Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739

Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESIGN OVERVIEW __________________________________________________ 2

STEP 1 - YOUR LOAD _________________________________________________ 3

STEP 2 - YOUR RESOURCE ____________________________________________ 4

STEP 3 - YOUR OBJECTIVES __________________________________________ 5

STEP 4 - YOUR SYSTEM _______________________________________________ 6

SOLAR ARRAY SIZING WORKSHEET ________________________________________________ 6
TYPICAL INVERTER SIZES: _____________________________________________________________ 7
WIND POWER SIZING WORKSHEET _________________________________________________ 8
AIR 403 POWER AND ENERGY CURVES: __________________________________________________ 9
WHISPER H40 AND H80 POWER AND ENERGY CURVES: ____________________________________ 10
WHISPER 175 RATED AT 3000 WATTS: _________________________________________________ 10
SOLARDYNE HOME POWER SYSTEMS _______________________________ 10
GRID-TIE _________________________________________________________________________ 11
STAND-ALONE_____________________________________________________________________ 12

Website: www.solardyne.com Email: info@solardyne.com ” 2001 Solardyne Corp., all rights reserved.
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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 2

Design Overview

Welcome to the world of being your own energy provider. The sun and wind are ample
resources of energy, and the following design guide will assist in some of the decision
making so critical to a successful renewable energy system.

STEP 1 – YOUR LOAD

The first step in designing your solar and/or wind home power system is to first
determine how much power and energy you need. (Energy conservation appliances will
lower your system requirements and cost).

You need to determine how much power you need at any one time (by adding up all of
the appliances that will be running at the same time), and how much energy (power over
time) you use per day, or per month in Kilowatt-hours. (hint: your electric bill should
have this information, Kwh’s/month) Once you have your power and energy
requirements, you can begin the process of configuring a system.

STEP 2 – YOUR RESOURCE

The next step is to assess how much renewable energy is available at your location. To
do this, look at the solar and wind resource maps from the DOE to gain a basic
assessment of what is available. Keep in mind, every location has some “microclimate”,
or unique circumstances that may aid, or hinder, your system’s performance.

STEP 3 – YOUR OBJECTIVES

Now that you know your requirements in terms of power and energy (step 1), and we
know how much solar and wind energy you have available at your location (step 2), we
can determine your objectives and the best system to meet those goals. Renewable
energy systems are modular, so you can always upgrade and expand your system.
Over-sizing your inverter (the AC interface you have with your home power system) to
accommodate your anticipated growth should also be considered. Some other
questions to consider are: Do you want your solar/wind home power system to be
connected to the grid? Do you want to be independent with battery storage? If so, how
many days of storage in between charges would you like? Do you want a solar, wind, or
a combination of both to power your home power system? When you answer these
questions on the worksheet then you are ready to configure your system.

STEP 4 – YOUR SYSTEM

Now we have everything we need to configure the most cost-effective equipment for
your solar/wind home power system. Fill in the accompanying worksheet to work out the
specifics of your Renewable Home Power System.

Your essential information will start with how many kilowatt-hours per month you need.
This is what your target is from your renewable energy home power system. Please visit
our systems on page 12 and see which system best meets your needs.

Website: www.solardyne.com Email: info@solardyne.com ” 2001 Solardyne Corp., all rights reserved.
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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 3

STEP 1 - YOUR LOAD

A quick method to determine your load is to look at your electric bill and look for Kilowatt-
hours per month (kWh’s per month is your energy load).

With your kWh’s per month, divide by 30.41 (days) to get your kWh’s per day. Enter this
below in section 1. If you wish to calculate your load by hand, you can enter your
appliances individually below.

Section 1. Calculate your AC loads.

Use this work sheet to determine the total amp-hours per day used by all the AC and DC
loads you wish to power. The figures below are examples of typical values.

1. List all AC loads, wattage and hours of use per day in the spaces below. Multiply
watts by Hours/Day to get Watt-Hours per day (WH/day.) Add up all of the watt-
hours per day for each appliance to determine your load in terms of total watt-hours
per day.

