How to design a solar powered grow room?

Chipper Pig said:

Micro inverters are great, means each panel is running independently so when one panel gets shaded it wont effect the the whole of your system. I don't have any though I do have a 1.5kw system that does cover a bit of my grow op. My grow is close to 2Kw and hour. If i didn't grow anything and put power back in the the grid i receive 47 cent a Kw. I pay 27 cents for it.

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Actually, anytime a module is shaded it affects the power output (watts). All modules have blocking diodes so if one stops producing (including from shading) it won't affect the others, you only lose the output from that one module.

Bubbagineer said:

Good points bro, I work in the power industry also. The estimate above... does it include the battery back-up system? If not, better throw that in cause the sun don't always shine lol (wind don't always low either so the same goes for wind turbines). Also, better be conservative with the published efficiencies on panels and understand that pigeon poop and UV damage affects performance. No reason it won't work, but you will need a large array IMHO.

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do you really need batteries couldn't you just hook into the grid sell your extra power and when your out use power from the grid?

tampee said:

do you really need batteries couldn't you just hook into the grid sell your extra power and when your out use power from the grid?

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That's called net metering. You don't actually sell the power back, you build up a credit during the day (you can actually see your meter spinning backwards!) and when the sun goes down you use that credit. The key is making sure you have enough credit built up.

Clarencey said:

How to design a solar powered grow room?

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its called a greenhouse silly.

Build an insulated rooftop garden\greenhouse on the top of your residence with automated shades and your good to go.
Veg under artificial lights during the night, and open the shades during the day.
Control day length with the shades for flowering plants.

Hell of a lot cheaper than solar cells

Yes it is.

To the OP, it is very expensive to go solar but the reward of being off the grid has to be immeasurable. If I could afford it I would do it. I've had my eyes peeled for used panels.

to me the biggest thing about solar would to go around the power company. here the last 4 big grow bust were due to power company. not stealing it but just the use of to much. also if you filled 4 4x4 table to put under 4 1k lights thats enough to get you 20yrs. so if you spent 10k it would give you a better shoot at be able to stay free, i dont see that as a bad deal. go green not a bad idea, greenhouse lets just plant in the front yard, go gorilla not bad but you just don`t get to give the plants you love the time you want, freedom you just can`t bet it with a stick. i`m just saying we all see it different and thinks have different values to different people.

Check this out:
http://gosolarcalifornia.cleanpowerestimator.com/

Does anyone have any experience with using solar panels with there grow room? Is it better to be off grid or on grid? From my understanding the only good thing about off-grid for growers is the security it gives that no one knows exactly how much you are using up. . . Also I am using 220v to power my lights rite now. I was told that only above 10kw inverter or solar system would be able to feed power to my lights (I'm only getting a 4kw solar system). That kind of makes sense if I was using off-grid but if I was hooked up on-grid could I run 220v? Will I have to switch everything back to 110v? . . .I am running 2 thousand watt lights in budding room with AC, dehumidifier and all. In the Veg and Mother room I have about 600w in light and fans. My electric bill with everything running and my living in the house is about $500. I would like to expand my grow from here but I don't want to be paying out my ass for electricity and I don't want to draw attention to my grow. . . I am researching all the parts and I will buy them all separately and put it together with one of my handy friends. I just need to know if anyone has any experience with these systems. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you

Comatoke said:

You would spend a lot of money on a solar powered INDOOR grow.

that would be a hilarious idea.

a growroom with solar power.....

I've heard everything....

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Several years later and Im thinking it's possible..

So I am trying to figure this out. You don't need to run 1000w per 4x4... seems a bit overkill for todays lm301b diode technology. You need about 30w per sq.f. For a 4x4 that is 16sqf x 30watt = 480w. Lets just assume 600 watt per light for CO2 controlled environment or 37.5w per sq.f.

You can pick up a 670w Trina Solar panel for around $0.33 per watt on alibaba: https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&tab=all&SearchText=Trina+670w+solar&selectedTab=product_en

Let's assume we want to grow out 4 4x8's which use 8 lights (600w each) for a total of 4800w/4.8kw. If there is one panel for each light there would be 8 panels total which together would produce (theoretically) 5.36kw. You can pickup a 5.6kw hybrid solar inverter for around $350 on alibaba. Add batteries for around $2500 per 10kw.

The cost without batteries would be around $1800 and with inverter around $2500 total.

For a gram/watt that would produce about 11lbs of weed up to 6 times a year, or 5 to be more realistic. That's 55lbs a year. For the examples sake say that's $500 per lbs that's $27,500 a year.

In 2022 the average cost per kwh in the US was 14.5 cents per kwh. If you were to run 4.8kwh at 12 hours per day 365 days a year that would equal a total of 21024kwh @ 14.5 cents would be around $3048.48 per year on average.

Depending on where you live you can also get a government funded subsidy to install solar so that would also reduce the cost significantly. In california up to 30%: https://www.sunrun.com/solar-by-state/ca/california-solar-incentives

Please feel free to alter the formula. There is no doubt a sweet-spot for optimal production vs cost using solar and it should definitely be something any serious grower should think about when designing a new grow op. Let's get this dialed in for real... I see some of you guys even work in this industry so it shouldn't be that difficult to calculate...