rarely needed. These are near 30 SEER, the most expensive model in each make. LG, Mitsu, Fujitsu. Just after dawn when the array is lit, we drop the program temp to 74 or so. Most HVAC will tell you this won't work. I have been doing this since 2007 when they started coming out in the US. They sip power at night like a small child :) The HVAC people have the mentality that you need to cool a hot house down in 30 minutes and that is how they size. Offgrid, we never let it get that hot, as we live there and can leave it on. There is no power bill except the big one at the beginning! There are a few other strategies I use also. Right now it is full smoke here from the wildfires, the whole 1800 sqft house is using 400 watts and it is 74 in and 86 outside. We often have 100 degree weather and it does use more. In smoke like this, the split pressurizes the home and aids in keeping smoke outside also. That is a very nice thing. Some of the folks in the area just got PG ">Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar "we go where powerlines don't" http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [3] e-mail [email protected] [4] text 209 813 0060 On Sat, 12 Sep 2020 15:51:39 -0600, Ray [5] wrote: What size Air Conditioners? Those seem like really small battery banks for that. I suppose they just run in the day mostly when the sun is shinning? Ray Walters Remote Solar 303 505-8760 On 9/12/20 3:25 PM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar wrote: I have 5 clients in Florida running mini-split heat pumps offgrid. The smallest is a 13 kwh useable and the rest running L16 2v cells @ 48v nominal. Not trying to be a contrarian but with a 2,000 square foot house with great insulation and SEER numbers around 30, it is not that hard. Need alot of solar, and virtual tracking for the afternoon thunderstorms in the south also. Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar "we go where powerlines don't" http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [6] e-mail [email protected] [7] text 209 813 0060 On Sat, 12 Sep 2020 12:54:39 -0400, Jason Szumlanski [8] wrote: 54kWh doesn't go far for air conditioning in September in Southwest Florida. Trust me. Most homes have $200+ electric bills at $0.10/kWh this time of year, sometimes substantially more. Generator backup, even with 4 Powerwalls, is necessary for mission-critical grid-tied backup situations. Sadly, you can't charge Powerwalls with a generator. You just bypass battery storage and run loads straight off the generator, which means the generator needs to be sized for the whole home. It would be nice to have a generator input for supplemental charging at least with a small portable unit. There is no perfect solution for this application. At least no cost-effective solution. On Fri, Sep 11, 2020 at 6:06 PM August Goers wrote: Hi Bill - I completely agree with your statement about all off-grid applications. Most if not all need generators. And, I do think there are some grid tied applications where generators make sense too, especially for folks who live way out in the woods as you mention. I was speaking about the mass market in CA in cities or towns where the grid is typically fairly reliable. If you install four Powerwalls, for example, you have up to 54 kWh of storage available. There are applications where generators make sense, and all these fires and smoke and heat waves prove the point. I think AC is critical for some parts of the country, and energy storage + PV alone just won't cut it for those critical applications. But, yes, good point. August On Fri, Sep 11, 2020 at 2:33 PM frenergy wrote: August, Quite frankly and with due respect about the comment about more PV and battery to forego the need for a generator, I disagree. Those folks living off-grid in the sticks (um,er, myself included), it would be a very bad thing not to have Gen input. The current situation here in Plumas county (and many other counties right now) is another perfect example. It is so smokey that my daily KWhrs has been cut in half and of course every other off-grid home is having the same issue. This has been going on for almost a month with only occasional breaks. There are also CC failures, FET board craps out, other excrement occurs. We all know there are many critical needs for power especially to run a pump for fire protection, frig for food, communication to know what the hell may coming your way during some event (fire, flood, bad weather) medical needs, etc. In the winter there are at least a few times when there is little or no sun for 1 maybe 2 weeks...that gets to be a spendy array and battery. Certainly, the idea of going that route works for some scenarios but not off-grid. Generators are still a much needed necessary evil. Maybe its a big deal to incorporate that feature in an inverter?? Sounds like bean counting. My $.02 worth Bill Feather River Solar Electric Bill Battagin, Owner 4291 Nelson St. Taylorsville, CA 95983 530.284.7849 CA Lic 874049 www.frenergy.net [11] On 9/11/2020 1:01 PM, August Goers wrote: In CA the market for ESS is primarily grid tied support features driven by SGIP + backup (public safety power shutoffs, folks who live in less stable grid areas, folks worried about natural disasters) so the ESS is designed to replace generators. This might be a little trickier for areas that need air conditioning during a grid outage (or for all electric homes), but one tactic is just to go bigger with the ESS and PV system. I guess what I'm saying is that the value proposition might already be getting better just to skip the generator and go bigger with the storage. Even Generac might be going that route. August On Fri, Sep 11, 2020 at 11:52 AM Jason Szumlanski wrote: We are seeing tons of companies in Florida offering Generac/Pika now. They didn't do it when it was Pika, so why would they now that it has an orange label? Crazy. No generator input makes zero sense and even less sense for a generator manufacturer. On Fri, Sep 11, 2020 at 12:58 PM Chris Schaefer wrote: Jeremy, Pika was bought out by Generac and rebranded as their PWR cell. Most of the old crew from Pika are now working for Generac. It's beyond me that Generac bought them and yet they still don't have a generator input. That's why I could never sign on to the Pika product line. Good luck. Christopher On Fri, Sep 11, 2020 at 11:00 AM Jeremy Rodriguez wrote: If anyone has any info on how to get a hold of The former PIKA ENERGY support group, please contact me off list. Or if anyone knows where one could get one of their inverters rebuilt/repaired let me know. Jeremy Rodriguez Solar Installation / Design Expert All Solar, Inc. 1463 M St Penrose Colorado 81240 Sent by Jeremy's iPhone. 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