AC Appliance: Hours of Daily Usage X Appliance Watts = Daily Watt-Hours used

Microwave 0.5 x 600 = 300
Lights (x4) 6 x 40 = 240
Hair Dryer 0.75 x 750 = 563
Television 4 x 100 = 400
Washing Mach. 1 x 375 = 375
x =
x =
x =
x =
Add lines 1-5: Total WH/Day = 1,878

2. Multiply your watt-hours/day (WH/Day) by 1.2 to correct for inverter

losses: ____2,253_

3. Please enter the number of days of autonomy you’d like from your battery
(autonomy is the length of time in between charges, typically 1-5 days)
______3___

4. Please enter in your system DC voltage, (12 VDC for small systems
under 1 kilowatt, 24 VDC for medium systems 1kw-2.5kw, or 48 volts for
larger systems)
______24__

5. Divide total watt-hours/day (step 2) by the DC system voltage (step 4) to

yield the Total Amp-hours per day used by AC loads
______94__

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 4

6. Calculate DC loads (if any), As above please list wattage, hours of use
per day, and the product of those two which gives Watt-hours per day
used.

DC Appliance: Hours of Daily Appiance Watts Daily Watt-Hours

Usage X = used
Lights (x4) 3 x 32 = 96
x =
x =
x =
x =
x =
x =
x =
x =
Add lines 1-5: Total WH/Day = 96

7. Add up all of the DC Watt-hours from step 6 and divide by the system DC
voltage (step 4) to get total Amp-hours per day for DC loads:
_____4____

8. Add up total Amp-hours of energy used by both AC (step 5) and DC loads

(step 7) to get the total Amp-hours per day:
_____98___

STEP 2 - YOUR RESOURCE

The next step is to determine how much solar and/or wind energy you have at your
location. Please use the following maps.

UNITED STATES SOLAR AVERAGES

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 5

Please enter your wind power class level_______ (left column).

STEP 3 - YOUR OBJECTIVES

What kind of system are you looking for?

STAND-ALONE GRID-TIE
Solar Solar
Wind Wind
Solar/Wind Solar/Wind
Batteries (yes with wind,
optional with solar)

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 6

STEP 4 - YOUR SYSTEM

SOLAR ARRAY SIZING WORKSHEET

Use this worksheet to figure the total number of solar modules required for your system.
To find the average sun hours per day in your area (line 3), check local weather data or
look at the map on page 3. If you want year-round autonomy, use the lowest of the two
figures. If you only want 100% autonomy in Summer, use the higher figure. The peak
amperage of the module you will be using can be found in the module specifications.
You can also get close enough if you divide the modules Wattage by the peak power
point Voltage (usually 17-18.5 VDC).

1. Total average Amp-Hours per day of your load. (Step 8) ____98__

2. Multiply line 1 by 1.2 to compensate for battery charge/discharge ____117_

3. Average Sun Hours per day in your area (see map above) ____6___

4. Divide line 2 by line 3. This is the total solar array amps required ___19.5_

5. Optimum or peak Amps of solar module used (see module specs) ____5.71_
(Siemens SR100 rated at 100 watts 17.5 VDC, 5.71 Amps

6. Divide line 4 by line 5 to get total number of modules in parallel ____3.41_

7. Round off to the next highest whole number. ____4___

8. Number of modules in each series string to provide DC battery voltage

(For 12 Volt DC system-1, for 24 VDC-2, for 48 VDC-4.) ____2___

9. Multiply line 7 by line 8 to get total number of modules required ____8___

If you require a battery bank, please complete the following section.

10. Enter your daily Amp-hour requirement (Step 8): ___98___

11. Multiply daily Amp-hours, above, by the number of days autonomy you’ve
Selected (Step 2) ___294__

12. Enter the Depth-of-Discharge for the battery you have chosen. This provides a
safety factor so that you can avoid over-draining your battery bank (Example: if
discharge limit is 20% use 0.2). This number should not exceed 0.8:
___0.5___

13. Divide the Daily Amp-hours (line 11) by the Depth-of-Discharge (line12):
___588__

14. Select the multiplier below that corresponds to the average wintertime
ambient temperature your battery bank will experience: ___1.19__

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 7

Ambient Temperature Multiplier:

80F 26.7C 1.00
70F 21.2C 1.04
60F 15.6C 1.11
50F 10.0C 1.19
40F 4.4C 1.30
30F -1.1C 1.40
20F -6.7C 1.59

15. Multiply the Daily Amp-hours (line 13) by line 14. This calculation ensures that
your battery bank will have enough capacity to overcome cold weather effects. This
number represents the total battery capacity you will need:
____699__

16. Enter the Amp-hour rating of the battery your considering: ____400__

Examples: Concord 12 VDC 275 Amp-hours

AGM 6 VDC 400 Amp-hours
ROLLS 6 VDC 375 Amp-hours
Trojan L-16 6 VDC 350 Amp-hours

17. Divide the total battery capacity (line15) by the battery capacity (line 16), and
round off to the next highest number. This is the number of batteries in parallel required:
____2____

