Questions and Answers for Grape Solar 100-Watt Basic Off-Grid Solar Panel Kit

A:  To properly size an off-grid system or battery backup system, we would need to know the following: 1. Your estimated daily power usage in watt (we need exact daily watt-hour numbers from customers because many standard appliances and devices have widely variable power consumptions). Energystar’s yearly kWh ratings for fridges and freezers are also helpful to have. 2. Maximum inverter wattage and voltage required – what is the most power, in watts, that the inverter will need to produce, and are you using any 220 volt appliances? 3. Location or zip code of where the panels will be mounted. 4. Months of the year that the system will be needed (winter, summer, year-round, etc.). Please note that battery-based solar requires 2 to 4 times as many panels for winter production.

A:  The panels produce 12 volts when the sun is shinning. You would need a battery to store the power than use battery to run lights.

A:  Panels are great to charge battery. Heaters require a lot of power (watts). Panel is 100 watts that isn't enough to power a heater. You can add more panels to make more power.

A:  It is not currently feasible to run air conditioners, space heaters or pool pumps with off-grid solar. In general, you need 500 watts of panel power per hour of the day that a standard (1500 watt) heat/AC unit (or 1 HP pump ) is operating, in addition to the cost of charge controllers, batteries, cables, and an inverter.

A:  Yes.

A:  No, you cannot. Controllers get their power from the battery, not the panel. You would need a deep cycle battery (50 Ah minimum) as well as this kit. Assuming ideal placement, the panel will probably produce enough power to run that pump an average of 5 hours a day (more in summer, less in winter).

A:  Panel is 12 volts. As long as battery's connect to 12 volts it would work. If one battery is bad it will drain all battery's tied together.

A:  Given that the panel only produces an average of 25 Ah per day, those options would be oversized. Typically we recommend a battery between 50 and 100 Ah for this kit. Think of the solar system as a car - the batteries are your gas tank, the charge controller is the gas pump, the inverter is the car engine, and the panels represent how much gas gets put in every day. Making your gas tank larger will not allow you to drive any further - you would still need more gas.

A:  In addition to the Community Answer below, I would also note that this kit is generally paired with a single 50 AH or 100 Ah battery. You should avoid having more than three batteries in parallel if at all possible.

A:  The number of batteries that can be charged by the 100-Watt Basic Off-Grid Polycrystalline Silicon Panel Kit depends on the type and capacity of the batteries you are charging.

A:  Yes. You can add 1 additional 50W panel.

A:  No, it's not a good idea to mix panels together of varying wattages, manufacturers, or voltages. You will find that mixing panels this way causes your best panel's performance to be dragged down to something comparable with your worst performing panel. You could however expand by attaching 50 watt kit to the same battery bank because it comes with a separate charge controller. Then you would have a charge controller for each panel and suffer no loss in performance at all.

A:  My controller has a USB port on it.

A:  There is no inverter shipped with this kit. This kit is only for charging a 12Vdc battery. However, it does have USB ports on the charge controller which can be used with USB charging cords for phones and tablets. Be advised the power comes from the battery connected to the charge controller, not the panels which simply replenish the batteries.

A:  No - you would need one of our standard 100x kits using the Xantrex C35 charge controller, which can have up to five panels connected in parallel. The controller included in the basic kit can only handle a single 100 watt or 160 watt panel.

A:  Yes, each controller has a limit of panels you can connect to them. You can get a bigger controller if need be.

A:  If you are adding this kit to an already existing kit you can put both charge controllers on the same battery bank. You do not want to put non-similar panels on the same charge controller.

A:  those batteries are typically only compatible with a very limited number of solar controllers, depending on the specifications of their BMS system. you would need to contact the battery manufacturer to determine compatibility with brands or types of solar charge controllers.