It always bothered me when people look at a sun exposure map on the internet and conclude that solar power in northern states doesn’t work. The Internet said so, tmany cloudy days. And they will tell you the same.

Solar systems are always going to be a matter of expectation no matter where you live. In the context of a rural BOL or powering an outbuilding for power outage redundancy’s, don’t listen to what the experts say….

I have a rural cabin that I run only on solar. I have been running it on just three 235 watt panels and an battery bank with 8 6v AGM batteries from Interstate. They are wired for 12v and each panel has it’s own charge controller that is sized to the panel and specifically made for operating quietly around HAM radio equipment.  The inverter came from Craigslist. I had planned to grow the system to 15 panels, but my house fire in July destroyed the rest of the panels …. But I have been running the 3 panel setup for 3 years now and it is functionally just like being on the grid. I have never had to wait for the battery bank to catch up to my usage, even on cloudy days….

The pics below were from last weekend, we went up and I spent both days cutting and splitting wood. The fridge/freezer runs 24 hours a day now (Norcold brand, a scratch and dent from eBay that was less than half price), amd the chainsaw is a cordless rechargeable. The log splitter is basically the same unit as the 7 ton Harbor Freight but with the ability to put a frame under it to get it waist high. I did almost 3 face cords on the day this was taken and I wasn’t done yet….. and the sun never came out that day-it was hazy and overcast, batteries barely came off of being fully topped up.

You don’t need perfect conditions or a huge solar system to get really decent performance if you plan well and don’t expect to live like you are running a suburban house on the grid. To be clear, this wood splitter is right at the limit of what my 1800 watt inverter will do, so it’s not like I was babying it-the time between splits was almost enough to make up for the power I was taking even when at full production for several hours in a row. This is what three solar panels on the ground pointing south-ish at not-the-right-angle-per-the-internet will get for you:

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No idea why the pics are sideways…

Looks like you got some good work done, but it also looks like you were drinking enough to be sideways

Nope, not a professional drinker-I had that after lunch and it was the only thing I drank that day-a coworker gave it to me, those beers are seasonal, sold by the can, and very hard to get-i’m not really even a beer drinker.

I blame Steve Jobs.

Holding a two-handed ale with one hand, you sir, are a maverick.

Your point is well taken.
Just because something may not be optimal, does not mean it is not adequate.

People across the internet are more than happy to criticize your decisions and help you spend your money.

I'm actually surprised no one has commented on your log splitter.

I have a similar, if not identical unit (Ryobi branded) that I bought back around 2008-9.
Mentioned my purchase on here at the time and got a lot of comments about how it was a POS, waste of money, and needed to go buy a $1500-2000 splitter.
The whole buy once, cry once thing.

I don't live in the great white north, I'm in South Texas and our oak, mesquite and pecan tress tend to run a bit smaller.
10+yrs later, my little $199.00 log splitter is still splitting wood for my chimenea and BBQ pits.

My roof area and the panels I had before the fire would have allowed me 3.3kw, and the modest battery bank I have was intended to last 8-13 years until retirement. Having that much solar array for my needs would be exactly like being on the grid-in all the time I have used this setup, only once did I get down to 12.4v and it recovered as soon as I stopped. Now, dead of winter when the sun is low in the tree line, I’ll want those extra panels but as a weekend cabin getting a BOL ready? It rocks!

I have several friends that I can’t discuss for OPSEC reasons who are running solar and didn’t think it would work. Both were adamant that solar was a no-go, started small and then immediately scaled up once they saw what kind of work even small cheap panels could do for a battery bank when allowed to work thru the week and replace the energy used on the weekend. Things may not have been optimal as you say, but SOME of Something beats All of Nothing every single time. The truth is that Some ended up being a lot of Something.

I’d love to have a big old nasty log splitter with a bi-directional ram too-but money would be better spent elsewhere right now…. What I do have is the ability to cut and split wood every time I go up without having to get a motor started for the first time in months. Like you, I also have the ability to cut and split wood without everyone in a several mile radius knowing about it,

I’m still pinching myself that it works as well as it does… I have no electricity problems unless my wife gets greedy with the microwave or something after I have been draining power in failing light, and it’s only happened once. Just amazing.

Would be interested in more info on the panels and (especially) the rf-quiet charge converters…

I run an entire 20k acre farm on solar panels that are about the same as the ones OP uses. There's a lot of them scattered around. It takes 24 panels just to power one of my well pumps. Even on cloudy days it only takes ~4hrs to top up the batteries. The main house will sometimes overrun the batteries with load and then a diesel genny kicks in but it's rare, only when multiple ovens and the washing machine and dryer and lights and computers are all running after a late night. In winter it's mostly overcast but that doesn't stop the batteries getting full. You need to put in enough panel. Many people get mentally bogged down with thinking they need a bigger battery instead of more solar panels.

They are made by an electrical engineer local to to me that is a HAM. They are 98% efficient and rated right around 235w. His company has a lot more to offer now than when I bought my charge controllers, definitely worth considering.

So the solar home installation guys are probably rolling their heads at me having a charge controller for every panel but there are very good reasons for doing it even though it means running a lot more wire.

1) when you have an array of panels going to one charge controller, if one is shaded it kills the output of the whole array. I’m in a wooded area and if any of my panels have sun, they perform to the level they are capable.

2) I’m in a remote area with neighbors that have proven to be destructive at times. If they decide to take pot-shots at the panels, I won’t lose all of my capability.

3) when I planned the system, I had a fiancé that would be totally lost if something happened to me and something happened to the solar setup. It would have to be really bad for her to not have had power.

As for the panels, they are Sharp 235w panels I got on close out on the other side of the state-do what you can to find panels someplace in your state because shipping is a killer. Craigslist is good for this.

My inverters were Xantrex 1800w and pulled from a construction trailer with 1 year on them…. Got two of them for Pennies on the dollar, one burned in the fire.

I’m running beakers for electrical/fire safety as per diysolar’s instruction.

Don’t remember the model of the batteries, I’ll have to look it up when I am back up there.

https://www.diysolarforu.com/store/c1/Solar_Charge_Controller

Why is it whenever a battery bank gets drawn down it involves a woman? LoL..

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

I’ve been considering getting LifePO4 batteries for my project - but I’d like to keep them outside, maybe in a ‘doghouse-like structure’, but would need to keep them above freezing during the winter…