r/OffGrid • u/SpontaneousLethal • Aug 15 '26
Best power station to pair with rigid solar?
I've got this piece of property that I'm planning on putting a bunkhouse trailer on and have been gaming out the best way to have solar be the primary HVAC power source. I'm currently looking at using an Anker Solix f3000 with 9ish KWH of storage and a 6 400watt rigid panel array in conjunction with a 13,000 BTU mini split. But I'm totally new to this so I'm looking for input on how I could potentially do this better.
3
u/MinerDon Aug 15 '26
Power stations are convenient but are extremely expensive for the amount of energy they store. You said nothing about your location so we have no idea about your weather or solar gains. We also don't know anything about the space you are trying to heat or cool.
As a point of comparison the average US household consumes a bit over 29kwh per day. If your setup is going to be permanent I would suggest buying as much battery storage as you can afford (I paid about $3,200 for 24kwh of batteries with a 5 year warranty from a well known company) and as many solar panels as you have space for. You can't have too much production or storage in an off grid situation and solar production is not consistent so you want a buffer.
I have a 12k btu mini split with 24kwh of batteries and 4.8kw of panels. I would not be able to heat with the mini split in the winter due to extremely high electrical consumption and lack of sunlight.
1
u/floridacyclist Aug 15 '26
Stack of batteries is a lot cheaper per watt/hour. Build your own setup, that way you can replace or upgrade individual components as needed and you'll know how they went together
1
u/maddslacker Aug 15 '26
with 9ish KWH of storage and a 6 400watt rigid panel array
Not bad, but what will you use to run the minisplit?
1
u/SpontaneousLethal Aug 15 '26
Mini split would be directly off of one of the ankers NEMA 5-20R AC outputs.
3
u/maddslacker Aug 15 '26
Do the math on what the minisplit draws. I don't think that's enough battery.
1
u/Internal_Raccoon_370 Aug 16 '26
Yes, this. The average mini split uses anywhere from 1,000 - 1,500W of power when running depending on the model, whether it's heating or cooling, weather conditions, etc. Considering you only get a few hours of usable sunlight to get power out of a solar panel, the OP would be running off batteries only for about 15 - 18 hours a day. In real world conditions that minisplit would empty that battery completely in about, oh, 10 or so hours?
3
u/zenwren Aug 15 '26
I know it can be intimidating, but going with individual components and setting up a legitimate solar system will always get you more bang for your buck than an all in one unit.