solar power newb help

[KyloJen]

Okay, so, I know basically nothing about solar power. Can anyone give me any suggestions where I should start trying to figure everything out? Like resources, books, anything specifically geared toward absolute beginners?
All the info I've seen so far is written for people who already know the basics and I'm not even there.

Thanks so much!

[BeNimble]

This guy is good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFHn_xoMsAs

[Doktari]

If you like a well illustrated books that explain in plain English try these two free books from Victron Energy. One explains basics or wiring (Wiring Unlimited) and the other (Energy Unlimited) explains basics of battery backup energy systems. They will even mail you a hardcopy free of charge:
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload...limited-EN.pdf
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload...limited-EN.pdf

[KyloJen]

Thank you so much!

[dzl_]

Amy from the Altestore.com and Will Prowse both have a lot of content that is very beginner friendly and makes it easy to understand the basics.


I encourage you to not just start with the basics of solar but go a bit further back and start with understanding the basics of electricity, and the different units used. It makes it a lot easier to understand the more complicated stuff a little further down your learning path if you have an understanding of what Volts, Amps, Watts, Watt-hours, and Amp-hours are and how they relate to each other. This is the video that finally got through to me and gave me an intuitive understanding, its long but worth watching. If you want something simpler and more bite sized, start with the Will Prowse videos I linked to above.


Once you move beyond the very basics, there are a lot of other good resources for planning your system. I recommend the videos from Pacific Yacht systems, specifically this on how to design your electrical system, and this one on fuses and protection.