Battery Bank before the Upgrade
When I ordered my batteries for the solar system the company recommended that I use a 48 volt setup. I then purchased eight 105 amp AGM 6 volt batteries and connected them in series. A few weeks later we decided to get a second identical setup and connect them in parallel. This configuration still gave me 48 volts but with twice the amperage.
I had originally put a “Battery Room” next to the “Electrical Room” (as pictured) and vented it for safety. As it turned out, the AGM glass mat gel batteries do not “off-gas” which means that I could have put them anywhere I wanted. We still put them in the Battery room and now also store the backup 3500 watt Champion generator in there as well.
More on the primary Guardian Whole House Generator later.
Electrical Room and Battery Room
Off-Grid in West Virginia 
Hi Sonny and Linda. I’m really interested and hope you post the details. I have 300 days of sunshine a year and 800 sq-ft of south facing roof, and a $200 electric bill. If I get you guys to make all the mistakes for me sound like I win!
Hey Mike, good to hear from you. We actually have our place up and running now. The 2.5kw PV solar system seems to treat us pretty good. We also have two banks for batteries for our 48 volt system. Everything runs into a Xantrex inverter and it produces both 110v and 220v. The 220v feeds into our 60 amp power panel and we also run the well pump with it. We did our best to utilize propane as much as possible on things like the stove, heater and hot water heater. Then made sure to get a EnergyStar fridge and cloths washer. For more then a couple of “No-Sun” days we fire up the Centurion whole house generator. Typically we only need to run it for about 1 hr in the morning then for 1 1/2 hrs at around 5 pm or so. We do not seem to get much wind at our location but I plan to install a Micro-Hydro within the next 12-14 months. There seems to be enough rain and snow run off to use it to help keep the batteries charged on bad weather days. I will be adding more pics and install details as the blog moves along. Keep asking the questions.
We started this Blog because it seemed no one was talking and if they did they were a business trying to make big $$$ off you. Seemed that most YouTube videos were some kind of flaky non-realistic use kit that had a couple of extention cords running from a Wally-World inverter. I needed someone to help explain what I needed and would allow me to expand as I got more money to add components.