18. Divide the nominal DC system voltage (12, 24 or 48) by the battery voltage and
round off to the next highest number. This is the number of batteries wired in series:
(In this example 24/6): ____4____

19. Now multiply line 17 times line 18 to reach the total number of batteries required:
____8____

20: Correctly size the inverter you’ll need by adding up all of the appliances that will
run at the same time, (Step 1.) and multiply by 1.25, and round up to the next inverter
size: (1,878 x 1.25 = 2,345): ___2500__

Typical Inverter sizes:

500 watts
1500 watts
2500 watts
4000 watts
5500 watts
8000 watts
11,000 watts

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 8

System Summary:
Example:
Daily Watt-hours needed: _______ (step 2) 1,878 Whrs
Safe Battery Size in (Ah) needed: _______ (line 15) 699 Ahrs
Properly sized inverter: _______ (line 20) 2500 Watts
Total number of PV Modules needed: _______ (line 9) 8 SR-100’s
Total number of Batteries needed: _______ (line 19) 8 AGM-400’s

Now you have the essential information to properly size your Solar Home Power
System.

WIND POWER SIZING WORKSHEET

To determine how much wind power you have at your location, please refer to
the wind map. Wind power is divided into 7 zones. Each zone represents a
span of wind speeds (see below).

Wind 33 foot altitude 77 foot altitude

Power Wind Power Speed (b) Wind Power Speed (b)
Class Density (W/m2) m/s (mph) Density (W/m2) m/s (mph)
0 0 0 0
1 100 4.4 (9.8) 200 5.6 (12.5)
2 150 5.1 (11.5) 300 6.4 (14.3)
3 200 5.6 (12.5) 400 7.0 (15.7)
4 250 6.0 (13.4) 500 7.5 (16.8)
5 300 6.4 (14.3) 600 8.0 (17.9)
6 400 7.0 (15.7) 800 8.8 (19.7)
7 1000 9.4 (21.1) 2000 11.9 (26.6)

Refer to your wind power class level to determine your average wind speed.

In the case of solar modules, the rating is independent of the type of panel you
use, as the industry convention rates panels at Standard Test Conditions, (i.e.
1000 watts/m2 at 77 degrees F, and through an Air Mass of 1.5).

In the case of wind generators it’s not so simple. Wind generators are usually
rated at a 27 mph wind speed. Each wind generator type has different
performance at different wind speeds. To gauge how much power and energy
(power over time) that a given wind generator can produce, please reference the
graphs below.

Turbine Rating
Air 403 400 watts
Whisper H40 900 watts
Whisper H80 1000 watts
Whisper 175 3000 watts

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 9

To determine the best wind generator for your load we need to calculate your
monthly demand for energy in Kwh’s per month.

Enter your total watt-hours per day of your load. (Step 1): ___1,878

Multiply this number by 1.2 to compensate for battery charge/discharge:

___2,258

Divide this number by 1000 to determine total Kwh’s per day required to charge
your system: ___2.258

Multiply this number by 30.41, (average number of days in a month): ___68.66

This is the number of Kwh’s per month your wind generator (and/or Solar PV
system) must produce to fully power your system as described above.
___68.66

To size a specific wind generator, based on your average wind speeds look up
your corresponding energy production. If it’s over 68.66 Kwh’s/month then you
can use a wind generator to power your home power system under this example.

The following charts allow you to predict the amount of energy (kWh/month) that
you can expect your wind generator to produce each month on average. Each
wind generator behaves differently under different wind speeds. The larger the
blade diameter, for example, the more effective in low wind speeds. Most wind
generators have the same cut-in speed, the minimum wind speed required to
start the blades turning, of 7.5 mph. Most wind-generators are rated at a wind-
speed of 27 mph.

AIR 403 Power and Energy Curves:

The AIR 403 is an excellent wind generator (world’s best selling), and is very
rugged in the field.

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 10

WHISPER H40 and H80 Power and Energy Curves:

WHISPER 175 rated at 3000 Watts:

There are several things you can do to increase the production of your wind
generator. First, the higher your tower the more wind speed is generally
available. The power of a wind generator increases by the cube of the wind
velocity. Therefore, doubling wind speed delivers an 8-fold increase in power.
Another factor which helps is to locate your turbine as high as possible relative to
the surrounding land, also, as clear from any obstructions like trees, or buildings.

Wind generators have improved greatly over the last 20 years as more
experience in the field has lead to a more robust manufacture. The most
important maintenance you can do is a periodic visual inspection of your wind
generator. Are there any chips or damage to the blades? Blades must be
balanced or wear will develop on the generator. Many wind generators have
sealed bearings on the Yaw top-of-pole mount, but periodic inspection is also
recommended. At least 1 acre of land should be considered for larger
installations. Tower kits are of the hinged, and guy-wire types. Tower kits can
be stand alone, or roof/or side mounted.

