A PV Powered Mountain Cabin

Design Specifications

The following figure shows the floor plan of a cabin, located west of Denver, CO, to be outfitted
with PV-powered electrical loads. The cabin will have a kitchenlight, a dining room light, a
light in each bedroom, a bathroom light, a living room light, a motion sensor light outside
the door, a ceiling fan in each bedroom, a deep-well-water pump and a 16-cubic-foot
refrigerator/freezer. The PV array will be located approximately 10 feet from the back of the
cabin as shown. The 200-foot-deep well will be located 30 feet from the cabin in the
same relative direction. Provision is made for the addition of a future entertainment center
when a desirable 24 V unit becomes available. The refrigerator and the water pump are DC
loads working at 24V, the lights and the fans are AC loads working at 120V.

Figure 1: Mountain Cabin Floor Plan

The system loads, with the exception of the refrigerator, will operate 3 days per week to
accommodate weekend use over long weekends. The refrigerator will be left on
continuously in order to prevent inadvertent odor build-up in the event it should get too
warm inside the unit. At least this is the stated reason. It is highly suspected that the real
reason is to have cold beer ready as soon as someone arrives at the cabin.

The following table summarizes the monthly variation use of the different loads:
 Nov-Feb March Apr, Oct May,Sep Jun, Jul, Aug
Load Power Hr/week Hr/week Hr/week Hr/week Hr/week
Description (Watts)
Kitchen Light 30 12 10.5 10.5 7.5 9
BR 1 Light 16 6 4.5 4.5 3 3
BR 2 Light 16 3 3 3 3 3
LR Light 8 15 12 9 6 6
FD Light 16 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Dr Light 30 12 9 7.5 6 4.5
Bath Light 16 6 6 5 4 3
Refrigerator 80 35 38.5 38.5 42 45.5
Water Pump 92.4 4 5 6 7 8
BR 1 Fan 9.6 0 0 3 8 24
BR 2 Fan 9.6 0 0 3 8 24
Entertainmen 50 9 8 7 6 5
t

The following chart represents the monthly average irradiation in Wh/m2 for the location of the
cabin: