I use my OFF-Grid Solar electric power system full time at present. I have been using it for the past 7 months with positive results on generating electric energy to power my home and office. with the use of only 2x540w solar panels, I was able to reduce almost half of my electricity bill. After adding another 2 solar panels I was able to bring my 250units of electricity consumption to almost 50 units from main power.
I imported my Inverter from Ali express, as there were not enough knowledge on these system back in 2022. As I did not have a big budget, I went for a LOW-PV 3kW Inverter unit from MUST brand. This Inverter had the PV-input range up-to 2000watts. I started the system with only 2X540w solar panels. My system was able to generate around 800 watts of power during daytime with 2 panels. I used Lead Acid Batteries to provide battery backup to my system.
After 2 months of use of the solar power system, I added 2 more panels and was able to generate around 1800watts of power directly from sun light. With this solar panel upgrade I’m currently using AC (1200BTU), Fridge, TV Fans with my Computer totally from solar generated power. But the Issue was that the Lead Acid batteries could not provide a backup power when there was a cloud, covering the panels for about 1 – 2 minutes.
I invested in a LiFePo4 Battery system due to this reason and after this upgrade – I am running my full home and office setup totally on solar electric power. When purchasing a solar inverter – I strongly recommend you to get a WiFi-dongle / DATA-LOGGER as it will help you to record all power generation of your unit. Below is the record for my 2023 march electric power generation.
below is the Main electric Appliances we use at day time and their power consumption.
| Appliance (watts) | no of units | Total (w) |
| Computer (550watt) | 1 | 400w |
| AC (1200watt) | 1 | 1200w |
| Fridge (250watt) | 1 | 250w |
| TV (50watt) | 1 | 50w |
| Induction Cooker 1200 watt | 1 | 1200w |
| Rice Cooker 850 watt | 1 | 850w |
| Washing Machine 550 watt | 1 | 550w |
As you can see, If you switch on everything on the above list at once, my inverters electric output capacity of 3000 watts (3kW) will be exceeded. To Avoid this, we communicate before switching on heavy electric usage appliances. This way we are able to manage the electric power load on the inverter and keep it under 3000 watts at any given time. After this experience with the 3kW solar inverter system, I am more than happy with my system. My best advice is to invest in a 5kW Inverter, This will need a big capital as you will need a minimum 4 solar panels. But it will free you from trying to balance your Inverter electric load, and also expand with more panels in the future.
My Thoughts
The Limitations with using a 3kW inverter is, even with main electric power, you must balance the load under 3kW of electric power. If you want to use every electric appliance at once, then you must switch to the main electricity – by-passing the inverter. (this can be done using the CHANGE-OVER implemented in the system)
Maintenance
the only maintenance that must be done is clean the solar panels. The solar panels tend to collect dust over time, but this is cleaned automatically when it rains. I have found bird poop on the panels on a few occasions and washed them away. If you can’t reach the panels easily, this cleaning can be done every 6 months.
