Tech Insight : La Doré, off-grid solar outfitter

In this special edition, join Keven, a solar installer, as he guides us through the biggest solar-powered outfitter in Quebec that he and his team designed and installed.

Discover the interview with Keven and Stéphane, the owner of the outfitter, here:

• Special Episode: La Doré, pourvoirie solaire hors réseau

Happy listening, Solar Warriors! 🎧

Visit the outfitter: https://www.pourvoiriedeladore.com/
Learn more about Konergie: https://konergie.com/

FAQ

How is the La Doré outfitter's solar system designed?

The off-grid site has about 40 kWp of bifacial panels on nine ground mounts, three Sol-Ark 15K hybrid inverters in parallel (45 kW in total) and 24 Volthium lithium batteries of 10.24 kWh each, about 245 kWh of storage. A generator takes over when needed. Everything is monitored remotely over satellite internet (Starlink).

How do you size a solar system for an outfitter?

First establish daily consumption from the list of appliances, here about 128 kWh per day, then add losses and a margin, for about 160 kWh per day. For 1.5 days of autonomy, that means about 240 kWh of batteries. Panels are sized on about 3.3 hours of average sun, not on the worst day of winter: otherwise the system would be oversized 11 months a year, with the generator covering the rest.

When does the generator start?

When the batteries drop to 15% charge; it stops at 50% so the sun can finish recharging the next day. This saves generator run time and fuel. Unlike lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries do not need to be regularly charged to 100%.

Why assign the ground mounts to specific inverters?

Each inverter receives the panels from three mounts, connected to its three MPPTs, in the same order as in the field: left to right. With monitoring, you can immediately see which mount is producing less, for example because of shading at certain times.

Does the inverter capacity need to match peak demand?

Not necessarily. At La Doré, the observed peak is about 24 to 25 kW and typical consumption 5 to 7 kW. The inverters were sized for the solar capacity to connect rather than the peak, which leaves plenty of headroom.