Taking a fridge off the grid- Solar Setup

[reco]

Greetings Amigo,
So I wud like to remove at lease one major appliance off the grid (e.g average side by side refrigerator 110v 60hz). I am a complete novice and willing to learn. Please guide me on the setup necessary to do this. I effect i'm thinking that the battery bank will charge at night and provide electricty for the fridge during the day.
Thanks in advance.

[Sunking]

I effect i'm thinking that the battery bank will charge at night and provide electricty for the fridge during the day.

You got that backwards amigo. The battery gets charged during the day while the sun is up and shinning. Solar panels do not work at night. Batteries then supply power at night and during cloudy spells.

Why on earth do you want to take the fridge off commercial power? If it is to save money you are dead wrong as it will cost you at least 10 times more than buying power from the power company.

[Wy_White_Wolf]

Greetings Amigo,
So I wud like to remove at lease one major appliance off the grid (e.g average side by side refrigerator 110v 60hz). I am a complete novice and willing to learn. Please guide me on the setup necessary to do this. I effect i'm thinking that the battery bank will charge at night and provide electricty for the fridge during the day.
Thanks in advance.

Like SK warned it will cost more to run this off-grid then what grid power costs.

If you still want to do this first step is to determine how many WattHours (WH) per day the frig uses. Get a Kill-A-Watt meter and put it on the frig fro a week or 2 under normal usage and average that out to a per day usage.

WWW

[billvon]

Greetings Amigo,
So I wud like to remove at lease one major appliance off the grid (e.g average side by side refrigerator 110v 60hz). I am a complete novice and willing to learn. Please guide me on the setup necessary to do this. I effect i'm thinking that the battery bank will charge at night and provide electricty for the fridge during the day.
Thanks in advance.

If you want to do to generate solar power, stay on the grid and use a grid tie inverter. You will generate the power the refrigerator uses during the day (when it needs more power) and then run off the grid at night.

[Sunking]

If you want to do to generate solar power, stay on the grid and use a grid tie inverter. You will generate the power the refrigerator uses during the day (when it needs more power) and then run off the grid at night.

That would be a big waste of money to save 10 or 20 cents per day.

[reco]

Fridge off the Grid

Here are the specs for a typical 'fridge 3.2A, 115Volts, 400Watts...Cost aside can you guys recommend a complete set of specs for a solar system
off the grid system?

[Naptown]

Not nearly enough information.
What's needed
Daily use in watt hours of typical use. (use a kill a watt for a few days and average it out.)
Location city name or zip code.

[reco]

More Fridge details

Not nearly enough information.
What's needed
Daily use in watt hours of typical use. (use a kill a watt for a few days and average it out.)
Location city name or zip code.

Unfortunately i have no Kill-a-Watt meter; location Jamaica.....Is there another way to determine the average daily use in watt hours?
i used this calculator to come up with some rough numbers.

http://www.mhi-inc.com/converter/watt_calculator.htm

I got 14.4 watts

[epsgunner]

Here are the specs for a typical 'fridge 3.2A, 115Volts, 400Watts...Cost aside can you guys recommend a complete set of specs for a solar system
off the grid system?

Well for 3.2A and 400 watts..

Figure 1200-1500 watts of 12V inverter to start it (surge).. then about 240-350 watts continuos to run it.. thats my guesstimate..

Looking at about 1KW / day to run it.. (seems to be the avg fridge from what I've read here and other websites)..

Figure 500 watts of panel minimum.. leaning toward 700 watts worth of panel.. figure 300-500 watts per hour from the array usable * about 5 hours of sun.. should be about 1500-1800 watts getting toward the 1KW setup.. overall thats it.. by the next day you got juice to get back and repeat..

The battery bank is going to be crucial.. figure 300-500 AH worth of battery bank..

If you got with straight 24V system from the gate this will be alot easier..

Others will be along to chime in and correct me I am sure..

[reco]

System Specs

Well for 3.2A and 400 watts..

Figure 1200-1500 watts of 12V inverter to start it (surge).. then about 240-350 watts continuos to run it.. thats my guesstimate..

Looking at about 1KW / day to run it.. (seems to be the avg fridge from what I've read here and other websites)..

Figure 500 watts of panel minimum.. leaning toward 700 watts worth of panel.. figure 300-500 watts per hour from the array usable * about 5 hours of sun.. should be about 1500-1800 watts getting toward the 1KW setup.. overall thats it.. by the next day you got juice to get back and repeat..

The battery bank is going to be crucial.. figure 300-500 AH worth of battery bank..

If you got with straight 24V system from the gate this will be alot easier..

Others will be along to chime in and correct me I am sure..

So with these specs in mind can y'all suggest some brands, details and specifics? i've heard of Magnum and Xantrex Inverters and controllers.. Any suggestions where details are concerned using those brands? Thanks.

[epsgunner]

So with these specs in mind can y'all suggest some brands, details and specifics? i've heard of Magnum and Xantrex Inverters and controllers.. Any suggestions where details are concerned using those brands? Thanks.

You'll want an MPPT charge controller to get every bit of watts from the panels..

I'd say maybe a Morningstar TS45 MPPT would be good upto the wattage you would need..

Try a Cotek/Samlex for the 1500w 110/120V AC inverter.. they make them in 12 and 24v flavors..

[kimo]

Some of the solar users recommend setting up a timer to kill power to your fridge at night. Any unused space in your fridge should be filled with water bottles. Your fridge will stay cold enough through the night. I plan on doing this once I go Solar.

[billvon]

Some of the solar users recommend setting up a timer to kill power to your fridge at night. Any unused space in your fridge should be filled with water bottles. Your fridge will stay cold enough through the night. I plan on doing this once I go Solar.

That only makes sense when your battery bank is so undersized that it can't support the refrigerator all night (when its demands are less.) A refrigerator actually takes more energy overall when you disconnect it for part of the day.