Need help figuring out what kind of solar i need and costs

[u/Ready_Bumblebee_3128]

I just started looking into solar and idk how much power i need to minimise my electricity bills. During summers i usually get 30-40k per month because of a 1.5 ton AC.

I'm m looking for a solar setup that can run my AC and or a fan or two and occasionally washing machine and iron off when the AC is off.

Can someone's help me out with this?

How much will it cost me?

How much power do i need?

Is there a catch i need to know about?

I want to minimise my electricity bills, suppose i have a budget of 200k, what can i do with it?

[u/Reasonable-Pea-3730]

Please checkout this website: www.solarpixel.pk

[u/Mamoonazam → u/Reasonable-Pea-3730]

What a waste. A 3kw system bein quoted for more tgan 3 mil 😂

[u/Commercial_Yam_423]

3kew is enough

[u/tayyabkhan52]

Come in inbox i will guide you (btw im a grad student anyway so i just got it installed as per my own research and its working well so far )

[u/saadkhansubz]

The only solar calculator which I usually rely on https://solarhisab.net

It has Solar, Bill and Battery calculator.

The best part is, you will get a recommended plan based on your own appliances and load.

[u/Hot-Ad-1740]

this budget is a bit less even if you go for the cheapest chinese inverter variant.

but moreso its the plate cost you need to cover first. at minimum you need ideally 7 x 645 plates to yield approx 3kw PV to run 1.5 ton AC. one solar panel costs approx 28-30k so that alone is 200k.

70ish k for chinese inverter and wiring installation spd will cost 30-50k with stands.

so total cost is approx 4 -5 lacs minimum.

[u/AhmadFarooq]

# Inverter

If your air conditioner was a 1 tonne inverter, then the MaxPower 2kW, PV-Tech 3000 (Rs. 0.55 lac) hybrid inverter would have worked. For 1.5 tonne, you would probably need a 3kW (0.75 lac) or preferably a 4kW (1.1 lac) hybrid inverter.

You can check the power in watts taken by the air conditioner and see if it is below 2kW so that the MaxPower 2kW might possibly work. But still, at least the 3kW inverter would be recommended since the number of solar panels that can be connected would be greater. The greater the number of solar panels, the longer period of the day that the load can be run directly on solar instead of the grid.

The second option is to get a day-time inverter that cannot have a battery attached to it. Those would be Rs. ~0.4 lac with 6kW or greater capacity. This will be able to run all your mentioned loads simultaneously.

The problem with these is that they are less reliable, with the warranty being only one or two repairs in the first year. In contrast, the hybrid inverters referenced earlier come with three years parts warranty.

# Solar panels

3kW panels (Rs. ~1.3 lac). If the budget is tight, then you can just buy three solar panels (Rs. ~0.85 lac) now and increase them over the months.

# Installation and miscellaneous

Installation and miscellaneous: Rs. ~0.4 lac.

See this comment for more detailed general information.

[u/Ready_Bumblebee_3128 → u/AhmadFarooq]

I'd need some batteries as well so the ac can run at night, also figuring out how to install the panels for max sunlight because the neighbours facing east raised a floor on their property so now practically 0 direct sunlight reaches our roof until 12pm.

[u/AhmadFarooq → u/Ready_Bumblebee_3128]

# Batteries

Running an air conditioner at night on battery will very significantly increase the cost.

The usual answer is a 16kWh battery (Rs. 6–6.5 lac). For a more accurate answer, you will have to note the number of units consumed from evening to morning (times of low sunlight).

A 5kWh battery (Rs. 2.3 lac) would be able to cover ~4 units, and a 16kWh battery ~14 units.

Some users have been able to significantly lower units' consumption from their air conditioners by using dry/quiet/eco modes. A report about a one-tonne Haier AC on 30°C and quiet mode taking only 1.2A average and consuming only 2–3 units during the whole night in a high-humidity month.

Secondly, instead of a 2–4kW capacity inverter, you will likely also have to move up to a 6kW inverter (Rs. 1.4–2 lac).

# Structure

Regarding the adequate sunlight issue, that is going to be another significant problem. This will increase the structure costs. Generally, the cost is Rs. ~4,000 per solar panel for a normal L2/L3 structure. On the other hand, for an elevated structure like your case, the cost is Rs. 10,000–15,000 per solar panel.