An Affordable DIY Solar System That Will Power Your Freezer

Power just what you need during a blackout for under $2,000.

Note from Josh: I’ve wanted to publish something like this from the beginning, but I’ve left it to our resident scientist Ari, who has run the numbers and has actually built such systems.

Solar is a great energy source for preparedness; in any disaster scenario, the continued existence of the sun is one of the few things you can truly count on.  However, it’s hard to know what kind and how much to buy.  This leaves many preparedness people intrigued by solar, but unsure what to do and not ready to jump in.

I’m here to argue that there is a sweet spot: a particular size and type of solar array that offers great and flexible capabilities at a relatively small cost, and should be the go-to starting point for anyone thinking about solar energy for preparedness. 

Photo by Andreas Gücklhorn on Unsplash

Solar systems cost between $100 and infinity.  Small portable units are cheap and light enough to fit in a bugout bag, but they’ll only power small gizmos like phones and flashlights, and require frequent recharging.

Grid tied stationary systems can power your whole house for a long time and can even pay for themselves over time, but they cost a lot of money upfront, require professional help to install, can only be installed in places with a lot of southern exposure, and are ostentatious and stationary. 

In between, there are consumer-friendly ecosystems like Jackery and Bluetti that will make everything easy for you but are expensive and incompatible with other parts, and DIY components from vendors like Renogy and LiTime that are cheaper and more flexible, but come in a bewildering array of sizes and take a little bit of knowledge to shop for and assemble.

The ideal solar system for most people

Like many preps, solar power has diminishing returns.  Imagine you’re in your house, there’s no electricity, you have no generator, and it’s going to be that way for a while.  Now imagine that a genie is giving you small bits of solar energy one at a time. 

What would you do with that energy? Charge your phone? Charge up a flashlight? Keep your freezer running?

Probably the biggest thing you would want to power would be your freezer, because your food slowly starts melting the second the lights go out. You could keep beefing up the system to power your air conditioner, stereo, and infrared sauna, but the cost starts going up substantially, with diminishing returns.

For most people, the sweet spot is an off grid DIY system with about 640 watts of panels and a single 12.8-volt lithium battery of about 3.6 kWh, which can be assembled for $1,800.

Unlike a whole-house system, this system doesn’t require professional help or government permits. You can assemble the entire system yourself.

The parts