this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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Help designing a large solar system (monero.town)
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by maltfield@monero.town to c/solardiy@lemmy.world
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How do I design a large solar system that spans many buildings across a few km?

If I search the internet for guides on how to design a photovoltaic solar system, the results are saturated with how to build a small setup (eg for a car or caravan) or a "large" setup (eg just for 1 building).

But how do I get information on how to build an off-grid system that spans many buildings? What keywords can I even search-for that describe this type system to find such resources?

The general specifications are:

  1. A community of ~300 people,
  2. Spanning ~10 buildings,
  3. Each building is located 10-100 meters apart, and
  4. Each building's roof has up-to 20 kW of PV panels

The main questions that I'd like clarified revolve around how to tie the systems together. Should the batteries be stored in one building or distributed? Where should DC be converted to AC? If I end-up with >100 kW and want to power heavy machinery, how many volts should the system be? What are the trade-offs in all of these decisions?

Most importantly: what do you "call" these systems, and how can I find documentation and guides on how to build PV solar grids that span multiple buildings across a medium-sized community of tens of hectares.

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[–] sxan@midwest.social 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I know everybody in this community knows what you mean, but I just want to say, coming across your post in unfiltered "world" mode, the phrase "design a large solar system" totally threw my brain out of gear.

Are they talking about a sci-fi role-playing game? Is this some astronomy jargon? What the heck am I reading?

[–] maltfield@monero.town 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Well, the title was mostly a take from this post:

But I guess I should have said a "PV system"? Or do you have a better name?

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 5 months ago

Oh, no! I wasn't suggesting anyone change their terminology. I just thought the cognitive dissonance was funny. Confused the heck out of me for several seconds.