Off Grid Solar: A handbook for Photovoltaics with Lead-Acid or Lithium-Ion batteries

I found this to be a good primer in preparation for Camper Van electrical design. The book is well-written, and covers basics such as the essentials of energy, power and electrical physics. I should think that for someone with no prior exposure to those basics that this handbook will be a good start if the reader is willing to knuckle down and study what is written. Even for someone who stays intimidated by the subject of electricity and ends up hiring out the work, the book will help them be a more knowledgeable shopper.The book covers: geographic and seasonal available solar energy, battery chemistries, cost of ownership, battery resistance rate of charge and discharge, how to interpret solar panel datasheets, and sizing and derating an overall system. It has both a proper table of contents and an index for reference. The author provides links to some Excel design spreadsheets that are great!It’s a good start, but won’t cover everything I’ll need for camper van electrical design. I very highly recommend supplementing this handbook with an encyclopedia-sized volume: Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual (www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071790330/) It’s written for yacht owners, but will translate well to your land yacht! The author has vast experience with mistakes that lead to common money-wasting pitfalls. What the boat book will do is help the RV / Camper owner integrate alternator charging as a contingency to protect the battery bank during those inevitable days when solar is not sufficient.

Off Grid Solar is a great starter book for anyone who wants a better understanding of solar energy in general and the potential of "off grid" solar systems specifically. It can also be used as a guide on how to install both the solar panels needed to capture sunlight and the batteries required to store and disperse the retained energy.Joe O'Connor used good analogies to simplify what might otherwise be complex topics to the handyman while providing the science and instructions needed by the electrician or engineer. It's a must read for anyone considering how to move towards personal energy independence with off grid solar energy!Perhaps a better title/subtitle would be something like....Off Grid Solar: a practical guide for understanding and installation.

Gives a good intro to off grid solar in one place. I've been reading from all over the Internet but info can be a bit confusing so this is handy as a base. From my limited experience so far, it's better to have more panels than you calculate you need because of overcast/cloudy/rainy days (on overcast days I get about 46% of calculated output including accounting for losses from panel to charge controller). Also, better to have batteries with higher AH capacity since it's best to have only 3 parallel strings in a battery bank.

This was my first book on solar power and Mr. O'Connor is obviously a knowledgeable person. I was very disappointed, however, in the entire preface that one would have to change his or hers entire life to go solar. New appliances that are not industry standards just to help with voltage demands, scheduling times to juggle TV watching vs doing the laundry, etc.I'd like to know what I need to power my house as is. That's it. Show me the equipment, calculations and costs and I'm good. Maybe a long discussion on where solar technology is heading and I'd be happy. For now, this book didn't help me with my long term solar plans.

What did I like? Easy to understand. Even for someone w/o eletrical background. Great book. Keep up the spread of GOOD and TRUTHFUL INFORMATION. GOD BLESS!J. C. W

It seems like a good book so far; I have not read the book as of yet. I am hoping it will help when we get to build our one in a million home. Thanks for such a great product.

Great introduction into Photovoltaic Designs. It is very easy to digest. As an electrical engineer, I have seen engineering books that get bogged down with theory and formulas. This provides the reader just enough information without getting too complicated. It was a quick read with a wealth of information.

i bought this book to broaden my knowledge in renewable energy system/

Facile à comprendre.

Gives you all the information you need in an easy to read format. Learnt an awful lot from this book to set up my own system.

Very useful book

Very informative

Nichts was man nicht auch googeln könnte ...Frech gross gedruckt . Hätte an auch auf die Hälfte Papier bekommen ...