We are asking because 20 acres I want to buy is going to cost a pile to run power company power to it, if I can spend $15,000 and have basically no electric bill for 10 years I will be very far ahead.
It's true, we don't have the sunshine of so cal or phoenix but we can run wood heat, propane heat, LED light blobs and such and run a pretty minimal electric bill., probably gonna do all that anyhow so not like they are extra expenses. The land is mostly sunny, the mountains don't effect sunshine much where it is located. Also we already don't run AC in the summer so that's not even a big deal.
This is what I would do.
1-Buy a 1,000 gallon propane tank.
2-Generator propane fueled 1,800 RPM 5 to 6 KW. My preference is Onan.
3-Inverter/Charger Xantrex XW6048.
4-Start with one battery bank so 8 batteries 6 volt.
5-Build your own solar panel rack and start with 8 panels 345 watt
6-Solar charge controller
7-Generator start interface
8-Combiner box
9-Wiring and misc.
10- Building to protect equipment. Me I would get a 40 foot shipping container.
Things to always keep in mind. Do not buy cheap or under build. Once up and running you will see what your solar array is doing and you can add to it as needed. That is the main reason to get a larger solar charge controller. Your battery bank you most likely will find that 2 banks of 8 will be optimal. Inverters on 48 volt input use the same energy at idle as a small inverter 25 to 35 watts however they will have a continuous output of 6,000 watts and 12,000 watt surge. Having a system like this will run your house and garage.