Solardyne Home Power Systems

For your convenience, we have configured the most common renewable energy
systems available. The following systems are designed to meet all NEC
requirements, and are reliable and easy to install. Depending on your location,

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 11

these systems will qualify you for state and federal rebates and tax credits, as
well as net-metering through your local utility. Each system below will provide all
of the components, less wiring, that you will need to produce renewable energy.
*Systems are based on 6 sun hours/day and 12mph wind speeds.

Grid-Tie Small Medium Large

Solar Output: 152 kWh’s/mo Output: 304 kWh’s/mo Output: 370 kWh’s/mo

Mounts: MSX 120 panels 8 MSX 120 panels 16 MSX 120 panels 20
Ground Suntie 1.0 kVA Inverter Suntie 2.0 kVA Inverter Suntie 2.5 kVA Inverter
Input: 42-85VDC, Input: 42-85VDC Input: 42-85VDC
Roof
Output: 240V 60Hz 1 Output: 240V 60Hz 1 Output: 240V 60Hz 1

Wind Ouput: 100 kWh’s/mo Output: 193 kWh’s/mo Output: 538 kWh’s/mo

Whisper H40 turbine 24V Whisper H80 turbine 24V Whisper 175 turbine 48V
30’ Tower Kit 1 30’ Tower Kit 1 47’ Tower Kit 1
Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 16
PS2524 Inverter 1 DR2424 Inverter 1 SW4048 Inverter 1
DC175 Disconnect 1 DC 175 Disconnect 1 DC 250 Disconnect 1

Solar/ Output: 176 kWh’s/mo Output: 269 kWh’s/mo Output: 614 kWh’s/mo
Wind
Whisper H40 24V Whisper H80 24V Whisper 175 48V
Mounts: MSX 120 panels 4 MSX 120 panels 4 MSX 120 4
Ground 30’ Tower Kit 1 30’ Tower Kit 1 47’ Tower Kit 1
Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 16
Roof
DR2424 Inverter 1 DR2424 Inverter 1 SW4048 Inverter 1
DC175 Disconnect 1 DC 175 Disconnect 1 DC 250 Disconnect 1

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Solardyne“ Corporation Renewable Home Power Design Guide Call 503-830-8739 12

Stand Small Medium Large

Alone
Solar Output: 76 kWh’s/mo Output: 152 kWh’s/mo Output: 304 kWh’s/mo

MSX 120 panels 4 MSX 120 panels 8 MSX 120 panels 16

Surrette Batteries
DR1512 Inverter
Input: 12VDC,
Output: 120V 60Hz
DC 175 Disconnect
4 Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 16
1 DR2424 Inverter SW4048 Inverter
Input: 24VDC Input: 48-85VDC
1 Output: 120V 60Hz 1 Output: 120V 60Hz 1
1 DC 175 Disconnect 1 DC 250 Disconnect 1

Wind Ouput: 60 kWh’s/mo Output: 193 kWh’s/mo Output: 538 kWh’s/mo

AIR 403L turbine 24V Whisper H80 turbine 24V Whisper 175 turbine 48V
27’ Tower Kit 1 30’ Tower Kit 1 47’ Tower Kit 1
Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 16
DR2424 Inverter 1 DR2424 Inverter 1 SW4048 Inverter 1
DC175 Disconnect 1 DC 175 Disconnect 1 DC 250 Disconnect 1

Solar/ Output: 136 kWh’s/mo Output: 269 kWh’s/mo Output: 614 kWh’s/mo
Wind
AIR 403 24V Whisper H80 24V Whisper 175 48V
Mounts: MSX 120 panels 4 MSX 120 panels 4 MSX 120 4
Ground 30’ Tower Kit 1 30’ Tower Kit 1 47’ Tower Kit 1
Roof Surrette Batteries 8 Surrette Batteries 16 Surrette Batteries 16
C40 Charge Controller 1 C40 Charge Controller 1 SW4048 Inverter 1
DR2424 Inverter 1 DR2424 Inverter 1 C40 Charge Controller 1
DC175 Disconnect 1 DC 175 Disconnect 1 DC 250 Disconnect 1

Congratulations on being your own power provider! Please call our team at 503-
830-8739, or e-mail us at info@solardyne.com for prices and availability.

Website: www.solardyne.com Email: info@solardyne.com ” 2001 Solardyne Corp., all rights reserved.
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