Let me tell you about the most expensive lesson I learned the hard way - one that could have cost me more than my life's savings, but my life and my home.
After years of arguing withe the electrical company about hiking power bills with no explaination, I finally decided to take control back by going off-grid. When I decided to go solar, I did what most people do: I hired a "certified electrician." This guy knew electricity inside and out. Licensed, bonded, insured and experienced - all the credentials I could have hoped for. But here's what I didn't know...
My electrician recommended a 12V system because "that's what the RVs he last installed for cousin Vinny used." Wrong move #1. Every time I plugged in a coffee maker or microwave, the whole system shut down. The batteries couldn't handle the load.
But that wasn't the worst part.
A year later, I walked into my solar battery room, just intime to see the batteries melting from overheating. Something was definitely burning. The lead-acid batteries he recommended were literally melting. Acid everywhere. Toxic fumes. One spark and my house could have gone up in flames.
The end results? I had to rip out the entire system and start over with a 48V setup and lithium batteries, and bigger inverter and charge controller to accomadate the bigger load. What should have cost $14,000 ended up costing me an additional $25,000.
That's why I created this guide. Not just to keep you safe, but to make sure you size your system right the first time. Because I've learned that safety and proper sizing go hand in hand.
What I did next was, convince my husband that we needed to become certified installer if we are going to go solar.So we got our asses together, got on a flight and went out to a certification school in Florida to become certified solar installers ourselves.
Thats when my love affair with solar became a passion!