In July 2015, IES sold and shipped its first, Large DIY cottage kit outside of Ontario.

This Cabin Is located very remotely in Radium, BC, Canada. The Frequency of use at this cabin is moderate to heavy. This family of 4 takes extended visits at all times of the year, having to deal with heavy snow accumulation and extended weather events with limited sun exposure.

The owners are happy to report that the system has required very little maintenance and they have had ample power during each visit.

The owners use propane to cook, a wood stove for heating during the winter, Fans for cooling in the summer, and solar electricity for everything else. There is a small back up generator on site for extreme scenarios, which have been rare.

System Components:

• 18 x 280W poly crystalline solar panels
• Aluminum racking mounted on a customer designed and built wooden 6×6 structure. (provides ample room for snow accumulation at the bottom)
• 3 combining boxs with breakers for maintenance
• Outback FM80 MPPT charge controller
• Magnum 4400W 48V Charger/Inverter with integrated E-panel
• Display and monitoring screen.
• 16 x 550 amp hour 6V batteries divided in to 2 banks of 48V = 1100 amp hours @ 48V. Batteries by Rolls

This System Runs:

• All lighting in main cabin, guest cabin, Workshop/garage
• Well pump, septic pumps, domestic home water pumps
• TV, Stereo, Video Games, DVR, DVD (home entertainment system)
• Fans for cooling
• Fridge
• Some times an auxiliary, oil filled heated for a bedroom
• Charging station for computers and cell phones, etc…
• Charging cordless power tools
• Small kitchen appliances (hand mixers, toasters, etc…)

System over view 4 years after the installation:

The owners are happy with their system. They knew that they would be adding to the  over all energy loads by building guest cabins and the workshop/garage. They are happy that they oversized the panel array. there are times when they are at the cabin for extended periods of time during snow storms. Once the sun comes out all those panels really get to work by charging the batteries .

The owners also knew that they had to learn the limitations of the system. Carefully picking times to run certain pumps or machinery so as to not trip breakers or put too much strain on the system.  The owners are also very strict about energy usage and monitoring the depth of charge of the batteries. It is their goal to not go past 65% depth of discharge to ensure a long life of the batteries.

IES can help you design a custom solar project.

Call 905-562-1426 or send an email to sales@nulliesinc.ca