1-Panel Cottage Kit (350W)

350 Watt in solar PV, 1.6kW pure sine-wave inverter/charger.
Produces 0.9 kWh/day in summer, 0.5 kWh/day in winter.

The kit includes:

1x WorldWide WWL31, 12V deep cycle Lithium-ion battery, 100 Ah, 2500+ cycles, group 31, 3 years warranty
1x Blue Sea 5191, MRBF fuse holder for battery terminal mounting, 58V DC, 30 – 300 Amp
1x Blue Sea 5187, 200 Amp MRBF fuse, 58V DC
1x Longi LR4-60HPB-350M, 350 Watt, 60-cell (120 split-cell) mono PV module, black-on-black
1x set of MC4 Extension wires for PV module, 15′ PV-Wire
1x Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/20-48, 20 Amp MPPT charge controller, 12/24/48 VDC out, 100 VDC max. in, SCC110020160
1x Victron Battery Switch 275 A, on/off switch for batteries, 275 Amp continuous, 1200 Amp peak, 48 Volt, VBS127010010
1x Victron MultiPlus 2000VA 12/2000/80, 1600 Watt pure-sine inverter with charger, 12 VDC in, 120 VAC 60Hz out, 80A charger, UL-listed, PMP122200102
2x Battery interconnect 2 AWG, 10″, flexible wire with 3/8″ lugs
1x Inverter cables 2 AWG, 7 ft (pair), flexible wire, red/black with 3/8″ lugs
1x Victron SmartShunt 500A/50mV, Bluetooth battery monitor, SHU050150050

All the parts needed to make a simple, yet robust off-grid power system. We supply high-quality parts that should last a long, long time. These may be small systems, but they are real off-grid systems meant for real use (in short, these are not toys). This cottage kit is not code-compliant. We can also provide a code-compliant off-grid system, designed to your needs, though those are far more expensive.

Our 1-panel Cottage Kit includes a lithium-ion battery. This should give you many years of service, but note that the type included does not have a build-in heater. That means it will refuse to charge if the battery temperature falls below zero Centigrade (discharge is no problem). If you need the system to charge below freezing, we also have heated lithium-ion batteries available.

Our kits include pure-sine inverters. These produce a clean sine wave that runs all AC equipment (unlike the much-cheaper modified sine wave inverters). The inverters can provide much more power for a short duration, so starting motors (i.e. well pump) and compressors (i.e. fridge) is no problem. The included inverter has a build-in charger as well, to charge your battery(s) from a generator. Please note that the inverter is capable of delivering 1,600 Watt continuous, however, the single lithium battery can only provide 100 Amp continuous (more for short duration/surges), which works out to about 1,200 Watt. This means the battery will limit the output power, even though the inverter could do more. It would require an additional (parallel) battery to be able to do the full 1,600 Watt continuous.

We sell the cottage kits with 1 through 4 panels. The solar panels are the same as used for large grid-tie systems on rooftops; they are very durable (25-year warranty!) and they offer great value for money. The included MPPT controller makes the most of every light situation; even when it is overcast there is usually still lots of Amps coming into the batteries!

Wiring Diagram

Please see the PDF below for the Cottage Kit wiring diagram. The large fuse is directly bolted to the positive side of the battery bank, and it is there as a measure-of-last-resort, to prevent the wiring from melting in case of a short circuit. All the other wires (charge controller, inverter, etc.) connect to the other side of that fuse, so those wires are protected to some extend in case of a short. Please make sure to wire the SmartShunt correctly; the side named “To Battery” should connect to the negative battery terminal, and this should be the ONLY connection on that side of the shunt. The inverter is capable of battery charging as well, by connecting a generator to the appropriate (AC) input. Please set correct charge Voltages/settings for the battery (this may require either a Victron VE.Bus Smart Dongle or Victron MK3-USB).

1-Panel Cottage Kit

System Sizing

What size system you need will depend on your expected daily energy use, and if this also needs to provide energy in winter. To find out how much energy you need, multiply each load in the cottage by the time it is expected to be used on an average day: A 15 Watt light bulb that is switched on for 3 hours uses 3 x 15 = 45 Watt-hours of energy (that’s 0.045 kWh, a kilo-Watt-hour is simply 1000 Watt-hours). Add up all your expected energy use, and then look at our sizing table. We can help you with this.

In our southern Ontario climate the sun produces just about 2.7 kWh per average day for every 1000 Watt of solar panels, from late spring through early fall (that is just about 4 panels). In winter this will produce just about half, or 1.35 kWh per average day. This is for panels that are mounted facing south, at a 45-degree pitch angle. That angle is great if you are going to use one angle for summer and winter, if you want to optimize for one or the other, 30-degrees is optimal for summer, and 60-degrees is great for winter. The latter sheds show very well (panels produce zero, even with a dusting of snow on them, so it is essential to keep them snow-free in winter).

The inverter size is determined by all the equipment that you expect to have switched on at the same time (plus anything that switches on at unpredictable times, such as a fridge).

The cottage kits are sized for the most common energy needs found at small cottages. We can also design a system specifically for your off-grid home or cottage, just contact us.