How We Power Our Homestead - Solar Power Set Up
Power for all our electricity needs at Bailey's Homestead comes from the sun. We run most normal electrical appliances in our home: a fridge, a coffee maker, a washing machine, and even, as of recently, an electric stove.
During the day, our solar panels work hard, capturing the sun's energy and directly powering our home. We have an array of eight 425W solar panels, mounted facing South. The solar panels also keep our batteries fully charged each day. When the sun goes down, the batteries kick in, and the stored power in them keeps the lights on and the fridge running. It's really pretty simple when you break it down. All of this is controlled automatically from the charge controller and inverter.
We have two big batteries at the moment, with the option to increase the number of batteries in the future if we feel we need to. We opted to change our old AGM batteries for new, more sustainable LiFePO4 batteries from Power Queen. We now use two 25.6V 100ah lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are perfect for our current needs. With the AGM batteries, we were concerned about discharging them too much and damaging them, this is no longer a worry. We know that our batteries from Power Queen have a much longer lifespan as well, so greater peace of mind!
Power Queen are an innovative company committed to green and sustainable development (just like us 😊). They offer high-quality batteries at affordable prices, and the team are super friendly too! If you're considering purchasing batteries for your home, campervan, or boat, why not check them out.
By using the following links, you will receive a 5% discount!
In Europe: https://bit.ly/3wMAXKf
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We installed our solar power system ourselves as complete beginners.
Here's how:
Step 1: Calculate the estimated power usage and size the solar panel and battery system accordingly. There are plenty of online tools to help with this. We did our research and matched our estimated required power usage with what we could afford at the time. We bought solar panels, batteries, an inverter and charge controller (we have an integrated one), wires for connecting everything up, a PV switch and a battery switch.
Step 2: Decide on the perfect spot for the solar panels and mount them. This may be on a roof, or a standalone bracket. For us, Will decided to make a bracket to lift the solar panels a little bit higher. You want them in a position that gets the optimum amount of sunlight. Be careful to consider how the sun changes position throughout the seasons. We learnt the hard way and had to move the panels from their original position, as the low winter sun just wasn't reaching them due to a hill on our land.
Step 3: Connect the batteries, either in series or parallel. And then do the same for the solar panels. Once again, it is important to research what will work best for the particular system and what is compatible with the charge controller.
Step 4: Wire it all up! Be careful to wear insulating gloves and follow all safety instructions for the kit. We connected the solar panel cables to the PV switch and then into the inverter/charge controller. We then did the same with the batteries. The final stage was connecting the system to the fuse box, which runs to our lights and plug sockets. We are by no means experts but managed to follow all necessary instructions for our solar kit.
Step 5: Switch everything on and enjoy green electricity from the sun 🌞
We use power mindfully, but it is very satisfying knowing exactly where your power is coming from and not having a pricey electricity bill each month!
