For someone who just wants to start out with something simple to understand how things work, it can be a lot simpler than what I talked about with my own installation. Don't worry about that stuff yet. Don't let that confuse you.
To use a portable generator to power the fridge and some lights, people just run an extension cord from the generator sitting in the back patio into the house. You can start out with this solar system doing the same thing, and have everything in your back patio (out of the rain
, except for the solar panels), and use an extension cord to bring the juice inside to enjoy.
In summary, here's what you do to start and to learn about this.
1) Get the MPP Solar unit. Look on eBay.
2) Look locally for suitable used solar panels, using the info I provided earlier. You can start with just a single panel, or 2 wired in series. Put them out in your backyard, facing south and tilting up with blocks. Obviously, they should be facing the sun directly at noon for maximum power, and the sun angle varies with the season. You will need to use cables with MC4 connectors. Look on eBay for ready-made cables, or you can build your own if you buy the bare connectors. Wire the string up to the MPP Solar.
3) Get 2 12V marine batteries at Costco or SamClub, or 4 6V golf-cart batteries at SamClub. Wire them up in series for 24V. Then wire the string to the MPP Solar.
4) Wire an extension cord to the MPP Solar to bring the juice inside.
That's it. Oh, don't forget to turn the switch on the unit to "On". And read the manual too.
For emergency use, that's all you do. If you want a more permanent installation, you can ponder about that later, or you may want to enlist help.
You can start playing with this for less than $1000 with the MPP Solar, one solar panel, and 2 batteries. Add more panels and batteries later.
Once you see how it works, like it, and get hooked, you can expand it later and wire things in a more permanent fashion in order to save on electricity costs. And at that time, you can think about transfer switches and sub-panels and all the niceties.
I will describe how the MPP Solar can be hooked up to a generator next.