One very important issue that no-one seems to be mentioning is the about of time needed to produce a certain amount of power. Going with the 800W example from above taking 8 hours to produce, that's 8 hours you don't get to spend doing any other productive work around the homestead, like weeding the garden, caring for the
chickens, building or repairing. My
solar system can generate that much power in about 15 minutes, and my hands are still free the whole time to be involved in other activities.
The most basic 12V
solar system could be thrown together for less money than what's quoted above that
should make at least double what we are talking about here. I calculated 850$ for a system that could make 1500-3000Wh per day, depending on the season.
2 250W solar panels: 80$ each, two for 160$
2 220Ah golf-cart batteries: 110$ each at CostCo, two for 220$
1 40A Epever 4210 MPPT charge controller: 120$ on Eaby
1 1000W sine-wave inverter: 300$
maybe 50$ for wire, fuses, ect, if you need to buy them.
