What time of year do you spend the most time at your cabin/cottage?
Where is your cabin located? Are you geographically limited for sunlight?(Hills? Trees? Adjacent buildings?) Where is south on your cabin?(can and how many panels can be mounted to your roof facing south?) Do you have a large enough property for a ground mount system if you are limited to a roof mount?
What is your average seasonal power consumption?(if the power consumption is as high or higher in the winter as it is in the summer then more solar panels are needed than otherwise)
What is your annual power consumption? What appliances/devices do you plan to run at your cabin? What are the power consumptions of each appliance/device? Will their usage depend on the season?
What is your battery budget? What is your maintenance tolerance, flooded or sealed battery?(flooded is cheaper but requires routinely checking the water levels and adding water, sealed are maintenance free)
What size of battery? What size of battery cables?
Do you plan to expand your solar array or battery bank in the future? If you plan to expand your solar array would you like to upsize your charge controller now to accommodate your future expansion?(recommended) If you plan to expand your battery bank it is recommended to do so within the first year of operating your bank, they must be the same batteries as your originals. Banks must only have strings of 4. (what length of battery cables are required?)
What are your daily power needs? This variable will decide the needed size of your inverter(12v,24v48v, x number of wattage)(what size of cable from battery to inverter?)
Do you have any 240v loads, or would you like to be able to have some?
Do you require any dc loads?(pumps, etc...)
What size ac output do you require?(size of ac output cable feed)
How far away is your ac service from your system?(length of ac output feed)
Do your have a space for your system(inverter, charge controller, disconnects, batteries)? How large is the space? Is it in the same structure as where you plan to mount your panels? If not, how far away would it be? Is the space insulated and ventilated? If not, can it be?
How far away from your solar system will your solar panel be?(length of solar wire)
Do you own a generator? What size generator?(output amps?) Do you need a inverter charger?(recommended) How far away is the generator from the system?(length and size of cable feed)
Is your cabin grounded?
Would you like a display screen? Would you like one in your cabin or just on the system? How far away would you like the display from your system?(size of data cable?) What information do you require from your system screens? Do you just want a voltage meter? Would you like bluetooth? Is there internet or cell service at your cabin? If not, some software updates and system configurations must be done prior to system shipping.
How accessible is your cabin?
Do you plan to do the entire install yourself? If not, what portion do you plan on installing?
When do you plan on starting the installation?
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