Flip on everything your system needs to run — including the homestead loads other calculators forget, like egg incubators, brooder lamps, aquariums, and heated waterers. Set your sun hours and autonomy, and get a complete spec: array watts, battery bank, inverter, and MPPT controller.
Off-Grid System Calculator
Wattages are typical average draws — verify against your equipment nameplates. Array sizing includes a 30% system-loss factor (wiring, controller, temperature, dust). Duty-cycled appliances like fridges use average draw, not compressor peak.
Each appliance contributes its average watts × hours per day × quantity to your daily load. Duty-cycled appliances like refrigerators and incubators use realistic average draw, not compressor peak. Array sizing applies a 30% loss factor (wiring, controller efficiency, temperature, dust) against your worst-month sun hours. Battery sizing divides your autonomy requirement by usable depth of discharge — ~90% for LiFePO4, ~50% for AGM. The inverter figure covers your largest surge load plus everything running around the clock, with 20% margin, and the MPPT rating adds 25% headroom over array current at your recommended system voltage.
Off-grid solar isn’t just cabin lights and a fridge. If you hatch chicks, keep reptiles or fish, heat poultry water through winter, or run a greenhouse, those are the loads where an undersized system actually hurts — they’re continuity-critical and mostly invisible to generic calculators. That’s why the Homestead & Critters panel exists, and why the calculator pushes your autonomy up when it sees hatching or tank loads on the line.
Take your spec to our full sizing guide for the deeper walkthrough, then match components: complete kits if you want everything pre-matched, or build custom from panels, battery banks, and charge controllers. Mounting questions? Hardware guides here.