Solar Panel Sizing: Calculate Your Power Needs Right
Learn to calculate your daily energy needs and choose the right solar panel wattage. Avoid costly over-buying or under-sizing mistakes.
System Sizing
Phase-Driven Solar: How to Grow a Starter Kit into a Full Home Backup in Manageable Steps
Introduction – What Phase-Driven Solar Means for a Starter Kit Phase-driven solar is a practical pathway to transform a simple solar starter kit into a full home backup without guessing the end goal. You plan, test, and scale in six deliberate steps, prioritizing essential loads during outages while keeping costs and risk in check. This … Read more
Your Personal Solar Load Map
A 7-Day Guided Inventory to Size Your First Battery Embarking on your first off-grid battery install? This week-long process will guide you from a simple energy audit to a starter battery size you can trust. You’ll log real usage, build a load curve, and translate that into a practical battery size using a downloadable template … Read more
60-Minute Solar Lab
A Quick Hands-On Session to Size and Wire a Tiny Backup In this time-boxed lab, you’ll size a compact backup system for a small off-grid setup, wire the essentials, and perform basic safety checks — all in under 60 minutes. It’s a practical, hands-on exercise for DIY solar enthusiasts who want a fast, repeatable process … Read more
12-Month Upgrade Plan
Grow a Starter Solar System into a True Backup Power Network Turning a small solar plus battery setup into a reliable backup network is a practical, budget-minded project for DIYers. This month-by-month plan walks you through deliberate upgrades—adding capacity, improving control, and validating reliability—so you can weather outages with confidence. Month 1 — Establish the … Read more
Critical-Loads First: A Printable Worksheet for Tiny Backup Sizing
Anyone starting with solar and battery power wants a simple path to reliable backups. This printable backup sizing worksheet focuses on critical loads first, helping you map what matters most and size your system with real numbers, not guesswork. Why start with critical loads In any backup plan, focus first on devices you rely on … Read more
RV Solar 101: Size Your System in One Afternoon
Designing a DIY RV or van solar system doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In one afternoon, you can estimate your daily energy use, convert it to watt-hours, and right-size your solar panels, battery bank, charge controller, and inverter. This guide compares MPPT vs PWM controllers, 12V vs 24V battery systems, and includes simple wiring diagrams, … Read more