Setting up an off grid system with no battery

[Diallodjeri]

Hello folks,
I would like to know if it's a good idea to set up an off-grid system with no battery, just panels, and inverter. The only load on the system will be a heavy duty commercial grade freezer. As long as I can harness enough energy during the day, I should be fine at night.

[Mike90250]

It's a great idea. But it does not work.

Batteries supply the steady power needed, from the fluctuating output of PV panels. Yes, during the course of a seemingly clear day, output varys a lot.

You can try a minimal battery bank, say 48V made from 4, 12V deep cycle/marine batteries, and set your inverter cutoff for 48.2v instead of the common 46V. This would allow the freezer to run in daylight hours. But what happens on a cloudy day ? Not enough sun to boost the batteries high enough to run the full cycles on the freezer ?

[littleharbor]

What inverter type are you contemplating using? Off grid inverters require a battery. Legal grid tie inverters or small, plug and play (illegal) inverters require a grid to function. If you have grid power available don't waste tor money. If you don't have grid power available you would need to set up a properly designed battery based system or expect unpleasant results.

[SunEagle]

Hello folks,
I would like to know if it's a good idea to set up an off-grid system with no battery, just panels, and inverter. The only load on the system will be a heavy duty commercial grade freezer. As long as I can harness enough energy during the day, I should be fine at night.

Unfortunately running any AC load directly from a solar panel through an inverter will not work well and can hurt that AC load. You still need a battery in between.

[PNPmacnab]

I'm off grid and about as close to that as you can get. Running almost 3KW into a car battery for stability. Wife even has a dishwasher. My chest fridge only runs daylight hours and stored cold at night. You don't need much od a battery, but some pretty smart electronics. You can't do it with just a temperature switch and timer. Protecting battery is first priority.

[Diallodjeri]

Thanks for the education.