Solar System Design: What to Know Before You Start

By Doug & Jennie Ostgaard
Published on December 11, 2014
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Having a grid-tied solar system design allows you to sell excess energy back to the utility company, banking that energy for overcast days when your system may not be able to keep up with the house load.
Having a grid-tied solar system design allows you to sell excess energy back to the utility company, banking that energy for overcast days when your system may not be able to keep up with the house load.
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Doug and Jennie Ostgaard designed and built their own solar power system, and in
Doug and Jennie Ostgaard designed and built their own solar power system, and in "DIY Photovoltaic Solar Power for Homeowners," they share the details of the design and build process as well as the wiring schematics and solar energy calculations they used for their DIY solar power system.

The sun’s energy is free and abundant, but planning a solar power system to utilize this energy can be a daunting task. DIY Photovoltaic Solar Power for Homeowners(CreateSpace, 2014), by Doug and Jennie Ostgaard, is a resource for any homeowner interested in custom solar system design. Plenty of photos and schematics illustrate the entire design and build process, along with the solar energy and electrical load calculations the Ostgaards used to determine the necessary scope of the project. The following excerpt is from chapter 3, “Designing for Solar Energy.”

Before beginning our DIY solar power system, an evaluation needed to be done to determine the amount of solar energy available at our site and our power requirements. We needed to calculate what size system would get us close to our target and be the most cost efficient with optimum payback period. There were many design requirements and options in PV systems that needed to be evaluated. For example, should we use wood or steel frames? We found it is best to layout questions and variables first. After that, we could proceed in a logical path forward to capture the best system for the lowest price and fastest payback.

Solar System Design Requirements:

Listed below are the basic design requirements we used for our system. While we will explain our requirements, we also include comments to you the reader — to help with your own requirements. We believe these requirements are best for a robust survivable system. With these requirements, even when the power grid goes down, the system will be up and running.

1: Reliable and renewable energy.

Renewable free energy was the key driver for us. The alternative was to use carbon fuel reserves whose price will skyrocket as dwindling supplies are exhausted. Using renewable resources also allows us to do our part to take care of the earth (Genesis 2:15).

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