So, you want to build the best of the best, right? Are you searching the world wide web to find the best home solar installation for under $2,000? Is it even possible? Hell yeah, it is! You don´t have to look any further, you have just found the ultimate build for that budget.
The $2,000 budget is the lowest one we got on this site and also the one we can refer to as “the basic one”
This means that the solar components used are of the lowest price possible (to the best quality possible) and the appliances are used minimally on daily basis. People living there would very keen to switch off the appliances when they are not in use and use very low power consuming electrical appliances. Such as small television set.
In our case, we have made a budget for a household with the following electrical appliances using the steps outlined earlier to size for the components and thereafter we source them from amazon.
1) Television set
2) Computer/laptop
3) PlayStation
4) Tv set box
5) Radio system
6) Microwave
7) Refrigerator
8) Toaster
9) Electric jug
10) 10 lighting bulb
How To Build Your Own Solar System
Building your own powerful off grid system puts you in full control of your own energy and it doesn´t only release you from the power bills every month track, but it is also cheaper than letting a solar company do the installation for you.
Truth to be told is that if you want that kind of power in your $2,000 budget to build you are going to have to build and install your solar system yourself.
Now if you have never built a solar system before and you feel a little overwhelmed about the whole idea don´t stress out, simply go to our step-by-step guide and follow along with the steps laid out there.
Click here to open up our step-by-step guide
Optimal Hardware On A $2,000 Budget
I found the following components and their prices on amazon for our system at the basic budget. The prices are directly from amazon and the names of the components are as it is in amazon.com.
Panels – HQST 100 Watt 12 Volt Polycrystalline
Inverter – Whistler 3000 Watt Power Inverter XP3000i
Solar Charge Controller – Y-SOLAR 60A/80A Solar Charge Controller 960W/1920W 12V/24V
Solar Battery – NPP 12V 200 Amp NPL12 200Ah Rechargeable Sealed Lead Acid Deep Cycle Battery
Final Price: $2,094,98
At only $2200 you will have solar energy system up and running at a basic level of appliances usage. We increased it to $2200 from 2,094.98 due to some cable and connector purchases.
Details
Basic budget ($2200)
The following are the appliances with the minimum hours of use in a basic budget.
- Total watts = 2255 watts
- Total watt-hours =3115 watt-hour
Remember:
- Generation factor=2.98
- Battery losses=0.85
- Battery depth of discharge=0.6
- Solar charge controller losses=1.3
- Inverter watts allowance=30%
Sizing for components:
Solar panel
3115watt-hour/2.98= 1046watts
1046watts/200watts=5.23=5,200watts solar panels
Inverter
(0.30×2255)+2255watts=2931.5=3000watts inverter
Battery bank
3115watt-hours/0.85/0.6=6107.9 watt-hours
6107.9watt-hour/12 volts= 508.99AH
508.99AH/200AH=2.5=2,200AH batteries
Solar charge controller
5.92A x1.3 x10=76.96A=80A charge controller
Nr of components needed
- Nr of components: (A)
- Price each: (B)
- Price total: (C)
HQST 100 Watt 12 Volt Polycrystalline solar panel
A: 5 (total: 10 panels)
B: $224.99
C: $1124.95
Whistler 3000 Watt Power Inverter XP3000i
A: 1
B: $222.05
C: $222.05
NPP 12V 200 Amp NPL12 200Ah Rechargeable Sealed Lead Acid Deep Cycle Battery
A: 2
B: $341.99
C: $683.98
Y-SOLAR 60A/80A Solar Charge Controller 960W/1920W 12V/24V
A: 1
B: $64.00
C: $64.00
Total price:
$2094.98
Conclusion
That is all you need if you´re looking to build your own solar system under $2,000 that is going to last for years and years down the road. If you want to build out your system further in the future you can do that in the same way simply by adding more panels and batteries.
So what do you think?
Let me know in the comment section below! 🙂
If you have any questions about this build or any question at all related to this site I will be more than happy to answer them below!
P.S. If you are interested in learning about a new way how you can invest in solar energy with an expexted return around 10%-20% per year then you might want to read this page
