Hi,

 

Can you tell me if having solar panels on a 4m x 4m bungalow roof can give enough power to have 24 hours electricity ? Including aircon ?

 

If the roof is not enough, how big should be the solar panels ?

 

Thank you.

i think you may have to start from a different angle   the first thing you need to calculate is your peak electricity consumption    (+)  from there you can decide  the  energy you need to generate   quite a few other calculations also  like battery storage capabilities    much useful information can be learnt on you tube   but yes possible    so good luck i admire forward thinking

15 minutes ago, Lamkyong said:

i think you may have to start from a different angle   the first thing you need to calculate is your peak electricity consumption    (+)  from there you can decide  the  energy you need to generate   quite a few other calculations also  like battery storage capabilities    much useful information can be learnt on you tube   but yes possible    so good luck i admire forward thinking

 

Thank you, but actually instead of thinking too much and then be disappointed, I am looking for real life experience to easily understand if I could do it easily.

 

 

17 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

Thank you, but actually instead of thinking too much and then be disappointed, I am looking for real life experience to easily understand if I could do it easily.

 

 

Not easy and no AC.  Maybe TV and a fan.

You can receive a quote for solar power installation mounted on your rooftop in Thailand from the vendor who rents space inside HomePro. Very nice display inside the Buriram HomePro for this company. Prices seem clear and they list what power is generated by the panels mounted on your home in Buriram.   http://www.sprsolarroof.co.th/en/how_to_buy

37 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

Thank you, but actually instead of thinking too much and then be disappointed, I am looking for real life experience to easily understand if I could do it easily.

 

 

sorry, my post is from real life experience       but of course if you would like  look on e bay and see many off the shelf  set ups  to suit your needs   but  that still requires the knowledge  of your max power requirements   again yes all is possible but will require  some technical input from you

there is a large online store in Thailand  AMORN that does sell solar systems  if there is one near you

you could take your plan/ enquirers to them for advice 

Do you intend going completely off-grid (no mains power at all) or do you have power and want to supplement?

 

16m² of solar will produce maybe 4kW in peak sun, possibly for up to 5 hours a day. So an average of 800W for 24 hours.

 

That would run an 8000 BTU aircon 24 hours and nothing else.

Insulating your room that has the A/C - How long are you going to live there ? What sort of payback are you looking at 5 years? How big is your monthly electricity cost today ?


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On 2/28/2018 at 1:39 PM, Lamkyong said:

i think you may have to start from a different angle   the first thing you need to calculate is your peak electricity consumption    (+)  from there you can decide  the  energy you need to generate   quite a few other calculations also  like battery storage capabilities    much useful information can be learnt on you tube   but yes possible    so good luck i admire forward thinking

 

The other way to come at it (and perhaps this is what the OP is thinking) is to look at it as if you're moving into a place that already has 16m2 of solar, and ask "can I live with that- assuming I can make some adjustments to my lifestyle and electrical appliance purchases?" 

 

Maybe a smaller A/C or running it only a few peak hours a day?  Or adding a solar (non-electrical) component to my hot water system.  Or installing LED lighting and buying a smaller microwave oven.  You get the picture.   In which case, my peak load is the unknown- dependent on what I can reasonably expect get from the solar system.  I'd build my system based on the limiting parameter, which appears to be 16m2 of solar power available without going to external mounting systems and taking up yard space. 

 

Or figure out that there's no way I can get the comfort I want within the limits of 16m2.

 

Just a question coming to mind..

Is it possible to combine both the regular electricity supply and solar power supply and let the regular electricity kick in when the solar polar is used??

1 minute ago, jumbo said:

Just a question coming to mind..

Is it possible to combine both the regular electricity supply and solar power supply and let the regular electricity kick in when the solar polar is used??

Absolutely, most systems being installed are "grid-tie" meaning you have grid power (so no problem when it's dark). The solar offsets the grid supply, if you generate more than you are currently using the meter goes backwards (net metering).

 

There is also a scheme whereby you can sell excess power to the supply authority at a favourable rate, IIRC it's called "My Solar Roof", read the contract very carefully before signing up.

 

Very Important :- Even if you intend net-metering you can't just hook up solar to your home, you need to get authority from MEA/PEA and use a registered installer

 

2 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Absolutely, most systems being installed are "grid-tie" meaning you have grid power (so no problem when it's dark). The solar offsets the grid supply, if you generate more than you are currently using the meter goes backwards (net metering).

 

There is also a scheme whereby you can sell excess power to the supply authority at a favourable rate, IIRC it's called "My Solar Roof", read the contract very carefully before signing up.

 

Very Important :- Even if you intend net-metering you can't just hook up solar to your home, you need to get authority from MEA/PEA and use a registered installer

 

Thanks Crossy and understood. I assume the registered installers will know that I need to get the permission etc.....?

