I recently set up my own off grid solar system in a tiny cabin that I designed and had built.
I used the Solar Controller+Inverter Combos recommended on this site (Growatt) but ultimately switched to ones by Renogy. The Growatt one I purchased has a wifi adapter and app - wifi requirement was a deal breaker when remote. The renogy one has a Bluetooth adapter and app, plus feels better designed (though actually I think the internals are all pretty similar).
There are a couple surprise gotchas I didn’t know:
1) These Controller+Inverter combo units require a battery to turn on. This means: if your battery runs completely out of charge, you have to get electricity from somewhere to charge your battery a bit before the Controller+Inverter will turn on and charge your battery again. I was pretty annoyed at how not “off grid” this felt.
2) Temperatures below freezing are bad for batteries. I purchased a Renogy 48v smart battery with self heating. Unfortunately less sun in winter means less energy, and heat production is energy intensive. I’m not at the cabin 100% of the time so I have to take the battery with me when I leave to avoid spoiling/freezing it. Still not sure how I’ll ultimately get around this.
I used the Solar Controller+Inverter Combos recommended on this site (Growatt) but ultimately switched to ones by Renogy. The Growatt one I purchased has a wifi adapter and app - wifi requirement was a deal breaker when remote. The renogy one has a Bluetooth adapter and app, plus feels better designed (though actually I think the internals are all pretty similar).
There are a couple surprise gotchas I didn’t know:
1) These Controller+Inverter combo units require a battery to turn on. This means: if your battery runs completely out of charge, you have to get electricity from somewhere to charge your battery a bit before the Controller+Inverter will turn on and charge your battery again. I was pretty annoyed at how not “off grid” this felt.
2) Temperatures below freezing are bad for batteries. I purchased a Renogy 48v smart battery with self heating. Unfortunately less sun in winter means less energy, and heat production is energy intensive. I’m not at the cabin 100% of the time so I have to take the battery with me when I leave to avoid spoiling/freezing it. Still not sure how I’ll ultimately get around this.