2 minutes ago, Arjen said:

Yes, that is what I am doing. I designed my system as a "whole house UPS" when my batteries are full, so charging stops, I start to use my own generated electricity. Before the batteries are drained I go back to the grid, to save power in my batteries in case from a black-out.

When I am running from the grid, and I switch over to my own supply, the switching time is very short. You can see it on the lights. When I am running from the grid, and the grid fails my switching time is around 5 seconds.

 

I save a bit on my electricity bill, but the investment was huge. But it is nice to see the village is in dark, and we have still light....

 

To add a bit to what Crossy is saying. I do not supply my over production back to the grid. I store it in my batteries. It means when I use my own electricity I will be disconnected from the grid. 

 

But batteries and charger makes yiur system expansive.

 

When you have a inverter what is allowed by PEA/MEA, and the grid fails you are always in the dark, even when the sun shines...

 

Arjen.

Thanks, good info

18 hours ago, Crossy said:

There is also a scheme whereby you can sell excess power to the supply authority at a favourable rate, IIRC it's called "My Solar Roof", read the contract very carefully before signing up.

 

Several months ago, I met with a couple of co-workers (Thai offshore guys on their 28 off) and they told me that the deck at that time was stacked against anyone who wasn't from specific families, who were making a killing selling to the grid at 2-5x the grid price.  The next week, I saw a BP article that said the rules were changing.  Is there an update that's easy to link to?

 

The OP can simply walk into HomePro and ask questions at the display of the vendor for Solar Power. The OP can walk into any PEA office in Thailand and receive written answers regarding the regulations on Solar power and any current buy back program. If English is not understood at HomePro they can get a person on the telephone. If English is not understood at his local PEA office, they can get an English speaking PEA person on the telephone to translate so the local PEA staff can give him the papers in Thai regarding solar regulations and any current buy back program. 

On 2/28/2018 at 6:10 PM, Crossy said:

Do you intend going completely off-grid (no mains power at all) or do you have power and want to supplement?

 

16m² of solar will produce maybe 4kW in peak sun, possibly for up to 5 hours a day. So an average of 800W for 24 hours.

 

That would run an 8000 BTU aircon 24 hours and nothing else.

 

 

Thank you so much.

Maybe possible to also connect to neighbor electricity but at high rate.

 

8000 btu aircon for 24 hours ? But can I stock electricity in batteries to also have a computer, a TV and a fridge powered ?

 

Of 16m2 is definitively not enough solar panels ?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

22 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

 

Thank you so much.

Maybe possible to also connect to neighbor electricity but at high rate.

 

8000 btu aircon for 24 hours ? But can I stock electricity in batteries to also have a computer, a TV and a fridge powered ?

 

Of 16m2 is definitively not enough solar panels ?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

One way of checking your consumption is by taking the number of units and dividing that by the number of days in the month. That should give the average daily usage in Kwh.

 

IMHO 16m2 is not enough but probably double that would just about work.

 

Solar panels and batteries have a finite life of about 10 years and are still quite expensive, so you would need to get your money back in 5 or 6 years just to pay for replacements which may be a little cheaper in the next 10 years.

 

You don't mention where you live (or I missed it) but here is an interesting link that may help you.

 

http://premiersolar.co.th/

 

I have no connection with them but I found them on a Google search.

I have experimented with solar at my home in South Buriram. I have 3 x 300 watt panels connected to a battery via a controller. My swimming pool pump is feed from the battery via a 2000 watt inverter. The system works well and gave me something to do installing it.

 

Now my pool is powered by the sun my electricity bill has doped by 250 baht/month. If the system lasts 20 years It may cover the cost of installation, but I don't think so.

 

Electricity in Thailand is not very expensive, but solar panels, battery's and inverter's are expensive. Until something changes I think its best to forget about solar.

 

From my research it seems that Isaan averages 5.9kWh of sun power per square metre. Now you need to convert that to electricity through solar panels, which in at around 15.45% to a little over 18% efficiency, so you would get 0.91155kWh per m² per day to 1.062kWh per m² per day. Sixteen m² will give you from 14.5848 to 16.992kWh per day. Or 443.4621kWh to 516.84kWh per month. My homestead consists of 9 people and I average 390 to a high of 424kWh per month, but I have no AC, lots of fans though and two water pumps, one to pump the water to the water tower and one to boost the pressure to the second floor. I also have one Farang style double door fridge, and one smaller single door fridge. I also use a microwave daily and electric oven maybe twice a week, plus lots of fans. So at least theororaticaly 16m² should be able to supply enough electricity to power your house, maybe even with AC 8f you only run it four hours a day. In a practical sense, I have no idea.

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If you could effectively run air conditioning using solar panels on the roof, there would not be a roof without panels...